Odyssey, The (PB)

The first great adventure story in the Western canon, The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty and power; about marriage, family and identity; and about travellers, hospitality and the changing meanings of home in a strange world. This vivid new translation - the first by a woman - matches the number of lines in the Greek original, striding at Homer's sprightly pace. Emily Wilson employs elemental, resonant language and an iambic pentameter to produce a translation with an enchanting "rhythm and rumble" that avoids proclaiming its own grandeur. An engrossing tale told in a compelling new voice that allows contemporary readers to luxuriate in Homer's descriptions and similes and to thrill at the tension and excitement of its hero's adventures, Wilson recaptures what is "epic" about this wellspring of world literature. Specially bound paperback edition, with deckle-edging (rough-cut) pages and French flaps. "The first version of Homer's groundbreaking work by a woman will change our understanding of it for ever ... Emily Wilson's crisp and musical version is a cultural landmark. Armed with a sharp, scholarly rigour, she has produced a translation that exposes centuries of masculinist readings of the poem." - Charlotte Higgins, Poetry Book of the Day - The Guardian. "Emily Wilson proves an appropriately beguiling female translator ... This is certainly an Odyssey for our moment ... [a] swift, unornamented text." - The Spectator.