The abduction of the beautiful Helen, wife of the King of Sparta, caused the ten-year Trojan War. Homer, who lived in Greece in the eighth century BCE, describes the thrilling events of the last year of the war. The Iliad and The Odyssey are the first European works of literature.
In this new translation of the "Odyssey," Norbert Albertson has succeeded in crafting a vivid and thoughtful English version of Homer's great work. Both true to the original and resonant in the present day, it is a masterful work of story-telling for readers of our time. Translator's note: The Greek "Odyssey" is one of the supreme achievements of the human mind and spirit. This book is not "that" Odyssey, but a translation, which-like all other translations of the Odyssey-like any translation of any work of literature-is a re-creation in a different language of "some" of the qualities of the original work. So at the very beginning, a translator must ask himself: "Which qualities of this work can I hope to re-create?" If you look at a number of translations of the Odyssey, you soon see that each translator has answered that question in his own way, a way that differs-and usually differs greatly-from that of all the others. In "On Translating Homer," Matthew Arnold, the great Victorian poet and critic, famously says that the qualities of Homer are four: he is rapid; he is plain and direct in thought and expression; he is plain and direct in substance; and he is noble. In this translation I have aimed at the first three, hoping (and partly believing) that, if I succeeded to some degree in those first three, the fourth would take care of itself.
Homer bidding farewell to his wife, Odysseus bound to the mast, Penelope at the loom, Achilles dragging Hector's body round the walls of Troy - scenes from Homer have been portrayed in every generation. Chapman's translations are argued to be two of the liveliest and readable.
A story encompassing the entirety of human emotion, "The Odyssey" remains one of the greatest literary works in the history of the world. It is the story of Odysseus and his ten-year journey to return home to his family and kingdom. Having angered the god Poseidon along the way, he finds him-self cast adrift at sea facing dangers beyond measure and trials beyond understanding. Truly a staple of literature and an epic adventure.
Zweyter Theil
