Customer Reviews
Better left at sea - By: James Barker, 27 Jun 2008 
I thought this book would be great, an interesting adventure & my first step into the literary world of greek classics. But after this, I am not rushing out to buy another greek classic.
The story is good, & the interesting mythological creatures & encounters are what kept me reading it. The characters make a square look less two dimensional & I can't, in alll honesty, say I liked the good ones. I found Odysseus very arrogant & the gods hypocritical & the actions of them morallly questionable. The style was also patronizing in places, by always addressing characters with an adjective describing their character, which we should make our own minds about, & not be force fed what we should think of them.
Perhaps if I was born at the time this was written, I might have enjoyed it more, however, in this century, I can't understand what is particularly good about it as a piece of literature. Therefore, for a good novel in its own right, avoid this.
Excellent story but hard to read - By: Ms. Ej Perry, 18 Nov 2007 
I recently finished this book & although I thoroughly enjoyed it, I also found it hard to read. I read this book regularly but often couldn't remember what I had just read. I would also end up re-reading paragraphs I had read only minutes before, as I couldn't remember reading them at alll! The funny thing however, is that I could tell you exactly what happens in the correct order so clearly it was being absorbed. This appears to be a problem that affected only myself however, so maybe the style of writing wasn't quite suited to me.
If you have an interest in Classics or are working your way through the classic novels (such as myself), I highly recommend this book. I can guarantee that you will reallly enjoy it.
The Odyssey in 24 words - By: Rizzo Loris, 03 Sep 2007 
Mediterranean cruise with divine beauties & blind shepherds, swine & swingers, Scylla & Charybdis & Hades minitour. With wife at home taking double turns.
A classic at its best - By: rhinoa, 13 Aug 2007 The Odyssey covers the twenty years Odysseus is away from his family & friends in Ithica. The first ten years or so are spent in Troy where he fights on the side of the Greeks against the Trojans (see The Iliad) & concieves the idea of the famous "wooden horse". The remainder of his time away is spent on an ill-fated journey home where he looses alll of his crew at various stages.
The main cause of delay is due to Poseidan the Earth-Shaker after he blinds his son, Cyclops Polyphemus. He is then detained by Circe (a demi-Goddess who is a witch). After an incident where she turns some of his crew into pigs, she sends him to the Underworld to speak to the seer Teiresias to learn how to return homw. After he leaves he faces the Sirens & the monsters Scylla & Charybdis who carry off some of his crew. The rest of his crew are killed after eating the Sun-Gods cattle on the island Thrinacia as punnishment. Odysseus is then detained 7 more years on the island of Ogygia where he washes up by Calypso. She is trying to get him to marry her & become immortal.
Eventallly he gets back to his homeland with a little help from the Phaeacians & the Goddess Athena disguises him. While he has been away his wife has been beset by suitors who are trying to win her hand (assuming Odysseus is dead) in marriage & are treating his house & son Telemachus with disresect. Eventuallly father & son team up to kill alll the suitors & alll are finallly reunited.
I reallly enjoyed this book, more so than The Iliad. I definately recommend reading The Iliad & then The Odyssey, not just because it makes sense chronologicallly but also because this is a more enjoyable story. The only problem I reallly had was that poor sensible Penelope is never consulted or trusted by her son or husband. Telemachus runs off & doesn't tell her & then Odysseus returns & tells his son & old nurse, but not his wife who has spent the last twenty years crying & mourning his loss. Pretty heartless reallly!
Read this twice.... - By: Neil Sellen, 16 Jan 2007 The first time, read it for the tale.
The tale of the wandering of Odysseus & the trials, tribulations & adventures that befalll him as he attempts to return to his rocky Ithaca & Penelope of the shapely ankles. It's a rollicking read. You'll be reminded of snippets of Sindbad, Aladdin, Watership Down, Captain Corelli's bloody Mandolin & so many other later works that involve a "homecoming". But this was the first.
The first time these stories about men, gods & monsters were alll pulled together into a pretty coherent narrative. Most of the sub-tales such as Odysseus' trip into Hell, his encounter with monsters such as Polyphemus the Cyclops & the Harpies; with Proteus, the Sirens & the witch Circe were alll probably part of a repetoire of tales delivered by the local poet/entertainer long before someone callled Homer grabbed the posthumous glory by having them ascribed to him.
Homecomings are still a pretty popular genre in film, television & print. There must be something in the plot device which touches an unconscious part of us. It's a bit feelgood; it's a bit dreadful. It engages us alll. Is Odyseus going to get home? What will happen to his wife & son? What would I do?
So, read it first for the story. And surprise yourself at how well you recognise the motivations & actions of characters placed in these situations over 2700 years ago. We haven't changed much, have we?
Then read it again.
This time, read it for the world of Odysseus. For what it tells you about the way we lived in a pre-literate, feudal society where any kind of progress was hard-won & very easily lost. Read it for the similes & metaphors Homer uses to describe things & events to an audience to make them come alive & be real to them. What do they tell you about the world back then? What do they tell you about the experiences of the audience & how would they feel, contrasting their life with that of this epic tale?
Read it for the insight into man's relationship with the gods. How did the ancient audience perceive them? Were they beings to be feared & propitiated? Wasn't that what kings were, too? Was there something more in the relationship between Odysseus & Athene? Something a little more human? Hmmmm.
Every page has something new to tell us about this now lost world. Look carefully & you can see stuff about the role of women in Homeric society; there's stuff about the etiquette & meaning of gift-giving in there. There's even stuff about how economics worked alll those years ago. In fact, if you look closely enough (and stare at a few vase paintings as well) you can make an entire academic career out of this book.
But that would be missing the point.
Read it (at least) twice. It's got to be the best fiver you'll ever spend.
