Reading Homer's Odyssey

DR. KOSTAS MYRSIADES is a professor emeritus of comparative and Greek literature and a distinguished translator and Neohellenist. He is the recipient of the Gold Medallion from the Hellenic Society of Translators of Literature (Athens, Greece) and the author of twenty books. He was also the editor of College Literature a quarterly of literary criticism, theory, and pedagogy.

Kostas Myrsiades' remarkably accessible and lively commentary comes as a great boost to readers who approach the Odyssey with great interest but little background in the world of the epic and the techniques of Homer. This book serves as a kind of museum guide through each portion of the Odyssey, giving us the benefit of the author's wealth of erudition and knowledge in readily understandable prose. Myrsiades not only explains the peculiar features of the narrative and content but also offers many helpful interpretive approaches, including some recent controversial suggestions, that have arisen from his decades of teaching this epic. This commentary will be especially helpful in giving high school and college teachers with little formal classical training the information and tools that will make them authoritative in the classroom. A pleasure to read.— Scott Richardson, Professor of Classics, St. John's University and the College of St. Benedict"An eloquently erudite and insightful analysis of one of the world's most famous works of literature from Ancient Greece."— Midwest Book Review"Recommended." — Choice"The book is a great pleasure to read....Reading Homer's Odyssey is a book that does exactly what it promises: it helps its reader to read (and understand) the Odyssey. It will appeal to a broad readership as well as to scholars and students of Classics and other fields, and it may also be suggested as accompanying reading in Classical Civilization classes or similar courses."— Bryn Mawr Classical Review"Recommended." — Choice"The book is a great pleasure to read....Reading Homer's Odyssey is a book that does exactly what it promises: it helps its reader to read (and understand) the Odyssey. It will appeal to a broad readership as well as to scholars and students of Classics and other fields, and it may also be suggested as accompanying reading in Classical Civilization classes or similar courses."— Bryn Mawr Classical Review"An eloquently erudite and insightful analysis of one of the world's most famous works of literature from Ancient Greece."— Midwest Book Review Kostas Myrsiades' remarkably accessible and lively commentary comes as a great boost to readers who approach the Odyssey with great interest but little background in the world of the epic and the techniques of Homer. This book serves as a kind of museum guide through each portion of the Odyssey, giving us the benefit of the author's wealth of erudition and knowledge in readily understandable prose. Myrsiades not only explains the peculiar features of the narrative and content but also offers many helpful interpretive approaches, including some recent controversial suggestions, that have arisen from his decades of teaching this epic. This commentary will be especially helpful in giving high school and college teachers with little formal classical training the information and tools that will make them authoritative in the classroom. A pleasure to read.— Scott Richardson, Professor of Classics, St. John's University and the College of St. Benedict

• PrefaceI. From Ithaca to WonderlandChapter 1: Telemachus' Journey (Od.1-4)Chapter 2: Odysseus from Calypso to the Phaeacians (Od.5-8)Chapter 3: Odysseus' Wanderings (Od.9-12)II. From Wonderland to IthacaChapter 4: Odysseus and Telemachus at Eumaeus' Hut (Od.13-16)Chapter 5: Odysseus and Telemachus Strategize at the Palace (Od.17-20)Chapter 6: Revenge, Reunion, and Reconciliation (Od.21-24)AfterwordBibliography