Odyssey

Homer was an ancient Greek poet believed to have lived in the 8th century BCE. He is the author of two of the most significant epic poems in Western literature, The Iliad and The Odyssey, celebrated for their narrative depth and exploration of human experience.Ian Johnston is Professor Emeritus of Vancouver Island University (formerly Malaspina University-College) in British Columbia, Canada, where he taught Classics and English. He has translated Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Aristotle, Homer, Ovid and Sophocles, and modern works by Kant, Kafka, Montaigne and Nietzsche. He is the author of The Ironies of War: An Introduction to Homer's Iliad (1987). Tom Butler-Bowdon is editor of the Capstone Classics series and has written introductions to Machiavelli's The Prince, Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, and Wallace Wattles' The Science of Getting Rich. A graduate of the London School of Economics, he is also the author of 50 Self-Help Classics, 50 Success Classics, and 50 Psychology Classics.

• Introduction by Ian Johnston viiEditor's Note on the Text xxxvAbout Ian Johnston xxxviiAbout Tom Butler-Bowdon xxxixThe Odyssey xliBook One Athena Visits Ithaca 1Book Two Telemachus Prepares for his Voyage 25Book Three Telemachus Visits Nestor in Pylos 49Book Four Telemachus Visits Menelaus in Sparta 75Book Five Odysseus Leaves Calypso's Island and Reaches Phaeacia 119Book Six Odysseus and Nausicaa 143Book Seven Odysseus at the Court of Alcinous in Phaeacia 159Book Eight Odysseus is Entertained in Phaeacia 177Book Nine Ismarus, the Lotus- Eaters,and the Cyclops 207Book Ten Aeolus, the Laestrygonians, and Circe 235Book Eleven Odysseus Meets the Shades of the Dead 263Book Twelve The Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, The Cattle of the Sun 297Book Thirteen Odysseus Leaves Phaeacia and Reaches Ithaca 321Book Fourteen Odysseus Meets Eumaeus 343Book Fifteen Telemachus Returns to Ithaca 371Book Sixteen Odysseus Reveals Himself to Telemachus 399Book Seventeen Odysseus Goes to the Palace as a Beggar 423Book Eighteen Odysseus and Irus the Beggar 455Book Nineteen Eurycleia Recognizes Odysseus 477Book Twenty Odysseus Prepares for his Revenge 507Book Twenty-One The Contest With Odysseus's Bow 527Book Twenty-Two The Killing of the Suitors 549Book Twenty-Three Odysseus and Penelope 575Book Twenty-Four Zeus and Athena End the Fighting 595Glossary of Names and Places 625