A landmark new translation of Homers most popular epic by distinguished author and classicist Daniel Mendelsohn.
In 1961, the University of Chicago Press published Richmond Lattimores translation of HomersThe Iliad. For more than sixty years, it has served to introduce readers to the ancient Greek world of gods and heroes and has been one of the most popular and respected versions of the work. Yet through all those decades, Chicago never published a companion translation of the best-known epic in the Western canon,The Odysseyuntil now.
With his newOdyssey, celebrated author, critic, classicist, and translator Daniel Mendelsohn has created a rendering worthy of Chicagos unparalleled reputation in classical literature. Widely known for his essays bringing classical literature and culture to mainstream audiences in theNew Yorkerand many other publications, Mendelsohn eschews the streamlining and modernizing approach of many recent translations, focusing instead on the epics formal qualitiesmeter, enjambment, alliteration, assonancein order to bring it to life in all its archaic grandeur. In this line-for-line rendering, the long, six-beat line he uses, closer to the original than that of other recent translations, allows him to capture each Greek line without sacrificing the amplitude and shadings of the original.
The result is a magnificent feat of translation, one that conveys the poetics of the original while bringing to vivid life the gripping adventure, profound human insight, and powerful themes that make Homers work continue to resonate today. Supported by an extensive introduction, notes, and commentary, MendelsohnsOdysseyis poised to become the authoritative English-language version of this magnificent and enduringly influential masterpiece.
