Homer's The Odyssey

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A Homer's The Odyssey is an ancient Greek epic poem in dactylic hexameter that covers Odysseus' return to his home after the Trojan war.

  • Context:
  • Example(s):
    • The Homeric Greek Version (8th century BCE), considered the earliest known version of the poem, composed in dactylic hexameter and attributed to the poet Homer. This version captures the oral tradition of the time, with repetitive structures and formulaic language used in storytelling.
    • The Alexandrian Edition (3rd-2nd centuries BCE), edited by scholars in the Library of Alexandria such as Zenodotus and Aristarchus of Samothrace. This version sought to standardize and preserve the text, removing inconsistencies found in earlier versions.
    • The Vulgate Text (circa 10th century CE), the most widely circulated version during the Byzantine period. It reflects editorial changes made over centuries and was the basis for many later translations.
    • The Fagles Translation (1996), a popular modern English translation by Robert Fagles, praised for its accessibility and poetic fidelity to the original Homeric verse.
    • The Emily Wilson Translation (2017), the first complete English translation by a woman, known for its fresh and direct style, making the text more approachable for modern readers while still honoring the original Greek.
    • The Samuel Butler Translation (1900), a notable English prose version of the epic that focuses on clarity and readability while adapting the poem's narrative structure for a more modern audience.
    • The Loeb Classical Library Edition (1919), a dual-language edition that provides both the Greek text and an English translation, often used in academic settings for comparative study.
    • ...
  • Counter-Example(s):
  • See: Western Canon, Ionia, Anatolia,----


References

2014

  • (Wikipedia, 2014) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey Retrieved:2014-10-24.
    • The Odyssey ([1] , Odýsseia) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second oldest extant work of Western literature, the Iliad being the oldest. Scholars believe it was composed near the end of the 8th century BC, somewhere in Ionia, the Greek coastal region of Anatolia.[2] The poem mainly centers on the Greek hero Odysseus (known as Ulysses in Roman myths) and his journey home after the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. [3] In his absence, it is assumed he has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of unruly suitors, the Mnesteres (Greek: ) or Proci, who compete for Penelope's hand in marriage. It continues to be read in the Homeric Greek and translated into modern languages around the world. Many scholars believe that the original poem was composed in an oral tradition by an aoidos (epic poet/singer), perhaps a rhapsode (professional performer), and was more likely intended to be heard than read. The details of the ancient oral performance, and the story's conversion to a written work inspire continual debate among scholars. The Odyssey was written in a poetic dialect of Greek — a literary amalgam of Aeolic Greek, Ionic Greek, and other Ancient Greek dialects — and comprises 12,110 lines of dactylic hexameter. Among the most noteworthy elements of the text are its non-linear plot, and the influence on events of choices made by women and serfs, besides the actions of fighting men. In the English language as well as many others, the word odyssey has come to refer to an epic voyage.

      The Odyssey has a lost sequel, the Telegony, which was not written by Homer. It was usually attributed in antiquity to Cinaethon of Sparta, but in one source was said to have been stolen from Musaeus by Eugamon or Eugammon of Cyrene (see Cyclic poets).

  1. "Odyssey". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
  2. D.C.H. Rieu's introduction to The Odyssey (Penguin, 2003), p. xi.
  3. The dog Argos dies autik' idont' Odusea eeikosto eniauto ("seeing Odysseus again in the twentieth year"), Odyssey 17.327; cf. also 2.174-6, 23.102, 23.170.