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The Odyssey: The Fitzgerald Translation Review

It is clear from reading "The Aeneid" that there is one author: there's a unity and a consistency throughout. It is clear from reading "The Bible" that there are many authors: there's conflict and contradictions throughout. It's not clear whether "The Odyssey" has one or many authors, but it's clear that it comes from a Greek oral tradition. That's because there are stand-alone stories throughout, two major strands (the travails of Odysseus in seeking home and the journeys of his son Telemakhos in seeking news of Odysseus) that come together in a seemingly redacted ending. "The Odyssey" is about the power of story-telling, as exemplified by the hero Odysseus, who the Greek bards must have thought their patron saint and that's why they rhapsodized him so. When Alkinoos gives treasures to Odysseus and a ship to send him home, it seems these gifts are less the will of the Gods or even the acknowledgement of a legendary warrior but simply because Odysseus was able to tell such great stories.

It is probably with "The Odyssey" more than the Sophists in mind that Plato wrote that all art was artifice. Odysseus dissembles throughout through the power of his words to distort reality. He somehow transforms from a liar of necessity (as when he lies to escape the clutches of the Kyklops) to a liar of circumstance (as when he deceives his servants, his son, and his wife in order to plan the killing of his enemies) to a liar of compulsion (as when he lies even to his frail father). Modern psychology would suggest that at the root of Odysseus' compulsive lying are trust issues.

But character in the eyes of the ancient Greeks is much different from our conception of character. There is no agency, no identity, and no individual per se in the Odyssey. We are nothing more than the plaything of the Gods, and what the Gods hate most (pride in man) Odyssey and his family lack and what the Gods appearance most (forbearance) Odyssey and his family have. Odysseus and Penelope can be forgiven for their dissemblance and deviousness because they are patient and know humility and forbearance. Even though the Gods send Odysseus adrift for ten years away from his family he neither cursed nor complained; he simply accepted his fate. When Odysseus re-appeared in his homeland of Ithaka it was as a beggar who must suffer the insults and beatings of Penelope's suitors, and when it was only when the Goddess Athena, who had scripted the Odyssey all alone, could see that Odysseus knew humility and forbearance that she permitted him to kill those who did not.

There are many contradictions and questions in "The Odyssey," and the major contradiction and question is one inherent in the story-telling tradition: one of veracity and reliability. Most of "The Odyssey" is in fact dialogue and story-telling; Odysseus renders his voyages as stories to be told in different versions to different people. There is instability in "The Odyssey" which reflects the mutability of Odysseus, and so "The Odyssey" represents both the triumph and the limitations of epic story-telling.

The Odyssey: The Fitzgerald Translation Feature

ISBN13: 9780374525743
Condition: New
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The Odyssey: The Fitzgerald Translation Overview

The classic translation of The Odyssey, now in a Noonday paperback.

Robert Fitzgerald's translation of Homer's Odyssey is the best and best-loved modern translation of the greatest of all epic poems. Since 1961, this Odyssey has sold more than two million copies, and it is the standard translation for three generations of students and poets. The Noonday Press is delighted to publish a new edition of this classic work.Fitzgerald's supple verse is ideally suited to the story of Odysseus' long journey back to his wife and home after the Trojan War. Homer's tale of love, adventure, food and drink, sensual pleasure, and mortal danger reaches the English-language reader in all its glory.

Of the many translations published since World War II, only Fitzgerald's has won admiration as a great poem in English. The noted classicist D. S. Carne-Ross explains the many aspects of its artistry in his Introduction, written especially for this new edition.

The Noonday Press edition also features a map, a Glossary of Names and Places, and Fitzgerald's Postscript. Line drawings precede each book of the poem.

Winner of the Bollingen Prize

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Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Epic Poem - Jeremy Richmond - Lakewood, CA USA
In high school we were assigned to read a shortened version of the Odyssey with some parts removed and a simple synopsis added to explain what happened. I liked it so much that I then read the epic poem in its entirety. The version I read was the Fitzgerald translation. The story is about Odysseus' journey from the conquered Troy back to his homeland, Ithaca. Every time he is about to sail back home, something goes wrong which delays him. While on his journey he has a dangerous encounter with a Cyclops who is the son of Poseidon, stays at the island of a witch, visits Hades, the Underworld, and has other adventures and mishaps. While he is journeying, his wife waits at home patiently for him while she is pressured by suitors to forget him and remarry.

"I long to be homeward bound" Simon and Garfunkle - bernie - Arlington, Texas
The Trojan War is over and one of our hero kings is lost. His son (Telemachus) travels to find any information about his father's fait. His wife (Penelope) must cunningly hold off suitors that are eating them out of house and home.

If he ever makes it home, Odysseus will have to detect those servants loyal from those who are not. One absent king against rows of suitors; how will he give them their just deserts? We look to Bright Eyed Pallas Athena to help prophecy come true.

Interestingly all the tales of monsters and gods on the sea voyage was told by Odysseus. Notice that no one else survives to tell the tale. Therefore, we have to rely on Odysseus' word.

Many movies took sections of The Odyssey, and expanded them to make interesting stories those selves.

Not just the story but also the way in which it is told will keep you up late at night reading.

The Odyssey

Almost too readable? - Sören Fröhlich - San Diego
Well, I'm not a Greek or Classics major. The writing program I work for assigns this edition. Now, although with a work of this bulk I feel bad complaining, but I am sure that several Greek scholars will feel much unease with Fitzgerald's translation. Why? Because it is almost too readable. A vast abyss of history opens between us and Greek Antiquity, but if you read this translation, you want to slap Odysseus on the shoulder and have a glass of wine with him. I am torn, because I love the emotional responsiveness F. creates in me, but the student of Old English is sceptical of whether this approach is really a good idea. The obvious bonus is that (disinterested) students will complain less about their assigned reading, and teaching will mean less "what he is saying here is..."-stuff. Still, I have my reservations (many of which are addressed in the foreword and afterword, as well as in the notes on the translation) against making it too easy and enabling the student to ignore the cultural difference.

That said, if you have no classical training, no interest in academic translations, and just want to read the darn thing for once, then I HIGHLY recommend this edition!

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Monday, August 30, 2010