OUP (2026) h/b 384pp £16.99 (ISBN 9780197924488)
This handsome volume is a hardback edition of the 2016 publication in the Oxford World’s Classics series. It contains a translation of the text of the OCT Odyssey edited by T. W. Allen (1917-19) prefaced by an introduction, short notes and select bibliography and concluding with explanatory notes and an index of personal names featured in the text.
The translation disclaims any striving for poetic effects, keeping closely to the line numeration of the Greek so references to the original text can be easily located. It largely employs clear and straightforward English, though making some attempt to catch the word-play of the Greek original e.g. ‘odious to Odysseus’ (1.62) and Irus ‘un-Irused’ (18.73). Sometimes, however, the tone is quaintly old-fashioned, as when Antinous abuses Telemachus as an ‘intemperate public loudmouth’ (2.85) or Eumaeus and Philoetius as ‘foolish bumpkins’ (21.85), when Nausikaa calls her father ‘dear papa’ (6.57) or when Telemachus, Odysseus and Penelope all address Eurycleia as ‘nanny’ (respectively 2.349, 19.482, 23.11). The following passage about Odysseus in the Cyclops’ cave may act as a random sample for the reader of the competent and workmanlike register:
‘So I spoke, and at once he answered from his ruthless heart:
“Then I shall eat No-man last of all his comrades, and
the others first. That shall be my guest-present for you.”
‘So he spoke, and falling backwards lay there on his back,
his thick neck twisted to one side, and sleep, tamer of all,
overpowered him. Heavy with wine, he vomited, and from his
throat poured a stream of wine and gobbets of human flesh.’
(9. 368-74)
The brief introduction to the book aims to ‘situate the poem in its original cultural context… and to consider some of the major themes of the narrative’ (p. vii). It includes a brief section on the Odyssey in the context of early Greek epic poetry, as a poem conceived by a ‘single creative intelligence’ (p. vii) and as the culmination of a shared epic tradition, the work of many bards which was created anew in performance for every audience. Major themes are briefly treated such as hospitality and recognition, Odysseus as an epic hero, the role of immortals in the plot and the punishment of the suitors and the importance of marriage and the family unit.
The explanatory notes at the end provide a summary of the events of each book and short notes on mythological and geographical references, glosses of technical vocabulary and comments on Homeric customs. The index of personal names gives a quick point of reference for the main characters and their significant actions.
This book functions as a good introduction for the interested general reader and could also be used by those requiring help for a reliable translation of the Greek.
Claire Gruzelier