Ancient Greece ODYSSEY Homer Odysseus Mycenaea Cyclops Bronze Age Aegean Troy

Description

The Odyssey by Homer, Translated by Robert Fagles.
DESCRIPTION:
Softcover: Penguin Classics (1999) 560 pages. Size: 8 1/2 x 5 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches; 1 1/4 pounds.
Homer's "The Odyssey" is a dazzling mixture of magic and mystery, adventure and great deeds. In a world far removed from the harsh reality of "The Iliad", Homer tells of the return of the hero Odysseus from the Trojan War. Traditional Greek folktales are skillfully interwoven with original ideas to create an adventure-story and a quest worthy of any medieval or modern writer. For Odysseus's journey is scarcely straightforward: he has to undergo the wrath of the sea-god Poseidon, fight monsters, overcome sexual distractions and the loss of his crew; only to find further trials to deal with when he finally reaches his native land of Ithaca. This best-selling translation captures both the delicacy and drama of the episodes and allows the freshness and excitement of Homer's well-knit plot, with its interplay of subtly delineated characters, to delight us as much as it did the ancient Greeks.
CONDITION: NEW. New (albeit "remaindered" or surplus) oversized softcover. Penguin Classics (1999) 560 pages. Clearly new and unread, however there is a SMALL black remainder mark (drawn with a black marker) on the bottom surface of the closed page edges indicating that the book was unsold surplus inventory). The mark is not visible of course on individual opened pages, only to the mass of closed page edges. Inside the book is pristine, pages are clean, crisp, (otherwise) unmarked, unmutilated, tightly bound, unambiguously unread. Outside the book is clean and unsoiled evidencing only very faint edge and corner shelfwear to the covers. Condition is entirely consistent with a new (albeit "remaindered", or surplus) book from a bookstore environment wherein new books might show minor signs of shelfwear, consequence of routine handling and simply being shelved and re-shelved. Satisfaction unconditionally guaranteed. In stock, ready to ship. No disappointments, no excuses. PROMPT SHIPPING! HEAVILY PADDED, DAMAGE-FREE PACKAGING! Meticulous and accurate descriptions! Selling rare and out-of-print ancient history books on-line since 1997. We accept returns for any reason within 14 days! #1579.4a.
PLEASE SEE IMAGES BELOW FOR SAMPLE PAGES FROM INSIDE OF BOOK.
PLEASE SEE PUBLISHER, PROFESSIONAL, AND READER REVIEWS BELOW.
PUBLISHER REVIEW
:
REVIEW: "The Odyssey", Homer's gorgeous, sprawling epic, is widely considered to be the gold standard for tales of grand quests and heroic journeys. Crowded with characters (human and non-human) and crammed with action, "The Odyssey" details the adventures of Odysseus, King of Ithaca and hero of the Trojan War, as he struggles to return home to his ever-faithful, ever-waiting wife, Penelope. Along the way he encounters the seductive Circe, who changes men into swine; the gorgeous water-nymph Calypso, who keeps him a "prisoner of love" for seven years; the terrible one-eyed, man-eating giant Cyclops; and a host of other ogres, wizards, sirens, and gods.
When Odysseus finally reaches Ithaca after twenty years away, his trials have only begun. There he must battle the scheming noblemen who, thinking him dead, have demanded that Penelope choose one of them to be her new husband-and Ithaca's new king. Often called the "second work of Western literature" (Homer's Iliad, written earlier, being the first), "The Odyssey" is not only a rousing adventure drama, but also a profound meditation on courage, loyalty, family, fate, and undying love. Over three thousand years old, it was the first story to delineate carefully and exhaustively a single character arc-a narrative structure that serves as the foundation and heart of the modern novel.
PROFESSIONAL REVIEWS
:
REVIEW: The greatest adventure story of all time, Homer's epic work chronicles the wanderings of Odysseus after the fall of Troy. The Trojan War is over, and the battle-weary soldier Odysseus sets out for home. On his way Odysseus faces many dangers sent by the gods to test him. Will he outwit the one-eyed giant Cyclops, the cunning enchantress Circe, and the terrifying monsters Scylla and Charybdis? Filled with magic, mystery, and an assortment of gods and goddesses who meddle freely in the affairs of men.
REVIEW: Homer's account of the adventures of Odysseus has stood at the center of classical literature for centuries. It is a sweeping story of a great warrior who wanders the world, but also an intensely domestic tale of a loving husband's struggle to protect an enduring union with his faithful wife. Meticulously studied and commented upon by innumerable scholars, "The Odyssey" remains, nonetheless, a uniquely personal literary experience, startling each new generation of readers with its excitement, its drama, and its remarkably contemporary hero.
REVIEW: Homer, about whom so little is known, was almost certainly a blind bard from Greece, most probably Smyrna (now the Turkish city known as Izmir) or Chios, an island in the eastern Aegean Sea. Some scholars place Homer in the late-Mycenaean period, which means he would have written about the Trojan War as recent history. But how, other scholars argue, could Homer have created works of such magnitude in the Dark Age, when there was no system of writing? Herodotus, the ancient Greek historian, placed Homer sometime around the ninth century B.C., when the Greeks adopted a system of writing from the Phoenicians and widely colonized the Mediterranean. Scholars do agree, however, that "The Odyssey" and "The Iliad" were passed down by oral tradition and are among the foundations of Western literature.
READER REVIEWS
:
REVIEW: The sequel to "The Iliad", "The Odyssey" represents the last phase of what is known as Greece's Heroic Age in which human events are governed by gods, demi-gods, and heroes. The mortal heroes are endowed with godlike gifts and are mostly tragic. They interact with emissaries from the gods who aid them to their destinies and forewarn them of the fates. Tales such as Jason and the Argonauts, the labors of Hercules, Perseus, Thesseus, etc., are also of that period. The uncertainties in Fate, glory, and mortality are always the dominant themes in these tales. The setting of "The Odyssey" is c. 1200 B.C. at the close of the Bronze Age. The Greeks are actually Myceneans, a Greek-speaking group that dominated Greece prior to the Doric invasions several centuries later. The story poetically recites a time of Myceanean geopolitical expansion across the Mediterranean and its coasts and encounters with hitherto unknown civilizations after the fall of legendary Troy.
"The Odyssey" starts many years after the Trojan War where, after many ordeals, Odysseus is reciting his travels to Princess Nausica: the young heiress of a kingdom upon which Odysseus washed ashore after being shipwrecked. He recites his departure from Troy after its sacking and how, having angered Poseidon, the god of the sea, he has been condemned to wander across the Mediterranean away from his wife and son, Penelope and Telemachus. Odysseus goes on to recite his encounters with various peoples and mythical beasts during his travels such as the lotus eaters, the sirens, the cyclops, Scylla and Charibdis, etc. Odysseus is also held captive by powerful demi-godesses and witches such as Calypso and Circe.
In Odysseus' absence, Penelope is constantly courted by unwelcome suitors who are wasting her estate. Now a young man and fed up with the suitors, Telemachus travels to mainland Greece to inquire about his father. Odysseus eventually returns to his home of Ithaca to reunite with his family and to dispose of the suitors. "The Odyssey" has been hailed as a literary jewel for the past 2900 years and there's a reason for it: it's a timeless look into the human condition as recited by a poet of immense talent. Although the characters may have lived over 3000 years ago, the epic drama has much relevance for humanity today. Enjoy this masterpiece of literature in one of the best translations available to date: your money will be well spent.
REVIEW: "The Odyssey" is a grand adventure that should not be missed. But average modern readers may miss it, being weary of reading it as poetry or are simply intimidated by its age. If you are one of those people, fear not! This prose translation brings The Odyssey to the masses with flair. Reading it for school this year, I was a bit apprehensive of it at first, but eager to see what was so great about it. I needn't have been apprehensive at all. The prose reads just as well as modern novels, and the feeling and adventure of the book is well captured. For those who don't know, this is the story of what became of Odysseus after he fought in the Trojan War (which is chronicled in "The Iliad".)
Several obstacles, including the wrath of Poseidon, Greek god of the sea, bar him from returning home, where savage men, under the impression that he has died at war, consume his possessions and woo his wife. Watch as he braves these obstacles with the help of the goddess Athena so that he may return home and punish the insolent wooers. "The Odyssey" is riveting, and it's obvious why it has been able to stand the test of time and is regarded as a classic. The action is exciting and will leave you breathless, but also there is humanity and real emotion here. All of that is perfectly captured in this translation. Reading it, it's as if you re being told the story orally (which is how it was originally intended by Homer), and all of the energy of a live storytelling is present.
REVIEW: The Odyssey is an amazing novel. This novel is great because it gives us a look at what ancient Greece was like. They valued marriage, they expected women to stay at home, that men would die in battle, on the sea, or raiding other people, and also that something that was unexplainable was due to the gods. This novel is a great adventure. The Odyssey begins by showing Odysseus to us through the words of Meneloas and Nester. Then we are brought to Odysseus and learn his plight. We see him released after seven years of living with a goddess. When he is rescued again, we learn of his voyages since leaving Troy and the reason that one particular god is so angry with him. Once his story is told, his rescuers bring him to his fatherland. He then takes vengeance on those who had ravaged his home while he was away, and he is reunited with his faithful wife Penelope. As well as being a great insight to Greek life, this novel is a great story that I look forward to reading again. I highly recommend it.
REVIEW: I have delved into the classics (western) as of late and purposefully saved this one for last. Much like dessert is the last and sweetest part of the meal, so was "The Odyssey" after reading other classics. After reading "The Iliad," I was expecting similar flat characters, but Odysseus, Telemachos and Penelope were indeed richly developed throughout the epic making the reader yearn for the climax when Odysseus is finally united with his family. The character development of "The Odyssey" also allowed characters from "The Iliad" to be given more substance. In particular, I am thinking of Agamemnon when Odysseus visits the underworld. Because of the character development earlier in the poem this scene was chilling and meaningful.
I always ship books Media Mail in a padded mailer. This book is shipped
FOR FREE
via USPS
INSURED
media mail (“book rate”). All domestic shipments and most international shipments will
include
free USPS Delivery Confirmation (you might be able to update the status of your shipment on-line at the
USPS Web Site
and free insurance coverage). A small percentage of international shipments may require an additional fee for tracking and/or delivery confirmation. If you are concerned about a little wear and tear to the book in transit, I would suggest a boxed shipment - it is an extra .00. Whether via padded mailer or box, we will give discounts for multiple purchases. International orders are welcome, but shipping costs are substantially higher.
Most international orders cost an additional .99 to .99 for an
insured
shipment in a heavily padded mailer, and typically
includes
some form of rudimentary tracking and/or delivery confirmation (though for some countries, this is only available at additional cost). There is also a discount program which can cut postage costs by 50% to 75% if you’re buying about half-a-dozen books or more (5 kilos+).  Rates and available services vary a bit from country to country.  You can email or message me for a shipping cost quote, but I assure you they are as reasonable as USPS rates allow, and if it turns out the rate is too high for your pocketbook, we will cancel the sale at your request.
ADDITIONAL PURCHASES
do receive a
VERY LARGE
discount, typically about per book (for each additional book after the first) so as to reward you for the economies of combined shipping/insurance costs.  Your purchase will ordinarily be shipped within 48 hours of payment.  We package as well as anyone in the business, with lots of protective padding and containers.
All of our shipments are sent via insured mail so as to comply with PayPal requirements. We do NOT recommend uninsured shipments, and expressly disclaim any responsibility for the loss of an uninsured shipment. Unfortunately the contents of parcels are easily “lost” or misdelivered by postal employees – even in the USA. That’s why all of our domestic shipments (and most international) shipments
include
a USPS delivery confirmation tag; or are trackable or traceable, and all shipments (international and domestic) are insured. We do offer U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail, Registered Mail, and Express Mail for both international and domestic shipments, as well United Parcel Service (UPS) and Federal Express (Fed-Ex). Please ask for a rate quotation. We will accept whatever payment method you are most comfortable with. If upon receipt of the item you are disappointed for any reason whatever, I offer a no questions asked return policy. Send it back, I will give you a complete refund of the purchase price (less our original shipping costs).
Most of the items I offer come from the collection of a family friend who was active in the field of Archaeology for over forty years. However many of the items also come from purchases I make in Eastern Europe, India, and from the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean/Near East) from various institutions and dealers. Though I have always had an interest in archaeology, my own academic background was in sociology and cultural anthropology. After my retirement however, I found myself drawn to archaeology as well. Aside from my own personal collection, I have made extensive and frequent additions of my own via purchases on Ebay (of course), as well as many purchases from both dealers and institutions throughout the world - but especially in the Near East and in Eastern Europe. I spend over half of my year out of the United States, and have spent much of my life either in India or Eastern Europe. In fact much of what we generate on Yahoo, Amazon and Ebay goes to support The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, as well as some other worthy institutions in Europe connected with Anthropology and Archaeology.
I acquire some small but interesting collections overseas from time-to-time, and have as well some duplicate items within my own collection which I occasionally decide to part with. Though I have a collection of ancient coins numbering in the tens of thousands, my primary interest is in ancient jewelry. My wife also is an active participant in the "business" of antique and ancient jewelry, and is from Russia. I would be happy to provide you with a certificate/guarantee of authenticity for any item you purchase from me. There is a fee for mailing under separate cover. Whenever I am overseas I have made arrangements for purchases to be shipped out via domestic mail. If I am in the field, you may have to wait for a week or two for a COA to arrive via international air mail. But you can be sure your purchase will arrive properly packaged and promptly - even if I am absent. And when I am in a remote field location with merely a notebook computer, at times I am not able to access my email for a day or two, so be patient, I will always respond to every email. Please see our
"ADDITIONAL TERMS OF SALE."