Homer

by Homer and George Steiner

Book Overview

This concise book is an ideal introduction to Homer - the poet and his two great epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey . Student-friendly introduction to Homer. Provides historical background and literary readings of the Iliad and the Odyssey . Makes use of the author's own original research. Assumes no prior knowledge of Greek.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0631233865
• ISBN13: 9780631233862
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

For the Love of Homer...

I have to say that ever since I stumbled upon this book in a used bookshop my love for Homer has increased immesurably! It features samples from The Iliad and Odyssey from just about every translator up until 1994. Comparing various prose, verse and ryhming translations by famous and non-famous translators and poets of the past proves to be an incredible source of inspiration and wisdom! "Homer in Translation" can provide anyone who is looking into Homer academically or personally with more than enough comparative translations to NOT have to go out and purchase a few different copies of the Iliad or Odyssey. (It is good to own at least 2 of each). I find that comparing Homer gives me the utmost joy and pleasure, and now having a glimpse of excerpts on the art of translating, my joy is fulfilled, and I guarantee yours will be too! Take care!

The best thing going

Powell is a leading Homer scholar and this is simply the best single book to read alongside the Iliad and Odyssey and attain a round sense of the Homeric poems, Homeric scholarship, and the socio-historical milieu that produced them. It is appropriate for undergraduates and I assign it in my courses on Homer.

concise introduction

This book is a precise and concise beautiful introduction to the poetry, the text, the philological issues, the history and the 'Homer-question' of the Illiad and the Odyssey. By 'concise' I mean up to the point that satisfies a non-specialist reader without burdening too much details. This book serves the purposes of a specialist reader and an outsider as well with good bibliography. However the philological problem may not have been introduced at the beginning, on the contrary the section on "Readers' Homer" may have been the choice for the first section. However that may be the author's choice as he is an experienced professor. The classroom experience must have been the reason for this. I myself has been on the look for just this type of introduction on Homer.

Who nneds to read Homer?

hey, if you read this book, you don't have to read the boring old ilid and odyssey, cause their summarized right here, hooray! this book is good.

Samples of translations plus related writings.

Ever since I read Keats' poem "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer," I've been looking for a copy or at least a sample of his words. Chapman was a contemporary of Shakespeare and his words are wonderful. But this book is more than a compilation of snippets from various translators. It includes related writings from Keats (the above poem, of course), Shelley, Chaucer, James Joyce's description of the young Homer and other authors. For Homerphiles, it is a nice book to have and a source that points to other authors who have also been smitten with the ancient bard.