The Essential Odyssey

This generous abridgment of Stanley Lombardo’s translation of the Odyssey offers more than half of the epic, including all of its best-known episodes and finest poetry, while providing concise summaries for omitted books and passages. Sheila Murnaghan’s Introduction, a shortened version of her essay for the unabridged edition, is ideal for readers new to this remarkable tale of the homecoming of Odysseus.

SKU
26659g

Homer
Translated and Edited by Stanley Lombardo
Introduction by Sheila Murnaghan

2007 - 288 pp.

Ebook edition available for $9.75, see purchasing links below.

Grouped product items
Format ISBN Price Qty
Cloth 978-0-87220-900-8
$32.00
Paper 978-0-87220-899-5
$11.50
Instructor Examination (Review) Copy 978-0-87220-899-5
$2.00

This generous abridgment of Stanley Lombardo’s translation of the Odyssey offers more than half of the epic, including all of its best-known episodes and finest poetry, while providing concise summaries for omitted books and passages. Sheila Murnaghan’s Introduction, a shortened version of her essay for the unabridged edition, is ideal for readers new to this remarkable tale of the homecoming of Odysseus. 

Comments on the Lombardo Odyssey:

"[Lombardo] has brought his laconic wit and love of the ribald. . . to his version of the Odyssey.  His carefully honed syntax gives the narrative energy and a whirlwind pace. The lines, rhythmic and clipped, have the tautness and force of Odysseus' bow."
     —Chris Hedges, The New York Times Book Review

"Lombardo has done it again: he has rendered the Odyssey into English just as accurate, as perspicuous, and as gripping as that in his Iliad.  Lombardo's translation is enhanced by Sheila Murnaghan's characteristically lucid and accurate Introduction, which will be a boon to teachers of undergraduates (or even high school students)."
     —John Kirby, Professor of Classics and Comparative Literature, Purdue University

"Lombardo has created a Homeric voice for his contemporaries: fresh, quick, and verbally engaging to the modern ear, as the original was to the ancient.  His characters come alive as real people expressing real feelings with urgency and verve."
     —Joseph Russo, Professor of Classics, Emeritus, Haverford College

"The definitive English version of Homer for our time."
     —The Common Review: The Magazine of the Great Books Foundation

 

About the Authors:

Stanley Lombardo is Professor of Classics, University of Kansas.  His previous translations include Homer's Iliad (1997, Hackett) and Odyssey (2000, Hackett), Hesiod's Works & Days and Theogony (1993, Hackett), and Sappho, Poems and Fragments (2002, Hackett), a PEN Center USA 2003 Literary Award Finalist.

Sheila Murnaghan is Professor of Classical Studies, University of Pennsylvania.