Audiobook · read by volunteers
Odyssey
Homer
Read by Kirsten Ferreri, TriciaG, JemmaBlythe, Gesine, Hugh McGuire, ontheroad, Reynard T. Fox, Robin Cotter, David Barnes, Kurt Wong · 24 chapters · 11 h 18
About the book
Ten years after the fall of Troy, Odysseus is still trying to get home. His palace in Ithaca is full of arrogant suitors, his son Telemachus has grown up without him, and his wife Penelope keeps her patience and her wits. Between him and his hearth lie monsters, enchantresses, a visit to the world of the dead and the long anger of a god of the sea.
Homer’s Odyssey is one of the oldest and most influential stories in the Western tradition, a poem of travel, cunning and endurance. This recording uses Samuel Butler’s clear prose translation, which keeps the narrative moving and lets the adventures speak for themselves. In twenty-four books and just over eleven hours, you can follow the hero from island to island and discover why audiences have been returning to this homecoming for nearly three thousand years.
Introduction
The Odyssey is one of the two major epic poems of ancient Greece, attributed to Homer, the other being the Iliad. Scholars usually date its composition to somewhere between 800 and 600 BC. Nothing certain is known about Homer as a person, and the poems probably grew out of a long tradition of oral storytelling before they were written down. In a sense the Odyssey is a sequel to the Iliad, since it deals with the aftermath of the Trojan War, and it follows the hero Odysseus on his long journey home to Ithaca.
The poem is divided into twenty-four books. It mixes adventure, domestic drama and reflection, and it has been a model for storytellers ever since. Its themes include hospitality, loyalty, cleverness and the longing for home. Many of its episodes, such as the encounter with the one-eyed Cyclops and the temptation of the Sirens, have entered everyday culture.
The version recorded here is the English prose translation by Samuel Butler, first published around 1900. Butler, who was also a novelist and satirist, wanted to produce a version that read plainly and naturally, and he succeeded in making the story clear and brisk. The recording consists of 24 sections, matching the books of the poem, and runs for about eleven hours. It is read by volunteers for LibriVox.
Why listen now? Because the Odyssey was meant to be heard. It began as a performed story, and listening restores something of that original experience. It is also one of the best adventure tales ever told, and it asks a question that never loses its force: what does it mean to come home?
Public domain
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text