A Modern Odyssey: Finding Homer in the 21st Century
Written By Mila (Library of Alexandria Archives)
The Odyssey by Homer is one of the most read, loved and studied epics in the whole world. It gives the reader, be it a scholar or a newbie, a profound understanding of the Greek world in which the deities, mythical creatures and rituals hold a high importance. It introduces a wide array of characters from the ever-cunning Odysseus to his equally cunning wife Penelope to even the beautiful sorceress Calypso as well as the various deities such as Athena, Hermes, and Zeus.
As someone who always loved stories and now am in the Classical Studies program at university, it was expected of me to like Homer. Unfortunately, that did not happen right away. I knew the story of The Odyssey as every other well-read human probably does because it is such a pivotal story in western literature that it is known, or at least heard of, by most of the world. I got a copy of The Odyssey when I was perhaps in my early teen years and at that time, I was still 100% obsessed with Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Yeah, I was THAT nerd.
You are probably wondering "if you got your copy in your early teens, why are you writing as if you started liking Homer just recently?"
Well, that is because it is true. One of the most famous translations of The Odyssey is that by Robert Fagles. Cool cover and the pages have an old feel to them which is quite fitting if you consider the fact that is in an old epic.
But BOY is it hard to get into.
Simply put, the translation, its poetry, just as the original epic is but it is this type of translation where it is one that would be more adequate for in-depth studying like in an academia setting rather than one for leisure. Kuddos to those that read this translation for fun though.
I had tried, for years to get past the first 4 books, also known as the Telemachy, but I could barely get past the second book. Why? I think it was because the translation was rather heavy and just did not flow the way I wanted or expected it to. I had to sit down and read it slowly in order to gain all the information needed and while it's not a bad thing to read slowly, I thought that it being epic poetry, it would be easy to go through because that is what translations are made to do: it is made to ease the reader's reading experience while still understanding all that is being said without relying too harshly on reading between the lines.
During the time that I had tried to get through the first few books, I did not think to search up whether or not there were other translations of The Odyssey because I didn't buy my Fagles translation, it was given to me as a gift from a family member and I didn't think to question his choice of translation. Besides, I had not really been involved in researching books I want to read because again, I was obssessed with Percy Jackson and I was one of those people that thought the peak of YA was Divergent. Major cringe.
Erica’s photo of The Iliad at the archaeological site of Troy
In grade 11, I took a class called English Literature. In it, we studied various things: epics, poems, and novels. One thing we studied was in fact The Odyssey and The Iliad. Did it give me more of a push to finally read The Odyssey front-to-back? Unfortunately not, because I actually did not read much of what we had to (don't do that guys, not a good habit) and we also had two different translations, the Robert Fitzgerald translation of The Odyssey and the Robert Fagles translation of The Iliad. I guess it kind of makes sense why those translations still did not hit the mark in making me want to read the epics or even just The Odyssey (which is the one I grew up hearing the most about to be fair). To be fair, I did write a really awesome "lost book" of The Odyssey involving the Amazons, Odysseus' men being idiots (because why would they listen to the princesses of the Island that they have lived on their whole lives?) and a Griffin (in this case, a very good Griffin). Oh, and did I mention Apollo extended sunlight during the time that Odysseus and his crew were on the island just to see how it all went down?
It was not until I started university and started posting more on my Instagram account that I TRULY discovered the many translations that were available of The Odyssey. There were the ones I was familiar with: Robert Fagles, Robert Fitzgerald and then there was one of the newest ones by Emily Wilson that had quite a lot of hype (perhaps that will be the next one I will read...)
I had been researching about the Wilson translation and asked, on my Instagram stories, whether the Wilson translation would be a good place to start and explained my situation regarding the Fagles translation. I found it interesting because this was being labelled as the first ever translation of The Odyssey by a woman and that there had been some very particular changes when compared to every other translation, which were done by white males. The ever so lovely Eirene answered and said that if I wanted a good translation, I should probably check out the E.V. Rieu translation. She explained that it was more prose and since it read like a novel, it was probably going to be easier for me to read. She also explained that she understood where I was coming from regarding the Fagles translation which was a nice reminder that not every translation thrown at you is going to be the right one for you. One might adore the Fagles translation while another might be wary of it and so forth.
I must admit, I was slightly wary as to the prose-like translation and thought to myself: aren't like the translations supposed to be read like an epic poem and NOT like a novel? I thought about it for a bit because I had felt a bit guilty to be honest. Reading a prose translation? of an epic POEM? Yeah okay, seems slightly sketchy. Then I realized one important thing: it does not matter whether it is prose or poetry, it is still a valid translation. I searched it up and found out that the E.V. Rieu translation is the same Penguins Classics translation I would constantly see every classicist having on their shelves on Instagram (and YouTube too). So, I went and found it and downloaded it onto my wonderful reading device called...the Kobo (yes, I have a Kobo).
Here began the moment of truth: Is this the translation that was finally going to find my attention to the point me not being able to put it down?
I sure hoped so.
I started reading and wow, I was very taken aback for sure. The translation started off with the usual invocation to the Muse, but I actually felt it. Sure, Fagles translation was good but Rieu's was great. I felt like I was the bard, the poet that was making the invocation to the Muse, I was in Ancient Greece surrounded by other people who were so ready to listen to this story. In short,I felt transported back in time and I finally felt like how everyone expected me to feel about the Ancient world: at home.
I still felt guilty though. Again, Homer is epic poetry not a novel. I feel like this was one of the sources of my inability to be able to get into Homer. The most complicated translations kept on appearing in my life, never letting me to just sit down and sink into the story but instead somehow forcing me to always be on guard for hidden messages, deeper meanings, theories, how the way it is translated could affect the story and my perception of it. The question was still at the back of my mind: How worth it was this translation?
Nevertheless, I continued reading because I was, for the first time in all my years of being obssessed with all things Greek mythology and history, I finally understood why Homer was so loved and why people, especially classicists, take so much comfort in The Odyssey (as well as The Iliad but for in this case, we are talking about The Odyssey) as much as I took comfort in the Percy Jackson books, specifically The Lightning Thief (the book that started it all) and The Titan's Curse (in which Percy literally shows he will go to the ends of the Earth to find Annabeth, Zoe Nightshade *cries, the Di Angelo siblings ... but moving on).
Surprisingly, I sped through the Telemachy. I sometimes do find it easier to tackle some books on my Kobo as an e-book because I am not intimidated by things like how big the book is or how many pages I have until the next chapter: kinda ironic but my Kobo actually shows it automatically which is kinda nice. Also, if the physical copy is big and heavy, I would rather lug around the small 6' Kobo I have that has the capacity of holding a lot of books rather than lugging around a big book (I do love big books, do not come at me for that).
The thing that struck me the most about Rieu's Telemachy versus that of Fagles is that Rieu's translation really touched with the emotions the characters were experiencing. Telemachus barely knows his father and grew up just hearing great things about him. He has grown up with suitors ruining his livestock, draining the wine storage, and trying to convince his mother to marry one of them. The goddess Athena tells him to travel to the palaces of the friends of Odysseus and ask them about his father. Whilst visiting, the kings tell stories of what they had experienced and Telemachus cries.
He CRIES.
You can obviously guess why I was so touched by it and why it has marked a spot in my mind. In the modern world, there is not much in any genre of literature where a male character cries or even shows any other emotion rather than happy or angry without being labelled as "depressed", something that society still frowns upon because its mental health related and it is all "in the heads of these youngsters". Obviously when Rieu translated this, toxic masculinity probably still had a firm root in society. It for sure still has a firm hold of society but...that is a discussion of another day.
Rieu just brings the character to life. I do believe that Fagles translation is one of the most popular ones that comes close when it comes to the poetry part of The Odyssey being epic poetry but wow, Rieu really blows it out of the water.
It is slightly sad that amongst non-academics, ordinary people that do not study ancient history for a living and just read Homer because it is on a list of "100 books to read before you die", Rieu's translation is not known whatsoever. It probably is known if people have friends who are in the classic’s academia circle but other than that, Fagles translation (and currently the new translation by Emily Wilson) does get all the praise and hype.
I think that if I had been introduced to Rieu's translation first, I would have found Homer earlier. I do not think it is a bad thing that I found the translation now, I am much older, more aware, and certainly smarter and wiser than I was when I got Fagles translation. While I am still dipping my toes into the waters of Homer, I hope I will get used to the waters and prepare to take a full dive soon. Not just into the Iliad by Homer as well but into the other ancient classics that I am always so intimidated by such as Herodotus' Histories, the Campaigns of Alexander by Arrian and other texts.
There is a reason there are so many translations of Homer because it is an ancient text and everyone can interpret the words a little differently. That is also the reason people find Homer intimidating. They ask questions such as "Where do I start?" or "Why can't I just watch the movies?". Everyone will have a different translation they are drawn to. I know some who prefer Fagles translation of the Iliad, not The Odyssey and I know another who adores the Wilson translation of The Odyssey.
We are all different, if we all liked the same translation, what is the point of reading epics if we all take the same thing away from it? It would be boring and linear, something the ancient world was not, is not and probably never will be. There are constantly new discoveries of ancient texts and sites which alter what we know of the ancient world bit by bit, but which also help piece together the puzzle. Humans were never linear either. In a thousand years from now, people will look back and still learn about us, hopefully with the same fascination as we have for the ancient world. Do not be scared of the ancient world.
This is the end of this piece, but it is just the beginning of my journey through ancient texts. The whole point of this article, so to speak, is to show that falling in love with something people expected you to fall in love with instantly takes time and if you fall in love with it, years down the line, that is perfectly valid.
As for Homer's The Odyssey: I would 100% recommend Rieu's translation and no, I do not feel guilty about loving it just because it is not poetry. At its core, it is Homer through and through and I finally feel like I am home after being lost for years at sea, just like dear Odysseus was.
A Bit About the Author, Mila:
Hi! I'm Mila, creator of the Library of Alexandria Archives, a special part of the Library of Alexandria where we can read books and chat and learn about new things! I currently go to university and I'm in the Classical Studies program! I love learning new things and I also try to read as diversely as possible and try to give book recs as much as I can! I'm quite fond of supporting local libraries and try to promote using them as much I can. I'm still discovering the Ancient world so if you're interested, come and join us! No guarantee of snacks but tea and coffee always available!
Follow Mila on Instagram for more book recommendations and classics info!
