Reviews - The Odyssey | The StoryGraph

7.43k reviews for:

The Odyssey

Homer

3.72 AVERAGE

mysticwrites's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous funny tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

beautiful translation from emily wilson

Content Warnings

hillsh's review against another edition

4.0

5/5 for the translation itself (emily wilson i love you), docked a point bc the story itself is not a a 5 star read for me personally. anyway, that rocked!! very enjoyable to read, and really appreciated the thought the book put into thinking about gender, class, and colonization of the story.

rachelmnly's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

lindavadgaard's review against another edition

2.75

adventurous challenging funny reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

jessssicapn's review against another edition

5.0

is this not about our bonds with people? beautiful, beautiful bonds made to be broken and rebuilt? odysseus and telemachus, odysseus and penelope, odysseus and argus (!), penelope and her maids, athene and zeus, agamemnon and his betrayal by clytmenstra (although, fair enough), and of course the thing that truly got me was the beauty of achillies and patroclus’ burial after the trojan war had ended. who would not want to be buried in a godly urn for eternity with their most beloved? i loved the discussions in hades hall, circe, the competitions of strength, scylla’s wrath, and the homeric terror of the wine-dark sea. there was little gore, which is a shame as that is a virtue of the iliad. i need to reread the iliad.

pastellus's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I will always favour the Iliad vastly over the Odyssey, that being said, there's no denying what a masterful and endlessly influential work of literature this is.

While my enjoyment of it dwindles in the second half, certain translations make it truly enjoyable to read, and in the case of this read in particular, reading Rodney Merrill's out-loud was such a delight!