Homer's epic poem follows Odysseus on his perilous ten-year journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, encountering mythical creatures and divine intervention in this foundational work of Ancient Greek literature from around 700 BCE. Samuel Butler's accessible translation captures both the adventure and the deeper themes of loyalty, perseverance, and the meaning of home that have resonated with readers for nearly three millennia.
Tell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could not save his men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them from ever reaching home. Tell me, too, about all these things, oh daughter of Jove, from whatsoever source you may know them. So now all who escaped death in battle or by shipwreck had got safely home except Ulysses, and he, though he was longing to return to his wife and country, was detained by the goddess Calypso, who had got him into a large cave and wanted to marry him. But as years went by, there came a time wh…Continue reading →
This is the Samuel Butler translation, a public-domain English text. Marginalia presents it unabridged, with chapter navigation, your reading position saved, and optional AI commentary on any passage.
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