The Odyssey

originally written by Homer
retold by Barbara Leoni Picard


What can I say about this book? It was wonderful. The story of the great King of Ithaca, Odysseus, and his travels after the Trojan War (the setting for Homer's Illiad). Odysseus left his home on Ithaca to fight at the great city of Troy. That war raged on for 10 years before it was over. For 10 years the Greeks all were away from their homes. And finally, the moment came to return home. Odysseus was especially eager to return home, as he left his wife a young bride with a new baby- one who never knew his father. Poor Odysseus is met with challenge after challenge on his return home. Many bits of this story are familiar to anyone with a knowledge of Greek Mythology. One of the very first missteps of Odysseus is on the island of the Cyclops, where he manages to blind the son of a great Greek God. In revenge, the God curses the remainder of Odysseus's voyage. And so his journey continues for another agonizing 10 years before he find his home again.

Meanwhile, we also meet his son and find out the state of affairs in Ithaca. They are not good. Suitors upon suitors have been attempting to woo the heart of fair Penelope, who still holds onto hope of seeing her husband return-even after 20 years. The story finishes grandly, and I feel ever the more richer for having read it.

This was a wonderful story. I have read The Iliad before, but never The Odyssey. I thoroughly enjoyed The Iliad, so I was looking forward to this one. Interestingly enough, both stories were actually originally poems. Many versions of both can be found in the poetic form- much like Shakespeare is poetic, and at times, needs to be deciphered. But for this particular story I chose a young adult version that had been translated into story form. It was truly entertaining, and a fairly easy read, since it was a YA version. I highly recommend The Odyssey, although it wasn't exactly an adventure on the high seas like I had hoped. Very little actually happened on sea. I still enjoyed it though, and challenge anyone who hasn't read it to do so- you will be grandly rewarded for your efforts.