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Odyssey guide (1)

An essential guide to The Odyssey

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The Penguin books that ignited a pop culture phenomenon

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The ultimate Eurovision-inspired reading list

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Penguin Classics at 75: five landmark books that shaped the iconic series

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10 things you didn’t know about the legendary women of Troy

A New Translation by Daniel Mendelsohn

The Odyssey

'The best translation of The Odyssey yet' Telegraph 
 
'Fast, fluent, thrilling, and a hugely impressive' Lee Child 
 
NOW A MAJOR FILM DIRECTED BY CHRISTOPHER NOLAN 
 
With his Odyssey, best-selling author and classicist Daniel Mendelsohn has created a momentous new work, hailed by classicists and poets alike – a translation to stand with those of E. V. Rieu and Robert Fagles. 
 
Setting aside the streamlining, modernizing approach of many recent translations, Mendelsohn artfully reproduces the epic’s formal qualities – meter, enjambment, alliteration, assonance – and in so doing restores to Homer’s master work its archaic grandeur. His expansive six-beat line, far closer to the original than that of other recent translations, allows him to capture each of Homer’s verses line for line, without sacrificing the amplitude and shadings of the original. 
 
The result is the richest, most precise, and most musical Odyssey in English, one that fully conveys its oral poetics while bringing to vivid life the gripping adventure, profound human insight and powerful themes that make Homer’s work resonate some twenty-eight centuries after its composition. Supported by an extensive introduction and the fullest notes and commentary currently available, Mendelsohn’s Odyssey is poised to become the authoritative English-language version of this magnificent, endlessly enjoyable masterpiece. 
 
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ANGLO-HELLENIC LEAGUE RUNCIMAN AWARD 2026

Mendelsohn steers an impeccable course between sounding contemporary and preserving the melancholy and grandeur of the Greek… Mendelsohn brilliantly conveys how Homeric lines roll forward hypnotically... The highest compliment I can pay Mendelsohn is that his translation of my favourite episode, Odysseus’s heroic swim to Phaeacia, is the most excitingly energetic I’ve ever read

This may well be the best translation of Homer’s poem yet. Mendelsohn’s rendering is highly readable – monsters, thrashing swims and wine-dark seas churn to life – and yet, thrillingly, it stays faithful to the original metre. Christopher Nolan’s upcoming adaptation won’t rival this

History's greatest adventure story brought to us anew by America's greatest living classicist—this is fast, fluent, thrilling, and a hugely impressive accomplishment

Readers, especially students of the poem, looking for a version of the Odyssey with a learned introduction, insightful notes and a scrupulous adherence to the sound and sense of the original will find here the Mentor they they are looking for

Daniel Mendelsohn has accomplished something that no recent translator has done so well: a translation that shows a striking fidelity not only to the poem’s language and thought but also to its formal properties

Daniel Mendelsohn’s Odyssey is a majestic living poem, keenly responsive to the surge and subtlety of Homer’s Greek ... A momentous achievement

The expertly crafted work of a true scholar-poet, Mendelsohn’s rich and rhythmical version hews closely to the Homeric verse-line – it feels like the original … this superb translation will entice new audiences to delight in the ancient epic

Here is the timeless Homeric river remade with timely majesty, molecule by glistening molecule

His knowledge as a renowned classicist, his ear and eye for sound and image, his acuity in rendering the circuitous yet also self-arresting syntax, and his ingeniously faithful line-by-hexameter-line rendering, make for what will surely be the edition for our time and beyond … [a] triumph

Daniel Mendelsohn's Odyssey is a vividly rendered experience that feels inward and mesmerizing … take[s] us deeply into the experience itself through an intense focus on speech and sounds, which are the essence of poetr

Mendelsohn is gifted with a wonderful surefootedness of imagination, an almost mystic insight into both the homely and the terrible beauties of antiquity... He has given us a lithe, deft, psychologically nuanced Odyssey. Timeless, cadenced, thrilling, and humane

Neither jarringly contemporary nor distractingly archaic, Daniel Mendelsohn's brilliant and necessary translation of The Odyssey is a testament to the enduring power and grace and beauty of Homer's narrative

This Odyssey brilliantly succeeds in its ambitious plan to provide a worthy companion for our time to Richmond Lattimore’s classic Iliad. Mendelsohn’s long and flexible dactylic lines are eminently readable while communicating the heft and dignity of what the Greeks called Homer’s ‘heroic’ hexameter. With a scholarly and personal Introduction that sets out the major themes of the poem, Mendelsohn’s Odyssey will put all who read (and teach) the poem in English in possession of the most illuminating insights of modern scholarship while equipping them to understand the epic sympathetically and to appreciate the artistry of this astonishing work of ancient art and its uncannily modern hero

Following the roundabout journey of its hero and the seductive rhythm of lines packed with music and meaning, Mendelsohn’s fresh and vigorous translation reminds me that what is at the heart of Homer’s epic—for all its sea-soaked adventures and creatures and gods—is entrancing poetry. His Odyssey is a homecoming worthy of the pleasure and dignity and endurance of the original.

With his Odyssey, best-selling author and classicist Daniel Mendelsohn has created a momentous new work, hailed by classicists and poets alike – a translation to stand with those of E. V. Rieu and Robert Fagles.Setting aside the streamlining, modernizing approach of many recent translations, Mendelsohn artfully reproduces the epic’s formal qualities – meter, enjambment, alliteration, assonance – and in so doing restores to Homer’s master work its archaic grandeur. His expansive six-beat line, far closer to the original than that of other recent translations, allows him to capture each of Homer’s verses line for line, without sacrificing the amplitude and shadings of the original. 
 
The result is the richest, most precise, and most musical Odyssey in English, one that fully conveys its oral poetics while bringing to vivid life the gripping adventure, profound human insight and powerful themes that make Homer’s work resonate some twenty-eight centuries after its composition. Supported by an extensive introduction and the fullest notes and commentary currently available, Mendelsohn’s Odyssey is poised to become the authoritative English-language version of this magnificent, endlessly enjoyable masterpiece.

The Wrath of Achilles

90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books 
 
On the fields of Troy, war is raging. At its centre is Achilles: godlike, swift-footed, the greatest champion of the Greeks. But when his pride is wounded and he refuses to fight, the thread of fate begins to spin . . . From frenzied rampages to intimate moments of grief, this selection from Homer’s Iliad traces the tale of a warrior whose name echoes through the ages, and whose story remains as powerful as ever.

Homer is thought to have lived c.750-700 BC in Ionia and is believed to be the author of the earliest works of Western Literature: The Odyssey and The Iliad. E. V. Rieu was a celebrated translator from Latin and Greek, and editor of Penguin Classics from 1944-64. His son, D C H Rieu, has revised his work. Peter Jones is former lecturer in Classics at Newcastle. He co-founded the 'Friends of Classics' society and is the editor of their journal and a columnist for The Spectator.

On the fields of Troy, war is raging. At its centre is Achilles: godlike, swift-footed, the greatest champion of the Greeks. But when his pride is wounded and he refuses to fight, the thread of fate begins to spin . . . From frenzied rampages to intimate moments of grief, this selection from Homer’s Iliad traces the tale of a warrior whose name echoes through the ages, and whose story remains as powerful as ever.

The Iliad

READ THE STORY BEHIND THE NEW BBC/NETFLIX EPIC SERIES, TROY: FALL OF A CITY 
 
A stunning new translation of Homer's great war epic, the legendary tale of honour, love, loss and revenge during the fall of the city of Troy.

Caroline Alexander's Iliad is miraculous. It has the rhythms and even the lineation of the original Homeric text. Its language conveys the precise meaning of the Greek in a sinewy yet propulsive style that drives the reader inexorably forward. In my judgement, this new translation is far superior to the familiar and admired work of Lattimore, Fitzgerald and Fagles

G.W. Bowersock, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

Of the many new translations of Homer’s poem that have come out in the past two or three years, perhaps the most highly readable is Caroline Alexander’s. Thought to be the first woman to have Englished the poem, Alexander embraces Matthew Arnold’s four essential Homeric qualities: rapidity, plainness of style, simplicity of ideas and nobility of manner, in lines that ebb and flow with the tide of battle. The book wears its learning lightly, the introduction pitching the Iliad as the ultimate anti-war poem.

The Homeric Iliad originates from a rich tradition of performing song. It was meant to be heard. True to the living word of the original Greek, Caroline Alexander’s new translation invites us to engage directly with this tradition. When I read her verses I can almost hear the music of Homeric performance.

Professor Gregory Nagy, Professor of Classical Greek Literarture, Harvard University

Caroline Alexander has done admirably in rendering the meaning of the Homeric text faithfully and suitably dignified language. The format gives a genuine sense of reading a verse epic. Her line-numbers match the Greek, which will make this version convenient for use by college teachers and students

Martin West, Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford

This powerful and readable version of the Iliad is modern without sacrificing the accuracy, energy, or the seriousness of the original. It is a toss-up between Alexander’s translation and Lattimore’s version

There is an epic poise to this new translation, whose varied line lengths ebb and flow with the tides of battle… Translucent, readable and recitable.

Caroline Alexander is the author of seven books of non-fiction including the international bestsellers The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition and The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty. A contributing writer for National Geographic, Alexander has also written for the New Yorker, Smithsonian and Granta among other publications. Alexander’s latest books are Lost Gold of the Dark Ages: War, Treasure and the Mystery of the Saxons and The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of the Iliad and the Trojan War. Between 1982 and 1985, Alexander established a department of Classics at the University of Malawi, in central-east Africa.

Read this stunning translation of Homer's great war epic, the legendary tale of honour, love, loss and revenge during the fall of the city of Troy. 
 
 
High on Olympus, Zeus and the assembled deities look down on the world of men, to the city of Troy where a bitter and bloody war has dragged into its tenth year, and a quarrel rages between a legendary warrior and his commander. Greek ships decay, men languish, exhausted, and behind the walls of Troy a desperate people await the next turn of fate. 
 
 
This is the Iliad: an ancient story of enduring power; magnetic characters defined by stirring and momentous speeches; a panorama of human lives locked in a heroic struggle beneath a mischievous or indifferent heaven. Above all, this is a tale of the devastation, waste and pity of war. 
 
 
Caroline Alexander's virtuoso translation captures the rhythms and energy of Homer's original Greek while making the text as accessible as possible to a modern reader, accompanied by extensive extra material to provide a background to the poem. 
 
 
The result of 3,000 years of story-telling, Homer’s epic tale of the fall of Troy has resonated with every age and every human conflict: this is the Iliad at its most electrifying and vital.

Circe and the Cyclops

'You must be Odysseus, man of twists and turns...' 
 
The tales of Odysseus's struggle with a man-eating Cyclops and Circe, the beautiful enchantress who turns men into swine. 
 
Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. 
 
Next to nothing is known about Homer's life. His works available in Penguin Classics are The Homeric Hymns, The Iliad and The Odyssey.

A stunning Penguin clothbound edition of Homer's great epic, in E. V. Rieu's classic translation. 
 
The Iliad is the first and the greatest literary achievement of Greek civilization - an epic poem without rival in the literature of the world, and the cornerstone of Western culture. The story centres on the critical events in the last year of the Trojan War, which lead to Achilleus' killing of Hektor and determine the fate of Troy. But Homer's theme is not simply war or heroism. With compassion and humanity, he presents a universal and tragic view of the world, of human life lived under the shadow of suffering and death, set against a vast and largely unpitying divine background.. 
 
Seven Greek cities claim the honour of being the birthplace of Homer (c. 8th-7th century BC), the poet to whom the composition of The Iliad and The Odyssey was attributed. The Iliad is the oldest surviving work of Western literature, but the identity - or even the existence - of Homer himself is a complete mystery, with no reliable biographical information having survived. 
 
E. V. Rieu initiated Penguin Classics with Allen Lane and his famous translation of The Odyssey was the first book published in the series in 1947. The Iliad followed in 1950.

Penguin Classics

NOW A MAJOR FILM DIRECTED BY CHRISTOPHER NOLAN 
 
Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. 
 
The epic tale of Odysseus and his ten-year journey home after the Trojan War forms one of the earliest and greatest works of Western literature. Confronted by natural and supernatural threats - shipwrecks, battles, monsters and the implacable enmity of the sea-god Poseidon - Odysseus must use his wit and native cunning if he is to reach his homeland safely and overcome the obstacles that, even there, await him. 
 
Cover may vary.

Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. 
 
The epic tale of Odysseus and his ten-year journey home after the Trojan War forms one of the earliest and greatest works of Western literature. Confronted by natural and supernatural threats - shipwrecks, battles, monsters and the implacable enmity of the sea-god Poseidon - Odysseus must use his wit and native cunning if he is to reach his homeland safely and overcome the obstacles that, even there, await him. 
 
Cover may vary.

Translated by Robert Fitzgerald

The best poetic version of The Odyssey to have appeared this century - Hugh Lloyd-Jones

Discover the classic that inspired the blockbuster film 
 
‘The best poetic version of The Odyssey to have appeared this century’ Hugh Lloyd-Jones 
 
Penelope has been waiting for her husband Odysseus to return from Troy for many years. Little does she know that his path back to her has been blocked by astonishing and terrifying trials. 
 
Will he overcome the hideous monsters, beautiful witches and treacherous seas that confront him? 
 
This rich and beautiful adventure story is one of the most influential works of literature in the world.

Homer's Odyssey is still enchanting readers after thousands of years

Surely the best and truest Odyssey in the English language

Fitzgerald is taking his place beside Chapman and Pope in the unbroken lineage of English Homeric translations...it has the economy and soar of a poet

A strong salty flavour of its own. And it makes you see things

The Homeric poems are interesting...because of the way in which they present human shocks and surprises... It is the surprising twist that war brings to the domestic...which makes Homer repeatedly shocking

Of all bookes extant in all kinds, Homer is the first and best...writ from a free furie, an absolute and full soule

Penelope has been waiting for her husband Odysseus to return from Troy for many years. Little does she know that his path back to her has been blocked by astonishing and terrifying trials. Will he overcome the hideous monsters, beautiful witches and treacherous seas that confront him? This rich and beautiful adventure story is one of the most influential works of literature in the world.

This is an Odyssey to treasure for its sheer lyrical mastery.

NOW A MAJOR FILM DIRECTED BY CHRISTOPHER NOLAN 
 
When Robert Fagles' translation of The Iliad was published in 1990, critics and scholars alike hailed it as a masterpiece. Here, one of the great modern translators presents us with The Odyssey, Homer's best-loved poem, recounting Odysseus' wanderings after the Trojan War. With wit and wile, the 'man of twists and turns' meets the challenges of the sea-god Poseidon, and monsters ranging from the many-headed Scylla to the cannibalistic Cyclops Polyphemus - only to return after twenty years to a home besieged by his wife Penelope's suitors. In the myths and legends retold in this immortal poem, Fagles has captured the energy of Homer's original in a bold, contemporary idiom. 
 
'Wonderfully readable ... Just the right blend of roughness and sophistication' 
Ted Hughes 
 
'A memorable achievement ... Mr Fagles has been remarkably successful in finding a style that is of our time and yet timeless' 
Richard Jenkyns, The New York Times Book Review 
 
'His translation of The Odyssey is his best work yet' 
Garry Wills, New Yorker 
 
Translated by Robert Fagles 
With an introduction by Bernard Knox

Homer was probably born around 725BC on the Coast of Asia Minor, now the coast of Turkey, but then really a part of Greece. Homer was the first Greek writer whose work survives. Both works attributed to Homer – The Iliad and The Odyssey – are over ten thousand lines long in the original. 
 
 
Robert Fagles was Arthur W. Marks 1919 Professor of Comparative Literature at Princeton University and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

When Robert Fagles’ translation of The Iliad was published in 1990, critics and scholars alike hailed it as a masterpiece. Now one of the great translators of our time presents us with The Odyssey, Homer’s best-loved poem, recounting Odysseus’ wanderings after the Trojan War. 
 
With wit and wile, the 'man of twists and turns' meets the challenges of gods and monsters, only to return after twenty years to a home besieged by his wife’s suitors. In the myths and legends retold in this immortal poem, Fagles has captured the energy of Homer’s original in a bold, contemporary idiom.

A BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramatisation

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast production of Homer’s epic seafaring adventure, dramatised by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and starring Tim McInnerny, Benedict Cumberbatch, Amanda Redman & Adjoa Andoh.

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast production of Homer’s epic seafaring adventure, dramatised by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and starring Tim McInnerny, Benedict Cumberbatch, Amanda Redman & Adjoa Andoh. 
 
JOURNEY THROUGH ONE OF THE GREATEST ADVENTURES IN WESTERN STORYTELLING AND GREEK MYTHOLOGY 
 
'As irresistible as gravity ... a production so thrilling that it rapidly becomes unthinkable to press the stop - or even the pause - button' - Independent on Sunday 
 
‘My fame is written in the heavens, and my fate too...’ So speaks Odysseus as he starts to recount his struggles to sail home to Ithaca. 
 
In a twenty-year journey, fabulous fantasy mixes with extraordinary reality as Odysseus encounters enchantresses, nymphs, monsters, prophets and ghosts. From the temptations of the lotus flowers and the Sirens’ song to the horrors of the Cyclops’ cave and the Land of the Dead, the story of his encounters is riveting. We hear of Circe, who turned his men into swine; Calypso, who held Odysseus prisoner for seven years; and the dreadful six-headed monster Scylla who devoured some of his crew. And we hear of the Gods, who have a vital role to play.... 
 
'The Odyssey' is his incredible traveller’s tale – and also the story of his faithful wife Penelope who waits for him, besieged by suitors, and their son Telemachus who has a quest of his own. 
 
Dramatised by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage to celebrate the return of the Olympics to Athens, this full cast production brings Odysseus’s adventures to vivid life, conveying all the excitement, suspense and poetry of the original. A stunning aural rollercoaster ride, 'The Odyssey' will have your heart in your mouth and stir your soul. 
 
Cast and credits 
 
Odysseus – Tim McInnerny 
Penelope – Amanda Redman 
Telemachus – Benedict Cumberbatch 
Athena – Janet McTeer 
Zeus – John Wood 
Eurycleia – Mary Wimbush 
Hermes – Bertie Carvel 
King Alcinous – Geoffrey Whitehead 
Queen Arete – Cheryl Campbell 
Princess Nausicaa – Alice Hart 
Calypso – Adjoa Andoh 
The Cyclops – Barrie Rutter 
Antinous – Danny Webb 
Eurymachus – Jonathan Keeble 
Amphinomus – Chris Pavlo 
Eurylochus – Ewan Bailey 
Polites – John Rowe 
Elpenus – Stephen Hogan 
Eurybates – Philip Fox 
Antiphus/Shipmate – Jon Glover 
Eumaeus – Ioan Meredith 
Circe – Frances Barber 
Ghost of Anticleia – Joanna McCallum 
The Sirens: Elena Ferarri, Belinda Sykes, Harriet Williams 
 
Dramatised by Simon Armitage 
Directed by Janet Whitaker 
 © 2004 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2004 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

'Martin Hammond's modern prose version is the best and most accurate there has ever been' - Peter Levi in the Independent

'The best modern prose translation of The Iliad' Robin Lane Fox, The Times 
 
The first of the world's great tragedies, The Iliad centres on the pivotal four days towards the end of the ten-year war between the Greeks and the Trojans. In a series of dramatic set pieces, it follows the story of the humiliation of Achilleus at the hands of Agamemnon and his slaying of Hektor: a barbarous act with repercussions that ultimately determine the fate of Troy. The Iliad not only paints an intimate picture of individual experience, but also offers a universal perspective in which human loss and suffering are set against a vast and unpitying divine background where fickle, quarrelsome gods decide the fate of men. 
 
Translated with an Introduction by Martin Hammond

Much the best modern prose translation of the Iliad

This new prose translation of the Iliad is outstandingly good . . . to read it is to be gripped by it

Superbly direct and eloquent . . . by its sensitivity, fluency, and flexibility, it will win a permanent place on the shelves of Homer-lovers

Martin Hammond's new version is the best and most accurate there has ever been, as smooth as cream but as clear as water . . . Hammond's Iliad deserves to become a standard book

Surely the best Iliad in quite a few decades

Here is a fine Iliad for our times, to be read with great pleasure

The Greeks attributed both the Iliad and the Odyssey to a single poet whom they named Homer. Nothing is known of his life, though the main ancient tradition made him a native of the island of Chios in east Aegean. His date too is uncertain: most modern scholars place the composition of the Iliad in the second half of the eighth century BC. 
Martin Hammond has taught in England and in Greece. He has also translated the Odyssey. He is now Headmaster of Tonbridge School

The Iliad is the first and the greatest literary achievement of Greek civilisation - an epic poem without rival in the literature of the world, and the cornerstone of Western culture. 
The story of the Iliad centres on the critical events in the last year of the Trojan War, which lead to Achilleus' killing of Hektor and determine the fate of Troy. But Homer's theme is not simply war or heroism. With compassion and humanity, he presents a universal and tragic view of the world, of human life lived under the shadow of suffering and death, set against a vast and largely unpitying divine background. The Iliad is the first of the great tragedies.

The Homeric Hymns

The verses have influenced artists from the Renaissance onwards, from Botticelli to Shelley and Tennyson, Andre Gide and Stravinsky.

Originally attributed to Homer because of their style and quality, the hymns are now thought to have been written by of a number of different poets of the 7th and 6th centuries BC. 
Jules Cashford is a writer and lecturer on Mythology. She is the author of The Myth of the Goddess (Arkana, 1991) & The Myth of the Moon (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, forthcoming) 
Dr Nicholas Richardson is a Fellow in English at Merton College, Oxford

Composed for recitation at festivals, these 33 songs were written in honour of the gods and goddesses of the ancient Greek pantheon.  They recount the key episodes in the lives of the gods, and dramatise the moments when they first appear before mortals.  Together they offer the most vivid picture we have of the Greek view of the relationship between the divine and human worlds.

'The first great book, and the first great book about the suffering and loss of war' Guardian 
 
One of the foremost achievements in Western literature, Homer's Iliad tells the story of the darkest episode in the Trojan War. At its centre is Achilles, the greatest warrior-champion of the Greeks, who refuses to fight after being humiliated by his leader Agamemnon. But when the Trojan Hector kills Achilles' close friend Patroclus, he storms back into battle to take revenge - knowing this will ensure his own early death. E. V. Rieu's acclaimed translation of The Iliad was one of the first titles published in Penguin Classics, and now has classic status itself. 
 
Originally translated by E. V. RIEU 
Revised and updated by PETER JONES with D. C. H. RIEU 
Edited with an Introduction and notes by PETER JONES

Homer is thought to have lived c.750-700 BC in Ionia and is believed to be the author of the earliest works of Western Literature: The Odyssey and The Iliad. E V Rieu was a celebrated translator from Latin and Greek, and editor of Penguin Classics from 1944-64. His son, D C H Rieu, has revised his work. Peter Jones is former lecturer in Classics at Newcastle. He co-founded the 'Friends of Classics' society and is the editor of their journal and a columnist for The Spectator.

One of the foremost achievements in Western literature, Homer's Iliad tells the story of the darkest episode in the Trojan War. At its centre is Achilles, the greatest warrior-champion of the Greeks, and his refusal to fight after being humiliated by his leader Agamemnon. But when the Trojan Hector kills Achilles' close friend Patroclus, he storms back into battle to take revenge - although knowing this will ensure his own early death. Interwoven with this tragic sequence of events are powerfully moving descriptions of the ebb and flow of battle, of the domestic world inside Troy's besieged city of Ilium, and of the conflicts between the Gods on Olympus as they argue over the fate of mortals.

Homer (8th century BC), Greek epic poet to whom are attributed both the Iliad and the Odyssey. Robert Fagles was awarded the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation and a 1996 Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Art and Letters. Bernard Knox is a renowned classicist.

One of the greatest epics in Western literature, THE ILIAD recounts the story of the Trojan wars. This timeless poem still vividly conveys the horror and heroism of men and gods battling amidst devastation and destruction, as it moves to its tragic conclusion. In his introduction, Bernard Knox observes that although the violence of the Iliad is grim and relentless, it co-exists with both images of civilized life and a poignant yearning for peace.

The finest editions available of the world's greatest classics from Homer to Achebe, Tolstoy to Ishiguro, Proust to Pullman, printed on a fine acid-free, cream-wove paper that will not discolour with age, with sewn, full cloth bindings and silk ribbon markers, and at remarkably low prices. All books include substantial introductions by major scholars and contemporary writers, and comparative chronologies of literary and historical context.

Homer is a much-debated figure traditionally considered to have composed the two great oral poems The Odyssey and The Iliad in eighth or seventh-century-BC Greece

Homer's Odyssey is one of the supreme masterpieces of Western literature. Of this much acclaimed translation by Robert Fitzgerald, George Steiner has written, 'Fitzgerald is taking his place beside Chapman and Pope in the unbroken lineage of English Homeric translations...it has an economy and soar of a poet'. 
Introduced by Seamus Heaney.

One of the foremost achievements in Western literature, Homer's Iliad tells the story of the darkest episode of the Trojan War. At its center is Achilles, the greatest warrior-champion of the Greeks, and his conflict with his leader Agamemnon. Interwoven in the tragic sequence of events are powerfully moving descriptions of the ebb and flow of battle, the besieged city of Ilium, the feud between the gods, and the fate of mortals.

A work of tremendous influence that has inspired writers from his ancient Greek contemporaries to modernist writers such as T.S. Eliot, Homer's epic poem The Iliad is translated by Robert Fagles with an introduction and notes by Bernard Knox in Penguin Classics. 
 
One of the foremost achievements in Western literature, Homer's Iliad tells the story of the darkest episode in the Trojan War. At its centre is Achilles, the greatest warrior-champion of the Greeks, and his refusal to fight after being humiliated by his leader Agamemnon. But when the Trojan Hector kills Achilles' close friend Patroclus, Achilles storms back into battle to take revenge - although knowing this will ensure his own early death. Interwoven with this tragic sequence of events are powerfully moving descriptions of the ebb and flow of battle, of the domestic world inside Troy's besieged city of Ilium, and of the conflicts between the Gods on Olympus as they argue over the fate of mortals. 
 
Seven Greek cities claim the honour of being the birthplace of Homer (c. 8th-7th century BC), the poet to whom the composition of the Iliad and Odyssey are attributed. The Iliad is the oldest surviving work of Western literature, but the identity - or even the existence - of Homer himself is a complete mystery, with no reliable biographical information having survived. 
 
If you enjoyed The Iliad, you might like The Odyssey, also available in Penguin Classics. 
 
'An astonishing performance' 
Peter Levi 
 
'Plain and direct, noble, above all rapid ... leading the reader forward with an irresistible flow. [Fagles'] version is imbued with humanity' 
Oliver Taplin, The New York Times Book Review 
 
'Robert Fagles has given us an Iliad to read aloud: eloquent, rhythmical, and full of power' 
Jasper Griffin, Oxford University

Homer was probably born around 725BC on the Coast of Asia Minor, now the coast of Turkey, but then really a part of Greece. Homer was the first Greek writer whose work survives. Both works attributed to Homer &ndash; The Iliad and The Odyssey &ndash; are over ten thousand lines long in the original.

One of the foremost achievements in Western literature, Homer&rsquo;s Iliad tells the story of the darkest episode in the Trojan War. At its centre is Achilles, the greatest warrior-champion of the Greeks, and his refusal to fight after being humiliated by his leader Agamemnon. But when the Trojan Hector kills Achilles&rsquo; close friend Patroclus, he storms back into battle to take revenge &ndash; although knowing this will ensure his own early death. Interwoven with this tragic sequence of events are powerfully moving descriptions of the ebb and flow of battle, of the domestic world inside Troy&rsquo;s besieged city of Ilium, and of the conflicts between the Gods on Olympus as they argue over the fate of mortals.

A beautiful deluxe gift edition of Homer's sea-voyage epic with foiled covers, marbled endpapers, sprayed edges, beautiful paper and finished with a silk ribbon. 
 
Odysseus has been travelling home from the Trojan war for many years. His wife Penelope is still waiting. She cannot imagine the myriad trials and terrors that block his path back to her. This epic tale is full of hideous monsters, beautiful witches and treacherous seas, but it is also the story of an ordinary man, and a journey home. Homer’s rich and beautiful adventure story is one of the most influential works of literature in the world. 
 
This hardback is part of VINTAGE COLLECTOR’S CLASSICS, a series of luxurious books especially crafted for collectors and fans of beautiful special editions. Sumptuous design meets the highest quality production. Discover timeless classics beautifully bound for every bookshelf.

'Still enchanting readers after thousands of years'

'A strong salty flavour of its own. And it makes you see things.'

'The best poetic version of The Odyssey to have appeared this century'

Homer was traditionally considered to be an eighth century BC poet responsible for composing the two 
great Ancient Greek epics, The Iliad and The Odyssey. No information about Homer has survived and today there are many varied theories about the authorship of these two poems.

A beautiful deluxe gift edition of Homer's epic poem of gods and warriors, with foiled covers, marbled endpapers, sprayed edges, beautiful paper and finished with a silk ribbon. 
 
High on Mount Olympus, the gods look down on the world of men, to the city of Troy where a bitter and bloody war has dragged into its tenth year, and a quarrel rages between a legendary warrior and his commander. Greek ships decay, men languish, exhausted, and behind the walls of Troy a desperate people await the next turn of fate. This is the Iliad: an ancient story whose magnetic characters and moving speeches have an enduring power. 
 
This hardback is part of VINTAGE COLLECTOR’S CLASSICS, a series of luxurious books especially crafted for collectors and fans of beautiful special editions. Sumptuous design meets the highest quality production. Discover timeless classics beautifully bound for every bookshelf.

'Miraculous...conveys the precise meaning of the Greek in a sinewy yet propulsive style that drives the reader inexorably forwards'

'There is an epic poise to this new translation...Translucent, readable and recitable'

'When I read [Alexander's] verses I can almost hear the music of Homeric performance'

Professor Gregory Nagy, Harvard University

Homer was traditionally considered to be an eighth century BC poet responsible for composing the two 
great Ancient Greek epics, The Iliad and The Odyssey. No information about Homer has survived and today there are many varied theories about the authorship of these two poems.

Homer

Derek Jacobi

Benedict Cumberbatch

Christopher Eccleston

Iain Glen

Imogen Stubbs

Clive Mantle

Amanda Redman

Bertie Carvel

Mary Wimbush

Frances Barber

Adjoa Andoh

Tim McInnerney

Full Cast

Two Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramatisations

The ultimate, full-cast dramatisations of Homer’s two epic Greek masterpieces, with exceptional casts including Derek Jacobi, Christopher Eccleston, Tim McInnerny and Benedict Cumberbatch 
 
REDISCOVER THE EPIC MYTHS BEFORE YOU SEE CHRISTOPHER NOLAN'S MAJOR MOTION PICTURE 
 
Attributed to the Greek poet Homer, The Iliad and The Odyssey are among the greatest and most influential works of the past 3000 years, often claimed as the cornerstones of Western literature. These unmissable BBC dramas breathe new life into the classic stories, adding an extra dimension with stunning casts and specially composed music. Vivid, visceral and action-packed, they will transport you to the battlefield of Troy, and take you on a fantastic journey with the wandering king of Ithaca... 
 
The Iliad – In pursuit of the beautiful Helen, stolen by the Trojan prince Paris, an Achaean battle fleet has sailed from Greece. For nine years the army of the Achaeans has lain siege to Troy, but still the great city stands – and in the ranks, failure breeds resentment and feuding. When the great warrior Achilles is humiliated by his leader, Agamemnon, he refuses to take any further part in the fight. But when the Trojan hero Hector kills his closest friend, Patroclus, he rampages back into battle to take a terrible revenge… Derek Jacobi narrates Homer's gripping tale of fury, grief, love and war, dramatised by Tom Holland and starring Christopher Eccleston, Iain Glen, Imogen Stubbs and Andrew Sachs. 
 
The Odyssey – The Trojan War is long over, but Odysseus is still struggling to get home. After a decade of fighting and a further ten years battling storms and calamities, the Gods have decided that it is time for him to return to Ithaca. But Poseidon still wants revenge… As Odysseus is freed from the coils of Calypso, who had held him prisoner for seven years, we hear the incredible tale of his seafaring adventures, and his encounters with enchantresses, nymphs, monsters, prophets and ghosts. And we learn of his faithful wife Penelope who waits for him, besieged by suitors, and their son Telemachus who has a quest of his own… This stunning production won Gold at the 2005 Spoken Word Awards and was acclaimed Best Audio Drama at the 2009 Audie Awards. Tim McInnerny stars as Odysseus, with Amanda Redman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Bertie Carvel, Adjoa Andoh and Frances Barber. 
 
The Iliad 
Homer – Derek Jacobi 
Achilles – Christopher Eccleston 
Hector – Iain Glen 
Agamemnon – Bill Wallis 
Helen – Imogen Stubbs 
Chryses – Clive Mantle 
Athena/Andromache – Suzanna Hamilton 
Hero/Hecuba – Mia Soteriou 
Odysseus – Michael Elwyn 
Priam – Andrew Sachs 
Paris – Tom Espiner 
Menelaus – John MacKay 
Thetis – Jacqueline Tong 
Zeus – Michael Fenton Stevens 
Patroclus – Jamie Glover 
Apollo – Chris Donnelly 
Dramatised by Tom Holland 
Produced and directed by Viv Beeby and Jeremy Howes 
 
The Odyssey 
Odysseus – Tim McInnerny 
Penelope – Amanda Redman 
Telemachus – Benedict Cumberbatch 
Athena – Janet McTeer 
Zeus – John Wood 
Eurycleia – Mary Wimbush 
Hermes – Bertie Carvel 
King Alcinous – Geoffrey Whitehead 
Queen Arete – Cheryl Campbell 
Princess Nausicaa – Alice Hart 
Calypso – Adjoa Andoh 
The Cyclops – Barrie Rutter 
Antinous – Danny Webb 
Eurymachus – Jonathan Keeble 
Amphinomus – Chris Pavlo 
Eurylochus – Ewan Bailey 
Polites – John Rowe 
Elpenus – Stephen Hogan 
Eurybates – Philip Fox 
Antiphus/Shipmate – Jon Glover 
Eumaeus – Ioan Meredith 
Circe – Frances Barber 
Ghost of Anticleia – Joanna McCallum 
The Sirens: Elena Ferarri, Belinda Sykes, Harriet Williams 
Dramatised by Simon Armitage 
Directed by Janet Whitaker 
 
© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

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