Paperback, 342 pages

English language

Published 2025 by Penguin books.

ISBN:
978-1-4059-4842-5
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After the fall of Troy, wily Odysseus, King of Ithaca, sails for home and his steadfast queen Penelope. However, the angry gods curse him to wander the seas for ten long years. Tormented by giants and monsters, tempted by witches and godesses, Odysseus battles to draw ever closer to his family. Awaiting him is Penelope, defying reports of his death. But this queen endures her own tormentors - an army of young suitors eager to claim her hand and the throne...

4 editions

reviewed Odyssey by Stephen Fry (Stephen Fry's Great Mythology, #4)

A fine finish to Fry's tetrology of Greek Myth

Because he draws as much from the Aeneid and other sources as from Homer, this takes a long time to properly get to the telling of the Odyssey itself. I could perhaps have done with less of the context, though given it's those aspects of the story I had little if any knowledge of, it's certainly those I've learned most from!

The books rounds out the telling of the ancient Greek myths, and gently, lovingly explores the transitions of humanity from awe and fear of the world to hard work and negotiation both with the world and with other people. The grand canvas of the myth woven of very personal, often selfish, individual stories. I guess like the titular hero, it takes its time, but it does get there in the end.

Subjects

  • Greek mythology
  • Odysseus