Homer, Odyssey I

Edited with an Introduction, Translation, Commentary, and Glossary

Simon Pulleyn

The first full-length line-by-line commentary on Odyssey I in English since the 1980s, bringing the latest scholarship to bear on philological and linguistic issues
Provides both a revised Greek text and facing English translation designed to reproduce as far as possible the word order and sound effects of the Greek original
An accessible Introduction illuminatingly situates the work in its historical, cultural, and literary context and includes suggestions for further reading
Assists readers coming to the text for the first time with a full vocabulary giving meanings matching the precise sense of usage in Odyssey I and a Glossary of Technical Terms
Includes three maps, fully updated to refer to the new Bittlestone hypothesis on the position of Ithaca
Offers a comprehensive approach to Odyssey I that will be of use both to students new to the text and to advanced scholars

Homer, Odyssey I

Edited with an Introduction, Translation, Commentary, and Glossary

Simon Pulleyn

Description

Since their composition almost 3,000 years ago the Homeric epics have lost none of their power to grip audiences and fire the imagination: with their stories of life and death, love and loss, war and peace they continue to speak to us at the deepest level about who we are across the span of generations. That being said, the world of Homer is in many ways distant from that in which we live today, with fundamental differences not only in language, social order, and religion, but in basic assumptions about the world and human nature. This volume offers a detailed yet accessible introduction to ancient Greek culture through the lens of Book One of the Odyssey, covering all of these aspects and more in a comprehensive Introduction designed to orient students in their studies of Greek literature and history. The full Greek text is included alongside a facing English translation which aims to reproduce as far as feasible the word order and sound play of the Greek original and is supplemented by a Glossary of Technical Terms and a full vocabulary keyed to the specific ways that words are used in Odyssey I. At the heart of the volume is a full-length line-by-line commentary, the first in English since the 1980s and updated to bring the latest scholarship to bear on the text: focusing on philological and linguistic issues, its close engagement with the original Greek yields insights that will be of use to scholars and advanced students as well as to those coming to the text for the first time.

Homer, Odyssey I

Edited with an Introduction, Translation, Commentary, and Glossary

Simon Pulleyn

Frontmatter
Abbreviations
Maps
Introduction
The Appeal of the Odyssey
Structure
Style
The World of the Odyssey
Origins
Transmission
Metre
Dialect and Grammar
Text and Translation
Commentary
Endmatter
Bibliography
Vocabulary
Glossary of Technical Terms
General Index
Index of Greek Words

Homer, Odyssey I

Edited with an Introduction, Translation, Commentary, and Glossary

Simon Pulleyn

Author Information

Simon Pulleyn, Independent scholar, UK

Simon Pulleyn read Classics at Oxford in the 1980s and stayed on to write his doctoral thesis on prayer in Ancient Greek religion. He taught Latin and Greek at Oxford for most of the 1990s, at the end of which he trained as a lawyer. After a longish spell as a solicitor in the City of London, he taught law for a few years before deciding to give himself over to full-time research and writing. He has published numerous articles and reviews in learned journals, and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics.

Homer, Odyssey I

Edited with an Introduction, Translation, Commentary, and Glossary

Simon Pulleyn

Reviews and Awards

"To offer new perspectives on one of the most hallowed oeuvres of the Western literary canon certainly is a daunting task. Yet Pulleyn fearlessly takes up the challenge, and, unlike the epic protagonist of his text, manages in the course of his meanderings to bring his readers back to port unscathed...If this volume will help more readers to approach it in the original Greek, it will have fulfilled its purpose." - Alexander Andrée, University of Toronto, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"Homer, Odyssey I can certainly be recommended to anyone who wants to explore this classic work more closely, and specifically to engage with the Greek text." - M. A. Orthofer, Complete Review

"It is a pleasure to welcome this new commentary on _{dyssey 1 . . . a wholly admirable edition." - Colin Leach,}_{Classi cs for All}