The Odyssey - Homer / Robert Fagles

Of course, no one remains a stranger to the names of the great epics for long. I had heard of Iliad and Odyssey as a boy and had stumbled across their translated prints a few years ago when I was flitting through the stalls at a World Book Fair. Following a series of unfortunate events, I lost my copy of "The Odyssey" and I decided not to start the Iliad till I had another copy of Odyssey with me, and so it has stayed ignored in my shelves for more than three years now. A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a course on Greek and Roman mythology on coursera.com, enrolled and ordered Fagles's translation of the epic. Coincidentally, his translation was the one I had bought earlier as well.

The Odyssey needs no laudation from me. It is an epic not only in its construct but also in its entirety. Fagles's translation, however, I can comment on. It is extremely poetic, brings out the music in the epic that I have found lacking in so many other Greek tragedies I have read thus far. The construct of the prose are excellent. I wonder how close a literal translation this is, but evidently it is held in high regard by people who know what they are talking about. I can only comment on what a pleasure it was to read this rendition.

Odysseus is a man of suffering, endurance and everlasting tact. His journey home from Troy is rigged by the Gods. He brings it upon himself in parts, his crew bring it upon him in parts. He however is the only one to survive and return home years later, a broken man with adventures and sufferings borne all his journey. That is primarily what the epic is all about : the journey home and the winning back of one's life of peace. We are taken through fantastic tales of brutality, wit and magic through Odysseus's eyes. Immortal goddesses bed him; giants slay his crew; he peeks into the world of the dead; strangers help him homeward and Gods hold him back. Fantastic and thrilling!

Fagles has renewed the zest for Greek epics and tragedies in me. Despite the redundancy, I will once again praise the poetic feel to Fagles's translation. He keeps the reader bound. It hardly seems like a translation from an alien language, so fluent do his lines flow. I might look into Fagles's other translations later, but for now, I have another one of his lying in my shelves. Time to pick up the Iliad and read about the brave and swift Achilles!