San Antonio College Library

The Odyssey is considered to be one of the greatest pieces of world literature. Its basic story--the homecoming of Odysseus--is widely known. Although it has often been translated, earlier versions do not give the reader the full sense of its oral epic nature as a song that came into being through a long tradition of sung performances before writing was widely practiced. When finally written down, it retained its oral-formulaic nature in ways that...

A line-by-line rendering of the great epic retells, in free-running lines of six-beat verse, the great matter of the Trojan War, Achilles' and Hector's fallible heroism and deaths, and the comings and goings of gods and men.

An attempt to reflect faithfully what Homer's Greek says.

Twenty-four book sequel to the Homeric poem that continues the story of Odysseus from his return to Greece to his death.

Jason and the Argonauts' quest for the Golden Fleece is probably the oldest extant Greek myth. Homer referred to it as something "familiar to all." At one level this story is a classic fairy tale: The young prince is sent on a perilous expedition and triumphs over the obstacles put in his path - from clashing rocks to fire-breathing bulls - to win not only the Fleece but also the hand of the Medeia, the daughter of King Aietes, who rules over Kolchis. In...