Review
Winner of the Earphones Award. Years ago, when this reviewer was casting his own radio dramatization of The Odyssey, he asked the classicists who were advising him how the narrator, who was to represent the voice of Homer, should sound. "Like the setting sun," they said cryptically. Your humble servant had no idea what they were talking about. Then. Now I know because Derek Jacobi does sound like the setting sun. And, in spite of some Briticisms that may jar American ears, Mandelbaum's translation wonderfully communicates the swift, simple, virile dignity of the original. The beauty, the dramathey come from the unhurried, masterful Jacobi. Isn't it fitting that the greatest living actor of the English-speaking world should spellbind listeners with the greatest yarn ever told [brought to you by HighBridge Audio]. -- Audiofile, Nov./Dec. 1996
From the Back Cover
Greek poet Homer established the standard for tales of epic quests and heroic journeys with the Odyssey. Crowded with characters, both human and nonhuman, and bursting with action, the Odyssey details the adventures of Ulysses, king of Ithaca and hero of the Trojan War, as he struggles to return to his home and his waiting, ever-faithful wife, Penelope. Along the way Ulysses encounters the seductive Circe, who changes men into swine; the gorgeous water-nymph Calypso, who keeps him a prisoner of love for seven years; the terrible, one-eyed, man-eating giant Cyclops; and a host of other ogres, wizards, sirens, and gods. But when he finally reaches Ithaca after ten years of travel, his trials have only begun. There he must battle the scheming noblemen who, thinking him dead, have demanded that Penelope choose one of them to be her new husband---and Ithaca’s new king. Often called the second work of Western literature (the Iliad, also by Homer, being the first), the Odyssey is not only a rousing adventure drama but also a profound meditation on courage, loyalty, family, fate, and undying love. More than 3,000 years old, it was the first story to delineate carefully and exhaustively a single character arc---a narrative structure that serves as the foundation and heart of the modern novel.
About the Author
Not much is known about Homer, who was considered by the ancient Greeks to be the greatest epic poet for his works, The Iliad and The Odyssey, two poems that have had a lasting influence on Western literature.
Years ago, when this reviewer was casting his own radio dramatization of THE ODYSSEY, he asked the classicists who were advising him how the narrator, who was to represent the voice of Homer, should sound. "Like the setting sun," they said cryptically. Your humble servant had no idea what they were talking about. Then. Now I know because Derek Jacobi does sound like the setting sun. And, in spite of some Briticisms that may jar American ears, Mandelbaum's translation wonderfully communicates the swift, simple, virile dignity of the original. The beauty, the dramaÐthey come from the unhurried, masterful Jacobi. Isn't it fitting that the greatest living actor of the English-speaking world should spellbind listeners with the greatest yarn ever told? Y.R. An AUDIOFILE Earphones Award winner. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
