# The Odyssey: Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original

> Homer's great homecoming epic in Samuel Butler's clear, readable prose — the ten-year wandering of Odysseus toward Ithaca, his waiting wife and his imperilled home.

Price: 8.50 USD · in stock

## About
A soldier who survived the fall of Troy spends ten more years fighting the sea, the gods and his own longing to reach home. Homer's Odyssey, in Samuel Butler's plain-spoken prose, remains one of the world's supreme adventures.What it's aboutThis edition renders the Odyssey into straightforward English prose, made, as its title says, for readers who cannot approach the Greek. The poem follows Odysseus on his perilous voyage back from the Trojan War — past the Cyclops, the enchantress Circe, the Sirens, and the wrath of Poseidon — while at home in Ithaca his wife Penelope holds off a house full of grasping suitors and his son Telemachus comes of age. Butler's translation strips away archaic ornament to let the story move, presenting the epic as a gripping narrative rather than a museum piece.ThemesHomecoming and loyalty stand at the centre — the pull of hearth, marriage and identity against the lure of the unknown. The poem explores cunning as a form of heroism, the hospitality owed between strangers, the interference of the gods, and the endurance it takes to hold to a purpose across long years of hardship. Disguise, recognition and the testing of faith recur throughout.Why it still mattersThe Odyssey is a foundational work of Western literature, the source of stories and figures woven into every later age. Butler's prose version has introduced generations to Homer who might have been daunted by verse, and its clarity keeps the tale vivid and swift. The journey home has become a permanent metaphor, and the poem's insights into human resilience feel undimmed by three thousand years.Who it's forFor first-time readers of Homer who want an accessible route in, lovers of myth and adventure, and anyone returning to a classic that rewards every re-reading.

## Specifications
- language: en
- format: paperback