The Odyssey takes its shape

#40days40books entry 19

The story of Odysseus is part of a larger cycle of epic tales of warriors, travelers and the ancient world. Odysseus left home to go to war. 20 years later he returned home. This is the story of that journey.

Telemachus, at age 21, leaves home to find news of his father.

Penelope, presumed widowed after 20 years, is occupied outwitting her impertinent and dangerous suitors.

Okay. I own eighteen translations of this book. They are all in English and most of them are in verse. I had to make a decision early on in order to control the number of copies that would find their way into my home.

What happened is NaNoWriMo 2011. That year's novel idea was based around the production of a mini-series of The Odyssey starring Sean Bean. It hadn't been quite ten years since Troy was released, and it seemed a good source for varied and challenging storytelling. Word counts are at the heart of NaNo and it's tough to write when you have no idea what you are going to write about, yeah? So. Follow an actor, a character, a scene, a difficulty with translation, Athena showing up and messing with things - all of those provide enough prompt to get one or two thousand words out of. Nothing has been done with the work since then.

Except this - 18 translations of The Odyssey. 8 translations of The Iliad and 5 of The Aeneid (because folks usually translate these three as a set, so why not?).

Penelope is forever my favorite character - she of the woven barricade and sharp business skills. Telemachus is deeply interesting and at a crucial place in his life. Odysseus is kind of a dick, and an excellent storyteller. There are days of conversation in that connection. Proteus, Nausikaa, Kalypso, Kirke, Menelaus, Helen and Nestor all hold the edges of this crazed quest in shape.

Different translations and verses outline the people differently - something I find endlessly fascinating. The story has lived for so long that any attempts to force it into one or another shape are constantly thwarted. Translations can only force so much, something I find deeply satisfying and troubling with every read.

So far the Cowper translation is my favorite, but as it is out of print and impossible find - the Fitzgerald translation is my favorite that is on my shelf.

At some point, I'll share the catalog of that collection with commentary.

Not yet, though. This is about what happened to my library on account of Left Bank Books.

It's a map, not the journey. Not as yet.

#40days40book list