wanderings of odysseus

The Wanderings of Odysseus

The Story of The Odyssey

By Rosemary Sutcliff

Category: teen & young adult fantasy fiction | teen & young adult fiction.

Dec 13, 2005 | ISBN 9780553494822 | 4-3/16 x 6-7/8 --> | Young Adult | ISBN 9780553494822 --> Buy

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About The Wanderings of Odysseus

For Greek myth fans, those who can’t get enough of the D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths , and readers who have aged out of Rick Riordan, this classroom staple and mythology classic is perfect for learning about the ancient myths !       King Odysseus and the Greeks have triumphed over the Trojans. At long last, they are able to set sail for home and the loving family Odysseus left behind. But for the heroic king, the return voyage holds hazards far greater than any he faced during the war.     Forced by treacherous winds into unknown seas, Odysseus and his crew must face deadly perils: the flesh-eating Cyclops, Circe and her deadly enchantments, and the soul-chilling Land of the Dead and more.    Rosemary Sutcliff’s reimagining of the classic epic The Odysseus is woven through with a spectacular cast of men, magicians, and monsters. Odysseus’ harrowing journey home to his family and kingdom tests the limits of his strength, and the power of his will.   Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey , is one of the greatest adventure stories of all time and Rosemary Sutcliff stays true to the classic tale and characters in this authentic retelling rich with drama, magic, and heroism.   Don’t miss Black Ships Before Troy , the companion to The Wanderings of Odysseus , and follow Odysseus and his crew as they fight in the epic battle against the Trojans.

Also by Rosemary Sutcliff

About Rosemary Sutcliff

Rosemary Sutcliff was born in 1920 in Surrey, England. She is universally considered one of the finest writers of historical novels for children. Her first novel, The Queen Elizabeth Story, was published in 1950. In 1959 her book The Lantern Bearers won the Carnegie… More about Rosemary Sutcliff

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Praise for The Wanderings of Odysseus :   “[Sutcliff] retells Homer’s Odyssey with thrilling drama …The story of the hero’s long years of wandering…has the mythic power of everyone’s search for home…[and she] fuses epic grandeur with a direct simplicity that will bring the universal story home.”- Booklist “Rosemary Sutcliff has done a great service …by warmly and carefully abridging two classics that many people find difficult to tackle in their original form. Not only has she broken the long tales into tolerable and interesting chapters, she has smoothed out the language while keeping true to all of the original drama and excitement. “- Parent Express “ An intimate portrait of a man….Readers will enjoy this classic adventure.”- SLJ   Praise for Black Ships Before Troy :   An ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults   “ A splendid offering, bringing the ancient tale to new and vibrant life.”—Kirkus Reviews, Pointer   “ Amazingly told, taut with cunning and terror. ”— Booklist “[ Sutcliff] brings into vivid focus the mythic story of the Trojan War, with all of its visually dramatic elements …[and] leaves many of the epic’s powerful metaphors intact.”— Publishers Weekly

Maine Student Book Master List WINNER 1997

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The Wanderings of Odysseus

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The Wanderings of Odysseus : The Story of the Odyssey is a prose retelling for children of Homer's Odyssey published posthumously in 1995 by Frances Lincoln Limited, with watercolour illustrations by Alan Lee . A 2014 edition was retitled simply The Odyssey . Its companion volume and prequel is Black Ships Before Troy : The Story of the Iliad (1993).

• 3 Characters
• 5 Background
• 6 Publication history
• 7 References

A brief prologue summarises the events of the Trojan War: Helen left Menelaus, King of Sparta, for Prince Paris of Troy; the Greeks under Agamemnon the High King besieged Troy for nine years, finally entering by stealth inside an enormous wooden horse devised by the cunning Odysseus, King of Ithaca, and sacked the city; and having retrieved Helen, the Greek fleet went their separate ways homeward.

Immediately after leaving Troy, Odysseus's twelve ships are blown to Ismarus on the coast of Thrace, a town allied to the Trojans which they sack. The next morning they are attacked on the beach and make a hasty withdrawal to sea. After being blown helplessly for nine days, they land on an island inhabited by the friendly, dozy Lotus Eaters, and Odysseus has to drag his intoxicated scouts away (1).

Seven days later they come to an island where they find flocks of sheep and inhabited caves. The owner proves to be a Cyclops named Polyphemus, a one-eyed giant son of the sea god Poseidon, who closes the cave mouth with a boulder and eats two of Odysseus's scouting party. Odysseus, calling himself Nobody, realises they need Polyphemus alive to open the cave mouth, prepares a sharpened stick, and plies Polyphemus with unwatered wine, and when he falls asleep, stabs his eye out. Then he lashes Polyphemus's sheep together in threes so that his men can escape the cave clinging under the middle sheep as Polyphemus feels them go by. As they sail away (sheep included), Odysseus unwisely taunts Polyphemus in his own name, and Polyphemus calls down the wrath of his sea-god father on Odysseus's head. (2)

Next the fleet comes to the island of Aeolus, the Lord of the Winds, where they pass a pleasant month and are sent on their way with all the contrary winds tied up inside a magic bag. Within sight of Ithaca, their home island, the exhausted Odysseus falls asleep. His curious crew open the forbidden mysterious bag and unleash a tempest. Blown back to Aeolus, he drives them off as cursed, and at their next landfall, the king of the island murders Odysseus's scout. The islanders hurl down rocks from the cliffs, sinking all but Odysseus's ship, and Odysseus knows he is indeed cursed by Poseidon. (3)

The survivors take refuge on an island where Odysseus dispatches his kinsman Eurylochus with twenty-two men to investigate the sole sign of habitation in the middle of the forest; Eurylochus alone returns with a story of an enchantress with tame beasts who invited the crew to drink and then turned them into pigs. Odysseus sets out, encountering Hermes, the messenger god, who gives him an antidote to the witch Circe's potions and advises him to threaten her until she agrees to free his men. He obeys, and Circe having sworn friendship and transformed the crew back into men, she invites them back to feast in earnest. (4)

After a leisurely year on Circe's enchanted island, their thoughts turn homeward again, but Circe advises Odysseus that they must sail beyond the edge of the world to the Land of the Dead to consult the ghost of the blind prophet Tiresias. He warns Odysseus that Poseidon is against them, and not to harm the cattle of Hyperion when they encounters them, lest they be destroyed. They speak also with a late comrade, Odysseus's mother, murdered Agamemnon, Ajax, and Achilles, and see other denizens of the underworld: King Minos, Orion the Hunter, thirsty Tantalus, Sisyphus and his boulder. At last, unnerved, they sail back to Circe. (5)

Circe warns Odysseus of how to deal with the impending hazards to shipping, which they duly encounter. First they pass the beautiful island of the Sirens, where Odysseus stops his men's ears with wax but himself listens to their alluring song. Next they must pass through a strait dominated by two monsters, Charybdis who sucks down whole ships, and the lesser evil, six-headed Scylla. Coming exhausted to an island they find the cattle of Hyperion the Sun Lord, which Odysseus forbids them to touch, but after starving through a month-long storm, his men break their word. When they put to sea again, another storm blows up and wrecks their ship, killing all but Odysseus, who is cast up on the island of the nymph Calypso. (6)

Odysseus spends seven years on Calypso's remote isle, as she falls in love with him and will not help him to leave. Meanwhile in Ithaca, Odysseus is presumed dead, and a crowd of obnoxious young men fill his household, seeking to become king by marrying his unwilling wife Penelope (who has been caught stalling on an endless weaving project) and dispossessing their untried son Telemachus. Pallas Athene, a goddess friendly to Odysseus, takes matters in hand by visiting Ithaca in disguise to bring news of Odysseus and send Telemachus to find him. Telemachus visits his father's old comrades King Nestor in Pylos, who can tell him nothing, and Helen and Menelaus in Sparta. They have recently returned from their own long voyage home, and Menelaus has learned from Proteus, the Old Man of the Sea, that Odysseus is alive on Calypso's island, but there is no way to reach him (7).

Hermes descends to tell Calypso that the gods order her to give up Odysseus and send him on his way. She gives Odysseus tools to build a ship and supplies for his journey, but just as he heaves into sight of land, Poseidon sends yet another storm to wreck his ship. Ino, a sea-goddess, lends him her veil to help him swim, and Athene sends a wind to carry him to shore. (8) That night Athene appears to the local princess, Nausicaa, to send her to do laundry at the river mouth where Odysseus has washed up. Hearing the noise of her maidens playing ball, Odysseus staggers into their midst wearing only an olive branch and begs Nausicaa for help. She gives him a bath and clothes and invites him to her parents' palace, but asks him to follow at a distance to preserve appearances. Athene in disguise gives him directions and conceals him in a mist, so that he appears quite suddenly before the queen Arete and king Alcinous. They hear his tale and offer to let him stay and even marry Nausicaa, but promise him a ship to take him home. (9) The next day, as the ship is prepared, the court entertains their guest, who has still not named himself, with songs of the Trojan War at which Odysseus surreptitiously weeps, with athletic contests in which he excels the Phaeacian nobles, and with dancing. Alcinous asks him why he is pained by the songs and Odysseus reveals his identity and his sorrows since setting forth from Troy. The next day, loaded with gifts, he departs for Ithaca. (10)

Odysseus awakes on a misty shore where he is met by Athene in disguise, who after toying with him reveals herself and sends him disguised as a beggar to the farm of the royal swineherd Eumaeus. Then she appears to Telemachus at Sparta to send him home, avoiding a sea ambush by the suitors, to meet Odysseus at the farm. Odysseus reveals himself to his son and instructs him to return to the palace and move the weapons on display there out of reach of the suitors. (11) Odysseus follows him, still disguised as a beggar, and is struck and insulted by some of the suitors. He is recognised by his old hunting dog and his old nurse Eurycleia, but does not reveal himself to Penelope, who after many false hopes is wary of believing that Odysseus is soon to return. He advises her therefore to make her suitors compete for her hand, and she decides to make them attempt Odysseus's old feat of arms, shooting an arrow through the rings of twelve axes with his enormous bow (12). The next day, Penelope sets the challenge to the rowdy suitors, but none are able even to bend the bow. Odysseus asks for a try and accomplishes it easily, while Eumaeus, Eurycleia, and Philoetius the cowherd are quietly locking the suitors inside the palace (13). Odysseus, Telemachus, Eumaeus and Philoetius, holding the doorway of the hall, with the help of Athene slaughter the panicking suitors to a man, not sparing Melanthius the goatherd who carried weapons to the suitors. Penelope, fearing to believe that the newcomer is really Odysseus, tests him by offering to bring out their bed, and he proves his identity by protesting that the bedpost is a rooted olive tree (14). The next day he reveals himself to his retired old father Laertes at his farm. The kinsmen of the dead suitors from Ithaca and the neighbouring islands assemble to attack Odysseus and his men, but Athene inspires Laertes to strike down their leader. She and Zeus intervene to halt the ensuing fight and make peace between Odysseus, his people, and their neighbours (15).

Timeline [ ]

• Just after leaving Troy: they come to Ismarus and sack it (1)
• The next day: Ismarus sacks back
• Nine days' sailing to the island of the Lotus Eaters
• After seven days' sail, they camp in the bay of the Cyclopes (2)
• Day 1, they encounter Polyphemus
• Day 2, they blind Polyphemus
• Day 3, they escape
• A month in the palace of Aeolus (3)
• Nine days' sail to Ithaca
• Uncounted days blown back to Aeolus
• Seven days' rowing to the island where the fleet is destroyed
• Three days on Circe's island (4)
• Fourth day: they meet Circe
• A year later: they depart (5)
• Incalculable days' sail to the underworld
• A month and six days on Thrinacia (6)
• Nine days adrift to Calypso
• Seven years' sojourn on Calypso's island (7)
• Eighteen days' sail to sight of land (8)
• Three days' swim to Phaeacia (8)
• Two days' stay on Phaeacia (9, 10)
• Nineteen years after leaving Ithaca, Odysseus returns (11)
• The next day, he meets Telemachus
• The next day, they return to the palace (12)
• The next day, Odysseus kills the suitors (13, 14)
• The next day, they make peace with the suitors' kinsmen (15)

Characters [ ]

Actors in the Trojan War (prologue)

• Helen, the golden queen of Sparta, who eloped with Paris and was taken home by Menelaus at the end of the Trojan War. She recognises Telemachus as Odysseus's son (7).
• Menelaus, the King of Sparta, her husband. After the war he and Helen were blown to Cyprus, Egypt, Phoenicia and Libya, and he wrestled Proteus, who gave him word of Agamemnon and Odysseus (7).
• Paris, a prince of Troy, who eloped with Helen
• Agamemnon, the High King, leader of the Greek forces against Troy. He was murdered by his wife and her lover on his return home. They meet him in the underworld (5)
• Ajax, a mighty warrior whom they meet in the underworld (5)
• Achilles, the greatest of the Greeks, who tells them in the underworld that he would prefer life as a peasant than to be king of the dead. (5)
• Nestor, king of Pylos, old (7)
• Pisistratus, son of Nestor, a veteran of Troy, who drives Telemachus to Sparta and back (7)

Odysseus's men

• Odysseus, the King of Ithaca, called Odysseus the Resourceful
• 12 ships set out from Troy
• 70+ men killed at Ismarus (1)
• 6 men eaten by the Cyclops (2)
• 11 ships sunk at the unnamed island (3)
• Eurylochus, a kinsman of Odysseus's, who first encounters Circe. (4) He leads the men who slaughter Hyperion's cattle (6).
• 22 men under Eurylochus's command, turned into pigs (4)
• Elpenor, the youngest crewman, who breaks his neck the morning they leave Circe's isle. His shade begs them to cremate him properly (5), and they do so on their return (6).
• 6 men eaten by Scylla (6)
• Everyone except Odysseus, lost at sea after eating Hyperion's cattle (6)

Met en route

• Maron, priest of Apollo at Ismarus, protected by Odysseus along with his wife and child (1)
• the Lotus Eaters, peaceful and unambitious (1)
• Polyphemus the Cyclops, a son of Poseidon (2)
• Aeolus, Lord of the Winds, with a dozen children married to each other (3)
• The king of the island, his daughter, and their hulking countrymen who sink the fleet (3)
• Circe's four maidens, nymphs (4)
• Hermes, messenger of the gods in the shape of a beautiful young man (4, 8)
• The Sirens, with nice singing voices (6)
• Charybdis, a monster who creates a whirlpool
• Scylla, a monster with six heads who lives in a cliff cave
• The cattle of Hyperion, off-limits
• Calypso, a nymph, who loves Odysseus (6,7)
• Ino, a sea-goddess who rescues Odysseus from shipwreck (8)
• Nausicaa, princess of Phaeacia (9)
• Alcinous, king of Phaeacia
• Arete, queen of Phaeacia
• Laodamas, one of their sons
• A blind bard, who sings about the Trojan War heroes
• Euryalus, a young Phaeacian athlete who insults Odysseus

Gods off-stage

• Poseidon, the sea god, father of the Cyclopes, displeased (2)
• Hades and Persephone, king and queen of the Land of the Dead (5)
• Hyperion the Sun Lord, big in cows (5)
• Zeus the All-Father (2), also the Cloud-Gatherer (6)
• Proteus, the Old Man of the Sea, a shape-shifter, who told Menelaus how to get home; and his daughter who directed Menelaus to catch him (7)
• Artemis of the Crescent Moon (9)
• Apollo the Far-Shooter (13)

Odysseus's family and their retainers (7)

• Penelope, his wife, beset by unwanted suitors (7)
• Telemachus, his son, who strongly resembles him, but is not old enough to rule Ithaca
• Laertes, his father, retired to a farm (7).
• His mother, died of grief during Odysseus's absence (5, 7)
• Pallas Athene, Odysseus's patron goddess
• Mentes, an old friend Athene disguises herself as
• Eurycleia, Odysseus and Telemachus's old nurse (7), who recognises Odysseus by an old scar (12). He enlists her to lock the women of the household in their quarters during the slaughter (13).
• Eumaeus, an old swineherd, still loyal to Odysseus's family (11). Odysseus reveals himself to him just before the contest (13) and he fights alongside him (14).
• Phemius, the royal harper, forced to entertain the suitors (11). Odysseus spares him (14).
• Melanthius, the royal goatherd, sucking up to the suitors, who insults the beggar Odysseus (12). He fetches weapons for the suitors and Odysseus executes him for it. (14)
• Argus, an elderly neglected hunting-dog who recognises Odysseus and dies (12)
• Irus, the resident beggar, who challenges the newcomer, unsuccessfully (12)
• Melantho, one of Penelope's maids (12)
• Eurynome, the housekeeper (13)
• Philoetius, the cowherd, who is friendly to the beggar Odysseus (13). He fights alongside him against the suitors (14).
• A man with second-sight, who prophesies the deaths of the suitors (13)
• Medon, the herald, whom Odysseus spares (14)
• Laertes's housekeeper, her husband Dolius, and their three sons, who stand with Odyseus against the suitors' kin (15)

The 108 suitors (11) and their kinfolk

• Antinous, a leader, who takes a ship to ambush Telemachus (7). He strikes Odysseus in the guise of a beggar (12). He is the first shot by Odysseus (14).
• Eurymachus, strikes Odysseus in the guise of a beggar (12). The second to be shot (14).
• Ctesippus, throws something at beggar-Odysseus (13)
• Antinomus, the third killed, by Telemachus (14)
• Agelaus, the strongest, leading the suitors' defense (14)
• Eupeithes, Antinous's father, killed by Laertes (15)
• Troy, city recently sacked by the Greeks
• Ismarus, Thrace, allied with Troy, so Odysseus sacks it (1)
• The island of the Lotus Eaters, "green and gentle" (1)
• The land of the Cyclops, "an island of rough low hills" with a deep bay and an island in it (2)
• Aeolus's island, with his clifftop palace (3)
• An island with a harbour encircled by cliffs, where the fleet is sunk (3)
• Circe's island, forested and uninhabited save for her house at its centre, where wild animals are tame and time passes unnoticed (4, 5)
• Olympus, home of the gods (4)
• The two rivers, at whose confluence Odysseus sacrifices
• The island of the Sirens, covered in flowers and bones (6)
• The strait of Scylla and Charybdis, surrounded by the Wandering Rocks (6)
• Thrinacia, the island where Hyperion pastures his cattle (5, 6)
• The island of Calypso, remote (6, 7)
• The palace, infested with suitors
• The cave of the sea-nymphs, where Odysseus lands and hides his treasure (11)
• Eumaeus's farm (11)
• Pylos, called sandy, home of Nestor, a day's sail from Ithaca (7)
• Sparta, a couple of days inland from Pylos, home of Helen and Menelaus
• Ethiopia, where Poseidon happens to be when Athene sets out to help Odysseus
• Cyprus, Phoenicia, Egypt, Libya, all visited by Helen and Menelaus on their way home
• Pharos, an island near the mouth of the Nile, where Proteus naps with the seals
• Phaeacia, an isolated and peaceful island ruled by King Alcinous, where Odysseus washes up (9)
• Islands neighbouring Ithaca, homes of some of the suitors (15)

Background [ ]

Publication history [ ].

In English:

• London : Frances Lincoln, 2001. [2]
• London : Frances Lincoln, 2005. [3]
• London : Frances Lincoln, 2008. [4]
• The Wanderings of Odysseus: The Story of The Odyssey . Illus. Alan Lee. New York : Delacorte Press, 1996. [5]
• The Odyssey . Illus. Alan Lee. London : Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2014. [6]

Audiobooks:

• The Wanderings of Odysseus . Read by Robert Glenister. Cover to Cover Casse, 1998. [7]

In translation:

• Odysseus irrfärder : berättelsen om Odysséen . Swedish by Morgan Holm. Illus. Alan Lee. Stockholm : Tago, 1995. [8]
• Oslo : Antropos, 2001. [10]
• Barcelona : Vicens Vives, 2010. [12]
• Barcelona : Vicens Vives, 2015. [13]
• Alaquàs, València : Vicens-Vives, 2009. [15]
• Stuttgart : Verl. Freies Geistesleben, 2005. [17]
• Wędrówki Odyseusza . Polish. Illus. Alan Lee. Warszawa : Świat Książki, 1999. [18]
• Odyusseusu no bōken : girishia shinwa no monogatari ge . Japanese by Shirō Yamamoto. Tōkyō : Harashobō, 2001. [19]
• Stuttgart : Verl. Freies Geistesleben, 2005. [21]
• München : Taschenbuch-Verl., 2008. [22]
• München : Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 2010. [23]
• München : Dt. Taschenbuch-Verl., 2013. [24]

References [ ]

• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/wanderings-of-odysseus-the-story-of-the-odyssey/oclc/832540446&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/wanderings-of-odysseus-the-story-of-the-odyssey/oclc/59514644&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/wanderings-of-odysseus-the-story-of-the-odyssey/oclc/458717153&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/wanderings-of-odysseus-the-story-of-the-odyssey/oclc/243822022&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/wanderings-of-odysseus-the-story-of-the-odyssey/oclc/32390892&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/odyssey/oclc/881024538&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/wanderings-of-odysseus-read-by-robert-glenister/oclc/60222175&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/odysseus-irrfarder-berattelsen-om-odysseen/oclc/185946602&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/odyssevs-reiser-historien-fra-odysseen/oclc/1028312845&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/odyssevs-reiser-historien-fra-odysseen/oclc/1028343048&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/aventuras-de-ulises-la-historia-de-la-odisea-de-homero/oclc/432741155&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/aventuras-de-ulises-la-historia-de-la-odisea/oclc/776539596&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/aventuras-de-ulises-la-historia-de-la-odisea/oclc/1050276462&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/aventures-dulisses-la-historia-de-lodissea-dhomer/oclc/63694729&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/aventures-dulisses-la-historia-de-lodissea/oclc/733841421&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/ruckkehr-des-odysseus/oclc/770620547&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/ruckkehr-des-odysseus/oclc/255123333&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/wedrowki-odyseusza/oclc/47257722&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/odyusseusu-no-boken-girishia-shinwa-no-monogatari-ge/oclc/835957897&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/troja-und-die-ruckkehr-des-odysseus-die-geschichte-der-ilias-und-der-odyssee/oclc/76679210&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/troja-und-die-ruckkehr-des-odysseus-die-geschichte-der-ilias-und-der-odyssee/oclc/699079294&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/troja-und-die-ruckkehr-des-odysseus-die-geschichte-der-ilias-und-der-odyssee/oclc/277043975&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/troja-und-die-ruckkehr-des-odysseus-die-geschichte-der-ilias-und-der-odyssee/oclc/892935165&referer=brief_results
• ↑ https://www.worldcat.org/title/troja-und-die-ruckkehr-des-odysseus-die-geschichte-der-ilias-und-der-odyssee/oclc/879614228&referer=brief_results
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• Narrated by: Robert Glenister
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Publisher's summary

The long siege is ended. Troy lies in ashes. The black ships of the Greek war-host set sail for home – but for King Odysseus of Ithaca, the return voyage holds hazards far greater than any he faced in the Trojan War.

A sequel to Black Ships Before Troy, Rosemary Sutcliff’s retelling of The Odyssey transforms Homer’s complex epic poem into a traveller’s tale with a cast of men, magicians and monsters: the flesh-eating Cyclops, the deadly enchantment of Circe and Odysseus’s battle to regain his wife and long-lost kingdom.

• Unabridged Audiobook
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What listeners say about The Wanderings of Odysseus

• 4.5 out of 5 stars 4.5 out of 5.0
• 5 Stars 105
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 4.6 out of 5.0

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Audible.com reviews, amazon reviews.

• Overall 5 out of 5 stars
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars
• Story 5 out of 5 stars

A great reimagining of Homer's classic tale

Rosemary Sutcliff's retelling of the Odyssey, Homer's immortal tale of heroism and journeying home, is magnificent. Robert Glenister brings it to life with verve and dramatic flair, and makes this audiobook an absolute treasure. This audiobook belongs in your collection, and will be a regular listen for those who love the classics.

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4 people found this helpful

Excellent as an Ancient Greece Studies go-along

Any additional comments?

We're enjoying having both of Sutcliffe's Ancient Greece stories read to us with flare by Robert Glenister as we study Ancient Greece. I was feeling disinclined towards reading yet another book about a.Greek gods out aloud to the children, yet I was really wanting to cover at least 2 of Homers epic tales, in a child friendly format - this audio book fits the bill perfectly, and I'm getting to enjoy the story as a listener too. Highly recommend!

3 people found this helpful

ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF, THE MAGICIAN

Rosemary Sutcliff brought this ancient epic to life in a way that I would never have become introduced to if not for her. If you’re interested in Homer, this retelling is a lovely place to start! Add to the pleasure of such an enduring story a generous dollop of fabulous voice acting, and you have a winning combination!!!

1 person found this helpful

• Overall 4 out of 5 stars
• Performance 3 out of 5 stars

• Bazar Solutions

Great book bad reader

I listened to this book for a school project and had to get it done fast the book was really choppy at times and you had to spread it up for it to be less choppy the only problem is that it’s hard to hear words at 2x speed

This was a great performance of a great story! Enjoyed listening to it very much. Highly recommend!

• Story 4 out of 5 stars

This book is really good!

I had to read this book for school and I was kinda not looking forward to it, but it was really good! I recommend this book to anyone who hasn’t read it!

I love this book !

The Narrator was 👍 The one problem was that there is none 🐱🐱 I also think the Author did great as well👍

Great Greek history supplement!

We listened to this while covering Greek History. My 9 and 11 year old greatly enjoyed it (we listened to Sutcliff’s Black Ships Before Troy first). Highly recommend

Exceptional!

This rewriting stands out as a jewel among all classical, juvenile literature. It is so superbly written and enjoyable to listen to.

I recommend this book. The person reading the book did a good job. overall, a a good book.

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The wanderings of Odysseus

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The Wanderings of Odysseus: The Story of the Odyssey [WANDERINGS OF ODYSSEUS -OS] Hardcover – January 1, 1994

• Language English
• Publisher Frances Lincoln Children's Books
• Publication date January 1, 1994
• See all details

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Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00824X43G
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Frances Lincoln Children's Books; 5264th edition (January 1, 1994)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.75 pounds
• Best Sellers Rank: #2,264,435 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books )

About the author

Rosemary sutcliff.

Initially an art-school trained painter of miniatures, Rosemary Sutcliff’s first children's book was published in 1950, and from then on she devoted her time and talents to the writing of children's books and history novels, which have placed her name high in the field of contemporary children's literature and historical fiction. The UK Guardian newspaper called her a “writer of genius” in their obituary. Rosemary received an OBE in the 1975 Birthday Honours List, and a CBE in 1990.

Rosemary Sutcliff's novels won much critical acclaim in her lifetime and since. The best-known of her Roman novels is The Eagle of the Ninth, and the related trilogy of which the second, The Lantern Bearers, was awarded the 1959 Carnegie Medal. Her re-telling of the legend of Tristan and Iseult was highly highly recommended for the same award in 1972, once the award was opened up for re-awarding to the same author.

Rosemary Sutcliff was born in Surrey, the daughter of a naval officer. Later in her life she lived in Devon and then Sussex. At the age of two she contracted the progressively wasting Still's disease, and hence spent most of her life in a wheelchair. Sadly, Rosemary died in 1992 at the age of 72.

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The Wanderings of Odysseus

44 pages • 1 hour read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 6

Chapters 7-10

Chapters 11-15

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

“This is the story of Odysseus, and the many adventures he met with on the long sea-road back to Ithaca.”

Rosemary Sutcliff states the premise of her story at the novel’s outset, promising a retelling of Homer’s Odyssey that will serve as a kind of companion to her earlier novel Black Ships Before Troy , a retelling—in part—of Homer’s Iliad (and other ancient mythological narratives describing the Trojan War). Through all his “many adventures,” Odysseus’s desire to return home to Ithaca, where his family is waiting for him, will remain at the forefront of the hero’s mind, and points to the relationship the novel draws between Heroism and the Quest for Home .

“Now, the people of that island were kind and friendly. But they ate nothing but the fruit of the lotus flowers that grew there, and whoever tasted that fruit lost all knowledge of past and future, all wish to be up and doing, and drowsed their time away, always in the present moment of warm sunshine and dappled shade, dreaming happy dreams and forgetting all the world.”

The Lotus Eaters, whose diet deprives them of “all wish to be up and doing,” represent the antithesis of the heroic ideal embodied by Odysseus , the “Sacker of Cities” who will stop at nothing to reach home. Like many Greek heroes, Odysseus must reject a pleasant life of ease (represented, in this case, by the Lotus Eaters) if he is to be a true hero.

“‘As to this Zeus whom you call the All-Father,’ said the giant, ‘we the Cyclops do not care an overripe fig for him, or for all his fellow gods save for Poseidon, who is our father, for we are stronger than they are, and have no need to obey any will but our own!’”

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Telling Tall Tales: The Wanderings of Odysseus

by KristinD on February 19, 2021

Written by Justin D. Lyons, Contributing Writer, Classical Wisdom

The most well-known episodes in Homer ’ s Odyssey are the adventures described in Books 9-12. Full of one-eyed giants, amorous goddesses and narrow escapes, they are considered the most memorable and thus most likely to be included in collections of excerpts. They have received so much attention that it is often forgotten that they make up only a small part of the epic—an epic that is far more concerned with the homecoming of Odysseus than with his wanderings.

These stories are told in the first person by Odysseus himself. Given what we know of his character from both the Iliad and the Odyssey , Odysseus does not hesitate to deceive when circumstances allow. Thus, we should carefully consider the veracity of his tales. After all, Homer calls Odysseus a “ man of twists and turns,” and we expect him to live up to the description.

Odysseus’ reputation thus begs the question: Is it possible that the tales are not meant to be taken as relating “ real” events? In other words, could it be that Odysseus did not actually have these adventures, or at least did not have them as he relates them?

Ulysses and the Sirens, by J. W. Waterhouse, 1891

The stories Odysseus tells have a fairy-tale, magical quality about them that is different from the rest of the Odyssey . The unreal, dream-like world of monsters and enchantresses is distinct from the more realistic, historical world of Ithaca and the Greek mainland. Further, Odysseus ’ stories interrupt the forward-moving time scheme of the poem; they have the character of flashbacks, contributing to the feeling of “ unreality.”

Odysseus before Alcinous King of the Phaeacians, by August Malmstrom

But come, my friend, tell us your own story now, and tell it truly. Where have your rovings forced you? What lands of men have you seen, what sturdy towns, what men themselves? Who were wild, savage, lawless? Who were friendly to strangers, god-fearing men? Tell me, why do you weep and grieve so sorely when you hear the fate of the Argives, hear the fall of Troy? That is the god’s work, spinning threads of death through the lives of mortal men, and all to make a song for those to come… (Odyssey, VIII.640-650)

‘Ah Odysseus,’ Alcinous replied, ‘one look at you and we know that you are no one who would cheat us—no fraud, such as the dark soil breeds and spreads across the face of the earth these days. Crowds of vagabonds frame their lies so tightly that none can test them. But you, what grace you give your words, and what good sense within!’ (Odyssey,XI. 410-415)

Athena, attributed to Rembrandt, 17th century

“Any man—any god who met you–would have to be some champion lying cheat to get past you for all-round craft and guile! You terrible man, foxy, ingenious, never tired of twists and tricks—so not even here, on native soil, would you give up those wily tales that warm the cockles of your heart!”

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Tags: Ancient Greek Literature , Homer , Homer's Odyssey , mythology , Odysseus

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