Author Description

This adaptation of The Odyssey by Homer is faithful to Samuel Butler’s translation. This edition uses the Greek versions of the names of characters, gods, and goddesses. The pages are divided into two columns of text and lines are short and often divided by punctuation such as a comma, period, or question mark, etc., which can make for fast and easy reading. Butler’s translation was written in smooth poetic prose and reads like poetry. Paragraphs are preceded by Butler’s paragraph line numbers, but empty lines are inserted instead of paragraph indents. This adaptation makes the story easy to read without the hyphenation of words at the ends of lines. The human eye may get tired reading across a wide line of text, but when lines are short, the reading can be faster. Buckminster Fuller called breaking up lines of text in the way you would read them aloud “Ventilated Prose”, which is easier to understand. The original Page Headings are included with references to Book and Chapter numbers. Lists of the parentage of sons and daughters are included. A description of the suitors and what happened to them is included. The original preface by Samuel Butler is retained as well as the illustrations and photos from the first edition. A full index with a pronunciation guide and glossary is included.