The Odyssey: The Fitzgerald Translation (Deluxe Edition)

By Homer

WINNER OF THE BOLLINGEN PRIZE
COMING SOON AS A MAJOR FILM FROM ACADEMY AWARD-WINNING DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

This beloved, classic translation of The Odyssey by the renowned translator and poet Robert Fitzgerald has sold more than a million copies, and now appears in a gorgeous deluxe edition with a new foreword from Laura Slatkin and an afterword by A. E. Stallings.

Robert Fitzgerald's translation of Homer's Odyssey is the best and best-loved modern translation of the greatest of all epic poems. Since 1961, this Odyssey has sold more than two million copies, and has long been the standard translation for generations of students and poets. Picador is delighted to publish a new edition of this classic work with a new cover, an attractive, collectible package, and a new scholarly introduction and afterword that will connect Fitzgerald's Homer to ever more students and general readers. Fitzgerald's supple verse is ideally suited to the story of Odysseus's long journey back to his wife and home after the Trojan War. Homer's tale of love, adventure, food and drink, sensual pleasure, and mortal danger reaches the English-language reader in all its glory.

Of the many translations published since World War II, only Fitzgerald's has won admiration as a great poem in English. The noted classicist Laura Slatkin explains the depth of his engagement with the complex and timeless themes of Homer, while the award-winning poet A. E. Stallings expounds on the gift of his lyrical, ageless poetry that has brought Homer and Odysseus to life for millions of readers of every age.

This edition also features a map, a glossary of names and places, a list for further reading, and Fitzgerald's postscript.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250375444
• ISBN13: 9781250375445
• Release Date: May 2026
• Publisher: Picador USA
• Length: 592 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.5" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

“I long to be homeward bound,” Simon and Garfunkel

The Trojan War is over, and one of our hero kings is lost. His son (Telemachus) travels to find any information about his father’s fate. His wife (Penelope) must cunningly hold off suitors who are eating them out of house and home. If he ever makes it home, Odysseus will have to detect those servants loyal from those who are not. One absent king against rows of suitors; how will he give them their just desserts? We look to Bright-Eyed Pallas Athena to help prophecy come true. Interestingly, all the tales of monsters and gods on the sea voyage were told by Odysseus. Notice that no one else survives to tell the tale. Therefore, we have to rely on Odysseus’s word. Many movies took sections of The Odyssey and expanded them into interesting stories in their own right. Not just the story but also how it is told will keep you up late at night reading. It is a tear-jerker when Odysseus returns, 20 years later, and the only one to recognize him is Argos, his faithful dog, who lived long enough to see him. Upon seeing his master return home, Argos dies. You will, of course, want to buy the various translations to see the differences in reading style and content.