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Odysseus: The Epic Myth of the Hero
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by:
ISBN:
0-7414-4414-3
©2007
Price:
$14.95
Book Size:
5.5'' x 8.5''
, 246 pages
Category/Subject:
FICTION / Fantasy / Epic
After twenty years of war and wandering, Odysseus sails for home but the Sea God wrecks his raft and he swims for three days making sense of his adventures.
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Abstract:
Sing about that long lost man for me, dear Muse
of epic song, about that man who sacked
the sacred citadel of Troy by means
of cunning mind when force of arms failed,
whose journeys pushed him far and wide to distant shores
beyond the ken of wise men of his day,
who sought to win homecoming for himself
and dear companions, but ended up alone
and naked, swimming in the raging sea,
wondering how and why it all had come to pass.
Of versatile Odysseus,
sweet goddess, child of Zeus, pray sing,
beginning where you think it best to start.
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Customer Reviews
Odysseus for the New Millennium
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07/08/2008
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Reviewer:
J.C. McGowan
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With “Odysseus, the Epic Myth of the Hero,” the California poet Marc Ladewig has undertaken a noble task: a contemporary retelling of the adventures of Odysseus (aka “Ulysses”). The ancient king of Ithaca’s deeds were originally described by the Greek poet Homer in the 8th century B.C. in the epic poems “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey,” which respectively depict the Trojan War and Odysseus’s magical and harrowing journey home. The two works are still the most famous epic dramas of Western Civilization, their mythology permanently etched into our collective culture. We know the stories from the original Homer and from adaptations (such as Wolfgang Petersen’s 2004 movie “Troy”), elaborate re-workings (James Joyce’s “Ulysses” and Joel and Ethan Coen’s “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” are examples), references in story and song (including Cream’s “Tales of Brave Ulysses”), and innumerable renderings in painting and sculpture. Who has not heard of the Cyclops, Achilles’ heel, Lotus Eaters, Sirens, or the Trojan horse?
So, it is with a chill up the spine and a rush of nostalgia that one reads Ladewig’s opening words: “Sing about that long lost man for me, dear Muse of epic song….” And we plunge into the Homeric reality of legendary warriors and fierce battles, helpful and wrathful gods, oracular and vengeful wives and mothers, seductive goddesses and terrifying creatures, and the homesick Odysseus and his ever faithful wife Penelope. In Ladewig’s book, “some parts are translation, some parts are adventures upon which Homer is silent, some parts are pure invention.” He is true to the spirit of the original, yet strives to fill in gaps and to interpret. Ladewig, of course, is not the only author to augment Homer’s accounts: Euripides and Aeschylus wrote plays more than two thousand years ago that dealt with characters from the Trojan War. For the 21st century, it helps to have a new telling that bridges the gap between the ancient and modern worlds, and their manners of storytelling. Ladewig succeeds admirably in this. His language is fresh and modern, his poetry is vivid and sweeping, and he retains an epic tone, transporting us to faraway, mythic events that have informed our dreams and our strivings for three millennia.
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Fabulous Read
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12/16/2008
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Reviewer:
phyl wright
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Reminiscent of Homer’s Odyssey, Marc Ladewig’s book ‘Odysseus’ takes us on a fantastical journey through the lives, loves, jealousies and battles of the Gods. Partly translation, partly based on events surrounding the original, and partly imagined, it forms a literary triptych of these three components, merging together in a gloriously literary treasure of adventure and emotion. The author clearly has a grasp of his form and the poem is well crafted and an unadulterated joy to read. One of the few books I have ever gone back to read again immediately I finished it.
Starting with a quest to bring Odysseus home from the island of Calypso and its attendant Goddess who has also become Odysseus’s lover, we follow Odysseus’s progress across the seas.
The journey home entails dealing with the rage of certain Gods who attempt to thwart Odysseus’s progress, while others use their powers to aid him. We the readers, embark on our own journey following both Odysseus and that of other warriors and Gods, their stories, triumphs and losses. We are locked in kinship with these Gods, whose emotions and powers are writ large and who provide us with thrilling accounts of derring-do and their mastery of the forces of nature.
Aside from the marvellously emotive and adventurous content, the writing itself sparkles with wit and charm, encapsulating both an understanding of Greek mythology with a modern slant that will leave the reader begging for more. Marc Ladewig is a name we should remember because literature surely will.
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