Critical Insights: The Odyssey
CHOICE Editor's Top 75 Community College Resources for December 2020
"Undergraduates may at first turn away from this hefty tome, but that would be a mistake because this volume is sure to be an asset to the overwhelmed. The expert guidance and overview provided will help them understand the important themes, structure, artistry, influence, and critical reception of this precious classic, the story of Odysseus, with all of its relatable and appealing features. The Odyssey’s extraordinary adventures and legendary encounters and its classical testing of the hero’s marriage have charmed readers for millennia. Including contributions by, and interviews of, a number of distinguished literary scholars—e.g., Barry Powell, Norman Austin, Stanley Lombardo, Emily Wilson, Peter Green—the volume comprises two comprehensive preliminary essays, four deeper contributions identified as “critical,” ten segments labeled “critical readings,” and a selection of useful resources. Nearly exhaustive in its embrace of approaches, the volume is marked by an authenticity, balance, and relevance that will impress even the strictest classicists. Summing Up: Highly Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates." -- CHOICE, 2020