The Odyssey by Homer
The Odyssey may have sounded thus ...
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Critical Lenses
Choose one of these categories through which to view "The Odyssey":
If you prefer, you can follow along while Sean Connery narrates the poem (below) by clicking here to read the poem in a graphic comic form. (From Zenpencils.com)
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Ithaka by C.P. Cavafy - Perhaps the most astute analysis of "The Odyssey" ever written.
From: C.P. Cavafy, Collected Poems. Translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Edited by George Savidis. Revised Edition. Princeton University Press, 1992 As you set out for Ithaka hope the voyage is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery. Laistrygonians and Cyclops, angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them: you’ll never find things like that on your way as long as you keep your thoughts raised high, as long as a rare excitement stirs your spirit and your body. Laistrygonians and Cyclops, wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them unless you bring them along inside your soul, unless your soul sets them up in front of you. Hope the voyage is a long one. May there be many a summer morning when, with what pleasure, what joy, you come into harbors seen for the first time; may you stop at Phoenician trading stations to buy fine things, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, sensual perfume of every kind-- as many sensual perfumes as you can; and may you visit many Egyptian cities to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars. Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you are destined for. But do not hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years, so you are old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you have gained on the way, not expecting Ithaka to make you rich. Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you would not have set out. She has nothing left to give you now. And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you. Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean. Translated by Edmund Keeley/Philip Sherrard |
All cultures have journeys ... Here is a Turkish journey with its English translation ...
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UZUN İNCE BİR YOLDAYIM - Aşık Veysel Uzun İnce Bir Yoldayım Gidiyorum Gündüz Gece Bilmiyorum Ne Haldeyim Gidiyorum Gündüz Gece Dünyaya Geldiğim Anda Yürüdüm Aynı Zamanda İki Kapılı Bir Handa Gidiyorum Gündüz Gece Uykuda Dahi Yürüyom Kalmaya Sebep Arıyom Gidenleri Hep Görüyom Gidiyorum Gündüz Gece Kırk Dokuz Yıl Bu Yollarda Ovada Dağda Çöllerde Düşmüşüm Gurbet Ellerde Gidiyorum Gündüz Gece Düşünülürse Derince Uzak Görünür Görünce Bir Yol Dakka Miktarınca Gidiyorum Gündüz Gece Şaşar Veysel İş Bu Hale Kah Ağlaya Kahi Güle Yetişmek İçin Menzile Gidiyorum Gündüz Gece |
I WALK ALL DAY I WALK ALL NIGHT - Ashik Veysel I'm on a long and narrow road, I walk all day, I walk all night, I cannot tell what is my plight, I walk all day, I walk all night. Soon as I came into the World, That moment I began my walk, I'm in an inn with double gates, I walk all day, I walk all night. I walk in sleep - I find no cause, To linger, whether dark or light, I see the travellers on the road, I walk all day, I walk all night. Forty-nine years upon these roads, On desert plain, on mountain height, In foreign lands I make my way, I walk all day, I walk all night. Sometimes it seems an endless road, The goal is very far from sight, On minute, and the journey´s o´er- I walk all day, I walk all night. Veysel does wonder at this state, Lament or laughter, which is right? Still to attain that distant goal, I walk all day, I walk all night. Translated by Nermin Menemencioğlu. |
And here are two versions ...
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