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Odyssey

Odyssey

"Before Greece had tragedy, comedy, history, or even formal schools, there was Homer. Greeks, young and old, learned about the realities of life by hearing separate episodes from Homer sung at public festivals, and then remembering the stories through the power of song. What they remembered was what mattered most.
These epics offered bluntly honest views of life. Think of that as you are listening to Stanley Lombardo. When he performs Homer, we feel what Bob Dylan calls the `inner substance' of great folk songs, their `pulse and vibration and rumbling force'. We grasp the power words had before books, movies and iPodsTM. Homer taught the ancient Greeks about life, death, love and war. Now in Lombardo's words and voice, Homer teaches us, too."
-- Tom Palaima University of Texas at Austin

The classics are rapidly receding from public consciousness, and modern revisions of them, such as the film O Brother, Where Art Thou, are in genuine danger of never being linked to their original inspiration. Noted classicist Stanley Lombardo breathes new life into one of the most famous and beloved ancient works with an engaging and vibrant audio performance of Homer's Odyssey. This state-of-the-art compact disc recording provides high-quality access to one of the greatest works in world literature.

"Lombardo has brought his laconic wit and love of the ribald . . . to his version of the Odyssey. His carefully honed syntax gives the narrative energy and a whirlwind pace. The lines, rhythmic and clipped, have the tautness and force of Odysseus' bow."--Chris Hedges, The New York Times Book Review
Manufacturer: Parmenides Audio

Price Range: $24.00 - $42.00

Odyssey

User Reviews

OK substance, weak packaging.
rating: 1

This product can lead to a waste of time and money if you are not careful.

It is a difficult product to review. The subtraction by addition of Susan Sarandon generally starts out with all the wrong ideas. Her contribution is screechy, preachy and inartistic.

It is also exhausting and irritating to listen to a translation when someone thinks that Anglo-Saxon profanity adds anything to a work that was not first written in Anglo-Saxon profanity.

The product packaging, finally, is out of date because it is awkward to add in an iTunes digital/music database system.

Lower costs by not spending the money for a CD version, and download at a lower cost. Perhaps in a downloaded format it will also be easier to shed the useless appendage of the Sarandon commentaries -- which give a tacky "Bull Durham Effect."

Mr. Lombardo has a decent translation, but he is also far too amateur at voice and diction to read his own text. His voice is strained and flat. Much poetry is sacrificed to the delivery.

There are better versions of this classic by other authors. So, look around before buying this one.

If it can help 8th graders, it can help anyone!
rating: 5

I purchased this to accompany the class set of "The Odyssey" for my 8th grade Reading students. I thought the reading was excellent, and my students loved hearing it aloud, as it is meant to be enjoyed. It helped their comprehension immensely-they rarely had questions when listening, while they asked numerous questions when trying to read alone. There are a few places where the book and the cd do not match exactly, but it's never more than one word at a time. The introductions are, however, often not quite accurate-the information is not always with the proper chapter. The information is correct, just misplaced.

Odyssey