Homero, página 6 de 32

War, glory, despair, and mourning: for 2,700 years, the Iliad has gripped listeners and readers with the story of Achilles'' anger and Hector''s death. It is a tale of many truths, speaking of powerful emotions, the failures of leadership, the destructive power of beauty, the quest for fame, the plight of women, and the cold callous laughter of the gods. Above all, it confronts us with war in all its brutality--and with fleeting images of peace, lovingly drawn, images which punctuate the poem as distant memories, startling comparisons, and doomed aspirations. Anthony Verity''s elegant and compelling new translation mirrors the directness, power, and dignity of Homer''s poetry. Verity captures as well the essential features of oral poetry, such as repeated phrases and scenes, without sounding mannered or archaic, and his remarkably accurate verse hews closely to the original line numbers, which is invaluable for readers wishing to consult the secondary literature. Barbara Graziosi, an authority on Homeric poetry, offers a full introduction that illuminates the composition of the poem, its literary qualities, and the many different contexts in which it was performed and read. In addition, extensive notes offer book-by-book summaries and shed light on difficult words and passages, mythological allusions, references to ancient practices, and geographical names. An annotated bibliography offers a succinct guide to further scholarship in English; a full index of names enables the reader to trace particular characters through the text; and two maps elucidate the Catalogue of Ships and the Catalogue of the Trojans.

L'Odissea relata el retorn d'Odisseu al seu reialme d'Ítaca, despres de la destrucció de Troia. Un retorn llarg i ple de perills i aventures, perseguit per la ira de Posidó, pero protegit per Atena. Peça fonamental de la literatura d#Occident, l#Odissea es el poema de retorn i de venjança per excel·lencia. Seguint les aventures d#Ulisses en el curs de la llarga tornada a Itaca des de Troia, mentre els pretendents que el donen per mort intenten prendre-li la dona i el reialme, Homer mostra un heroi intrigant, astut i polifacetic, que converteix magistralment en simbol de l#aventura humana universal, en un model de fer i de viure que permet les interpretacions mes diverses, ja siguin simboliques, ironiques, al·legoriques o grotesques.

Una vez terminada la guerra de Troya, Ulises emprende el regreso a Ítaca donde lo esperan su hijo Telémaco y su fiel esposa Penélope. El viaje se alargará diez interminables años durante los cuales el heroe griego y sus compañeros sufren toda suerte de desventuras. Solo la astucia ayudara a Ulises a llegar sano y salvo a su patria.Once the Trojan War is over, Ulysses begins to return to Ithaca, where his son Telemachus and faithful wife Penelope await him. But the voyage is extended by ten long years, during which the Greek hero and his companions suffer all kinds of misfortunes. Only Ulysses'' cunning helps him to return to his homeland safe and sound.

La Ilíada, compuesta en el siglo VIII a.C., narra una leyenda micénica situada en el siglo XIII a.C., una edad heroica dominada por los aspectos militares, el individualismo desenfrenado y la persecucion de la riqueza y la gloria. La Iliada cuenta un episodio de la epopeya de la rica y estrategica ciudad de Troya, o Ilion. Es el poema de la colera de Aquiles, hijo de mortal y diosa y el mas destacado de los combatientes griegos, en su afan de heroicidad y sus ansias de venganza. El poema de una gran guerra que afecta a multitud de seres humanos, victimas del enfrentamiento personal de un reducido grupo de heroes en su particular lucha por el poder. El canto del dolor y el sufrimiento, de la caida de unos valores y de un modo de vida, refinado y aristocratico, que acaba en la muerte o en la esclavitud. Pero es tambien la exaltacion de la belleza de la fascinacion por la accion y la consecucion de la gloria. Nuestra edicion ofrece la ya clasica traduccion de Segala en la ultima version corregida por el, y un importante estudio de Javier de Hoz, de la Universidad Complutense, que contextualiza el poema facilitando la comprension y el disfrute del lector de nuestro tiempo.

Penelope has been waiting for her husband Odysseus to return from Troy for many years. Little does she know that his path back to her has been blocked by astonishing and terrifying trials. Will he overcome the hideous monsters, beautiful witches and treacherous seas that confront him? And what new tests await him if he ever finally reaches his home shore?

Homero, poeta griego, autor de la Ilíada y la Odisea. Sus poemas ejercieron gran influencia en los filósofos, los escritores y en la educación de la antigüedad.

Traduction Charles-Rene-Marie Leconte de LIsle

Translator: Iakovos Polylas

While Homers existence as a historical person is still a topic of debate, the writings attributed to the name have made their mark not only on Greek history and literature, but upon western civilization itself. Homers epic poems, The Iliad and The Odyssey, laid the foundation upon which Ancient Greece developed not only its culture, but its societal values, religious beliefs, and practice of warfare as well.This publication features the Samuel Butler translation, and while it strays from the poetic style reproduced by more well known translators like Robert Fagles and Robert Fitzgerald, the vision of the epics as if they were prose found in modern novels take their best form under Butlers most capable hand.