The Odyssey
by Homer
'The Odyssey' Summary
The Odyssey is 12,109 lines composed in dactylic hexameter, also called Homeric hexameter.It opens in medias res, in the middle of the overall story, with prior events described through flashbacks and storytelling.
In the Classical period, some of the books (individually and in groups) were commonly given their own titles:
Book 1–4: Telemachy —the story focuses on the perspective of Telemachus.
Books 9–21: Apologoi—Odysseus recalls his adventures for his Phaeacian hosts.
Book 22: Mnesterophonia ('slaughter of the suitors'; Mnesteres, 'suitors' + phónos, 'slaughter').
Book 22 concludes the Greek Epic Cycle, though fragments remain of the "alternative ending" of sorts known as the Telegony. The Telegony aside, the last 548 lines of the Odyssey, corresponding to Book 24, are believed by many scholars to have been added by a slightly later poet.
Book Details
Author
Homer
Greece
Homer (Ancient Greek: Ὅμηρος Greek pronunciation: , Hómēros; c. 800–c. 701 BC) was the presumed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems...
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