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 some of the most famous and beloved ancient works with this engaging and vibrant audio performance of carefully selected excerpts of Homer's
Iliad and
Odyssey. This state-of-the-art compact disc recording provides high-quality access to some of the greatest works in world literature.
"The definitive English version of Homer for our time."—
The Common Review "Not only does one get an excellent translation of both Homer’s
Iliad and
Odyssey . . . but the selections included are infinitely better and longer than what one normally gets in anthologies of Greek literature."—
Kostas Myrsiades, Westchester University
More than 3,000 years after the fall of Troy, here at last is a rendition of the Homeric epic that everybody can understand and appreciate. The world can't hear Homer speak his own words, but Stanley Lombardo is the next best thing. Reading his own acclaimed (abridged) translations, Lombardo's insightful rendition takes advantage of the rhythms and other poetic resources of everyday American speech. The result provides cinematic and performance qualities to the time-honored poetry -- sharp scene cuts, dynamic language, urgency of the characters (human and divine). His virtuoso performance in these audiobooks reflects years of experience before a wide variety of audiences -- beautifully paced, shaped, intoned, and acted throughout.
"The definitive English version of Homer for our time." -- Common Review
"The excellence of Lombardo's performance can't be lauded too much. There's no other translator of the world's greatest poetry that is also a world-class reader." -- Douglass Parker, University of Texas at Austin
"Just the right degree of involvement or detachment as each circumstance in the reading calls for." -- William Levitan, Grand Valley State University
"Remarkably true to the centrality of performance in Homer, the varied pacing and tone, the clarity, speed, narrative drive, and moments of breathtaking beauty." -- Rachel Hadas, Rutgers University
"The quality of Stan's voice, which has an honest, unshowy American core, makes these performances sound fresh, intimate, and believable --very different from those theatricized oral interpretations that overplay the 'epic' note. Altogether this is as good as Homer gets in English." -- Richard P. Martin, Stanford University
STANLEY LOMBARDO is Professor of Classics at Kansas University.
Industry Reviews
Great poetry is best heard, not just read, and these two CD sets of Homer's epic works are exemplars of the spoken word. Stanley Lombardo, professor of classics at the University of Kansas, is among the leading scholars of Homer, and here reads his own translation of the Iliad and the Odyssey in their entirety. Each recorded set includes a booklet with a map of Homer's storied world; synopses of each book in the work, which are read by actress Susan Sarandon; and a glossary of personal and place names. Lombardo's voice is wonderfully resonant and expressive--he is also a performer-and together with the original music, beautifully evokes the world of the Trojan War and Odysseus' journey home. These productions from Parmenides Publishing, which specializes in Western philosophy, are a class act"". - Bloomsbury Review
