Taking it further

If you enjoyed learning about Homeric poetry you might also like to watch our short animation on the Iliad, and to read the accompanying list of characters: Troy Story: Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .

For more in-depth study on the Iliad, try the free OpenLearn course Introducing Homer’s Iliad.

If your curiosity was piqued by the brief references to the ancient Greek language in this course, you may enjoy the free OpenLearn course Getting started on ancient Greek.

This short article by Emma Bridges compares the experiences of soldiers’ wives – like Penelope – in ancient myth, with those of contemporary military spouses: Military homecomings: ancient myths and modern truths.

This article by Charlotte Higgins compares Odysseus’ homecoming with those of modern-day soldiers: The Odyssey: a soldier’s road home.

The BBC podcast series ‘Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics’ features episodes (30 minutes each) on both the Iliad and the Odyssey.

If you were intrigued by Penelope’s shroud trick and would like to know more about the role of weaving in the lives of real and mythical women in the ancient world, you may enjoy this Classics Confidential podcast on ‘Weaving Women’s Stories’ (42 minutes).

There are many English translations of the Odyssey available in print and online. Each translation has different characteristics. Some are written in verse, and others as prose, for example. Meanwhile some translators try to remain as closely as they can to the precise phrasing of the Greek text, while others translate more freely in order to capture the overall spirit of the ancient poem. You may like to dip in to different translations to see which you are most drawn to. Translations in this course are taken from Anthony Verity (2016) Homer: The Odyssey. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Also recommended is Emily Wilson (2018) The Odyssey: Homer. New York and London: Norton. The Perseus Digital Library provides free access to online translations of the Odyssey along with many other ancient Greek and Latin texts, although these may sometimes seem a little dated as they are all versions whose copyright has now expired.

For further reading relating to some of the topics discussed in this short course, you could start with the following:

• Elton Barker and Joel Christensen (2013) Homer: A Beginner’s Guide. London: Oneworld. An introductory work which discusses both the Odyssey and the Iliad.
• Emma Bridges (2023) Warriors’ Wives: Ancient Greek Myth and Modern Experience. Oxford: Oxford University Press. A discussion of the representation of soldiers’ wives (including Penelope) in ancient myth, as compared with the experiences of modern-day military spouses. You can listen to the author talking about the book, and about some of the themes of this course, on this New Books Network podcast (48 minutes).
• Barbara Graziosi (2016) Homer. Oxford: Oxford University Press. A short and accessible introduction to the composition of the Iliad and Odyssey, and to some of the poems’ key themes.
• Edith Hall (2008) The Return of Ulysses: A Cultural History of Homer’s Odyssey. London and New York: I. B. Tauris. An exploration of the ways in which the Odyssey, its key theme and its characters have been adapted and reworked by writers and artists in many different cultural contexts over the millennia since it was first composed.

This course is part of a series of courses under the title HeadStart Classical Studies. You can find details about this series as well as links to its other courses on this page.