The Odyssey, Illustrated Collector's Edition
Homer in plain prose, printed as a 6x9 hardcover with a plate for every book.
Numbered first printing of 500.
$49.95 plus $6.95 shipping. Printed to order in the USA.
Troy is behind him.
Ten years of war are finished. The sea has not started with him yet.
Troy to Ithaca, fourteen landfalls
The voyage
The chart is printed as a full-page plate. Keep scrolling and the route draws itself, one landfall at a time.
01
Troy
The war is finished and the ships turn for home. Ten years of fighting, and the sea has not started with him yet.
02
Ismarus, the Cicones
They sack the town and then will not leave it. The Cicones come back at dawn and take six men from every ship.
03
The Lotus-eaters
The fruit makes a man forget where he was going. Odysseus carries his crew back to the benches and ties them down.
04
The Cyclops
A cave, a giant, and a stake sharpened in the fire. The escape costs him the goodwill of the god of the sea.
05
Aeolus
The king of the winds ties every storm into a bag and hands it over. The crew opens it in sight of Ithaca.
06
The Laestrygonians
A quiet harbor with high rock on both sides, which is the trap. Eleven ships go down under thrown stone.
07
Circe
Her cup turns the scouting party into swine. A year goes by on her island before the men ask to leave.
08
The Underworld
At the edge of the world he speaks with the dead. Tiresias tells him what the rest of the way home will cost.
09
The Sirens
Wax in every ear on board, and rope around the mast for him. He is the one man who hears the song and lives.
10
Scylla and Charybdis
A narrow strait with a monster on one side and a whirlpool on the other. Six men are the price of passing through.
11
Thrinacia
The cattle of the sun, which nobody is to touch. The crew eats, and the next storm leaves one man alive.
12
Calypso
Seven years on her island, and the offer of a life with no death in it. He sits on the beach and looks at the water.
13
Phaeacia
A princess finds him washed up on the beach. He tells the whole story at their table, and they give him a ship home.
14
Ithaca
Home after twenty years, and not one person knows him. What is left of the poem happens inside his own house.
One plate for every book.
Black and white line art in the copperplate engraving style, printed full page on cream stock. Twenty-four of them, and a frontispiece.
Every plate sits opposite the first page of its book, so you meet the picture before the scene.
What is inside
- 24 full-page platesOne for each book, plus a frontispiece.
- A cast keyNames, households and gods, in one place.
- A synopsis of all 24 booksA short paragraph each. Read first, or find your place again.
- The voyage mapA full-page plate of the route, landfalls in order.
- An orientation essayWhy this translation, and how to read the poem.
- A numbered edition pageEach copy of the first printing carries its own number.
On the translation
The text is Samuel Butler's translation, the plain prose version readers have used since 1900. Butler wrote the poem out as English sentences rather than verse, which is why it still moves at the pace of a story.
It is in the public domain, so nothing stands between you and the text. Nothing has been modernized away either. The reading aids sit around the poem, not inside it.
- Format
- 6x9 inch hardcover, casewrap
- Length
- 372 pages
- Paper
- Cream book stock
- Illustrations
- 24 full-page black and white plates, plus a frontispiece
- Translation
- Samuel Butler, 1900, public domain
- Printing
- Printed to order in the USA
- Shipping
- Ships in 7 to 12 business days
Questions
Which translation is this?
Samuel Butler's 1900 prose translation, complete and unabridged. It is public domain, and it reads as plain English prose rather than verse.
What are the plates?
24 full-page black and white illustrations, one for each book of the poem, plus a frontispiece. They are printed on the same cream stock as the text.
When does it ship?
Each copy is printed to order in the United States and ships in 7 to 12 business days. You get tracking by email when it leaves the printer.
What if I do not like it?
Send it back within 30 days of delivery for a full refund of the purchase price. Write to hello@winedarkpress.com and we will tell you where to send it.
Is this related to the movie?
No. This is Homer's text in the Butler translation, published by Wine-Dark Press. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any film, studio or production.
First printing, numbered
Home, after twenty years.
$49.95plus $6.95 shipping in the United States
Order, $49.95Secure checkout by Stripe. Order up to five copies.
Add the printed voyage map, 18x24 inches on heavy stock, for $12 on the payment page.
Also from Wine-Dark Press: The Lost Books of the Bible, Restored Apocrypha Edition.