The Robert Fagles Translation (1996)
The man of twists and turns.
The Odyssey is a thriller at heart, and its power is in the forward drive.
You think an epic should feel epic: big, fast, and built for reading aloud.
What it keeps and what it changes
Keeps: the full poem and all of Homer’s momentum. This is the version built to be read aloud.
Changes: the register: contemporary verse that favors speed and drama over word-for-word fidelity.
Keeps the full poem and all of Homer's momentum. Changes the register toward contemporary English verse that favors speed and drama over word-for-word fidelity.
Whose story is it?
Odysseus’s, front and center. The hero’s journey played straight.
How much time does it ask?
≈12 hrs to read; Ian McKellen’s audiobook runs about 13.
“The man of twists and turns,” as his famous opening line has it.
Where to find it
Other ways to get it: Ebook — Kobo ↗ · Kindle — Amazon ↗ · Audiobook — Libro.fm ↗
Borrow it free: Borrow on Libby ↗ · Find at your library — WorldCat ↗
Pairs well with: Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey (2026), if you want a chaser in another medium.
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More ways home: The Emily Wilson Translation (2017) · The Robert Fitzgerald Translation (1961) · The Richmond Lattimore Translation (1965)