For nearly a century, The Odyssey has been required reading in high schools across the United States, yet almost any English teacher can recount the difficulties involved in getting students through it.
It seems odd that it should be so. The Odyssey, after all, has everything a teenager could ask for in a story—trials, temptations, personal angst, internal conflict, and that ever-present push-pull of home. And yet...
There are a number of reasons for this difficulty, not least the sheer size of the book compared with the reading material familiar to many modern teenagers. There are also the challenges of reading a work in translation, encountering outdated or unfamiliar words and terms, and adjusting to poetry and storytelling from thousands of years ago. Until relatively recently, many translations commonly used in schools were themselves old, often relying on archaic terminology unfamiliar to students. In fact, some school districts had begun to give up on requiring The Odyssey as high school reading, despite its extraordinary longevity as a story.
That is what makes this such an interesting moment for The Odyssey. Students are seeing and hearing about the story again through movies, visual media, and popular culture, often before they ever encounter the book itself. Rather than seeing that as competition for the book, we can use it to help bring students into the story.
Teachers have also found that movies, visual aids, and other classroom materials can add to, rather than detract from, their ability to share the story with students. Something happens when a person gets a full visual experience of a story, a life, or an endeavor: they become connected to it and engaged in it. In a way, it becomes part of them. Of course, that will never replace the value of reading the original work.
Instead, that kind of experience gives us an opportunity to introduce The Odyssey to students who are already excited about the story—students who already know its emotional curves and the inner conflicts of its sometimes-heroic characters. It is important that we not waste this moment.
There are many translations of The Odyssey available, and they take vastly different approaches to storytelling. Not every translation is suited to every student, teacher, class, or purpose. What might be appropriate for an AP world literature course may not be suitable for a general ninth- or tenth-grade class or an ESL classroom. Fortunately, we have many translations to choose from. There are even abridged editions—not graphic novels, but actual abridged versions—which reduce the time needed to cover the material while retaining the essence of the book.
Richer Resources Publications has been producing classic works for more than 20 years with the goal of making them accessible to students and first-time readers. After all, what is the benefit of having students read a book if they cannot connect with it—or if they resent having to read it in the first place? A book has to be engaging if a reader is going to connect with it.
That's what we mean by accessible. Why call a shield an aspis or a sakos when you can simply call it a shield? Why throw students into a confusion of terminology when the point is to experience the story, not to learn archaic words? Therein lies the essence of what we consider a good translation: one that can be read and understood in a relaxed and enjoyable manner rather than painfully worked through.
Because no single translation is suitable for every circumstance, we have also created a free Classical Reference Library on our website for educators, students, and general readers. Among other resources, it includes comparisons of available translations, taking into account reading level, time available, and the reader's own reasons for approaching the book.
We invite you to browse our website and take advantage of these free resources. They're designed to help make your odyssey through The Odyssey exactly what you want it to be.
