The Wanderings of Odysseus: The Story of The Odyssey

In one form or another, most people are familiar with the story of Odysseus' return from the Trojan War. The Odyssey is a key text at the very core of Western Literature. To be educated, this is one of the few books that a cultivated person must know. Consequently, there is a certain amount of pressure for any author who aims to retell this story for children. Miss some key detail or an important incident and there will be a knowing parent to note its absence.

Rosemary Sutcliff spent her entire career writing for young adults. She specialized in books set in the Ancient and Medeival world. Sutcliff understood her reading public and knew how to craft a story to their level of sophistication. "The Wanderings of Odysseus" has just the right amount of detail for young adults.

Before starting this book, I finished reading Sutcliff's "Black Ships Before Troy" to my six year old son. It was a very rewarding read but at the end, I had to wonder whether I had done my son a diservice by reading such a violent book to him. To Sutcliff's credit, she included all the violence and cruelty that is it at the heart of The Iliad. In the end, I rationalized reading him this book because I thought it was important to expose him at a young age to such an important book. Fortunately, I did not have this conflicted feeling after reading "The Wanderings of Odysseus". While the Odyssey has its moments of violence, the story lacks the cruelty and savagery of The Iliad. Each parent must judge their own child's level of sensitivity. In my opinion, "The Wanderings of Odysseus" is a book better suited to young children.

My review is intended to be helpful to all those who have been unsuccessful in finding an edition with the much sought after illustrations by Alan Lee.

The illustrated editions are:

The Wanderings of Odysseus: The Story of The Odyssey
ISBN 978-0711208629 hardcover 1995 1st UK edition
ISBN 978-0711218468 paperback 2002

ISBN 978-1845073602 hardcover 2005 US edition

Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of The Iliad
ISBN 978-0711207783 hardcover 1993 1st UK edition
ISBN 978-0711215221 paperback 2000

ISBN 978-1845073596 hardcover 2004 US edition

The illustrator is Alan Lee. The publisher is Frances Lincoln Children's Books.

These illustrated editions have been re-published this year as:

The Iliad
ISBN 978-1847805287 hardcover 2014 revised edition

The Odyssey
ISBN 978-1847805294 hardcover 2014 revised edition

"Look inside" is available for all of the above books.

I bought the 1993/1995 UK first editions specifically for the illustrations. These are now collectors' items.

For anyone not interested in the illustrations there's a pair of mass market paperbacks with just the text by Rosemary Sutcliffe.

This is a children's book. A good one. Lots of nice pictures, and the classic stories are well written. I'm going to give it to my grandkids.

This a a marverlous retelling of the Odyssey for children. Sutcliffe does an excellent job summarizing the original with great faitfulness, for a young audience. The illustrations are fabulous, and the entire tale will hold children in rapt wonder if you read them a chapter a night and let them pour over the pictures on each page.

I have loved Rosemary Sutcliff's historical fiction of early Anglo-Saxon and Roman England, so I knew her retelling of the Iliad and the Odyssey would be spectacular. And they are. I use them with the Middle School boys I tutor, who usually HATE to read but absolutely cannot put these down. The illustrations and map in this hardcover version are wonderfully done. The Cyclops with a stake in its eye, the suitor Laertes shot through the neck, with the arrow still there -- who can resist? I even used these with my 11th grader who was a very poor reader, and he lapped it up.

Very colorful and well done story of Odysseus. I could put this under a document camera and teach with it.

The immortal story is very well retold in chapters suited to being read aloud one a night. The illustrations are stunning.

This illustrated version is my son's favorite. And Sutcliffe is a gifted writer, more detailed than children's versions but not as involved, of course, as Homer.

Buy it for the art work if not for the retelling of the story of the Odyssey by Rosemary Sutcliff.

Wonderful, masterful watercolor illustrations on just about every page!
The companion book, Black Ships Before Troy, is also illustrated by Alan Lee and designed in such a way as to make the two books a matching set.

I have read and worked with the Odyssey in its natural form. Even though this is a shortened version in prose, It does a solid job covering the tale of Odysseus's travels. The illustration add to the tale as well. A fun read.