5 books to read after the odyssey
Homer’s Odyssey is the first text that many of us encounter when we start studying Classics, and it’s also the story that I recommend to people who want to get into the subject and begin to explore Greek mythology. Chronologically, it comes after the Iliad, but I think it’s much more accessible for newcomers (and much more fun!).
But what to read next? Here are my recommendations, based on what you might have enjoyed most about the Odyssey:
if you liked tales of the heroes of troy try…
THE ILIAD
The Iliad is the second of Homer’s epic poems that have passed down to us, and while it’s similar to the Odyssey in terms of length and language, its scope is very different! The Odyssey is a more personal tale of Odysseus’s struggles (and his family’s struggles) to return home from Troy, while the Iliad is a tale of war: if the Odyssey is about survival, the Iliad is about glory.
But if you liked hearing about Odysseus’s exploits, if you liked meeting Menelaus and Nestor, Agamemnon and Achilles, then the Iliad should be your next read!
if you liked the adventures try…
THE ARGONAUTICA
I think it surprises a lot of newcomers to the Odyssey that Odysseus’s sea-faring adventures take up such a small portion of the text: the people and monsters he encounters are so well-known that I think we expect it to take up the majority of the story! The Argonautica has similarly well-known characters and adventures: Jason and Medea, the dragon guarding the Golden Fleece, the Sirens, Talos…
If you liked the adventuring Odysseus and his crew (allegedly) engaged in, add the Argonautica to your TBR!
if you liked the fantastical elements try…
A TRUE STORY
This might be a bit of an unusual recommendation, because I don’t think this text is read as widely as it ought to be, but Lucian’s True Story (also known as True History or Vera Historia) is one of my favourites and I loved studying this at uni! It’s a satirical take on the ‘tall stories’ of writers such as Herodotus and Homer and is very, very funny. It’s often described as the first science fiction story and is the earliest known text that takes us to space!
If you liked the fantastical elements of the Odyssey, I think you’ll love travelling to the Isle of Cheese, joining the intergalactic war between the Sun and the Moon, and getting swallowed by a whale with Lucian’s True Story!
if you liked the themes of justice and revenge try…
THE ORESTEIA
Justice and revenge (and who deserves them) are central to the Odyssey, and if you enjoyed exploring them in Homer I think you’ll love Aeschylus’s trilogy - the only surviving trilogy of Greek tragedies! - centred around the House of Atreus.
Remember how annoyed Agamemnon’s shade was about his wife Clytemnestra in the Odyssey? In the first play of the trilogy, Agamemnon, we find out why. In the second, Libation-bearers, we follow Agamemnon and Clytemnestra’s son Orestes as he returns to Argos to avenge his father. The third, Eumenides, is a curious play that provides a mythical origin story for Athens’ law-courts.
if you liked the ‘master of stratagems’ as the main character, try…
OEDIPUS TYRANNOS
I almost described this as the tragedy to try if you like an unreliable narrator, but I thought that might be doing a disservice to Oedipus. He lies to himself more than he lies to others, and it’s probably unfair to pop him into the same category as Odysseus on that front. But where they are similar is in their intelligence, their endurance, and their persistence, and while Oedipus Tyrannos is an entirely different story to the Odyssey, I think that if you enjoyed (getting frustrated at) Odysseus you’ll also enjoy Oedipus!
Plus, if you love Emily Wilson’s translations as much as I do, you’ll be pleased to know that she’s translated this tragedy too!
where to find them:
(If possible, please buy second-hand, from an independent bookshop, or support your local library!)
Jason and the Argonauts (trans. Poochigan)
The Oresteia (from The Greek Plays)
Oedipus Tyrannos (trans. Wilson)
and the gorgeous The Journey of Odysseus poster is from the brilliant Flaroh Illustration!
