Excerpt from Odyssey, Books I-XII, Vol. 1: With Introduction, Notes, Etc The very cordial reception of this School Edition of the Odyssey, first published in 1870, is a satisfactory proof (if one were needed) that the fascination of the Story of Odysseus does not decline as the world grows older. The excellent English translation by Messrs. Butcher and Lang, while it has been warmly welcomed for its intrinsic merits by those who are unacquainted with Greek, seems to have attracted fresh readers to the original, both in England and America. But for every hundred who study the first half of the Odyssey in the Greek, perhaps hardly a dozen carry their study on to the end. No doubt there is a peculiar charm in the wanderings of the hero - the charm that calls for fresh editions of the Arabian Nights, and gives such popularity to Treasure Island and King Solomon's Mines. But although in the second half of the Odyssey we leave fairyland for a narrower field, there is much to compensate for the change. We need the course of events that leads up to the Slaying of the Suitors to complete for us the character of Odysseus. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.