The Odyssey Retold in Books

I was also encouraged by reading a remark by C. S. Lewis that the
significant something, the something of great power and moment,
which each of the basic myths seems to suggest, is communicable not
only when a good ancient author tells them but even in the most
atrocious modern summary.
Michael Grant

Some of these retellings for children are picture books, a mere 32 pages and more picture than
text; others are for older readers and ten times that length.

Baldwin, James. A Story of the Golden Age. Illus. Howard Pyle. New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1887. 286p. ["I have taken the various legends relating to the causes
of the Trojan war, and, by assuming certain privileges never yet denied to storytellers,
have woven all into one continuous narrative, ending where Homer's story begins. The
hero of the Odyssey—a character not always to be admired or commended—is my
hero" (viii)].

Chandon, G. Stories from the Iliad and Odyssey. Trans. Barbara Whelpton. Illus. René Péron.
Cleveland, OH: World, 1964. 190p.

Christ, Henry I. The Odyssey of Homer. 1948. Illus. Thomas Fraumeni. New York: Globe,
1960. 266p. [Omits Books 1-4 and the arrival of the suitors into the underworld.
Includes study questions and sample tests.]

Church, Alfred J. The Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer. 1906. Illus. Eugene Karlin. Afterword
Clifton Fadiman. New York: Macmillan, 1964. 279p.

-- -.TheStoryof the Odyssey.1891. Illus. John Flaxman. New York: Macmillan, 1958.
306p.

Claybourne, Anna. The Adventures of Ulysses. Illus. Jeff Anderson. London: Usborne, 1997.
112p.

Clement-Davies, David. Trojan Horse: The World's Greatest Adventure. Eyewitness Readers.
New York: DK, 1999. 50p.

Colum, Padraic. The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy. Illus. Willy Pogany. New
York: Macmillan, 1918, 1970. 254p. Also Aladdin Paperbacks. Republished asThe
TrojanWar andthe A dventures of Odysseus. Illus Barry Moser. New York: Morrow,
1997. 177p.

Coolidge, Olivia E. The Trojan Horse. Illus. Edouard Sandoz. Boston: Houghton Mifflin,
1952. 244p.

Connolly, Peter. The Legend of Odysseus. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1986. 80p. {Beautiful
illustrations, some reminiscent of Minoan wall paintings.]

De Sélincourt, Aubrey. Odysseus the Wanderer. Illus. Norman Meredith. New York:
Criterion, 1956. 244p.

Edmondson, Elizabeth.TheTrojan W ar. Illus. Harry Clow. New York: New Discovery
Books, 1992. 32p.

Evslin, Bernard. The Adventures of Ulysses. Illus. William Hunter. New York: Scholastic,
1969. 172p. [Commonly used in public middle schools in the 1990s.]

---. Greeks Bearing Gifts: The Epics of Achilles and Ulysses. Illus Lucy Martin Bitzer. New
York: Four Winds, 1971, 1976. 324p.

Fleischman, Paul. Dateline: Troy. Collage by Gwen Frankfeldt and Glenn Morrow.
Cambridge, MA: Candlewick, 1996. 80p. [Story juxtaposed to newspaper clippings
from WWI to the Gulf War.]

Garfield, Leon, and Edward Blishen.TheGod Beneath theSea: A R ecreat on of the Greek
Legends. Illus. Zevi Blum. USA: Pantheon, 1971. 212p.

Galloway, Priscilla. Aleta and the Queen: A Tale of Ancient Greece. Illus. Normand
Cousineau. Toronto: Annick, 1995. 158p.

Gates, Doris. Fair Wind for Troy. New York: Viking, 1976. 84p.; Illus. Charles Mikolayck.
Harmondsworth]: Puffin, 1984. 82p.

Gottlieb, Gerald. The Adventures of Ulysses. Illus. Steele Savage. 1959. Hamden, CT: Linnet,
1988. 170p.

Graves, Robert. The Siege and Fall of Troy.Illus. C. Walter Hodges. Garden City, NY, 1962.

Hall, Frederic Aldin. Homeric Stories for Young Readers. New York: American Book,
1903. 200p. [Part I: Stories of the Trojan War, 11-116; Part II: The Adventures of
Ulysses, 119-198. "Part Second, or the stories from the 'Odyssey,' will naturally
appeal to young readers more strongly than Part First" (5).]

Hartzell, Dwight. Odysseus: The Complete Adventures. New York: Longman., 1978. 82p.

Johnson, Dorothy. Farewell to Troy. Illus. Gil Miret. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1964.
214p.

Lamb, Charles. The Adventures of Ulysses. 1808, 1894. Ed. Francis Kingsley Gall. Illus.
Otho Cushing. Boston: Ginn, 1917. [Begins with "the Cicons" and fits in
Nausicaa chronologically. Lamb based his version on Church (v). Also available
in facing translations throught Ta-shia English-Chinese Library, 1991. 203p.]

Lang, Andrew.TheAdventuresofOdysseus. 1907. Illus. Joan Kiddell-Monroe. London:
J.M. Dent, 1962. 179p. [Also the translator, with S. H. Butcher, of a complete
Odyssey (1879).]

Lang, Jeanie.St ories from the Odyssey. Illus. W. Heath Robinson. London: T. C. & E. C.
Jack, [1910]. 118p. [Available on microfilm from Bodleian Library.]

Lister, Robin.TheOdyssey. Illus. Alan Baker. New York: Doubleday, 1988. 96p.

Little, Emily.TheTrojan Horse:How theGreeks W on the W ar. Illus. Michael Eagle. New
York: Random House, 1988. 47p.

McCaughrean, Geraldine.TheOdyssey. Illus. Victor G. Ambrus. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1993.
94p.

McLaren, Clemence.Insidethe W all s ofTroy:ANovelof the W omenWho L ved the Trojan
War. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1996. 199p.

-- -.Wait ng forOdysseus: A Novel.New York: Atheneum, 2000. 149p. [Told through the
eyes of Penelope, Circe, Athena, and Eurycleia.]

Mitchell, Adrian.TheOdyssey. Illus. Stuart Robertson. London: Dorling Kindersley, 2000.
64p. [The story is interspersed with anthropological and historical data.]

Philip, Neil.TheAdventuresofOdysseus. Illus. PeterMalone. New York: Orchard Books,
1997. 72p.

Picard, Barbara Leonie.TheOdysseyofHomer. Illus. Joan Kiddell-Monroe. Oxford: Oxford
UP, 1952. 272p. [Paper 1991.]

Reeves, James.TheVoyage of Odysseus. Illus. Eric Fraser. New York: Bedrick/Blackie,
1973. 192p.

Richardson, I.M. A series of six titles:TheVoyage of Odysseus, TheWooden Horse:The
Fall of Troy, Odysseusand t heGiants,Odysseus andthe Cyclops, Odysseusand the
Great Chal enge, T he ReturnofOdysseus. Illus. Hal Frenck. Mahwah, NJ: Troll,
1984. 31 or 32p each.

Storr, Catherine.Odysseus and the E nchanters. Milwaukee: Raintree Children's Books,
1985. 32p.

-- -.TheTrojan Horse. Illus. Mike Codd. Milwaukee: Raintree Children's Books, 1985. 32p.

Sutcliff, Rosemary.Black Ships before Troy. Illus. Alan Lee. New York: Delacorte, 1993.
128p.

-- -.TheWanderingsofOdysseus.Illus. Alan Lee. New York: Delacorte, 1995. 119p.

Treece, Henry.TheWindswept City:A Novelofthe T rojanWar. Illus. Faith Jaques. New
York: Meredith, 1967. 110p. [Helen's boy slave narrates.]

Watson, Jane Werner.TheIli adand theOdyssey: T heHeroic Storyofthe TrojanWar ( and)
theFabulous Adventures of Odysseus. Illus. Alice and Martin Pr ovensen. New
York: Golden, 1956. 102p.

Webb, Vivian, and Helen Amery.TheAmazingAdenturesof Ulysses. Illus. Stephen
Cartwright. London: Usborne, 1981. 32p.

White, Terry Anne.Odysseus Comes Home fromthe Sea. New York: Crowell, 1968. 192p.

Williams, Marcia.TheIliadand t heOdyssey. Illus. the author. Cambridge, MA:
Candlewick, 1996. [36p.] [In cartoon strip format.]