Books like Odysseus by Charles Rowan Beye

In this book, classicist Charles Beye imagines a biography of the fictional Bronze Age hero, Odysseus, chronicling his remarkable evolution from his boyhood in his father's palace to his ten years of bitter fighting at Troy, encounters with creatures from the land of fairy tale, and ultimately his return to Ithaca and dramatic killing of the suitors surrounding his wife. Beye's account reads like a modern novel and delves into the psychological complexities of this enigmatic individual and examines his motives and character. The book is filled with interesting facts about the texture of life in the second millennium BCE and fascinating analogies and references to our own era. Beye's treatment glows with a distinct humor and wisdom, providing new light on one of the great figures of the Western imagination.

First publish date: 2004