Homer
The Odyssey
Translated W. H. D. Rouse
New York 1937

REVIEW COMMENT

Rouse’s original translation bears the sub-title “The Adventures of Ulysses” and he must be among the last translators to use the old Latin names (although that has changed in more recent editions of his translation).  Strictly speaking, this title should not be included on a list of complete English translations of the Odyssey, because Rouse, in his desire to deliver a rendition of Homer in modern colloquial prose for everyman, takes considerable liberties with Homer’s text. However, in its day the translation was well known, and it is still in print (as a Signet Classic) and available on line.  Anyone seeking a prose translation of Homer’s Odyssey should, in the interest of getting Homer’s poem relatively unsullied, select another version, but Rouse is worth browsing for his no nonsense brusque energetic prose (larded with the occasional odd piece of antique diction).

List of Published English Translations of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey