How Long Does It Take To Read The Odyssey

Question

Planning to tackle Homer’s epic but new to classics, worried about the reading time commitment for such a long poem. How many hours or days did others spend finishing The Odyssey?

Lofi Fepuleai Saunia · Answer

Here's a rough estimate for the time it takes to read ‘The Odyssey’ by Homer, depending on reading speed and the chosen translation. The book consists of about 550 pages ‘Prose’-version, i.e. Robert Fagles’ translation of Homer’s poem. Reading it in about 15-20 hours over the course of two weeks or so should do it just fine. As for stories about human endurance on very long journeys and about unshakeable loyalty that is put to the test on such a journey and in the most difficult of circumstances, ‘The Loyal Spartan’ is a great read. The story is a web novel that follows a warrior bound by an ancient oath to travel across an empire falling apart in order to keep a promise he made to someone. The central conflict is about the personal sacrifices such devotion requires.

Quentin · Answer

How long does it take to read The Odyssey? It depends on how many hours per day you read. I read it in three weeks, one hour a night. Some parts of the book are very slow because of the complex language and many metaphors. In order to enjoy the images and the theme of the book, you have to read slowly. Fast readers can finish the book in a week or so, but then they have gulped down a fine wine. The layers of story, cunning Odysseus, interfering gods, patient Penelope, all need to be savored. It takes about 10-15 hours to read The Odyssey, but that does not have to be 10-15 hours of drudgery. Let yourself enjoy the book by lingering over lines like the ‘rosy-fingered dawn’ and the cave of the one-eyed giant Cyclops.

Levi · Answer

As I previously noted, The Odyssey is a long but wonderfully themed read that can be taken at your own pace. My first read through of the book took almost a month, and I found myself returning to many parts of the book again and again. Specifically, I returned to The Sirens’ Song as well as the heartfelt reunion between Odysseus and Argos. This book is a poetic read that will need to be read slowly in order to retain half of the information within. If you’re choosing to read The Fagles translated version, it will take 12-20 hours to read depending on your prior knowledge of an epic. An audiobook version would read much faster, perhaps even as fast as Ian McKellen’s rendition of The Odyssey, which clocks in at 13 hours of reading time.

This will depend on whether you are a student or reader, and whether you read for analysis or leisure. I have spent 2 hours on the description of the underworld in book 11, for example, listing out all the symbolic descriptions of each area and deducing their meaning. However, on a ‘leisure read’ the reader will, obviously, read much more quickly. However, there is much of interest in The Odyssey for the culturally-attuned reader. Not least the descriptions of hospitality, glory and divine intervention. I read this on holiday in Greece and the descriptions of the cliffs of Ithaca and the sea journey home had me in raptures.

Violet · Answer

I read 'The Odyssey' in chunks over two weeks. I was reading one book per day. The book is in 24 books and each book took about 30 minutes to read. The books are episodic and therefore very easily read in small sections. Some sections, like the killing of the suitors, went by very fast but other parts, like the Telemachus sections, took a lot of patience to get through.

One final comment – unless one is studying for a class, read ‘The Odyssey’ in moderate sized chunks and not as a long marathon. The dactylic hexameter of the original Greek or the corresponding meter in English translation can start to become fairly monotonous when read too extensively. Approach ‘The Odyssey’ as one would a long podcast with many interesting digressions. However, the ending is very worth reading. The final three books, particularly the last, are excellent. Penelope’s ‘solution’ to FINDING OUT IF IT IS ODYSSEUS IN HER BED is pure genius.

Kakee Kaitu · Answer

While The Iliad is the longer of the two poems and thus the real monster, The Odyssey is the sequel and is actually a more compact, focused work that follows the single journey of a hero to return home to his family. Assuming a dedicated reader, it is possible to read The Odyssey in two weeks or so. The short chapters move at a brisk pace with lots of action. Yes, there are occasional lulls in the narrative, but these are filled out with lots of interesting detail about the world of the poem as well as further development of individual characters. Penelope’s pause in weaving and her subsequent unwinding of the shroud is a suspenseful masterclass even in lack of action. No one should therefore be afraid of The Odyssey because of its reputation as the Greatest Epic. It is a foundation story of Adventure. Read it. It is short. Get a good translation and devour it within a couple of weeks – you will be surprised by how quickly the pages pass.

Anabelle_leo · Answer

I found the Emily Wilson translation of Homer’s epic poem to be a wonderful and challenging read, in iambic pentameter no less. Setting myself the goal of 50 lines a day, I worked consistently through the book in about six weeks. Some days only took 10 minutes to read the lines but others were more time-consuming as the lines were longer and more complex. However, none of the days were ever burdensome. I found that having set myself a daily goal, the book became a little ritual of my own and I enjoyed the small but consistent amount of time spent each day to read on. It’s a dense classic and so the small but consistent bites worked well for me. I’d liken it to training for a cultural marathon. Yes, the finish line is at the end of the book but every page read is progress along the way. The marathon runners of this world don’t start off by running 26 miles; no, they start by running one mile a day and gradually build up.

Abha Sinha · Answer

I am a huge fan of epic fantasy, and when I picked up The Odyssey I thought of it as the granddaddy of all of the stories in that genre. As opposed to something like The Way of Kings, which I started but didn’t finish because it was so dense and long, The Odyssey is a very short read. In fact, I finished it in four days of reading, which is how long it took me to read the book, and I would have read it even more quickly had I not had so much to say about what I was reading as I read it. What I read was a series of very familiar tropes for a genre that I love. The cunning hero. The magical helpers along the way. The seemingly insurmountable journey home. The final showdown with your enemies in which you reclaim your kingdom. All of these are here. And if you are a genre fan, then you will recognize all of the blueprints for a thousand different stories. What I am reading is not a strange, alien text that I am slowly decoding, it is the source code for all of these stories. And therefore, rather than being a long read, The Odyssey is essential homework that reads very quickly. In fact, my only desire while reading it was to keep reading in order to find out what other great stories this book contained.

Pandit cool · Answer

Most people get literature wrong by thinking of it in terms of time. Does the ‘clock’ not matter? I spent six months or so reading The Odyssey, but in addition to that, I was reading annotated guides, looking at pictures inspired by it, and even listening to lectures on it. The journey with Odysseus became a little hobby of mine. If all you want to read is the story then fine, read it in a couple of weeks. But ‘The Odyssey’ is a rabbit hole of some depth, delving into the history of ancient times, comparative mythology, and even narrative theory. How one wants to use their time with The Odyssey is up to them. A full and complete summary of the story can be found online in about five minutes. But to truly experience it, one needs to allow it to expand in their mind.

panzy Mcleod · Answer

Yes, it is an unusual read. Books 9-12, in which Odysseus recounts his marvelous adventures, are among the most thrilling readings ever penned by man. I recommend that you read through these extremely quickly, after which you can slow down for the beginning and end of the poem, which are set on the island of Ithaca and are political, highly suspenseful, and require close attention. Naturally, as a result, your reading speed will vary greatly. And if, in the palace, you find yourself reading at a snail’s pace, don’t worry: it’s not you, it’s the change of gear in the narrative. Variety is not a deficiency, but a positive feature, and it is this that stops the epic from becoming one-dimensional and uniform. You just have to let yourself be carried by the natural rhythm of the poem. Sometimes you’ll read 50 pages without even realizing it, while on other days 20 will seem like too much.

How Long Does It Take To Read The Odyssey

9 Answers

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