Samuel Butler's Odyssey

About This Translation

Samuel Butler (1835–1902) was an English novelist and wide-ranging critic, best known for the satirical novel Erewhon and the posthumously published The Way of All Flesh. His prose translation of the Odyssey appeared in 1900, following his prose Iliad of 1898. He rendered the poem into plain, readable English prose aimed at ordinary readers rather than scholars.

The Age That Made It

Butler's translation arrived at the turn of the twentieth century, as tastes were shifting toward clearer, less ornate English. His stated aim was accessibility — an Odyssey for “those who cannot read the original.” The translation is also inseparable from one of Butler's famous enthusiasms: in an earlier book, The Authoress of the Odyssey (1897), he had argued the unconventional theory that the poem was composed by a woman, and that view colors some of the notes accompanying his translation. The theory has never been accepted by scholars, but it reflects Butler's eye for the prominence and vividness of the poem's female characters.

What's Distinctive, and What's Contested

Butler's version is widely regarded as one of the most readable of the older translations — direct, brisk, and free of archaic ornament, which is why it has remained popular online for more than a century. The trade-offs are the ones inherent to any prose rendering of a poem: in gaining clarity and pace, it sets aside the meter, music, and formulaic texture of Homer's verse. Whether that is the right exchange depends on whether a reader comes to the Odyssey chiefly for the story or for the poetry.

How This Version Reads

Expect clear, novel-like prose that moves quickly and is easy to follow — the most accessible of the public-domain options. It is an excellent first encounter for readers who want the story without the friction of older verse, with the understanding that the poetic dimension of the original is necessarily muted.