Other editions of book The Adventures of Ulysses

From the preface: This work is designed as a supplement to the Adventures of Telemachus. It treats of the conduct and sufferings of Ulysses, the father of Telemachus. The picture which it exhibits is that of a brave man struggling with adversity; by a wise use of events, and with an inimitable presence of mind under difficulties, forcing out a way for himself through the severest trials to which human life can be exposed; with enemies natural and preternatural surrounding him on all sides. The agents in this tale, besides men and women, are giants, enchanters, sirens: things which denote external force or internal temptations, the twofold danger which a wise fortitude must expect to encounter in its course through this world. The fictions contained in it will be found to comprehend some of the most admired inventions of Grecian mythology. The groundwork of the story is as old as the Odyssey, but the moral and the coloring are comparatively modern. By avoiding the prolixity which marks the speeches and the descriptions in Homer, I have gained a rapidity to the narration which I hope will make it more attractive and give it more the air of a romance to young readers, though I am sensible that by the curtailment I have sacrificed in many places the manners to the passion, the subordinate characteristics to the essential interest of the story. The attempt is not to be considered as seeking a comparison with any of the direct translations of the Odyssey, either in prose or verse, though if I were to state the obligations which I have had to one obsolete version, [Footnote: The translation of Homer by Chapman in the reign of James I.] I should run the hazard of depriving myself of the very slender degree of reputation which I could hope to acquire from a trifle like the present undertaking.

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Charles Lamb wrote this small book in 1808 to tell the tale of Homer's Odyssey to children. It is a wonderfully well-written and accurate account of the story of Ulysses, and modern readers will be surprised at the sentence structure that the early nineteenth century felt was suitable for children. Today it is a good introduction to the verse version for adults as well as children. The year before Lamb wrote this book, he and his sister Mary wrote Tales from Shakespeare in 1807. This is a collection of short-story versions of Shakespeare's plays with some of the dialogue directly from the play. Before World War II, many, many children read Lamb, Bulfinch's Mythology, and Charles Dickens before leaving high school. To read Lamb is a pleasure at any age, and his work provides a marvellously literate transition to the original versions by Homer and Shakespeare. Lamb had a justifiably good reputation as an essayist in the nineteenth century. His essays are genial, humane, and extraordinarily observant. Those who like the prose of his tale of Ulysses owes it to themselves to read more of Charles Lamb. ~ Submitted by Jane Honeycutt