Epics

[Haethurn]

I have decided to start my own personal little library, in which I will keep all of the books that I deem worth reading. I have started with the ancient epics, as I have taken an interest in that sort of literature now that I am in a Mythology class and am reading Homer's Odyssey.

I went to Walden's books and bought a hardcover copy of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, translated by S.H. Butcher and Andrew Lang.

I was shocked that they did not have Beowulf. I live in a rural area and I do not go to the city very often so I did not really know what to expect, but I thought that surely they must have Beowulf. After all, besides the Odyssey, it is one of the best-known classics.

So I went to the clerk and had her order it, along with Gilgamesh: A Verse Translation. Sadly they did not have it in hardcover.

I wanted a translation of Beowulf by Burton Raffel, but they didn't have it in hardcover. So I got one in hardcover translated by this Heaney fellow instead.

Now, the version of the Odyssey that we were reading in Mythology is a very condensed version, so of course having this prose translation by S.H. Butcher and Andrew Lang is very nice, what with the added detail and such. But I did find the background section of the book to be useful as it names several other epics that I would like to take a look at.

I want to know if any of you are familiar with these epics:

Nibelungenlied
The Saga of the Volsungs
El Cid
Kalevala
Mahabharata
The Song of Roland

I think that Nibelungenlied and El Cid might be interesting, but I am really not sure.

Preferably, I would like to obtain a hardcover copy of all of these books, but that might prove to be expensive, not to mention difficult. I did a search on the Internet and could not find anything other than a paperback copy for most of them.

I think that I will read them in this order:

El Cid
Nibelungenlied
The Saga of the Volsungs
Kalevala
The Song of Roland
Mahabharata

Would you say that this is reasonable? Which of these epics do you like best? And where can I find reasonably priced hardcover editions of them?

 

[funes]

Haethurn,
I am sure that I have copies of some of the epics you mentioned, though without looking I don't know which ones. As far as assembling a library of them . . . well, it certainly isn't anymore silly or ridiculous (or anything else) than most of the collections I imagine the members of this forum have. I have more books laying around here than I could read in my lifetime, but I keep buying more.
As for a source: Have you tried any of the online used book places (like Alibris)? They aren't always cheap, but I can assure you it will be cheaper than Walden's.

 

[J_D]

They're very much University Press type books and they tend to be paperbacks, Everyman/Leob Classic Library may do hardback's but I doubt it. The problem you might find is getting newer (more accesible) translations in h.back. If you can live with the older translations I guess its down to scouring the second hand book shops/internet. By the way one to add to your list. Monkey by Wu Cheng-En its a bonafide epic even if it is abridged from it's enormous original.

 

[Haethurn]

Originally posted by J_D
They're very much University Press type books and they tend to be paperbacks, Everyman/Leob Classic Library may do hardback's but I doubt it. The problem you might find is getting newer (more accesible) translations in h.back. If you can live with the older translations I guess its down to scouring the second hand book shops/internet. By the way one to add to your list. Monkey by Wu Cheng-En its a bonafide epic even if it is abridged from it's enormous original.

That's sad. In my area of West Virginia there aren't many second hand book shops, and someone stole my father's wallet a few months back and with it the credit card that could be used to buy these books on the Internet. He canceled it afterwards, and even though he tells me now that they probably didn't really cancel it, it's still a possibility.

Oh, well, I'm sure I'll find them somehow. I am pretty determined.

 

[phil_t]

So I got one in hardcover translated by this Heaney fellow instead.

That would be Seamus Heaney, the internationally famous poet then, yes? (Otherwise known as the scourge of the GCSE literacy course )

On a lighter note, i am currently reading the Iliad and rather enjoying it (although i do tend to fall asleep whilst reading the description of what seems to be every single soldier fighting in the war )

Phil

 

[ineldorado]

Originally posted by J_D
Monkey by Wu Cheng-En its a bonafide epic even if it is abridged from it's enormous original.

I have a translation of this in three volumes under the title Journey to the West. I've not read it yet. Still finishing another epic, The Night Land by WH Hodgson.

John

 

[J_D]

3 volumes, ouch, I happily settled for 'Monkey' in penguin ppbk at around 400 pages Lazy I guess

 

[Ashlea]

The selection issue drove me nuts when I worked at a bookstore. Why do we need 50 copies of some biography by a psuedo-celebrity when the selection of everything else is so bad? And it's getting worse, I can't go into a bookstore anymore without someone asking me if I want to order a book. If I wanted to order it, I would have done so at home! *rant over*

I think the Heaney translation of Beowulf is incredible, much better than the Raffel. It captures the poetry of it. I also prefer the Robert Fagles translation of the Iliad and Odyssey.

What about the Aeneid?

For hardcovers, try Powell's books. Even if you don't have a credit card, some internet places will let you send in payment.

 

[phil_t]

I have the Aeneid too, but i havnt got around to reading anything past the Iliad yet, and as that leads up to both the Aeneid and the Odyssey they are both still sitting on my book shelf in the enormous 'to read' pile

Phil

 

[Haethurn]

I just went to Walden's today and got Beowulf and Gilgamesh: A Verse Narrative by Herbert Mason, along with Plato's The Republic and Other Works.

I must say that Gilgamesh is unlike anything else I've ever read. Unlike other ancient literature, in which you read about death, love, friendship, and grief, without feeling anything for the characters or appreciating the story's message, Gilgamesh seems to reach out to you from beyond the barriers of time and grab you by the throat. Its themes are universal;every word is emotionally powerful with an intensity that will shock you if you expected something foreign and unfamiliar when you open this book. Gilgamesh has themes that speak to us today even in our modern world. It is simply amazing. One of the greatest achievements of mankind in art. Gilgamesh stands the test of time like nothing else our race has produced. It is a masterpiece.

I actually felt sadness, a sense of loss, when I read about Enkidu's death.

My pain is that my eyes and ears
No longer see and hear the same
As yours do. Your eyes have changed.
You are crying. You never cried before.
It's not like you.
Why am I to die,
You to wander on alone?
Is that the way it is with friends?

Gilgamesh sat hushed as his friend's eyes stilled.
In his silence he reached out
To touch the friend whom he had lost.

This is nothing like the Iliad, Odyssey, or Beowulf. This is simply outstanding. As I read those last three lines I could not believe how powerful this poem was, how it can still convey its message even after 5000 years.

I have ordered the Poem of the Cid and the Song of Roland. Sadly, both are in paperback. They did not have the Nibelungenlied, unfortunately.

 

[Haethurn]

I have received the Poem of the Cid and the Song of Roland. I also bought the Tale of Genji, which appears to be a Japanese medieval epic. I am currently reading the first cantara of the Poem of the Cid. It seems that this poem is different than all of the others in that it is distinctly optimistic. I am sure that the Cid's adventures will not end tragically. I am definitely saving the Tale of Genji for last;it is over 1000 pages long.

After I have read the Poem of the Cid and the Song of Roland, I hope to get a copy of the Mahabharata and the Nibelungenlied somewhere. I think the Mahabharata would be interesting.

 

[Faran]

I am very fond of the works you have mentioned, but I cannot accept anyone as well read in Epics unless they have read Ferdowsi's Persian Epic, the Shahnameh, written in couplet verse and translated into prose English by Dick Davis. The Dick Davis books are seriously abridged and do little service to the original work, but the artwork in the books in incredible.

The Shahnameh is the longest of the works mentioned in this thread, but in my opinion the best. 35 years were required to write it, in order to raise a dowry for the poet's daughter.

Check it out if you would like. The stories are essentially about war and heroic struggles not unlike those of the Greek pantheon of heroes, but more profound as they often involve forced warfare between friends, father and son, etc.

happy reading, I like your taste in literature!! There is a reason these works are so celebrated!

 

[Haethurn]

I'll take your word for it, but I am not so sure where I am going to find an affordable copy of this book.

First of all, I did a search on the Internet and found it listed at Amazon.com for $1,475. This must surely be a typo, though. I refuse to believe a book can cost that much.

Then I looked at Powell's and they have what appears to be two stories or something of the sort from Shahnameh--for $75.

Then Half.com, which my annoying English teacher always suggests-how I hate taking her advice-has something that doesn't appear to be the epic at all, and then the ones on the list that appear to be the epic itself are "Not in Stock."

I have a feeling that when I tell the guy at Walden's to look this up, he won't find anything, or it will be some $100 thing. Ouch. Not good for my $20-a-week-allowance. No more computer games for at least a month or two...but oh, well, I'm committed. Besides, Civilization III will keep me entertained until I have read all of the epics. The major epics, I mean.

Now, are you sure that Shahnameh is the longest of the works that I've mentioned? I mean, the Tale of Genji is over 1000 pages long, here.

On further examination, it seems this is divided into volumes, and that each volume that I have found on the Internet is $75.

Yeah, this stuff had better make my head explode from the awesome insights it will give me into Persian culture.