W. B. Stanford (1910–1984)

This is a survey, with all the strengths and limitations which that entails, of the figure of Odysseus from Homer through the first half of the Twentieth Century. Stanford had the required background: he edited one of the standard editions of the Odyssey, is familiar with the intermediate works, and is a sympathetic reader of Joyce's Ulysses and of Kazantzakis. He focusses on highlights - this is not intended as an exhaustive study - and spends the greatest amount of time, as one might expect, on Homer. Worthwhile reading, especially if you have no familiarity with the Mediaeval and Renaissance background, or as a case study in how different periods can alter readings and re-presentations of traditional material.… (more)