The Odyssey

Butler Translation

Samuel Butler's 1900 prose translation — public domain

Books 1–24

1 Book 1: Athena Inspires the Prince — The gods debate; Athena visits Telemachus 2 Book 2: Telemachus Sets Sail — The assembly at Ithaca; Telemachus departs 3 Book 3: King Nestor Remembers — Telemachus at Pylos 4 Book 4: The King and Queen of Sparta — Telemachus visits Menelaus and Helen 5 Book 5: Odysseus — Nymph and Shipwreck — Calypso releases Odysseus; Poseidon's storm 6 Book 6: The Princess and the Stranger — Nausicaa finds Odysseus on the beach 7 Book 7: Phaeacia's Halls and Gardens — Odysseus enters Alcinous's palace 8 Book 8: A Day for Songs and Contests — Feasting, athletics, and Demodocus's songs 9 Book 9: In the One-Eyed Giant's Cave — The Cyclops Polyphemus 10 Book 10: The Bewitching Queen of Aeaea — Aeolus, the Laestrygonians, and Circe 11 Book 11: The Kingdom of the Dead — Odysseus visits the Underworld 12 Book 12: The Cattle of the Sun — Scylla, Charybdis, and Thrinacia 13 Book 13: Ithaca at Last — Odysseus arrives home; Athena's plan 14 Book 14: The Loyal Swineherd — Odysseus and Eumaeus 15 Book 15: The Prince Sets Sail for Home — Telemachus leaves Sparta 16 Book 16: Father and Son — The reunion of Odysseus and Telemachus 17 Book 17: Stranger at the Gates — Odysseus enters his own palace as a beggar 18 Book 18: The Beggar-King of Ithaca — Odysseus fights Irus 19 Book 19: Penelope and Her Guest — The scar of Odysseus; Penelope's dream 20 Book 20: Portents Gather — Omens and tension before the contest 21 Book 21: Odysseus Strings His Bow — The test of the bow 22 Book 22: Slaughter in the Hall — Odysseus kills the suitors 23 Book 23: The Great Rooted Bed — Penelope tests Odysseus 24 Book 24: Peace — The underworld; Laertes; final truce