Two Thousand Years of “The Odyssey” at the Library

Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation of “The Odyssey” introduces the epic poem attributed to Homer to a new generation of moviegoers, turning a nearly 3,000-year-old story into a fresh cultural touchstone.

The Library’s vast collections, covering centuries of time, document how artists, cartographers and translators around the world have translated and reimagined Odysseus’ journey anew. From medieval engravings to graphic novels, the Library’s holdings document how each generation seems to find fresh meaning in the mythical, decade-long struggle of the Greek hero to return home to his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, following the Trojan War.

The 12,000-line prose poem originated in an oral tradition more than 2,800 years ago in ancient Greece and was performed at festivals for hundreds of years. It uses monsters, murder, war, gods and disasters to pose timeless questions about loyalty and perseverance, resilience, temptation, loss and, above all, the universal search for belonging.The Library’s holdings on work attributed to Homer go back about 2,000 years, with a papyrus fragment from “The Iliad,” the precursor to “The Odyssey,” and then continue as the centuries go by.

Homer’s influence always seemed to be hovering, as shown in a 1597 map by Flemish cartographer Abraham Ortelius. It fuses myth and geography to trace Odysseus’ journey across the ancient world, roughly the present-day Mediterranean, in his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum.

Around this time in London, the poet and playwright George Chapman, a contemporary of William Shakespeare, had begun the first translation of “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” into English. He began publishing installments as early as 1598.

In 1616, he published them both in “The Whole Works of Homer, Prince of Poetts, in His Iliads and Odysses.” His vivid, poetic rendering opened the story to readers beyond the Greek-speaking world and became an enduring influence on English literature. The poet John Keats, 200 years later, was so taken with Chapman’s translation that he penned “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer,” which itself became famous.

Then there’s the 1640 etching by Theodoor van Thulden, which captures the moment Odysseus outwits Polyphemus, the man-eating Cyclops. One of 58 illustrations in the book “Errores Vlyssis,” van Thulden shows Ulysses and his crew trapped inside a dimly lit cave as they get the giant drunk and drive a burning stake into its single eye before escaping.

A rare 1899 French limited edition shines a light on Princess Nausikaa, whose grace and compassion save a shipwrecked Odysseus on the island of the Phaeacians. Published by H. Piazza, it stands as a pinnacle of art nouveau art books and is the only book to be fully illustrated by the artist Gaston de Latenay. His integration of text with sweeping color lithographs, custom borders and decorative vignettes makes “Nausikaa” a highly prized rarity. The Library owns copy 80 of a limited run of 400.

In the nearly endless “inspired by” category, the Library’s Aramont Collection has three first editions of “Ulysses,” James Joyce’s 1922 novel, which took its design, inspiration and ambition from “The Odyssey.” (Ulysses is the latinized version of Odysseus.) “Ulysses” is widely regarded as the most stunning novel of the 20^th century, and its limited first edition of 750 copies became some of the most sought-after books of the age. (A first edition sold at auction in London 17 years ago for the equivalent today of $636,000; signed copies have sold for much more.)

The Library’s holdings include the signed #1 copy of the first edition, literally the very first copy of “Ulysses” to be printed. Still, copy #361 is one of the most exceptional copies in the world.

Assembled by Joyce and a friend, it has a hand-tooled bespoke calfskin outer cover decorated with a map of Dublin, where the novel’s action takes place. Then Joyce tucked in a detailed outline that explains how the book is loosely based on “The Odyssey.” And finally, there’s a foldout, full-color anatomical schema, explaining how parts of the body relate to chapters in the book.

“What we have here is one of the most extraordinary volumes that we’ve ever come across in the past 50 years,” said John Hessler, the Library’s former curator of the Jay I. Kislak Collection (and also a “Ulysses” scholar), in an interview on the 100^th anniversary of “Ulysses.”

The impact of “The Odyssey” is worldwide, and translations held by the Library reveal hundreds of distinct voices across the ages. Polyglots will find this through the Library’s myriad translations into languages as varied Arabic, Russian and Spanish, alongside recent English translations by Emily Wilson (the basis for Nolan’s new film) and by Daniel Mendelsohn.

There’s also a unique translation into Sorbian, a West Slavic language spoken by ethnic Slavs in Germany (it’s not to be confused with Serbian). Nevila Pahumi, a reference specialist in the Latin American, Caribbean and European Division, said the Sorbian volume is a standout because it “demonstrates the Library’s commitment to collecting universally and Homer’s tremendous influence.”

Odysseus’ epic journey has come full circle in the  21^st century through graphic novels and comic books that serve as new doorways to the Homeric universe. The Library preserves this evolving medium through its Small Press Expo Collection. Within this specialized archive, Gareth Hinds’ acclaimed graphic novel adaptation uses sweeping, watercolor panels to turn ancient Greek gods and monsters into a high-impact visual landscape for contemporary readers.

So, with Nolan’s film version now packing theaters, the Library documents why “The Odyssey” endures: Through text, images, maps and storytelling, each generation finds new routes into a timeless story that, at its core, continues to raise the same questions about endurance, identity and the universal longing for home.