World classic, retold in simple Mandarin
The Odyssey
奥德赛
The Odyssey (奥德赛, Àodésài) is a classic by Homer, retold in simple Mandarin as a 6-chapter story with audio for learners at about HSK 1 (Beginner).
Retold from Homer's ancient Greek epic: after ten years of war, clever Odysseus sails for home, tricks a one-eyed giant, and fights his way back to the wife and son who never stopped waiting.
Meet the voices
- Narrator · 旁白 — An old storyteller who tells the great voyage plainly, like a grandfather by the fire.
- Odysseus · 奥德修斯 — The clever king of Ithaca, who thinks his way out of every trap and only wants to go home.
- The Sailor · 水手 — Odysseus's cheerful, nervous old friend, who complains a lot and never leaves his side.
- The Crew · 水手们 — The rest of Odysseus's men, hungry, greedy and easy to tempt.
- The One-Eyed Giant · 独眼巨人 — A huge shepherd giant with a single eye, who lives in a cave and does not fear the gods.
- The Other Giants · 巨人们 — The giant's neighbors, who wake up grumpy and do not help.
- Aeolus, King of the Winds · 风神 — The kindly ruler of all the winds, who gives Odysseus a bag of them.
- Hermes · 赫尔墨斯 — The quick, cheerful messenger of the gods, who helps Odysseus with a white flower.
- Circe · 喀耳刻 — A beautiful goddess who lives on a green island and turns visitors into pigs.
- The Sirens · 塞壬 — Sea-women whose lovely voices call sailors to their rocks.
- Athena · 雅典娜 — The goddess of wisdom, who watches over Odysseus and guides him home.
- Telemachus · 忒勒马科斯 — Odysseus's son, a boy when his father left and a brave young man now.
- Penelope · 佩涅洛佩 — Odysseus's wise wife, who has waited twenty years and outwitted a hundred rude guests.
- Antinous · 安提诺奥斯 — The loudest and rudest of the guests who fill Odysseus's house.
6 chapters, one journey
Chapter 1: The Wooden Horse
大木马
After ten years of war, clever Odysseus has one wild idea to get his men home, but the sea has other plans.
Free to read
Chapter 2: Nobody
没有人
A one-eyed giant traps Odysseus and his men in a cave. Odysseus has a clever name for himself, and a plan that will make the giant sorry.
Free to read
Chapter 3: The Bag of Winds
风神的袋子
Odysseus is almost home when his greedy crew opens a gift they were told never to touch. Then Odysseus's friends walk into a strange house.
Free to read
Chapter 4: Circe and the Sirens
杯子和歌声
A traveler hands Odysseus a white flower, and a goddess pours a strange drink. Then he must sail past a song that no sailor has ever escaped.
Free to read
Chapter 5: The Old Beggar
老乞丐
Odysseus is finally home, but his house is full of rude guests, and no one knows him. Only an old dog does. Tomorrow, a contest will decide everything.
Free to read
Chapter 6: The Great Bow
大弓
One old beggar asks to try the great bow that no guest can bend. And one queen has a last question about a bed.
Free to read
Key words in The Odyssey
Behind the story
The Odyssey is an ancient Greek poem, told aloud by poets for a long time before anyone wrote it down. It is credited to Homer, and it follows the clever king Odysseus on his ten-year voyage home from the Trojan War, with one-eyed giants, a witch, singing sea-women and a wife who will not give up waiting.
Chinese readers know it as 奥德赛 (Àodésài), and they usually meet it next to its partner poem about the war itself, 伊利亚特 (Yīlìyàtè). It is read in translation as one of the great books of the world, and the word odyssey, a long journey full of trials, has become an everyday word in English.
Did you know?
- The wooden horse is called 特洛伊木马 (Tèluòyī mùmǎ) in Chinese. Today 木马 (mùmǎ) is also the everyday Chinese word for a Trojan horse computer virus, a harmful program that hides inside something that looks like a gift.
- The poem has twenty-four books and about twelve thousand lines. Many of its lines were made to be spoken aloud, which is why the story is full of repeated phrases and easy-to-remember tricks like Odysseus telling the giant his name is Nobody.
- In the story, Odysseus and Penelope prove who they are with a secret only they share: their bed is built around a living olive tree and can never be moved.