The Odyssey

The Trojan War is over, but for Odysseus the hard part is just beginning. Ten years of fighting have earned him nothing but a longer road home, one that winds past a man-eating Cyclops, a sorceress who turns sailors into pigs, the deadly song of the Sirens, and a goddess who would rather keep him on her island forever. Every landfall is a test of the one weapon he trusts: his wits.

Meanwhile, back on Ithaca, his wife Penelope holds off a houseful of arrogant suitors who have decided the king is dead and his throne is up for grabs, while his son Telemachus sets out to learn whether his father is legend or corpse. Homer braids the two stories toward one of the most satisfying homecomings ever told. This is a poem that was performed aloud for centuries before anyone wrote it down, and hearing it is the original way to experience it.

At roughly 119,600 words, The Odyssey runs about 13½ hours at 1x narration speed. That figure is an estimate based on a typical narration pace. The exact length depends on the voice and the playback speed you choose.

The edition linked here is available from Project Gutenberg under its US public-domain listing. Check the edition, translation, completeness and copyright rules where you live. LoudReader lets you browse and download Gutenberg books; they are not all stored on installation. To listen:

1. Install LoudReader on iPhone or iPad, or its iPad app on a compatible Apple Silicon Mac.
2. Search for “The Odyssey” in the built-in catalog and add it to your library.
3. Press play. A natural offline voice reads the book while each word highlights on screen, and your place is saved between sessions.

Speech is generated locally without uploading the book for narration. Download the book and check your chosen voice before travelling offline. Available voices depend on your device; check the in-app voice list. Try every available voice for your first 8 hours of listening. Afterwards, keep a free English voice selection and unlimited book listening. No LoudReader account or word quota.