ROBERT FITZGERALD's versions of the Iliad, the Aeneid, and the Oedipus cycle of Sophocles (with Dudley Fitts) are also classics. At his death, in 1985, he was Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard.

Dan Stevens is a film, television, and theater actor whose many celebrated performances include Downton Abbey's Matthew Crawley. On stage, Stevens has appeared in numerous Shakespeare productions for the Peter Hall Company as well as West End revivals of Arcadia and The Vortex. He starred in the 2012 Broadway hit The Heiress and is a regular columnist for the Daily Telegraph. His previous audio credits include Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Ken Follett's Fall of Giants.

Robert Fitzgerald's translation of The Odyssey has been the standard translation for more than three generations of students and poets. Macmillan Audio is delighted to publish the first ever audio edition of this classic work, the greatest of all epic poems. Fitzgerald's supple verse is ideally suited for audio, recounting the story of Odysseus' long journey back to his wife and home after the Trojan War. Homer's tale of love, adventure, food and drink, sensual pleasure, and mortal danger reaches the English-language listener in all its glory.

In keeping with the oral tradition of the time, Dan Stevens, whose many celebrated performances include Downton Abbey's Matthew Crawley, makes this epic tale come alive. The listener becomes totally immersed in the adventure and drama of the story – this is the way The Odyssey was meant to be experienced.

Also included on the program is a portion of the poem read in ancient Greek so that listeners may experience the lyricism and music of the original language.