The Odyssey

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast production of Homer’s epic seafaring adventure, dramatised by award-winning poet Simon Armitage and starring Tim McInnerny, Amanda Redman & Benedict Cumberbatch.

‘My fame is written in the heavens, and my fate too...’ So speaks Odysseus as he starts to recount his struggles to sail home to Ithaca, in one of the greatest pieces of storytelling in Western literature.

'The Odyssey' is his incredible traveller’s tale – and also the story of his faithful wife Penelope who waits for him, besieged by suitors, and their son Telemachus who has a quest of his own. In a twenty-year journey, fabulous fantasy mixes with extraordinary reality as Odysseus encounters enchantresses, nymphs, monsters, prophets and ghosts. From the temptations of the lotus flowers and the Sirens’ song to the horrors of the Cyclops’ cave and the Land of the Dead, the story of his encounters is riveting. We hear of Circe, who turned his men into swine; Calypso, who held Odysseus prisoner for seven years; and the dreadful six-headed monster Scylla who devoured some of his crew. And we hear of the Gods, who have a vital role to play....

Dramatised by major contemporary poet Simon Armitage to celebrate the return of the Olympics to Athens, this full cast production brings Odysseus’s adventures to vivid life, conveying all the excitement, suspense and poetry of the original. A stunning aural rollercoaster ride, 'The Odyssey' will have your heart in your mouth and stir your soul.

'As irresistible as gravity ... a production so thrilling that it rapidly becomes unthinkable to press the stop - or even the pause - button' - Independent on Sunday.

Odysseus: Tim McLnnerny Penelope: Amanda Redman Telemachus: Benedict Cumberbatch Athena: Janet McTeer Zeus: John Wood Eurycleia: Mary Wimbush Hermes: Bertie Carvel King Alcinous: Geoffrey Whitehead Queen Arete: Cheryl Campbell Princess Nausicaa: Alice Hart Calypso: Adjoa Andoh The Cyclops: Barrie Rutter Antinous: Danny Webb Eurymachus: Jonathan Keeble Amphinomus: Chris Pavlo Eurylochus: Ewan Bailey Polites: John Rowe Elpenus: Stephen Hogan Eurybates: Philip Fox Antiphus: Jon Glover Eumaeus: Ioan Meredith Circe: Frances Barber Ghost of Anticleia: Joanna McCallum The Sirens: Elena Ferarri The Sirens: Belinda Sykes The Sirens: Harriet Williams

© 2004 BBC Digital Audio (Lydbog): 9781405698610

Udgivelsesdato

Lydbog: 1. december 2004