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Homer-Haunted

The Many Afterlives of an Ancient Poet

Homer-Haunted cover

Homer-Haunted

The Many Afterlives of an Ancient Poet

Quantity
Pre-order. Available Jul 16 2026
$29.40

Payment for this pre-order will be taken when the item becomes available

Description

'It's rich and beautiful and strange' Rory Stewart, The Rest Is Politics

'This is such a brilliantly told story of Homer-obsessives through the ages that, by the end, you're as hooked on Homer as they were' Frank Skinner

'Every page is an illuminating joy' A. N. Wilson

'An endlessly generous book' Daisy Hay

This is the story of how two ancient epics captured the world's imagination.

The siege of Troy and Odysseus' long voyage home have inspired many of our most thrilling and radical poets. Henry Power takes us on a surprising journey through the afterlives of these mysterious epics, and the search for the poet who created them.

Guiding us through the twists and turns of the Iliad and the Odyssey, Power travels to the places where Homer's stories have taken root – from the islands of Greece to the Scottish Highlands, the Devon coast to suburban Los Angeles – to trace the footsteps of the poets, politicians, lunatics, and lovers haunted by Homer's mythical heroes and monsters.

A dazzlingly original and deeply personal testament to the power of poetry, Homer-Haunted is an epic account of how our oldest stories have shaped the way we read, write, and think.

Accessibility Information

Additional accessibility information

  • EPUB 3.0
  • Conforms with the requirements of EPUB Accessibility Spec v1.1
  • WCAG level AA
  • WCAG v2.2 compliant
  • accessibility@bloomsbury.com

Hazards

The publication contains no hazards

Support for non-visual reading

  • No accessibility features offered by the reading system, device or reading software are disabled or otherwise unusable with the product
  • Has alternative text descriptions for images

Visual adjustments

Appearance of the text and page layout can be modified according to the capabilities of the reading system (font family and size, spaces, as well as color of background and text)

Navigation

  • Page list to go to pages from the print source version
  • Elements such as headings, tables, etc for structured navigation
  • All or substantially all textual matter is arranged in a single logical reading order
  • Content is enhanced with ARIA roles to optimize organization and facilitate navigation
  • Purposes of all links are made clear

Table of Contents

Note on the Text
Introduction

1. Rebirth: George Chapman
2. Mosaic: Alexander Pope
3. Fragments: Ossian and James Macpherson
4. Discovery: John Keats
5. Fathers and Sons: Matthew Arnold
6. Small Things: Elizabeth Barrett Browning
7. Exile: H.D. (and Ezra Pound)
8. Theft by Finding: Christopher Logue
9. Pleasure-Seeking: Thom Gunn
10. Music: David Melnick
11. Empire: Derek Walcott
12. The Glorious Deeds of Men: Alice Oswald, Sasha Dugdale and A. E. Stallings

Afterword: Homer's Octopus
Glossary of Homeric Names
Acknowledgements
Extract Permissions
Further Reading and References
Index

Product details

Published Jul 16 2026
Format Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
Edition 1st
Pages 320
ISBN 9781399428163
Imprint Bloomsbury Continuum
Illustrations 14 black and white integrated illustrations
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Henry Power

Henry Power studied Classics and English at Oxford…

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