The Odyssey by Homer
An investigation of thirty skyscrapers from around the world--both recently built and under construction--that explains the structural principles behind their creation Skyscrapers, ever taller, astound us with their immensity and beauty. Despite the challenges associated with their design and safety, there is continued growth in the size and number of tall buildings being built around the world. In this fascinating book, Matthew Wells, a practicing structural engineer, explains the principles behind the construction of skyscrapers and the ways they are designed to withstand such forces as earthquakes, high winds, and fire. Beginning with a concise architectural and cultural history of the skyscraper, Wells then offers thirty case studies of high profile buildings recently built or under construction by some of the world's most renowned architectural firms, including Foster and Partners; Zaha Hadid Architects; Cesar Pelli and Associates; the Renzo Piano Building Workshop; and Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill. Each is illustrated in color alongside accompanying text, drawings, plans, and details that show how the building is constructed and what particular innovative design features it incorporates in order to address such issues as sustainability, the needs of mixed-use sites, local vernacular traditions, and technological advancements in building materials. Skyscrapers features these buildings and more:- Commerzbank, Frankfurt, Germany
- Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- London Bridge Tower, London
- Turning Torso, Malm , Sweden
- AOL Time Warner Center, New York
- New York Times Building, New York
Homer was probably born around 725BC on the Coast of Asia Minor, now the coast of Turkey, but then really a part of Greece. Homer was the first Greek writer whose work survives. He was one of a long line of bards, or poets, who worked in the oral tradition. Homer and other bards of the time could recite, or chant, long epic poems. Both works attributed to Homer - the Iliad and the Odyssey - are over ten thousand lines long in the original. Homer must have had an amazing memory but was helped by the formulaic poetry style of the time.
In the Iliad Homer sang of death and glory, of a few days in the struggle between the Greeks and the Trojans. Mortal men played out their fate under the gaze of the gods. The Odyssey is the original collection of tall traveller's tales. Odysseus, on his way home from the Trojan War, encounters all kinds of marvels from one-eyed giants to witches and beautiful temptresses. His adventures are many and memorable before he gets back to Ithaca and his faithful wife Penelope. We can never be certain that both these stories belonged to Homer. In fact 'Homer' may not be a real name but a kind of nickname meaning perhaps 'the hostage' or 'the blind one'. Whatever the truth of their origin, the two stories, developed around three thousand years ago, may well still be read in three thousand years' time.
Robert Fagles (1933-2008) was Arthur W. Marks '19 Professor of Comparative Literature, Emeritus, at Princeton University. He was the recipient of the 1997 PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation and a 1996 Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His translations include Sophocles's Three Theban Plays, Aeschylus's Oresteia (nominated for a National Book Award), Homer's Iliad (winner of the 1991 Harold Morton Landon Translation Award by The Academy of American Poets), Homer's Odyssey, and Virgil's Aeneid. Bernard Knox (1914-2010) was Director Emeritus of Harvard's Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C. He taught at Yale University for many years. Among his numerous honors are awards from the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the National Endowment for the Humanities. His works include The Heroic Temper: Studies in Sophoclean Tragedy, Oedipus at Thebes: Sophocles' Tragic Hero and His Time and Essays Ancient and Modern (awarded the 1989 PEN/Spielvogel-Diamonstein Award).| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780385050401 |
| ISBN 10 | 0385050402 |
| Title | The Odyssey |
| Author | Homer |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Anchor Books |
| Year published | 1962-12-04 |
| Number of pages | 507 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |