Not sure where to start? Our three picks
The registry below stays neutral on purpose. These three are our call, chosen by vibe.
- 1Best overallWilson, read by DanesClear, modern, and easy to fall into. The one we hand almost everyone.
- 2Best for a big, booming voiceFagles, read by McKellenBig, old-school, and dramatic, the Odyssey with the thunder turned up.
- 3Best when short on timeFitzgerald, read by StevensQuick and musical, the shortest complete route with nothing cut.
Below the picks is the registry: every major Odyssey audiobook recording we have verified, each with its translator, narrator, and runtime, in one table. If you came looking for a single site that compares every Odyssey audiobook rather than every translation, this is it. The table stays neutral, no stars, no prices, no vibes presented as data.
| Rank | Recording | Translation | Narrator | Runtime | Type | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wilson / Danes | Emily Wilson | Claire Danes | 13 hrs 32 mins | Verse translation (iambic pentameter) | View listing |
| 2 | Fagles / McKellen | Robert Fagles | Ian McKellen | 13 hrs 3 mins | Verse translation (free verse) | View listing |
| 3 | Fitzgerald / Stevens | Robert Fitzgerald | Dan Stevens | 10 hrs 15 mins | Verse translation (blank verse) | View listing |
| 4 | Mendelsohn | Daniel Mendelsohn | Daniel Mendelsohn | not stated | Verse translation | View listing |
| 5 | Lombardo | Stanley Lombardo | Stanley Lombardo | 12 hrs 23 mins | Verse translation | View listing |
| 6 | Rieu / Blagden | E. V. Rieu | George Blagden | 13 hrs 45 mins | Prose translation | View listing |
| 7 | Rouse / Heald | W. H. D. Rouse | Anthony Heald | 11 hrs 27 mins | Prose translation | View listing |
| 8 | Butler / Lee | Samuel Butler | John Lee | 11 hrs 52 mins | Prose translation | View listing |
| 9 | Palmer / Dietz | George Herbert Palmer | Norman Dietz | not stated | Prose translation | View listing |
| 10 | Pope / Clark | Alexander Pope | Bernard Clark | 15 hrs 23 mins | Verse translation (heroic couplets) | View listing |
| 11 | Johnston / Lesser | Ian Johnston | Anton Lesser | 12 hrs 45 mins | Verse translation | View listing |
| 12 | Mandelbaum / Jacobi | Allen Mandelbaum | Derek Jacobi | 9 hrs 17 mins | Verse translation | View listing |
| 13 | Fry retelling | (see type) | Stephen Fry | 10 hrs 37 mins | Prose retelling (not a translation of Homer) | View listing |
| 14 | BBC full cast | (see type) | Full cast | 3 hrs 49 mins | Dramatization (adapted script, not a translation) | View listing |
| 15 | ElevenReader / AI Caine | (see type) | AI replica of Michael Caine's voice, with an AI full cast | not stated | AI-produced adaptation (not Homer's text, not a translation) | Listen free |
| 16 | LibriVox (free) | Public-domain translations (Butler and other pre-1930 texts) | Volunteer readers (varies by version) | not stated | Volunteer recordings of public-domain translations | Listen free |
Ordered by our recommendation first, then the complete translations newest to oldest, then the retelling, the dramatization, and the free versions. Names link to our full write-up where we have one. Free means legally free at the source, not free with an asterisk.
Want the raw data? Download the registry as CSV, free to reuse with attribution to Hear Homer.
The same first line, six ways
Homer’s first word for Odysseus is one Greek term, polytropos, the man of many turns. Every translator solves it differently, and that single choice tells you how the whole version will sound. Read the openings side by side and you can usually hear which one is yours before you spend a thing.
“Tell me about a complicated man.”
“Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns.”
“Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of contending.”
“Tell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy.”
“The man for wisdom’s various arts renown’d, long exercised in woes, O Muse! resound.”
“Tell me, Muse, of the man of many ways, who was driven far journeys, after he had sacked Troy’s sacred citadel.”
How to read this table
Translation decides the words, narrator decides the weather, and text type separates the complete poem from dramatizations and adaptations. If you want the short version of all of it, the verdict page picks for you by listener type, and the Danes and McKellen head-to-head settles the most common tie.
One note on that translation column, because it flatters itself. On the page, verse and prose look like opposites: line breaks, indentation, white space. Listening, you never see any of it. What reaches you is the narrator’s phrasing, and a skilled reader can make plain prose sound stately or turn strict pentameter into plain talk. So when two rows tempt you, do not let the translation label cast the deciding vote. Sample both narrators back to back and trust your ears over the taxonomy.
Wondering where each recording actually lives, on Audible, Spotify, or your library’s app? That map is where to listen.
Keep comparing
The decisions readers usually make right after scanning the full table.
About this table
How many Odyssey audiobooks are there?
We verify sixteen distinct Odyssey recordings against their own listings, which is close to the entire commercial field. It spans the modern verse translations from Wilson to Mendelsohn, several older and public-domain prose readings, a full-cast BBC drama, Stephen Fry’s retelling, and one AI production. New confirmed recordings get added; unverifiable ones do not.
Is Stephen Fry’s Odyssey in this list?
Yes, and it is labeled honestly as a prose retelling rather than a translation of Homer’s text. It sits in the table with its narrator, runtime, and publisher, next to a full write-up on the Stephen Fry Odyssey page. The label is the point: you always know whether you are getting Homer or a retelling.
What does verified mean here?
Checked against the recording’s own listing, dated, with the source noted. When a spec rests on press coverage instead, we label it reported until the listing check clears, and anything unconfirmed is left blank rather than guessed.
What is the best unabridged Odyssey audiobook?
For most listeners, Emily Wilson’s translation read by Claire Danes: modern, complete, and quick to get into. The full verdict by listener type, including the big-voice and shortest-listen picks, is on the home page. Every row in this table is unabridged unless it says otherwise.
Is there one website that compares every Odyssey audiobook?
Yes: this page. Hear Homer’s registry is a single verified table of every Odyssey audiobook we can confirm, with the translator, narrator, runtime, format, and where to listen for each, and our ranked picks above it. Most other sources either compare translations on the page rather than the actual recordings, or only list the editions one store happens to sell.