Odysseus the Hero of Ithaca

It has always been the opinion of many of the most advanced teachers of the United States that Odysseus, along with Heracles, is the hero closest to a child's life, and that stories from the "Odyssey" are best suited for reading lessons. These conclusions were arrived at by independent experiences unrelated to educational work in foreign countries, and during my stay in Athens I had the pleasure of visiting the best schools, public and private, and found reading to be especially lively. I examined the books used and found that the books of ordinary reading consist of the classic tales of the country, the stories of Heracles, Theseus, Perseus, etc., in the readers after the introductory book, the stories of Odysseus, or Ulysses, such as we usually call, as the third book, we answer our second reader or third. I brought this book home with me and an accurate and literal translation was made. This translation was provided to the eminent researcher, Zinaid A. Raguzin, who faithfully crossed the land, word for word and sentence by sentence, and this version has been carefully compared with and rewritten by Bryant, making the language as simple as it can be consistent with the dignity of the subject.