Reading Order for Greek and Roman Mythology | Choosing Introductory Books for the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Stories of the Gods

If you are reading Greek and Roman mythology for the first time, a safe approach is to lightly cover the genealogy of the gods and the background of the Trojan War, then read the Iliad and the Odyssey one at a time, work by work. Although the two are often mentioned together, they are separate epics, so knowing simply where each begins and ends is enough to decide the reading order for yourself.

This article sets out, in turn, the scope worth covering at the introductory stage, the distinction between the two epics, and the criteria to check when choosing a Korean edition. Frequently asked questions from first-time readers follow at the end.

What to Cover Before Starting

Because the Iliad and the Odyssey are epics, they read far more easily when you have basic knowledge of why the Trojan War broke out and what the relationships among the Olympian gods are. For that reason, it is best to begin with an introductory book that retells mythology as a whole in narrative form.

Among Korean introductory books there is Jo Myeong-dong's Gods and Heroes of Greece. Published by the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Press, it is structured around explanations and interpretations pitched at beginning readers. It suits those who want to draw a map of the whole mythology first.

Robert Graves's The Greek Myths 1: The Age of the Gods is another book published in Korean translation, identified by ISBN 9791189333652. Meanwhile, Edith Hamilton's Mythology, an English retelling that bundles Greek, Roman, and Norse myths together, is often cited as the representative introductory book, but it is worth keeping in mind that it differs in character from translated editions of the Homeric originals.

If you are curious about the background of mythology as a whole, it is also a good idea to first look at the overview of the basic background of Greek and Roman mythology before reading. Once you have the broad outline of the genealogy and the origins of the war, reading the epics afterward becomes much lighter.

The Iliad and the Odyssey Are Separate Works

The two works have come down under the name of the same poet, Homer, but they are separate epics, and even original-text archives such as MIT Classics provide the full texts of the Iliad and the Odyssey as separate entries. It is accurate to see them as two self-contained stories, not as the upper and lower volumes of a single book.

The Iliad deals with the battles and heroes of the Trojan War, while the Odyssey deals with the wanderings and homecoming of Odysseus as he returns to his homeland after the war ends. Because the two works cover different periods and events, which one to read first depends on what the reader wants to learn first.

If you want to understand the background of the Trojan War in order, reading the Iliad first is natural; if you want to start with the homecoming story, reading the Odyssey first is natural. However, this is only a suggestion for reading convenience, and there is no fixed official absolute order. When you become curious about how each work unfolds, you can continue with the overview of the Iliad and the overview of the Odyssey.

Criteria for Choosing a Korean Edition: Distinguishing Original Translations from Retellings

When choosing a Korean edition, the first thing to do is determine whether it is a translation of the original or a retelling. An original translation is a book that renders the Homeric epics from Greek, while a retelling like Hamilton's Mythology, which rewrites mythology as a whole, has a separate character. Since the two types serve different purposes, rather than comparing them in one bundle as 'which is better,' it is best to first decide whether what you want to read is the works themselves or a guide to mythology as a whole.

Once you have decided on a type, check the translator, publisher, ISBN, whether it is a complete translation, and the volume numbers in each product's bibliographic information. The market offers many formats—single-volume translated editions of the Odyssey, sets bundling the Iliad and the Odyssey, comic editions and retellings for children, and more—so using the bibliographic items as your criteria makes it easy to narrow down the type you want.

That said, two things you should clearly know: there is no common resource that has verified the translator and completeness of every Korean edition one by one, and there is no established standard for objectively ranking stylistic difficulty. So for comparing style between editions, the most reliable method is to read portions of the text yourself at a bookstore or in a preview and choose the edition that reads comfortably. How to choose by type is covered in more detail in criteria for choosing a Greek and Roman mythology book.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Which should I read first, the Iliad or the Odyssey?
A. If you want to understand the background of the Trojan War first, reading the Iliad first is natural; if you want to start with Odysseus's homecoming story, reading the Odyssey first is natural. However, this is only a reading suggestion based on convenience, not an official absolute order.

Q. Can I start with a mythology collection?
A. Yes. If you first learn the genealogy and the origins of the war, it becomes easier to follow the gods and the relationships between characters in the two epics. A safe path is to start with a Korean book pitched at beginning readers, such as Jo Myeong-dong's Gods and Heroes of Greece, and then move on to translations of the originals.

Q. How do I choose a translated edition?
A. First determine whether it is an original translation or a retelling, then check the translator, publisher, ISBN, whether it is a complete translation, and the volume numbers in the product's bibliographic information. Since there is no common resource that objectively compares the completeness and stylistic difficulty of every edition, the practical standard is to read portions of the text yourself and choose the edition that feels comfortable, in line with your reading purpose.

In Summary

The basic framework for an introductory reading order is to draw a map with an introductory book covering the mythological genealogy and the background of the Trojan War, then read the Iliad and the Odyssey work by work. The order between the two epics can be set according to the reader's purpose, and there is no official absolute order. For choosing a book, start with the distinction between original translations and retellings, then narrow down using bibliographic information such as translator, publisher, ISBN, and completeness of translation.