The Odyssey (Rouse translation)

…is what scholars have called Homer's Odyssey, in addition to "the first novel," "the first expression of the mind in literary form," and "the best story ever written." Whether fans of suspense, fantasy, or human drama, readers of all ages thrill to Homer's vibrant picture of Odysseus on his decadelong journey as he meets the lotus-eaters, cunningly flees the Cyclops, angers his gods, resists the sexy Sirens, narrowly escapes Scylla and Charybdis, averts his eyes from Medusa, docks in exotic cities—all the while longing to return to his wife and son.

Adventure on the high seas, legendary romance, tests of endurance, betrayal, heroism—this epic has all these and more, imagined by the most famous bard of all time. But, as Aristotle pointed out, "his greatness was that he himself was nowhere to be found in his story. His characters were everywhere." Blind and possibly illiterate, Homer has still, according to John Dryden, "in loftiness of thought surpass'd" any storyteller since 900 BCE.