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Classic Comparisons

Right away, we should point out that many of the versions listed in these pages are not consistently available here at Exodus. But even if they say "out of stock" the listings still have value! Many of them offer reviews, samples, links to internet versions, and much more. Please let us know if you have questions about anything here!

Once upon a time there was an old blind man with a harp. His name was Homer, and he spoke Greek, and he was really good at composing long poems about the adventures of Greek heroes. He never wrote anything down because that's just not how things were done back then, but other people did, and what Homer sang and they wrote we call The Iliad and The Odyssey.

Much more recently, you (or someone like you) stood in a bookstore and wondered why there were twelve thousand versions of these two relatively short books. Were there sequels? Did people other than Homer come up with the same stories? Or are there just different covers for one or two versions?

It's easy to resolve the problem by simply buying the least expensive copy. And it isn't just the works of Homer that present us with similar decisions: there are multiple editions of Virgil, Dante, The Epic of Gilgamesh, Cervantes' Don Quixote, etc. Does it matter which one you pick? Is cheapest always best?

Well, to quote a great philosopher, the price don't enter into it. The main reason there are so many versions of these books is because there are so many translations, and there are so many translations because foreign or ancient languages can be interpreted in so many ways. Choosing the best one can be exceedingly difficult, as each translation has its own strengths and weaknesses, and one size almost never fits all. With books written and published in English, there might be a wide selection of editions due to editorial changes or a variety of illustrators. Some books have had a number of retellings for children, and our goal is to familiarize you with which ones might best suit your needs.

That's why we've developed the Classic Comparisons pages. The issue here isn't to prove which version is the best—it's to help you figure out which version may become your favorite. Each page includes an original introduction to the text itself, links for further reading and activities online, an exclusive overview, kids' versions, and occasional extras. In the case of translation or editorial differences, we offer a side-by-side comparison chart of several versions, and if it's all about the illustrations, our pages will offer samples of the artwork. 

We started this section with an original dozen titles, but have several more in the works. Please be patient with us as several of those pages are still under construction! We hope you'll find these helpful, and that you'll learn as much from them as we did in making them.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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182 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 12th grade (Ages 17-18), New Books & Materials
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Signet Classics
by Jules Verne, translated by Mendor Brunetti, with an introduction by Stephen Baxter and an afterword by Walter James Miller
from Signet Classics
Science Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.06
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Bantam Classics
by Jules Verne, translated by Anthony Bonner with an introduction by Ray Bradbury
from Bantam Books
Science Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.09
Adventures of Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, translated by Geoffrey Brock, with an introduction by Umberto Eco and an afterword by Rebecca West
from New York Review of Books
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$11.90
Adventures of Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, translated by John Hooper & Anna Kraczyna
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$12.75
Aeneid
by Virgil, translated by Robert Fitzgerald
from Vintage Classics
Ancient Literature/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$14.45
Aeneid
by Virgil, translated by Robert Fagles
from Penguin Putnam
for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$17.00
Aeneid
Penguin Classics
by Virgil, translated by David West
Reissue from Penguin Classics
for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$13.60
Aeneid
by Virgil, translated by Stanley F. Lombardo
from Hackett Publishing Company
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$15.00
Aeneid
by Virgil, translated by Shadi Bartsch
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$18.00
Aeneid
Penguin Classics
by Virgil, translated by Sarah Ruden
Reissue from Yale University Press
for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$15.30
Aeneid - MP Student Guide
by Cody King
from Memoria Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Memoria Press Classical Studies (Location: HISCUR-MP)
$20.50
Aeneid - MP Teacher Guide
by Cody King
from Memoria Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Memoria Press Classical Studies (Location: HISCUR-MP)
$20.50
Aeneid Of Virgil
by Virgil, translated by Allan Mandelbaum
from Bantam Books
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$5.91
Annotated Arabian Nights
by Paulo Lemos Horta (editor), translated by Yasmine Seale
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$38.25
Annotated Milton
by John Milton
from Bantam Books
for 11th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$7.61
Arabian Nights
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora A. Smith, editors, illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Eastern Fairy Tales for 9th-Adult
in Scribner Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SCRIB)
$29.99
Arabian Nights I
Signet Classics
by Richard Burton (Translator), Jack Zipes (Adapter)
from Signet Classics
Eastern Fairy Tales for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$8.46
Arabian Nights II
Signet Classics
by Anonymous, Sir Richard Burton (Translator), Jack Zipes (Adapter)
from Signet Classics
Eastern Fairy Tales for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$7.61
Arthurian Romances
by Chrétien de Troyes
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$17.00
Ascent to Love
by Peter Leithart
from Canon Press
for 9th-Adult
in Classical Literature Guides (Location: LIR-CLA)
$16.00
Beginner's Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy
by Jason M. Baxter
from Baker Academics
for 11th-Adult
in Classical Literature Guides (Location: LIR-CLA)
$24.00
Beowulf
by Anonymous (translation by Frederick Rebsamen)
from HarperCollins
Medieval Poetic Epic for 8th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$8.49 $4.80 (3 in stock)
Beowulf
by Anonymous (translation by Seamus Heaney)
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Medieval Poetic Epic for 8th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$13.56
Beowulf
Dover Thrift Editions
by Anonymous, translated by R. K. Gordon
from Dover Publications
Medieval Epic for 8th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$3.40
Beowulf
by Anonymous, translated by Seamus Heaney
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Medieval Poetic Epic for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$21.21
Beowulf
by Anonymous, translated by Douglas Wilson
from Canon Press
for 7th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$11.90 $6.40 (1 in stock)
Beowulf - Progeny Press Study Guide
by Michael Poteet
from Progeny Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Progeny Press Literature Guides (Location: LITSG-PP)
$27.99
Beowulf - Study Guide CD
by Michael Poteet
from Progeny Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Progeny Press Interactive CDs (Location: LITSG-PPCD)
$13.00
Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary
by Anonymous (translation by J. R. R. Tolkien)
from Houghton Mifflin
for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$27.20
Brit. Lit. Volume 1
by Douglas Wilson
from Logos School
for 10th-12th grade
in Logos Brit. Lit. (Location: LITCUR-LOG)
$10.99
Brit. Lit. Volume 4
by John Milton
from Logos School
for 10th-12th grade
in Logos Brit. Lit. (Location: LITCUR-LOG)
$15.99
Canterbury Tales
Penguin Classics
by Geoffrey Chaucer (edited by Nevill Coghill)
from Penguin Classics
Medieval Poetry for 8th-12th grade
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
Canterbury Tales
by Geoffrey Chaucer (edited by Peter Beidler)
from Bantam Books
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$5.09
Canterbury Tales
by Geoffrey Chaucer, translated by David Wright
from Oxford University
for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$7.61
Canterbury Tales
by Geoffrey Chaucer, edited by Donald Howard
from Signet Classics
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$5.91
Canterbury Tales - Student Guide
by Geoffrey Chaucer
2nd edition from Memoria Press
for 8th-12th grade
in Memoria Press Literature & Poetry (Location: LITSG-MP)
$13.95 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Canterbury Tales - Teacher Guide
by Geoffrey Chaucer
2nd edition from Memoria Press
for 8th-12th grade
in Memoria Press Literature & Poetry (Location: LITSG-MP)
$13.95 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Christmas Carol
Dover Thrift Editions
by Charles Dickens
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$2.55
Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger
from North-South Books
for 9th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$21.24
Christmas Carol - Progeny Press Study Guide
Progeny Press Literature Guides
by Rebecca Gilleland
from Progeny Press
Literature Guide for 8th-12th grade
in Progeny Press Literature Guides (Location: LITSG-PP)
$27.99
Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Books
by Charles Dickens, introduction by Margaret Atwood
from Everyman's Library
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$24.00
Christmas Carol: An Engaging Visual Journey
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Jill De Haan
from Tyndale House
for 9th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$14.44
Confessions of Saint Augustine
Penguin Classics
by Augustine of Hippo (introduction & translation by R.S. Pine-Coffin)
from Penguin Classics
Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
Confessions of Saint Augustine
Penguin Classics
by Augustine of Hippo (translation by John K. Ryan)
from Image
Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$14.45
Confessions of Saint Augustine
Penguin Classics
by Augustine of Hippo (translation by Maria Boulding)
from Vintage Classics
Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$12.71
Confessions of Saint Augustine
Penguin Classics
by Augustine of Hippo (translation by Garry Wills)
from Penguin Classics
Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$13.60
Confessions of Saint Augustine
by Augustine of Hippo (translation by Sarah Ruden)
from Modern Library
Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$14.45
Confessions of Saint Augustine
by Augustine of Hippo (translation by Thomas Williams)
from Hackett Publishing Company
Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$13.00
Confessions of St. Augustine
by St. Augustine (translation by Philip Burton)
from Everyman's Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$18.70
Confessions of St. Augustine
by Saint Augustine (translation by Henry Chadwick)
from Oxford University
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$6.76
Dante's Inferno
by Dante Alighieri (translation by Anthony Esolen)
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$13.60
Dante's Paradise
by Dante Alighieri (translation by Anthony Esolen)
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$15.30
Dante's Purgatory
by Dante Alighieri (translation by Anthony Esolen)
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$13.60
Divine Comedy
by Dante Alighieri (translation by John Ciardi)
from New American Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
Divine Comedy
by Dante Alighieri, translated by Robin Kirkpatrick
Reprint from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$24.65
Divine Comedy
by Dante Alighieri, translated by Allan Mandelbaum
from Everyman's Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$29.75
Divine Comedy
by Dante, translated by Joe Carlson
from Roman Roads Media
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$29.95
Divine Comedy - MP Quizzes
from Memoria Press
for 10th-12th grade
in Memoria Press Literature & Poetry (Location: LITSG-MP)
$6.20
Divine Comedy - MP Student Guide
from Memoria Press
for 10th-12th grade
in Memoria Press Literature & Poetry (Location: LITSG-MP)
$20.50
Divine Comedy - MP Teacher Guide
from Memoria Press
for 10th-12th grade
in Memoria Press Literature & Poetry (Location: LITSG-MP)
$20.50
Divine Comedy I
Penguin Classics
by Dante Alighieri, translated by Dorothy Sayers
from Penguin Classics
Medieval Allegory/Poetic Epic for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$14.45
Divine Comedy II
Penguin Classics
by Dante Alighieri, translated by Dorothy Sayers
from Penguin Classics
Medieval Allegory/Poetic Epic for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$14.45
Divine Comedy III
Penguin Classics
by Dante Alighieri, translated by Dorothy Sayers & Barbara Reynolds
from Penguin Classics
Medieval Allegory/Poetic Epic for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$14.45
Divine Comedy Volume 1: Inferno
by Dante Alighieri, translated by Robert Pinsky
Revised from Farrar & Rinehart
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$11.90
Divine Comedy Volume 2: Purgatory
by Dante, translated by Mark Musa
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$13.60
Divine Comedy Volume 3: Paradise
by Dante, translated by Mark Musa
Revised from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$15.30
Don Quixote
by Miguel de Cervantes, translated by John Rutherford
from Penguin Putnam
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$14.45
Don Quixote
by Miguel de Cervantes, translated by Edith Grossman
Reprint from Harper Perennial
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$16.99
Don Quixote
by Miguel de Cervantes, translated by Tom Lathrop
from Signet Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$8.46
Don Quixote (abridged)
by Miguel de Cervantes, translated by Walter Starkie
from Signet Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$6.76
Dore's Illustrations for "Paradise Lost"
by Gustave Dore
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$12.71
Elfin Knight
by Edmund Spenser & Toby Sumpter
from Canon Press
for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$17.00
Epic of Gilgamesh
Penguin Classics
by Anonymous (translation by Andrew George)
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Poetic Epic for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$13.60
Epic of Gilgamesh
Penguin Classics
by Anonymous (translation by N. K. Sandars)
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Poetic Epic for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$11.90
Faerie Queene
Penguin Classics
by Edmund Spenser
from Penguin Classics
Allegory/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$18.70
Faerie Queene Book 1
by Edmund Spenser, edited with an introduction by Carol V. Kaske
from Hackett Publishing Company
Allegory/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$15.00
Faerie Queene Book 2
by Edmund Spenser
from Hackett Publishing Company
Allegory/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$14.00
Faerie Queene Book 3 & 4
by Edmund Spenser
from Hackett Publishing Company
Allegory/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$16.00
Faerie Queene Book 5
by Edmund Spenser
from Hackett Publishing Company
Allegory/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$14.00 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Faerie Queene Book 6
by Edmund Spenser
from Hackett Publishing Company
Allegory/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$14.00
Faerie Queene Books 1-6
by Edmund Spenser
from Hackett Publishing Company
Allegory/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$68.40
Fall of Arthur
by J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$25.00
Fall of Arthur
by J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.14
Fall of the Roman Republic
by Plutarch, translated by Rex Warner, introduction and notes by Robin Seager
Revised from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$15.30
Gilgamesh
by Anonymous (translation by David Ferry)
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Ancient Poetic Epic for 7th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$13.60
Gilgamesh: A New English Version
by Anonymous (translation by Stephen Mitchell)
1st edition from Free Press
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$14.45
Greek Lives
by Plutarch, translated by Robin Waterfield
1st Reissue from Oxford University
Biography for 11th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$11.86
Grendel
by John Gardner
from Vintage Classics
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$12.95 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Heroes of the City of Man
by Peter Leithart
from Canon Press
for 9th-Adult
in Classical Literature Guides (Location: LIR-CLA)
$25.99
Histories
Penguin Classics
by Herodotus (translation by Aubrey De Sélincourt)
from Penguin Classics
Historical Non-Fiction for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$11.90
Histories
Penguin Classics
by Herodotus (translation by Robin Waterfield)
from Oxford University
Historical Non-Fiction for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$9.31 $4.80 (1 in stock)
Histories
Penguin Classics
by Herodotus (translation by David Grene)
from University of Chicago
Historical Non-Fiction for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$13.60
History of the Kings of Britain
Penguin Classics
by Geoffrey of Monmouth
from Penguin Classics
Historical Fairy Tale for 10th-12th grade
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$16.15
Hood
The King Raven Trilogy Book 1
by Stephen R. Lawhead
First Edition from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99
Iliad
by Homer (translation by Robert Fagles)
from Penguin Putnam
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$17.85
Iliad
by Homer (translation by Robert Fitzgerald)
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Ancient Literature for 11th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$14.45
Iliad
by Homer (translation by Robert Fagles)
from Penguin Putnam
for 11th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$15.30
Iliad
by Homer (translation by Caroline Alexander)
from Ecco Press
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$16.99
Iliad
Signet Classics
by Homer (translation by W.H.D. Rouse), Afterword by Adam Nicolson
from Signet Classics
Ancient Literature for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$6.76
Iliad - MP Student Book
by Stephan Musick
2nd edition from Memoria Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Memoria Press Classical Studies (Location: HISCUR-MP)
$14.05
12
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