Alcidamas is an important figure in the development of Greek rhetoric early in the fourth century BC. Pupil of Gorgias, rival of Isocrates, and teacher of Aeschines, he also influenced Demosthenes and was later admired by both Aristotle and Cicero. His extant works are "On Those who Write Written Speeches" (a treatise on the oratorical practice of improvisation on a well-prepared brief) and "Odysseus" (a pattern exercise in constructing a prosecution). Other fragments survive and all are presented in this edition, which translates them into English and provides a full commentary on the whole surviving oeuvre.

This edition of one of the most enduringly popular and familiar books of the Odyssey - the encounter of Odysseus and his men with the cannibal Cyclops Polyphemos - grew out of the classes taken at the Joint Association of Classics Greek Summer School, where students who had completed a beginners' course were making their first acquaintance with Homeric verse. The complete text of the book, with generous narrative headings, and illustrations from Greek art, is complemented by a running vocabulary and translation assistance on facing pages. The brief introduction deals with the composition of the Homeric poems, with the story of the Odyssey as a whole and this book in particular. It considers the peculiarities of Homeric dialect forms and the scansion of hexameter verse. The book is ideal for all those tackling Homer for the first time, and is suitable for use in schools and upwards.