The World's Desire

Picking up where Homer left off, this 1890 collaboration tells the story of Odysseus after the death of his wife, Penelope. The widowed Odysseus is visited by Helen of Troy, and sent on a journey that brings him to Egypt and Queen Meriamun, who desires him for herself.

H. Rider Haggard (1856-1925) was a British civil servant and novelist whose tales of mystery, romance, and rip-roaring adventure deeply influenced subsequent generations of writers.  Haggard is most famous as the author of the novel King Solomon’s Mines, which was the inspiration for the character Indiana Jones in the Raiders of the Lost Ark movies.

Andrew Lang (1844-1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, and folklorist.  His collections of fairy tales, each volume titled with the name of a different color, constitute a lasting contribution to folklore and the literature of the fantastic.  He wrote on a wide variety of subjects, from psychic phenomena and anthropology to popular retellings of classic myths and legends.