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What if coming home is not enough for the hero who survives Troy and the sea?
Odysseus is back in Ithaca, but rest remains beyond his reach. In The World's Desire, H. Rider Haggard and Andrew Lang take up his story where Homer leaves it. A longing no home can settle draws the cunning king outward again, toward Egypt and one last quest. What can satisfy a man who has already travelled so far?
Helen, whose beauty begins the Trojan War in ancient myth, becomes the object of longing. In Egypt, temples, priests and ancient rites surround the hero with hidden power. Meriamun, a proud and powerful queen, brings desires of her own into his path. Love presses against fate in a world where people cannot always name, or master, what they want.
What you’ll discover
- A restless hero returns Follow Odysseus beyond homecoming, as familiar courage meets a longing that refuses to rest.
- Helen at the heart Explore the desire surrounding the woman whose beauty sets the ancient world at war.
- Egypt alive with mystery Enter a land of temples, ancient rites and magic, where hidden power shapes the quest.
- A queen's fierce desires Meet Meriamun, whose pride and power bring her into the restless hero's path.
- Love measured against fate Discover an adventure driven by wants its people cannot fully understand or control.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you love Homer's heroes, ancient Egypt, ghost stories and tales of magic. It suits anyone who likes a hero tested in battle and a love that reaches across many lives.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Odysseus finds only ashes at home
- Aphrodite offers grief a new direction
- Egypt holds a queen who recognizes him
- An oath protects him from Meriamun
- Helen waits beyond the ghostly guards
- The queen borrows Helen's face
- Desire gives hope and causes ruin
- Promises bind people to fate
- One mistaken oath turns the adventure
Who’s who
- OdysseusThe wandering king of Ithaca, who goes by the false name Eperitus in Egypt and is sent by Aphrodite to find Helen.
- HelenCalled the World's Desire and the Strange Hathor, she wears a different face for each man and longs to love one in return.
- MeriamunThe proud, learned queen of Egypt, skilled in dark magic, who has seen Odysseus in a dream and means to win him.
- ReiThe old priest and Master Builder who loves Meriamun, befriends Odysseus and tells the story.
- MeneptahThe Pharaoh, Meriamun's half brother and husband, weak and fearful, who struggles with the plagues and the Apura.
- KurriThe greedy Sidonian captain whom Odysseus spares, and who wants revenge for the loss of his ship and fortune.
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The World's Desire
by H. Rider Haggard; Andrew Lang · 1890
Odysseus in golden armor sails a blood-red sea to find Helen, whose beauty sends men to their deaths.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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In short
What happens to a hero after his own story is over? Odysseus has fought at Troy, wandered the sea for ten years, and won back his house.
The World's Desire at a glance
- Reading time
- About 5 h 30 min4 h 25 min fast, 6 h 35 min slow
- Length
- 79,000 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1890by H. Rider Haggard; Andrew Lang
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Odysseus comes home to a silent island
A single ship with a golden star on its brown sail slides toward Ithaca at dawn. Its passenger is Odysseus, back from a second wandering. He searches the hills for beacon fires, but the whole island lies still.
He finds spiders weaving across the swineherd's door and weeds choking the fields. At his own hall there is only a gray mound of ash and blackened bones. A plague has struck, and the dead have been burned on one pyre. In the ashes he finds a gold bracelet still clasped round an arm bone, the gift he once gave Penelope. He falls among the ashes and wishes only to die.
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Details
- First published
- 1890
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 6 h 15 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Haggard, H. Rider, and Andrew Lang. The World's Desire. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-worlds-desire.
Haggard, H. R., & Lang, A. (2026). The world's desire. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-worlds-desire (Original work published 1890)
Haggard, H. Rider, and Andrew Lang. The World's Desire. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-worlds-desire.
@book{haggard2026worlds,
author = {Haggard, H. Rider and Lang, Andrew},
title = {The World's Desire},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-worlds-desire},
note = {First published 1890}
}
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What is The World's Desire about?
It follows Odysseus after the Odyssey. Aphrodite sends him to Egypt to find Helen, where he meets the sorceress queen Meriamun, a land struck by plagues, and a love that the gods allow only at great cost.
Who is the World's Desire in the book?
It is Helen of Troy, whose beauty is so great that each man sees in her the face of his own lost love. In Egypt she is worshipped as the Strange Hathor.
What do the Star and the Snake mean?
The red Star on Helen's breast is the sign by which Odysseus must know her and swear his oath. The Snake is the queen's magic helper and stands for false love and sin.
The author
H. Rider Haggard
1856–1925 · English adventure novelist
Henry Rider Haggard (1856–1925) was an English novelist. He was born in Norfolk, lived in southern Africa from 1875 to 1881, and later settled in Norfolk. He wrote King Solomon’s Mines (1885), She (1887), and Beatrice (1890). He also wrote about agriculture and rural life. He died in London.
“Who wins his Love shall lose her”
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