Features include
- Mythology and mythological references are noted throughout the book and an extensive glossary of names helps the reader follow the complicated genealogies.
- A comprehensive introduction provides comparison of the poem with the Iliad and the Odyssey as well as a general framework for the epic to help the student follow the narrative flow of the work.
- Unlike a poetic translation, Caldwell's work focuses on the story, the myth and the literary context, making this modern new translation on that is easy for the average student to follow and maximum help in understanding.