Category: Homer
book of books – The Odyssey
The reason for reading Homer’s Odyssey was simply because I thought it would make reading James Joyce’s Ulysses easier. Being honest it did not do that because where there were references in Joyce they are either quite oblique or in the wrong order so unless you are really looking for them you miss them.
The surprising thing was that in its own right the book has a solid story and plenty of action at keep you interested and at some points reads like a script for a Sinbad the Sailor or Lord of the Rings film and at others like a who’s who of Olympian Gods.
Plot summary
Odysseus the hero has been marooned on an island for years after upsetting the gods on his way home from victory in Troy. Athena, Zeus’s daughter, looks him on with favour and so is allowed to leave his exile and head home and on the way tells of his adventures with Cyclops, sirens, spider legged six headed beasts and the Gods. But once home he discovers that suitors have moved into his palace and are waiting to marry Penelope his wife so he reveals his true identity to his son and with some old comrades who have remained loyal slaughter them all and things end happily ever after
Is it well written?
The text in set out in poetry form but it reads more like a piece of prose so that is sometimes a challenge. In style it reminds you of anything written in the same way, Dante springs to mind, and has the same dense text that makes you feel that half the time you are missing some crucial details. Having said that it is surprisingly easy to read and the story is gripping enough to make you want to stick with it, although at the end he does spin out the length of time it takes to reveal Odysseus is back and then dispatches the suitors.
Should it be read?
For most people the idea of going out and reading Homer for fun and not because some lecturer has told you to might seem odd. But this does link in with other texts, mot just Ulysses, and for that reason it is one of those books that has a wider relevance for someone who wants to get into literature so should be read.
Version read – there are numerous translations, even my local library stocked three, but I plumped for the Robert Fitzgerald translation in a Collins Harvill hardback
book of books – The Odyssey
The reason for reading Homer’s Odyssey was simply because I thought it would make reading James Joyce’s Ulysses easier. Being honest it did not do that because where there were references in Joyce they are either quite oblique or in the wrong order so unless you are really looking for them you miss them.
The surprising thing was that in its own right the book has a solid story and plenty of action at keep you interested and at some points reads like a script for a Sinbad the Sailor or Lord of the Rings film and at others like a who’s who of Olympian Gods.
Plot summary
Odysseus the hero has been marooned on an island for years after upsetting the gods on his way home from victory in Troy. Athena, Zeus’s daughter, looks him on with favour and so is allowed to leave his exile and head home and on the way tells of his adventures with Cyclops, sirens, spider legged six headed beasts and the Gods. But once home he discovers that suitors have moved into his palace and are waiting to marry Penelope his wife so he reveals his true identity to his son and with some old comrades who have remained loyal slaughter them all and things end happily ever after
Is it well written?
The text in set out in poetry form but it reads more like a piece of prose so that is sometimes a challenge. In style it reminds you of anything written in the same way, Dante springs to mind, and has the same dense text that makes you feel that half the time you are missing some crucial details. Having said that it is surprisingly easy to read and the story is gripping enough to make you want to stick with it, although at the end he does spin out the length of time it takes to reveal Odysseus is back and then dispatches the suitors.
Should it be read?
For most people the idea of going out and reading Homer for fun and not because some lecturer has told you to might seem odd. But this does link in with other texts, mot just Ulysses, and for that reason it is one of those books that has a wider relevance for someone who wants to get into literature so should be read.
Version read – there are numerous translations, even my local library stocked three, but I plumped for the Robert Fitzgerald translation in a Collins Harvill hardback
book of books – The Odyssey
The reason for reading Homer’s Odyssey was simply because I thought it would make reading James Joyce’s Ulysses easier. Being honest it did not do that because where there were references in Joyce they are either quite oblique or in the wrong order so unless you are really looking for them you miss them.
The surprising thing was that in its own right the book has a solid story and plenty of action at keep you interested and at some points reads like a script for a Sinbad the Sailor or Lord of the Rings film and at others like a who’s who of Olympian Gods.
Plot summary
Odysseus the hero has been marooned on an island for years after upsetting the gods on his way home from victory in Troy. Athena, Zeus’s daughter, looks him on with favour and so is allowed to leave his exile and head home and on the way tells of his adventures with Cyclops, sirens, spider legged six headed beasts and the Gods. But once home he discovers that suitors have moved into his palace and are waiting to marry Penelope his wife so he reveals his true identity to his son and with some old comrades who have remained loyal slaughter them all and things end happily ever after
Is it well written?
The text in set out in poetry form but it reads more like a piece of prose so that is sometimes a challenge. In style it reminds you of anything written in the same way, Dante springs to mind, and has the same dense text that makes you feel that half the time you are missing some crucial details. Having said that it is surprisingly easy to read and the story is gripping enough to make you want to stick with it, although at the end he does spin out the length of time it takes to reveal Odysseus is back and then dispatches the suitors.
Should it be read?
For most people the idea of going out and reading Homer for fun and not because some lecturer has told you to might seem odd. But this does link in with other texts, mot just Ulysses, and for that reason it is one of those books that has a wider relevance for someone who wants to get into literature so should be read.
Version read – there are numerous translations, even my local library stocked three, but I plumped for the Robert Fitzgerald translation in a Collins Harvill hardback
The Odyssey – post X
This epic comes to an end and it has not been the experience I expected at all being much more accessible and enjoyable. You expect this to be a heavy tome that is full of intellectual but irrelevant content but that is far from the reality
Bullet points from chapters twenty two to twenty four
Twenty two
This is a chapter of carnage as one by one the suitors are slaughtered and Odysseus gets his revenge with the text merrily describing the punishment he hands out to the suitors
He then goes further and gets the women, twelve of them, who have betrayed him and gets those maids to take the corpses out and wash down the blood then they are taken and hanged for their disloyalty
Twenty three
There are some scholars, I got his surfing the web, that believe this is where the story should have ended and the next chapter was added later and it makes sense because it is the moment Odysseus and Penelope are reunited
Initially the wife refuses to accept that Odysseus has come back but then he reveals a secret only he would have known and she embraces him and listens as he recounts all that has happened on his travels
Twenty Four
The suitors head into the underworld and recount their tale of woe and blame Penelope for leading them on
Meanwhile Odysseus goes to visit his father and as before pretends at first to be a stranger and back in the town the fathers and friends decide to avenge the suitors deaths and a battle is just on the brink of starting when Athena comes down and orders them to stop and make peace
That’s all so I will post a full review in the next couple of days…
The Odyssey – post X
This epic comes to an end and it has not been the experience I expected at all being much more accessible and enjoyable. You expect this to be a heavy tome that is full of intellectual but irrelevant content but that is far from the reality
Bullet points from chapters twenty two to twenty four
Twenty two
This is a chapter of carnage as one by one the suitors are slaughtered and Odysseus gets his revenge with the text merrily describing the punishment he hands out to the suitors
He then goes further and gets the women, twelve of them, who have betrayed him and gets those maids to take the corpses out and wash down the blood then they are taken and hanged for their disloyalty
Twenty three
There are some scholars, I got his surfing the web, that believe this is where the story should have ended and the next chapter was added later and it makes sense because it is the moment Odysseus and Penelope are reunited
Initially the wife refuses to accept that Odysseus has come back but then he reveals a secret only he would have known and she embraces him and listens as he recounts all that has happened on his travels
Twenty Four
The suitors head into the underworld and recount their tale of woe and blame Penelope for leading them on
Meanwhile Odysseus goes to visit his father and as before pretends at first to be a stranger and back in the town the fathers and friends decide to avenge the suitors deaths and a battle is just on the brink of starting when Athena comes down and orders them to stop and make peace
That’s all so I will post a full review in the next couple of days…
The Odyssey – post IX
This book has been a real surprise because it is nowhere near as dry as expected and has a real rip roaring yarn at its heart full of everything and the way that Homer builds things to the moment when Odysseus reveals himself has been repeated hundreds of times since in literature and in film
Bullet points from chapters nineteen to twenty one
Nineteen
Odysseus talks to Penelope and although she in a dream like state seems to recognise him she still goes to sleep weeping and prays for an end to her misery
Meanwhile Odysseus spends a mainly sleepless night seeing yet more evidence of how little respect there is in the palace for his family or his memory
Twenty
The pressure starts to build and the weapons are hidden from the suitors but they continue to laugh at Odysseus and his son and criticise the ‘tramp’ for staying around the palace
There are several servants who appear for the special holiday that are keen to express support for Odysseus even if it us unfashionable
Twenty One
Penelope ups the ante and brings out a bow and arrow that belonged to Odysseus and tells the suitors that the one that can fire the arrow accurately at a target will win her hand but they all fail to even pull the bow back
Odysseus asks for a go and despite protests gets the bow and pulls it back and this is the moment that we have all been waiting for when the suitors realise who they are dealing with
“Odysseus in one motion strung the bow.
Then slid his right hand down the cord and plucked it,
so the taut gut vibrating hummed and sang
a swallow’s note.In the hushed hall it smote the suitors
and all their faces changed.”
The end comes tomorrow…
The Odyssey – post IX
This book has been a real surprise because it is nowhere near as dry as expected and has a real rip roaring yarn at its heart full of everything and the way that Homer builds things to the moment when Odysseus reveals himself has been repeated hundreds of times since in literature and in film
Bullet points from chapters nineteen to twenty one
Nineteen
Odysseus talks to Penelope and although she in a dream like state seems to recognise him she still goes to sleep weeping and prays for an end to her misery
Meanwhile Odysseus spends a mainly sleepless night seeing yet more evidence of how little respect there is in the palace for his family or his memory
Twenty
The pressure starts to build and the weapons are hidden from the suitors but they continue to laugh at Odysseus and his son and criticise the ‘tramp’ for staying around the palace
There are several servants who appear for the special holiday that are keen to express support for Odysseus even if it us unfashionable
Twenty One
Penelope ups the ante and brings out a bow and arrow that belonged to Odysseus and tells the suitors that the one that can fire the arrow accurately at a target will win her hand but they all fail to even pull the bow back
Odysseus asks for a go and despite protests gets the bow and pulls it back and this is the moment that we have all been waiting for when the suitors realise who they are dealing with
“Odysseus in one motion strung the bow.
Then slid his right hand down the cord and plucked it,
so the taut gut vibrating hummed and sang
a swallow’s note.In the hushed hall it smote the suitors
and all their faces changed.”
The end comes tomorrow…
The Odyssey – post VIII
In between entering this whole debate about literary blogging and criticism it has been a really good day on the reading front and as well as getting stuck into Gogol a few more chapters were chipped away on the Homer front
Bullet points from chapters fifteen through eighteen
Fifteen
Athena goes back to get Odysseus son and in the meantime he hears the life story of the old man looking after the pigs and as a result of the tale the reader understands how loyal swineherd is to Odysseus family
Odysseus finds out that his wife is under siege from, suitors, that is father is not-eating and that the widespread feeling is that he is dead
Sixteen
The son returns and in a private moment Odysseus is revealed to him and they hatch a plan to attack the suitors
Penelope is told that her son has returned and the suitors, who were planning an ambush to kill him, return and regroup
Seventeen
Disguised as a tramp Odysseus comes to the palace and is taunted by the suitors and begs for food and as he does so he gets the chance to discover who is good and bad among the suitors – even though they are all going to be killed
Eighteen
As evening comes in Athena makes Odysseus see more things including the way the women in the palace take for granted Penelope and how the suitors expect an announcement to come soon of who will be chosen as a husband for Odysseus’s widow
Penelope asks to see the tramp but he replies that he will not come until nightfall so the scene is set for a meeting between husband and wife in the next chapter
The Odyssey – post VIII
In between entering this whole debate about literary blogging and criticism it has been a really good day on the reading front and as well as getting stuck into Gogol a few more chapters were chipped away on the Homer front
Bullet points from chapters fifteen through eighteen
Fifteen
Athena goes back to get Odysseus son and in the meantime he hears the life story of the old man looking after the pigs and as a result of the tale the reader understands how loyal swineherd is to Odysseus family
Odysseus finds out that his wife is under siege from, suitors, that is father is not-eating and that the widespread feeling is that he is dead
Sixteen
The son returns and in a private moment Odysseus is revealed to him and they hatch a plan to attack the suitors
Penelope is told that her son has returned and the suitors, who were planning an ambush to kill him, return and regroup
Seventeen
Disguised as a tramp Odysseus comes to the palace and is taunted by the suitors and begs for food and as he does so he gets the chance to discover who is good and bad among the suitors – even though they are all going to be killed
Eighteen
As evening comes in Athena makes Odysseus see more things including the way the women in the palace take for granted Penelope and how the suitors expect an announcement to come soon of who will be chosen as a husband for Odysseus’s widow
Penelope asks to see the tramp but he replies that he will not come until nightfall so the scene is set for a meeting between husband and wife in the next chapter
The Odyssey – post VII
Things have been really busy today with family around so getting in some reading was seen as rude and inappropriate but to keep the Homer simmering I did manage to get a chapter in
Bullet points from chapter fourteen
* Disguised by Athena Odysseus goes and meets a loyal old friend Eumaios who is living with a herd of pigs in self imposed exile from the palace which he tells Odysseus is full of suitors who disrespect the memory of the king
* He shows loyalty to Odysseus even though the disguised stranger suggests he might be dead and shares food and lodging with him
Meanwhile Athena has gone to get Odysseus son to come back and join the fight against the suitors, which will be in the next chapter
inside books 