It's been a while . . .
And for good reason.
Reading a poem of such epic proportions takes time. A lot of it. And of course, the usual battle ensued between falling asleep and trying to understand what I was reading. The sleep often won.
The Odyssey was written to be read aloud. Try doing that with two unappreciative teenagers in the house. I have to confess, I don’t blame them for getting annoyed. I was sick of myself by the end ;)
What is The Odyssey about (in 20 words)?
Odysseus’ ten year journey home after the Trojan War, and his wife and son’s struggles to cope in his absence.
What a challenge to summarise it in 20 words! It’s so much more than detailed in the simple sentence above . . . battles with mythical creatures, adventures at sea and on land, and themes of courage, wile, loyalty, perseverance and the power of the human will. . . no wonder it took Homer 12,109 lines to tell the story. I should have enjoyed it more than I did.
But thinking about the poet Homer was interesting.
Homer is a mystery. Was he blind? Some think he was because the word ‘homeros’ in Greek can be translated as ‘blind’. Supposedly, he had a beard . . . why that matters, I’m not sure. Did he actually exist? Some people think he was one man, others that these epic poems were created by a group of men. Here’s another theory to throw into the mix . . . perhaps Homer was a woman? I guess we’ll never know. But I like to think that it might have been the case.
Moving on . . .
Whose idea was it to read the Greatest Books of All Time? Oh yes, mine. I could kick myself right now because . . .
My next read is War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.
Reading a poem of such epic proportions takes time. A lot of it. And of course, the usual battle ensued between falling asleep and trying to understand what I was reading. The sleep often won.
The Odyssey was written to be read aloud. Try doing that with two unappreciative teenagers in the house. I have to confess, I don’t blame them for getting annoyed. I was sick of myself by the end ;)
What is The Odyssey about (in 20 words)?
Odysseus’ ten year journey home after the Trojan War, and his wife and son’s struggles to cope in his absence.
What a challenge to summarise it in 20 words! It’s so much more than detailed in the simple sentence above . . . battles with mythical creatures, adventures at sea and on land, and themes of courage, wile, loyalty, perseverance and the power of the human will. . . no wonder it took Homer 12,109 lines to tell the story. I should have enjoyed it more than I did.
But thinking about the poet Homer was interesting.
Homer is a mystery. Was he blind? Some think he was because the word ‘homeros’ in Greek can be translated as ‘blind’. Supposedly, he had a beard . . . why that matters, I’m not sure. Did he actually exist? Some people think he was one man, others that these epic poems were created by a group of men. Here’s another theory to throw into the mix . . . perhaps Homer was a woman? I guess we’ll never know. But I like to think that it might have been the case.
Moving on . . .
Whose idea was it to read the Greatest Books of All Time? Oh yes, mine. I could kick myself right now because . . .
My next read is War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.