I'll actually have some time again this Saturday -- woohoo! The boys will be out playing and I can just sit in front of the computer and *bask*.
I thought it would be a great day to have another chat. We can talk about what we've read so far and how we like it, or if we don't. I will check in at least every hour or so and try to keep the ball rolling, asking and answering questions, ruminating, kvetching about not having enough time to read and being too sleepy when I *do* get twenty minutes to myself, etc.
Hope to see you there! (Sorry not to be able to supply brownies -- but you could try the recipe out and keep the warm, fragrant pan of delectables at your elbow as you type. It would be like a book group meeting *and* all the comforts of home! What more could you want?)
I'm here, but not basking...more like taking a break from the hard stuff.
I have really loved the Odyssey! I'm only in book 4 but feel like I'm following along without difficulty. I don't know if it is because of the mock biography I read before the actual work but the story is familiar. Strange that a book you have never read has so much in it that is in modern movies and stories!
I guess all I can say is that I like it. Not much of a commentator am I?
Yes, it's interesting how daunting Homer can be from the outside, but once you dive in, you can really feel at home and swim along just fine. But then I, too, am coming from having a little background info on him. I think even just reading a decent scholarly (but accessible) introduction to the book can really make all the difference.
What has struck you as being in modern movies and stories?
Just the story in general. Man gets stuck away from home and the what's a woman to do. Oh, Brad Pitt (Achilles) great movie. Now I see all the people in that movie when I am reading the book. But what a great visual! I'm going to have to read the Illiad too, now.
I think it really says something about Odesseus that his kingdom runs itself for 20 years while he is gone. Telemachus, who was he raised by? His mother? Laertes went to live on his own so I don't think the boy had much training as a king?
I don't know who would be Telemachus' "father figure" while Odysseus was gone. That's a good point. He would probably have had male tutors, and presumably somebody taught him how to fight. I haven't gotten this far in my reading yet, but in a world lit class I took we read some scattered chapters of The Odyssey and I seem to remember a faithful old retainer type. He wouldn't have been so very old when Odysseus left -- maybe he was an affectionate father figure?
But of course there's no substitute for the real thing.
As for teaching Telemachus about being a good king -- it looks as if his education has been sorely deficient in that respect. Athena has to urge him into taking strong, decisive action, and has to give him a lot of specifics about standing up for his rights. When she got there, he was just sitting around moodily daydreaming about how different everything would be if only Dad were here. Understandable, but not much of a help under the circumstances.
Yes, it really is amazing that this story, though strange to us in many details, is at the same time such a "core" story. A man finding his way home (and his destiny), proving himself, fighting for what's his. A woman, struggling as a single mother, stuck at home as a war bride, grieving for her absent husband. A son, looking for his father and finding himself. It's all there. Those Greeks really were amazing.
It's funny, but the reason I asked what reminded you of modern movies and stories is that I wasn't sure which you meant -- plot elements, or the monsters and other strange creatures! There's the Cyclops, and of course the beautiful, bewitching (in every sense) woman who hates men until she meets the right one (okay, not *real* liberated, that); and the Lotus Eaters. Sting even sings about the Scylla and Charybdis on one of his old albums. (I realize I have now dated myself as positively ancient. This crowd isn't going to give me a hard time about that, I hope.)
You know, I haven't read Jason's story in so long, except the part where he's married to Medea and screws her over, and that's *way* after the whole Argonauts dealie. I did hear someone say that parts of the Odyssey strongly resemble some of the adventures of Jason and the Argonauts. Is this true? Do I have to go haul out one of my big ol' mythology tomes now?
Okay, share some details! Do Jason and the Argonauts just run into the Sirens, or what? Is there enough of a resemblance between the two tales that after reading about Jason, it feels like you're hearing the same story again when you get to The Odyssey?
Or else the lazy Book Lady could get off her duff and actually look something up! (Not that you *shouldn't* watch the movie again, since it does sound like fun.) ;)
I'm here, but not basking...more like taking a break from the hard stuff.
