I just wanted to thank everyone for the terrific meeting. Of course there were brownies in attendance, but some very special fellow readers brought two bottles of Framboise and explained that raspberry liqueur and chocolate are extremely close friends and should be allowed to visit one another often. I think that one of the highlights of my life was being coached in how to devour these to maximum effect. ("Okay, first have a bite of brownie, and then take a *tiny* sip of the Framboise...")
However, the other highlight will certainly be the wonderful evening of conversation. We really ranged all over Homer's realm.
We started off with a ceremonial demonstration of Greek hospitality. As you may recall, the burden was all on the host in ancient times. Nowadays, we think of the guest as the one who ought to bring gifts; in ancient times, it was the other way around. The host was obligated to give his guest a gift -- and not just some 99 Cent Store bargain, but something rare and special.
So I bought a Dragon Fruit, which at $15 a pound was quite rare and special enough for a piece of fruit in my humble opinion. One of the guests had actually eaten this delicacy before, and so I asked her to help cut and serve this bright purple fruit (which is something like a kiwi on the inside, but dramatically beautiful before it's peeled and sliced). I explained that this was my gift to my honored guests, though of course brownies would follow. We each had a piece or two, and then plowed into the chocolate.
One thing that wasn't quite ancient Greek was the fact that I already knew my guests' names *before* I offered them my finest foods and drinks (apple-cinnamon tea and coffee with the thickest cream in the world). Telemachus, as you'll recall, visited Menelaus, the soul of Greek hospitality, and was feasted royally before Menelaus even asked T's name.
Once a Greek had broken bread with someone, he was honor-bound to do right by him and not harm him or allow harm to come to him. So hosting someone before you even knew who they were was the ultimate in hospitality -- quite a leap of faith.
So we broke, um, brownies together, and then got to the book talk. Not everyone had managed to finish the book (I did, but just barely), but all of us had read up *about* it, so there was a lot to say.
I know that Michelle posted about this before, but I wanted to mention again: she brought a wonderful book she found at Borders bookstore called "Odysseus: A Life," by Charles Rowan Beye. She said that it really helped her in her reading to have read this book first. It's basically a biography of Odysseus, with a lot about the Greek culture he would have lived in. So it really helped steep her in the time and place.
We talked about how many of the references to Greek gods, goddesses, and heroes we'd picked up from pop culture sources. The TV shows of Xena and Hercules, Clash of the Titans, the Brad Pitt movie Troy -- there was even a TV movie of The Odyssey a few years that Shelley had seen.
We also wrangled over some points of interest in the book, such as how much did the Greeks really believe in the gods -- was it equivalent to, for instance, the belief of a Christian in God? Were references to "And then Athena made this guy do that" meant to be taken literally by the reader, or were they just poetic embellishments? (Like saying that the Sandman came and whisked someone off to Dreamland, and yes, I know that wasn't terribly poetic. It's late and I had too much framboise.) Is Odysseus admirable, or just kind of scary? Even to the Greeks, did Odysseus go overboard in his treatment of the suitors? (and the faithless waiting women -- wow, that was creepy.) Why did Homer do so much name-dropping when Odysseus went down to the land of the dead?
We also discussed a little of the wordplay that Homer uses, which unfortunately is impossible to get without the help of a really good translator and some seriously detailed footnotes.
I'll try to go into more detail about any or all of these tomorrow. My son's got a piano recital and I don't even remember what time it starts! but I should be around most of the rest of the day, so I'll be popping in to post and read here.
Again, many thanks to everyone who came to the meeting, and I hope to meet even more friends next time!
I have to add that I am still flying from the conversation last night. It is so great to find other readers out there! Yay! I convinced myself I need more time in my books daily so told the boys about how I needed more time to study. They said they would play outside for 45 minutes so I can read in quiet each day. We'll see how THAT goes!
Hey, good for you for claiming that reading time! You might have to put the egg timer out there so they don't come in after five looooong minutes of playing by themselves to see if "you're done yet," but be patient (and FIRM!) and it'll work out right!
Thanks so much for coming. It really was a terrific time and some great book talk. I'm looking forward to the next meeting!
