Reader Reviews for The Odyssey of Homer:
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Summary: The Odyssey of Homer
Comment: I never received this book, and have written twice before to question why it had not been shipped.
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Summary: A Life's Lesson to be Learned from Life
Comment: "Whether `The Odyssey' is still part of high school literature these days, I couldn't say. It was, at some point, during my four years; and thanks to that indoctrination, I knew the story to some degree - so much so as to invite a movie adaptation along some point. However, as this exceptional production from BBC Radio proves, great stories endure through the ignorance of youth to come across onto the other side of life with an understanding beyond the vanities of those early days. This is, as I could now see having lived a bit of life myself, a tale of the realities of life: the joys, the disappointments, the struggle, the enduring faithfulness and perseverance against the troubles that will inevitably arrive.
I have never endured the challenges of war for ten years, separating myself from my wife and young son. I have never spent ten years traveling the seas, battling God and man in a desperate pursuit of home. I have never encountered a rowdy and dangerous band of suitors, eager to steal my wife's hand and the wealth my life's work has accrued. But I have seen life with its trials and tribulations, where faith and courage are required to endure. This is Odysseus' story; and it is the story of every soul with the fortitude to face the monsters and gods of their own islands. If you've lived a bit of life, revisit this story and you will understand."
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Summary: Fantastic adventures and interfering Gods
Comment: I have recently re-read the "Odyssey" after a lapse of many years. My first youthful attempt was a failure. I came away from the work at the time wondering why the Odyssey was one of the canonical works of Western literature.
The Odyssey has even infiltrated our ordinary language of today. Many of us describe an arduous, complicated undertaking as an "odyssey." We speak of "siren calls." Cyclops is familiar to most of us.
Obviously I had missed something important and my failure has always gnawed at me. My recent re-reading settled those gnawings.
What follows are my personal views, without the benefit of reading even a part of the vast body of critical analysis of the Odyssey. I am simply presenting a few impressions in the hope that other readers might dip into the Odyssey to see what it has to offer them.
The Odyssey is not an easy read, but it is certainly easier than the Iliad, Homer's preceding work.
The Odyssey grew out of an even earlier oral tradition that Homer (and perhaps others) wrote down. Since it was transmitted orally at first, the plot and story had to be formulaic, with repetitions and simplicity to aid memorisation and recitation. Many of the formulaic phrases that are repeated ad nauseum seem to be mnemonic devices in the text for these purposes. The same goes for the poetic metre of the entire work. At least that is how these features struck me. Homeric scholars may or may not agree.
The fact that the Odyssey was meant to be read aloud in public is part of the difficulty for silent readers of the text if they treat it like a novel. Many of us will recall the agony of reading the plays of Shakespeare at school, but we may have enjoyed performances of his plays in theatres and on TV. Perhaps that is a useful analogy to reflect upon as we read the Odyssey.
Few of the major characters in the Odyssey are attractive to modern readers. They are often violent, vengeful braggarts who will commit the vilest atrocity in defence of their honour. While we admire the struggles of Odysseus in overcoming monstrous enemies in his ten-year voyage home after leaving Troy, we are repelled by his unjustified, murderous rampage at the end of the book. Honour, it seems, requires the mass murder of importunate men in his own house.
Another difficulty for modern readers of the Odyssey lies in the role of the Olympian Gods. In pre-Christian Greek times, this pantheon formed the dominant religious belief. Audiences would have had no difficulty with the idea of Gods interfering in the lives of mortals. In the Odyssey they interfere with gusto. They have their favourite heroes and bicker among themselves when one God's hero seems to be getting the upper hand over the hero of another God.
The mortals know this, yet they battle on in the hope of victory, yet knowing that they may be undone at the last minute by some interfering God. They don't simply surrender to Fate. This is an important message for all of us and leads into questions of free will and determinism.
The most exciting part of the story for modern readers probably lies in the series of struggles and trials Odysseus and his companions endure on their long voyage home. They encounter Cyclops, the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis. Storms batter them, they visit to Hades and all the while the companions of Odysseus slowly dwindle as they fail to survive their many trials - or are turned into swine. One is reminded a little of the fantastic tales of Sinbad and others in the "Thousand and One Nights".
The adventures of Odysseus are certainly more exciting than the largely static setting of the Iliad, so readers of the latter work have something to look forward to if they attempt the Odyssey.
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Summary: Wonderful audio dramatization
Comment: Most (all?) of the reviews that have been posted on this product appear to be for the Lattimore translation of the Odyssey. This is not a review of the Lattimore translation, but of the Simon Armitage/BBC audio dramatization of the Odyssey. It is fantastic. I ordered this audio version after reading a good review in Audiofile magazine. I must concur with the Audiofile review--this is a fantastic listen. The story came to life for me in a way it never has before. It made me appreciate why Homer is a classic. When my middle school aged daughter gets to high school and has to read the Odyssey, I will be pulling this out for her to listen to. This would be great way to introduce students to Homer.
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Summary: .
Comment: The reason some stories remain classics is simply because they deserve it. This ancient story is as exciting, sexy, and romantic as they possible come and that is simply how it should be. Post-Iliad comes the perilous journey back to Greece, a journey that lasts twenty years through every horrible (and yet totally cool thing) that could ever happen. It's passionate, fun, and exciting and I guess that is why they make us read all of it in high school. Well, yay!
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