Talking about cutting heads, one of the most laughable parts of the poem is when Ulysses wants to cut off Eurylochus' head just because he tells, basically, "We all are going to die if we continue to follow the orders of Ulysses!", which is just the truth. They all die, indeed, and Ulysses never regrets his attitude towards Eurylochus.
It’s interesting that you mention remembering Odysseus being an honourable, righteous hero. I think it’s largely down to translation of the poem. When you read excerpts of the poem you likely read translations such as Merrill’s who portray him in an entirely positive light. In the very first line he describes him as “versatile and resourceful” whereas Wilson describes him as “complicated”. This is what I love about Emily Wilson’s translation, her language is much more neutral and allows you to gauge your own interpretation of Odysseus’ actions.
I think the Greek word means something like 'of many turns' (polytropos). In modern English we would not say 'Claire is a woman of many turns', or if we did people would not be sure what it meant. So a translator has to work out what they think Homer meant, and the nearest concise way to express the idea in English.
Actually, her translation is simply not accurate. Therein lies the difference. She purposely manipulated the translation to paint Odysseus in a negative man-hating direction which Homer never intended.
My fav translation is by Alexander Pope. He did it all in rhymes :) Like: "Is this, Ulysses, our inglorious lot? And is the name of Ithaca forgot? Shall never the dear land in prospect rise, Or the loved palace glitter in our eyes?’"
Loved Circe and had resolved to return to The Odyssey after reading at least some of it in college many years ago. Your compelling and incisive review of the Emily Watson translation has pushed me in that direction. I've loved every one of your reviews. Hope there are many more to come.
I was very surprised when he and his men just nonchalantly sack and raze a city to the ground, kill all the men and just take the women but also never mention what the hell they did to them. I always had this idea of these Greek/roman heroes being more traditionally heroic, but they weren't that different from vikings tbh.
'Sacking' a city, the modern English term, originally derived from French, literally meaning for a conquering army to go round a city carrying sacks to fill with loot they obtain by forcibly invading the inhabitants' homes to rob them of their valuable possessions, and possibly r@pə the wives and daughters at the same time, often with their commanders' permission to 'reward' their soldiers. This must have been cruel and frightening. However, the Ancient Greek words and practice were worse, as they also implied destruction, possibly of the city itself by burning and certainly of its population by, normally in Trojan War times, killing all the adult men, including the old and disabled ones. The presumably heart-broken and terrified women and teenaged girls, who have just witnessed the massacre of all their adult male relatives, are herded away and auctioned like cattle to be slaves. For the younger and prettier ones this will include being used for sex. The children were either also enslaved or may be killed, especially boys who might when grown up try to avenge their fathers if allowed to live. So by our very different modern values it is astonishing that in Homer it is if anything considered a term of respect rather than condemnation that characters like Odysseus and sometimes Achilles are known by the title of 'the city sacker', meaning that they have thus destroyed several communities.
These Greek guys remind me of the old farmers talking at the gas station on the weekend about the adventures of other fellow farmers. I was just a teenage farm hand, but to hear them talk about misfortunes and others chuckling about hardships remind me of these old Greek guys. It is storytelling. It is like listening to the blues. It makes a tortured people feel better to hear about (and feel a link to) these blues musicians. I understand more in my 8th decade. Thank you for being interested in our Western Civilization story.
I’ve been debating picking up Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey and I think you’ve sold me on it! I want to wait until she releases her Iliad translation but I don’t know if I can! I have never been as enamored of the Odyssey as I was the Iliad, for a lot of reasons but mostly because I despise Odysseus. Reading Madeline Miller’s Circe has slightly changed my perspective on him because her characterization was so humanizing so I’ve been considering a reread of the Odyssey for some time. For me, Penelope has always been the most compelling and I expect she’ll remain so. I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts on the Iliad! It seems to split people.
Jennifer Brooks I hope you dive into this translation because it seems that this will fit very well with your previous dislike of Odysseus....it is very slightly mocking at times. I loved this translation so much I have been reading comments on this thread, have you read the Penelopiad by Atwood. I liked that.
I read this recently and absolutely loved it. I have tried to read this a few times in other translations and found it so dry. Emily Wilson’s translation gripped me from the start. I loved all the stories within stories, the trauma, sadness, grief...all of that...and also the humour. The humour admittedly may have been of my own imagining....but when Odysseus emerges from the prickly bushes to surprise the young girls, and the Wham Bam Pow battle at the end ( which really felt like something out of Batman, in a good and amusing way while also being shocking) and really I did find it a bit funny when Odysseus keep bewailing his hardships and ‘poor me’ ...anyway, I don’t know if it is correct to giggle at The Odyssey, (is it sacrilegious to call Odysseus a bit of a wimp at times)...but I did and it was all very enjoyable. All human emotion was in that book. I also loved the repetition of dawn breaking ‘soon Dawn appeared and touched the sky with roses’ and all the variations of that sentence. After I read this I read Alice Oswalds poetry book ‘nobody’ which I very highly recommend. It takes an unknown and unnamed character from the odyssey and muses on the sea and the journey. It is a perfect book length poem to read after the Odyssey. Parts of it will stay with me for ever. The writing is truly breathtaking at times. I hope you get to read that because it is a treat.
Oh, and I think flawed characters can be really interesting. Their imperfections can certainly be entertaining. Yes, Odysseus is not without his flaws!
I think this is the only translation of either The Odyssey or The Iliad that most people could read easily in a non-academic setting. Wilson is currently working on an Iliad translation but pretty much every version I've encountered of The Iliad has the lofty old-fashioned language and seriously drags when they just start listing people and places endlessly. Curious to see what Wilson will do in that regard. . I do agree sometimes she did lean too heavily into accessibility in her word choices and even though in theory with a 3000 year old story, our vernacular is not much further from the original than say the 19th century language other translators use, I think having some sense of temporal distance helps. That's been my problem with a few of the retellings as well, where they inject far too much modern slang to the point where it feels like a 21st century person commenting on the story rather than being in it (namely Pat Barker's Silence of the Girls with its heavy use of British slang).
EV Rieu’s prose version (the first book by Penguin Classics) is very easy to read and has serious notation and introduction, and captures the ‘noble, simple’ Homer. The Fagles verse version is also very readable and is the most popular in academia recently I believe.
Another amazing review. My ignorance of these texts is vast (although my wife is a keen reader of the ancient greek classics) and I'm almost tempted to say that you have done the hard work on my behalf but I might actually read this translation.
A great review. It's been years since Ive read The Odyssey. And gosh, I'm another one who had forgotten that the tales involving the sirens and cyclops and many other mythical creatures were told in flashback. I think it's great that there are so many translations of this epic poem to choose from. And some people certainly have their favourite translators. I'm glad to know that you're enjoying Emily Wilson's translation. It is certainly extremely popular. Though yea it does seem unusual to feature modern words and phrases like 'annoying' and 'our modern age' in the text. I think I would find that rather jarring and out of place. I believe the translation I read years ago was likely by E.V. Rieu which feels quite contemporary to me (despite some people describing it as old fashioned.)
So happy to stumble upon your channel 😁. I have never read The Odyssey, and like you, ordered it on a whim..... pandemic reading lol . Thank you !! Greetings from Oman.
Well done! Yes, the storytelling within the story is very important, as balm, as you say, also as catharsis. I want to read the Wilson translation. I read Stephen Mitchell’s Homer translations, which are magnificent & also have great introductions,. As does his beautiful translation of the amazing Gilgamesh story. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts about Maria Headly’s Beowulf translation, definitely worth reading. Thanks!
Claire on the cutting edge! Sorry, kidding! 😄 As always, this was excellent. I have the Fagles translations of both, but haven't finished either one. Loved your thoughts, like the idea of story telling as catharsis. You also made me think about storytelling at the time. Homer needed to (literally) tell a good story & this was beginning to sound like an HBO mini-series. Imperfect characters, unexpected deaths, injustice triumphant. Life's unfair, kids, & people can be stupid, which will end up biting them in the bum. Very much enjoyed this, learned a lot (didn't read it in high school), & will have to move it up on my tbr. Good to see your wee face again! 💙
Hehe - thanks so much! Some of the stuff in The Odyssey and The Iliad does remind me a bit of Game of Thrones 😄 Hope you are doing well these days!! xx
Wonderful and incisive video as always. There is a famous section of Dante’s Inferno where Odysseus, old but still hungry for adventure, goes on his final journey. I’ll talk about it as I want to do a lot of videos about the Divine Comedy.
Such a great review of The Odyssey! I read the Barnes & Noble copy of The Odyssey a couple of years ago and I disliked it a lot. You actually made me want to read this specific copy of The Odyssey! ❤️
Just finished Fitzgerald's translation, and like you, mis-remembered what I read in high school. I ended the book feeling conflicted between "what fantastic prose and how cool to re-read one of the first known 'novels' and 'holy zeus this guy was the epitome of male asshole-ness'". So thanks for how your articulated your reaction.
I have a cloth bound of the Odyssey and it reads like a regular novel just a little old fashioned in the writing. I got to the Circe chapter, and I got to say Odysseus is a little sh**t. When he's taunting the Cyclops I'm like "You idiot! What was the point of tricking the Cyclops if you're going to reveal yourself later?"
Hi, like your comment, quite a lot of thoughts on that, maybe later. Read it two years ago together with the Iliad. One thing that really struck me was the way the superhuman, i.e. the sphere of the gods and non-human beings is interwoven with the action, thoughts, feelings, and every-day reality of the humans. The poem also helped me consolidate a little the thin knowledge I had before of the Greek gods and mythological figures and their relationships as the backstory and basis of the Trojan War. BTW: I’ve read the Amazon Classics version on Kindle, translated by Alexander Pope some time in the 18th century, which is in rhymed iambic pentameter and free. There’s another free kindle version translated by William Cowper 1791, into English blank verse.
I just came here from hearing the news of Christopher Nolan announcing his mystery film, which is The Odyssey. I read the Odyssey and watched the film back in high school. Which version of The Odyssey should I get since there's alot of them?
Hi Clair, This might be off topic , but I was wondering if you would give your opinion on a RUclips video regarding the homeric odyssey. The video is called, Mimesis in Mark: PROOF homer inspired the Gospels. The channel is called, Bustin Jest. About 13 minutes into his video he talks about an account where Odysseus is disguised as a beggar. And discusses the parallels between this account and the account in the gospel of Mark 13. Do you think his points are Valid? Are the accounts he refers to in the odyssey really in the same sequence or order as the accounts in the Bible book of Mark 13:1 through to 14:11 as he shows? Or is he quoting the odyssey out of context? And are the accounts referred to in the odyssey actually scattered everywhere? And not really in the same sequence as Mark chapter 13? I know I should get myself a copy of the odyssey. But I thought I would give it a shot by asking someone with knowledge of the book. Also I wouldn't know which version to purchase. Are they all basically the same?
I listened to the audiobook of this translation and thought it was really accessible. I had never fully read it before but knew about a lot of it, but I came away thinking what an asshole Odysseus was as well. Great review.
Oh very cool! Was that the Clare Danes narration? I'm curious to check that out, especially because my grasp of iambic pentameter is not great, so it'd be nice to hear someone else read it. 😄
I was so bored with the second half when they were planning the killing of the suitors. it was just dragging and dragging and then killing and killing. and the end was so sudden! just athena told everyone to stop everything and go home. Is Iliad better?
I thought the post-odyssey part of The Odyssey (i.e., the whole second half, basically) would be boring, but that's where Emily Wilson's translation and the swiftness of the iambic pentameter really helped me out and kept me going.
Claire Reads Books I was listening audio book by Ian Mckellen and he was very good. but still I think that part was too long. And did you feel that the ending was rushed? Like gods just got tired and bored with these people .
We had to read this in high school in the old italian translation, which i think even rhymes? I might be way off. Same with Iliad and Aeneid. Needless to say, I didn't end up liking any of them :) this is very interesting to watch though.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
Talking about cutting heads, one of the most laughable parts of the poem is when Ulysses wants to cut off Eurylochus' head just because he tells, basically, "We all are going to die if we continue to follow the orders of Ulysses!", which is just the truth. They all die, indeed, and Ulysses never regrets his attitude towards Eurylochus.
Who is here after Nolan's new movie announcement
Yep!
It’s interesting that you mention remembering Odysseus being an honourable, righteous hero. I think it’s largely down to translation of the poem. When you read excerpts of the poem you likely read translations such as Merrill’s who portray him in an entirely positive light. In the very first line he describes him as “versatile and resourceful” whereas Wilson describes him as “complicated”. This is what I love about Emily Wilson’s translation, her language is much more neutral and allows you to gauge your own interpretation of Odysseus’ actions.
the greek word I think you are referring to is more complicated polytropon
I think the Greek word means something like 'of many turns' (polytropos). In modern English we would not say 'Claire is a woman of many turns', or if we did people would not be sure what it meant. So a translator has to work out what they think Homer meant, and the nearest concise way to express the idea in English.
Actually, her translation is simply not accurate. Therein lies the difference. She purposely manipulated the translation to paint Odysseus in a negative man-hating direction which Homer never intended.
My fav translation is by Alexander Pope. He did it all in rhymes :) Like:
"Is this, Ulysses, our inglorious lot?
And is the name of Ithaca forgot?
Shall never the dear land in prospect rise,
Or the loved palace glitter in our eyes?’"
Loved Circe and had resolved to return to The Odyssey after reading at least some of it in college many years ago. Your compelling and incisive review of the Emily Watson translation has pushed me in that direction. I've loved every one of your reviews. Hope there are many more to come.
Thanks so much, Larry!
Claire if you don't mind me saying, you are the best book review show on RUclips.
Thank you, Ricky, that's very kind of you to say :)
@@ClaireReadsBooks I especially like your take on books of poetry. Keep 'em coming.
Good ol’ “Odysseus the city sacker”
who “shacks up with a couple of goddesses on his way home” 😀
I was very surprised when he and his men just nonchalantly sack and raze a city to the ground, kill all the men and just take the women but also never mention what the hell they did to them.
I always had this idea of these Greek/roman heroes being more traditionally heroic, but they weren't that different from vikings tbh.
'Sacking' a city, the modern English term, originally derived from French, literally meaning for a conquering army to go round a city carrying sacks to fill with loot they obtain by forcibly invading the inhabitants' homes to rob them of their valuable possessions, and possibly r@pə the wives and daughters at the same time, often with their commanders' permission to 'reward' their soldiers. This must have been cruel and frightening.
However, the Ancient Greek words and practice were worse, as they also implied destruction, possibly of the city itself by burning and certainly of its population by, normally in Trojan War times, killing all the adult men, including the old and disabled ones. The presumably heart-broken and terrified women and teenaged girls, who have just witnessed the massacre of all their adult male relatives, are herded away and auctioned like cattle to be slaves. For the younger and prettier ones this will include being used for sex.
The children were either also enslaved or may be killed, especially boys who might when grown up try to avenge their fathers if allowed to live.
So by our very different modern values it is astonishing that in Homer it is if anything considered a term of respect rather than condemnation that characters like Odysseus and sometimes Achilles are known by the title of 'the city sacker', meaning that they have thus destroyed several communities.
These Greek guys remind me of the old farmers talking at the gas station on the weekend about the adventures of other fellow farmers. I was just a teenage farm hand, but to hear them talk about misfortunes and others chuckling about hardships remind me of these old Greek guys. It is storytelling. It is like listening to the blues. It makes a tortured people feel better to hear about (and feel a link to) these blues musicians.
I understand more in my 8th decade.
Thank you for being interested in our Western Civilization story.
I’ve been debating picking up Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey and I think you’ve sold me on it! I want to wait until she releases her Iliad translation but I don’t know if I can! I have never been as enamored of the Odyssey as I was the Iliad, for a lot of reasons but mostly because I despise Odysseus. Reading Madeline Miller’s Circe has slightly changed my perspective on him because her characterization was so humanizing so I’ve been considering a reread of the Odyssey for some time. For me, Penelope has always been the most compelling and I expect she’ll remain so. I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts on the Iliad! It seems to split people.
Jennifer Brooks I hope you dive into this translation because it seems that this will fit very well with your previous dislike of Odysseus....it is very slightly mocking at times. I loved this translation so much I have been reading comments on this thread, have you read the Penelopiad by Atwood. I liked that.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY-THE OLDEST HANDBOOK OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE- the whole analysis here: ruclips.net/video/GDmW8zSxThU/видео.html
Hello Claire,
I really love your comments and reviews! Thank you for sharing your reading experiences.
Your thoughts are very well put together, i thoroughly enjoyed hearing them. Greetings from Crete :)
thanks so much!
I read this recently and absolutely loved it. I have tried to read this a few times in other translations and found it so dry. Emily Wilson’s translation gripped me from the start. I loved all the stories within stories, the trauma, sadness, grief...all of that...and also the humour. The humour admittedly may have been of my own imagining....but when Odysseus emerges from the prickly bushes to surprise the young girls, and the Wham Bam Pow battle at the end ( which really felt like something out of Batman, in a good and amusing way while also being shocking) and really I did find it a bit funny when Odysseus keep bewailing his hardships and ‘poor me’ ...anyway, I don’t know if it is correct to giggle at The Odyssey, (is it sacrilegious to call Odysseus a bit of a wimp at times)...but I did and it was all very enjoyable. All human emotion was in that book. I also loved the repetition of dawn breaking ‘soon Dawn appeared and touched the sky with roses’ and all the variations of that sentence.
After I read this I read Alice Oswalds poetry book ‘nobody’ which I very highly recommend. It takes an unknown and unnamed character from the odyssey and muses on the sea and the journey. It is a perfect book length poem to read after the Odyssey. Parts of it will stay with me for ever. The writing is truly breathtaking at times. I hope you get to read that because it is a treat.
I just read Alice Oswald's 'Memorial'! I will have to check out 'Nobody' as well - thank you for the rec!
Oh, and I think flawed characters can be really interesting. Their imperfections can certainly be entertaining. Yes, Odysseus is not without his flaws!
Excellent review! Especially appreciate you memories and how you see the story differently!
I think this is the only translation of either The Odyssey or The Iliad that most people could read easily in a non-academic setting. Wilson is currently working on an Iliad translation but pretty much every version I've encountered of The Iliad has the lofty old-fashioned language and seriously drags when they just start listing people and places endlessly. Curious to see what Wilson will do in that regard. . I do agree sometimes she did lean too heavily into accessibility in her word choices and even though in theory with a 3000 year old story, our vernacular is not much further from the original than say the 19th century language other translators use, I think having some sense of temporal distance helps. That's been my problem with a few of the retellings as well, where they inject far too much modern slang to the point where it feels like a 21st century person commenting on the story rather than being in it (namely Pat Barker's Silence of the Girls with its heavy use of British slang).
EV Rieu’s prose version (the first book by Penguin Classics) is very easy to read and has serious notation and introduction, and captures the ‘noble, simple’ Homer. The Fagles verse version is also very readable and is the most popular in academia recently I believe.
Another amazing review. My ignorance of these texts is vast (although my wife is a keen reader of the ancient greek classics) and I'm almost tempted to say that you have done the hard work on my behalf but I might actually read this translation.
I love how Homer represents his times and what he saw around him and it’s so graphic in the story authors nowadays don’t get that much authenticity
A great review. It's been years since Ive read The Odyssey. And gosh, I'm another one who had forgotten that the tales involving the sirens and cyclops and many other mythical creatures were told in flashback. I think it's great that there are so many translations of this epic poem to choose from. And some people certainly have their favourite translators. I'm glad to know that you're enjoying Emily Wilson's translation. It is certainly extremely popular. Though yea it does seem unusual to feature modern words and phrases like 'annoying' and 'our modern age' in the text. I think I would find that rather jarring and out of place. I believe the translation I read years ago was likely by E.V. Rieu which feels quite contemporary to me (despite some people describing it as old fashioned.)
So happy to stumble upon your channel 😁. I have never read The Odyssey, and like you, ordered it on a whim..... pandemic reading lol . Thank you !! Greetings from Oman.
Well done! Yes, the storytelling within the story is very important, as balm, as you say, also as catharsis. I want to read the Wilson translation. I read Stephen Mitchell’s Homer translations, which are magnificent & also have great introductions,. As does his beautiful translation of the amazing Gilgamesh story. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts about Maria Headly’s Beowulf translation, definitely worth reading. Thanks!
Claire on the cutting edge! Sorry, kidding! 😄 As always, this was excellent. I have the Fagles translations of both, but haven't finished either one. Loved your thoughts, like the idea of story telling as catharsis. You also made me think about storytelling at the time. Homer needed to (literally) tell a good story & this was beginning to sound like an HBO mini-series. Imperfect characters, unexpected deaths, injustice triumphant. Life's unfair, kids, & people can be stupid, which will end up biting them in the bum. Very much enjoyed this, learned a lot (didn't read it in high school), & will have to move it up on my tbr. Good to see your wee face again! 💙
Hehe - thanks so much! Some of the stuff in The Odyssey and The Iliad does remind me a bit of Game of Thrones 😄 Hope you are doing well these days!! xx
Wonderful and incisive video as always. There is a famous section of Dante’s Inferno where Odysseus, old but still hungry for adventure, goes on his final journey. I’ll talk about it as I want to do a lot of videos about the Divine Comedy.
Such a great review of The Odyssey! I read the Barnes & Noble copy of The Odyssey a couple of years ago and I disliked it a lot. You actually made me want to read this specific copy of The Odyssey! ❤️
Just finished Fitzgerald's translation, and like you, mis-remembered what I read in high school. I ended the book feeling conflicted between "what fantastic prose and how cool to re-read one of the first known 'novels' and 'holy zeus this guy was the epitome of male asshole-ness'". So thanks for how your articulated your reaction.
I have a cloth bound of the Odyssey and it reads like a regular novel just a little old fashioned in the writing. I got to the Circe chapter, and I got to say Odysseus is a little sh**t. When he's taunting the Cyclops I'm like "You idiot! What was the point of tricking the Cyclops if you're going to reveal yourself later?"
He is totally a little shit! 😄
You guys have to read it again.
Hi, like your comment, quite a lot of thoughts on that, maybe later.
Read it two years ago together with the Iliad.
One thing that really struck me was the way the superhuman, i.e. the sphere of the gods and non-human beings is interwoven with the action, thoughts, feelings, and every-day reality of the humans. The poem also helped me consolidate a little the thin knowledge I had before of the Greek gods and mythological figures and their relationships as the backstory and basis of the Trojan War.
BTW: I’ve read the Amazon Classics version on Kindle, translated by Alexander Pope some time in the 18th century, which is in rhymed iambic pentameter and free.
There’s another free kindle version translated by William Cowper 1791, into English blank verse.
I just came here from hearing the news of Christopher Nolan announcing his mystery film, which is The Odyssey. I read the Odyssey and watched the film back in high school. Which version of The Odyssey should I get since there's alot of them?
Hi Clair,
This might be off topic , but I was wondering if you would give your opinion on a RUclips video regarding the homeric odyssey.
The video is called,
Mimesis in Mark: PROOF homer inspired the Gospels.
The channel is called,
Bustin Jest.
About 13 minutes into his video he talks about an account where Odysseus is disguised as a beggar. And discusses the parallels between this account and the account in the gospel of Mark 13.
Do you think his points are Valid? Are the accounts he refers to in the odyssey really in the same sequence or order as the accounts in the Bible book of Mark 13:1 through to 14:11 as he shows?
Or is he quoting the odyssey out of context?
And are the accounts referred to in the odyssey actually scattered everywhere?
And not really in the same sequence as Mark chapter 13?
I know I should get myself a copy of the odyssey. But I thought I would give it a shot by asking someone with knowledge of the book.
Also I wouldn't know which version to purchase. Are they all basically the same?
Sounds a little far fetched to me.
I listened to the audiobook of this translation and thought it was really accessible. I had never fully read it before but knew about a lot of it, but I came away thinking what an asshole Odysseus was as well. Great review.
Oh very cool! Was that the Clare Danes narration? I'm curious to check that out, especially because my grasp of iambic pentameter is not great, so it'd be nice to hear someone else read it. 😄
@@ClaireReadsBooks Yes, I think she did an amazing job.
No spoilers then?!
"This guy is wily as fk" 😆
Excellent. Thank you
I was so bored with the second half when they were planning the killing of the suitors. it was just dragging and dragging and then killing and killing. and the end was so sudden! just athena told everyone to stop everything and go home. Is Iliad better?
I thought the post-odyssey part of The Odyssey (i.e., the whole second half, basically) would be boring, but that's where Emily Wilson's translation and the swiftness of the iambic pentameter really helped me out and kept me going.
Claire Reads Books I was listening audio book by Ian Mckellen and he was very good. but still I think that part was too long. And did you feel that the ending was rushed? Like gods just got tired and bored with these people .
I just stumbled onto you pg due the subject. Then I went to your pg & saw you read a lot. I love modern Christian books. Do you recommend any?
We had to read this in high school in the old italian translation, which i think even rhymes? I might be way off. Same with Iliad and Aeneid. Needless to say, I didn't end up liking any of them :) this is very interesting to watch though.
Why’d you take down your milk and honey review?
Your paraphrasing is cracking me the fuck up 🤣🤣🤣
You look like Rebecca Hall
I could listen to you talk all day, you are beautiful
read it in greek otherwise you are not reading the Odyssey
hear it from the lips of Homer himself to truly experience it as the Ancient Greeks intended
Trouble is, it is not practical for us all to learn fluent Hebrew and Greek to read the Bible, Russian to read Tolstoy etc.