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A review by knowmadic_369
The Odyssey by Homer
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
3.0
Months ago I started a literary journey to read Homer with the single purpose of finally learning the context to modern day Greek retellings. Today I finally concluded that journey - and by Zeus am I relieved!
I didn't have many expectations of Homer's works when I first set out on this not-so-little adventure. I knew his poems were long and I knew some fragments of the tales. But I didn't expect to dislike the great Odysseus, favoured by Athena for his quick wit. I'm all for wit and intelligence, but there's more to Odysseus than just his smarts. He has a sense of cruelty and self-righteousness that I found immensely off-putting (I get you, Poseidon!) . I didn't particularly enjoy following him on his longwinded journey back to Ithaca and I was actually grateful that some parts of the story weren't elaborated on much. If The Odyssey had the same sluggish pace as The Iliad, it likely would've taken me another 4 months to trudge through.
But I guess the book isn't all bad. It's a much lighter read than The Iliad and much more versatile in its plot and characters. Whereas The Iliad's story centered around one main setting and one main event, The Odyssey moves around. We meet various kinds of characters, all with their own unique flavours. There are also tales within tales, told by different narrators, frequently changing the rhythm of the story. And then the chapters aren't impossibly long and monotonous. All-in-all, I enjoyed the storytelling in The Odyssey, despite hating on the main character.
I am glad to be done with Homer for now. In all honesty, it was a bucket-list read and I'm proud of my accomplishment, but I won't be rereading Homer's poems anytime soon. For now, I'm excited to read Circe and The Penelopiad, before putting the Ancient Greeks away for a while.
I didn't have many expectations of Homer's works when I first set out on this not-so-little adventure. I knew his poems were long and I knew some fragments of the tales. But I didn't expect to dislike the great Odysseus, favoured by Athena for his quick wit. I'm all for wit and intelligence, but there's more to Odysseus than just his smarts. He has a sense of cruelty and self-righteousness that I found immensely off-putting (I get you, Poseidon!) . I didn't particularly enjoy following him on his longwinded journey back to Ithaca and I was actually grateful that some parts of the story weren't elaborated on much. If The Odyssey had the same sluggish pace as The Iliad, it likely would've taken me another 4 months to trudge through.
But I guess the book isn't all bad. It's a much lighter read than The Iliad and much more versatile in its plot and characters. Whereas The Iliad's story centered around one main setting and one main event, The Odyssey moves around. We meet various kinds of characters, all with their own unique flavours. There are also tales within tales, told by different narrators, frequently changing the rhythm of the story. And then the chapters aren't impossibly long and monotonous. All-in-all, I enjoyed the storytelling in The Odyssey, despite hating on the main character.
I am glad to be done with Homer for now. In all honesty, it was a bucket-list read and I'm proud of my accomplishment, but I won't be rereading Homer's poems anytime soon. For now, I'm excited to read Circe and The Penelopiad, before putting the Ancient Greeks away for a while.