The Odyssey

I love it

The basis for many spin-offs and contemporary media. The journey of man through life told through myth and legend. Odysseus' physical journey is paralleled by mankind's journey to perfectionism. Homer shows how this is unachievable and how we should accept our weaknesses. Great for those who like gods and giants!

it was one you had to really read and pay attention too.

It's an epic.

It's a grand tale of the ancient world - significant because so much of it is an allergory of our modern day world too!My own take is that it is a farce on the etiquette of being a good host. From the outset the story is beset by appaling guests who loll around the king's house scoffing all his food and insulting his wife. Later it moves on to other more sophisticated or experiends hosts...more

It's a grand tale of the ancient world - significant because so much of it is an allergory of our modern day world too!My own take is that it is a farce on the etiquette of being a good host. From the outset the story is beset by appaling guests who loll around the king's house scoffing all his food and insulting his wife. Later it moves on to other more sophisticated or experiends hosts - Nestor in his palace at Pylos - who does it right.Then we learn other horrors of being an adventurer. You seldom get treated well - turned to swine, crushed by rocks, seduced by lotus-eaters and maidens, and finally the never never - turn up on the princess's doorstep stark naked!Great stuff - don't miss it! It may be another 2800 years before there is a better read.   hide

this was required reading in my college Honors class. I loved it - Great Odesses ! What a trip he took ! No wonder we use the expression Odessey for those horrendous trips we take ! Homer was THE man.

The correct use of the word "Epic"

If you consider the Odyssey as the end of a series of tales that begins with the Iliad, then the series begins and ends with rage. The disasterous rage of Achilles that starts the Iliad, and the murderous rage of Odysseus at the end of the Odyssey. The hot bloodedness of the characters should make them hard to sympathise with, but Homer (He? She? Them?) pulls it off. The actual 'Odyessy' or...more

If you consider the Odyssey as the end of a series of tales that begins with the Iliad, then the series begins and ends with rage. The disasterous rage of Achilles that starts the Iliad, and the murderous rage of Odysseus at the end of the Odyssey. The hot bloodedness of the characters should make them hard to sympathise with, but Homer (He? She? Them?) pulls it off. The actual 'Odyessy' or voyage, with the Cyclops, Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis etc, is only a small part of this book. Much more attention is paid to Odysseus squaring off with the unwelcome suitors of his wife Penelope in Ithaca. Homer obviously felt the audience for this tale would be more concerned about how that conflict was resolved.   hide

The better epic tale in Homer's collection. This one provides a more intimate personal portrait than does the Iliad. I found the Iliad to be more of an Ancient Historical epic that detailed the happenings of the Trojan War, whereas this one focused more solely on the personal story of Odysseus. Although the account is obviously fabricated with what one might call "fairy tale" stories, this adds...more

The better epic tale in Homer's collection. This one provides a more intimate personal portrait than does the Iliad. I found the Iliad to be more of an Ancient Historical epic that detailed the happenings of the Trojan War, whereas this one focused more solely on the personal story of Odysseus. Although the account is obviously fabricated with what one might call "fairy tale" stories, this adds to it's appeal. These were the fairy tales of the Ancient Greeks!   hide