Homer

 

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       Homer's best know epics, "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" are not prose but poetry.  In the days of yore, when there was no printing press as yet, stories of the day were sung, hence the musical rhythms of those two very important works by a very important Greek orator. "The Iliad" is a story surrounding the Trojan wars, wars between Sparta and Troy.  It is far more than a tale of battles, however.  Homer weaves in pictures of what life was like in ancient Greece.  The Greek Gods and Goddesses were very much a part of everyday lives of the Greeks of the time.  They used them to justify every action, to answer every question, to provide them strength, understanding and meaning in their lives whether at war or not.  Apparently, ones ancestry was terribly important to the Greeks as the characters don't just have names, they are "Achilles, son of Herbie, grandson of Ernie" and so forth.  These books are not an easy read, but will give you much information and insight into Greece at the time of Homer and a wonderful literary style that is gone forever.    We are able to read them today because eventually, through copious in-depth  research by scholars, the old songs were recovered and put in print.

Review posted by: Spooks

       This stuff is difficult to read.  Not that it is bad stuff, just that the way it is written is very difficult to continually follow.  I have read both the Iliad and the Odyssey.  I can tell you that if you can make your way through them they are both well worth the work.  Too bad there is not an simpler, more modern translation available.  Or is there?

Review posted by: Crank 

 

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