September-November 2006CAMI
Well, if The Iliad was like hiking a mountain, then The Odessy was like a mountain bike ride down it: it’s bumpy, it’s a little scary, but it’s much faster. Not to mention it’s much more exciting. I think knowing the background and war-based culture of the characters was helpful in understanding the sort of moral-free glory hunting that occurred in the story, and allowed me to concentrate on the adventure.
What struck me the most about all this, was his attitude about it. We, as readers, know how involved the gods were in each voyage and each danger Ulysses encountered. And yet when he talked with Minerva face to face, he asked why she had left him alone. He had boasted in his own strength. He thought he truly was the hero of his own life. Even in the Iliad we knew that neither side could win without the grace of the gods. It’s funny how easily Ulysses forgot his own weakness. But Minerva forgave his weakness and restored him to his kingdom. Parallels every which way in this story.
JANICE. . . I agree with Cami on how different the two books are in tone and setting. The Iliad was more crashing armor and blood and dust and death while the Odyssey wias more yearning, cunning, relationships, intrigue, ocean. Is this Sea vs. Earth? Yin vs. Yang? Masculine vs. Feminie? Opposition in all things?
I just found something I wrote in my journal a few weeks ago. "In this reading I'm doing . . . I feel as if I have joined up with the part of the human race most valuable to know. The best of the great thinkers are alike in the most important ways. Having read (at last) the Iliad and the Odyssey, I am no longer in the dark when references are made which they more frequently than expected are. When this happens it's like meeting an old friend in turning a corner, and knowing immediately who they are inside even though the conversation is shallow and superfluous. It makes me smile with a certain intellectual glee and surprised gratitude. It is not my doing but some act of grace that I should have this little joy. Things MEAN something now. Thank you."
JULIA
Yay! I just finished The Odyssey, all 324 pages. What a trip it has been. . . . Most of the adventures were familiar. One thing I found quite interesting was the double standard issue. Penelope waits two decades, faithful the whole time, and Odysseus never apologizes or even admits his indescretions. . . . Apparently P. was one tough Mom, being the sole parent to bring up her son. . . . I understand P. a little because when my husband went for months at a time to Guam and I had the responsibility of children and household, it took me a while to let the resentment go and I was hard as flint when he would return home.
I hear Sirens' tempting strain,
disuading me to honor my pledge,
but I know day is full of promise,
with favorable winds, fated skies.
And so it is I meet with others
similarly equipped for journeying
with their fierce jaws of determination
and their layered disposable armour
suitable to fend off iciness of morn.
Gods blow at our backs, this sea of life,
canyon road smooth like silver water
under first rays of golden sun,
our bodies afloat, legs churning
to move us gloriously through the miles
I notice how all of us seem lost
in our own struggle, central to ourselves,
each toiling life no small matter
but one of great and mythic concern.
I glimpse islands of distraction,
doubtful thoughts of victory arise.
As if Zeus hears my mind, he sends Athene
to cause a honeyed pear to fall to me.
I see it there glistening under a tree
unmarred on its bed of gentle grass,
nectar-sweet, a gift of sustaining grace.
Energy replaces confusion, fear
fruit a sign I will taste sweet
success. I feel myself being weaved
into the loom of other lives
as on and on we run toward Ithaca.
Logan, UT 9-23-06
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