I'm reading Ted Gioia's "Immersive Humanities Course," 52 weeks of World Classics. Week 2 starts with Greek Poetry, and then we start Homer and The Odyssey. What a great week!
I'm a beginner at reading the classics, but I've decided to just "crack the book" and get started. Here are a few of my key take-aways from this week:
- The surviving Greek Lyrics are very male-dominated, full of war and fighting and politics, with not a lot of attention paid to nature or beauty, or even romance. That is, until you get to Sappho, a woman. Her verses are really beautiful. I can’t help but wonder why. Is it just what survived? Or is that an accurate reflection of Greek society? I thought it was the second until I read Homer.
- The Odyssey is full of male and female characters, and they are both important to the story. So where the poetry was very male-centric (except for Sappho) Homer absolutely isn’t. I mean, Penelope seems kind of weak, but Athena is absolutely crucial to the plot. I will have to think about this a lot more.
- Odysseus is a pain in the neck. While I love the story, I'm not a fan of the guy himself so far, at least by Book 10. For instance, when he gets ready to pass by the Sirens, he is told to lash himself to the mast of the ship IF he wants to hear the Siren Song. And that’s what he chose to do! Why would he not just say, “Nope, I’ll put beeswax in my ears like the rest of the crew and we will just sail on by.” It seems supremely arrogant.
- Telemachus, on the other hand, seems to me to possibly be the better hero. I’m looking forward to seeing him find his dad.
I have a lot of other thoughts this week, especially about the Fagles translation I read.
This is a year-long challenge! Join me next week to finish the Odyssey. We'll be joined by a fun guest!
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