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adventurous
dark
informative
fast-paced
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
After reading Emily Wilson’s translation of The Iliad, I was approaching her translation of The Odyssey with some trepidation, but I will say the trepidation was not warranted. I quickly realized that although both works are authored by Homer (though whether that was one or multiple authors is hotly debated), The Odyssey, even if written by the same individual, reads completely differently. The best way I can explain it in my head is that The Iliad feels like reading a transcript of a play-by-play from a sports radio announcer commenting on a game. There’s a lot of repetition (e.g., nipples getting slashed, brains being turned to mush, eyes being shrouded in dark), a plethora of analogies beaten to death, and I didn’t enjoy Wilson’s translation because it felt too casual.
Now all of that to say, The Odyssey reads like a tale told by a parent to their child. We do not get the play-by-play of every little thing. The characters feel less like actors in a play (the play being the theatre of war), and more like actual people. In this case, Wilson’s more modern, less pretentious language really shines in telling this very human story.
Similar to the Iliad, there was much in terms of disillusionment. I’d always assumed that all of Odysseus’s fantastical events happened in the present, and I thought the whole Telemachus-Penelope-Suitor storyline was shoehorned in near the end to give us background about what’s been going on. Instead, we begin from Telemachus’s perspective, establish that storyline from the beginning, then we join Odysseus as he escapes Calypso’s island, takes shelter with the Phaeacians, and recalls his experiences that are all of the epic mythological tales we’re more familiar with (e.g., the lotus eaters, the sirens, the cyclopes, Charybdis and Scylla). All of that takes us to the halfway point of the novel. Then, one book later we are already back in Ithaca, which then puts into motion the plot to rid Odysseus’s home of the suitors. What’s different with this disillusionment is that my disillusionment with the Iliad left me disappointed. It lacked content I expected to read about, and it wasn’t satisfying. The Odyssey tells me everything I expected, but presented it in a much more sophisticated narrative structure that makes moments more emotionally impactful. We have the parallel storylines of Telemachus leaving Ithaca in search of news about his father, while simultaneously having Odysseus trying desperately to reach Ithaca to be reunited with his wife and son. The moment of reunion between father and son brought tears to my eyes, and the unexpected death of Odysseus’s best friend Argos was another emotional gut punch.
I know there is a lot of speculation that Odysseus is an unreliable narrator, and I do want to dwell on that more in subsequent readings, but for my first read through, I’m content taking his words at face value for now.
Now all of that to say, The Odyssey reads like a tale told by a parent to their child. We do not get the play-by-play of every little thing. The characters feel less like actors in a play (the play being the theatre of war), and more like actual people. In this case, Wilson’s more modern, less pretentious language really shines in telling this very human story.
Similar to the Iliad, there was much in terms of disillusionment. I’d always assumed that all of Odysseus’s fantastical events happened in the present, and I thought the whole Telemachus-Penelope-Suitor storyline was shoehorned in near the end to give us background about what’s been going on. Instead, we begin from Telemachus’s perspective, establish that storyline from the beginning, then we join Odysseus as he escapes Calypso’s island, takes shelter with the Phaeacians, and recalls his experiences that are all of the epic mythological tales we’re more familiar with (e.g., the lotus eaters, the sirens, the cyclopes, Charybdis and Scylla). All of that takes us to the halfway point of the novel. Then, one book later we are already back in Ithaca, which then puts into motion the plot to rid Odysseus’s home of the suitors. What’s different with this disillusionment is that my disillusionment with the Iliad left me disappointed. It lacked content I expected to read about, and it wasn’t satisfying. The Odyssey tells me everything I expected, but presented it in a much more sophisticated narrative structure that makes moments more emotionally impactful. We have the parallel storylines of Telemachus leaving Ithaca in search of news about his father, while simultaneously having Odysseus trying desperately to reach Ithaca to be reunited with his wife and son. The moment of reunion between father and son brought tears to my eyes, and the unexpected death of Odysseus’s best friend Argos was another emotional gut punch.
I know there is a lot of speculation that Odysseus is an unreliable narrator, and I do want to dwell on that more in subsequent readings, but for my first read through, I’m content taking his words at face value for now.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual violence
I finished it!!!!!! Took me 1 million years but I thought the translation was really accessible for what it’s worth
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
rip Athena you would have loved the ANTM makeover episodes