Odyssey of Homer

I haven't read this in something like 30 years and though I still want to revisit a different translation (the new one by Emily Wilson) a few things struck me while reading this time around.

When I was younger my favorite scenes were the ones full of gore and violence. Those are still captivating but the moments I savored this time around were the quieter, introspective scenes when Odysseus took stock of his life. I was suddenly moved, for example, in the scene when he discovers he has finally arrived back in Ithaca.

I also felt, and this could be projection, the weariness of Odysseus' journey this time around. He's skilled and a fine leader but his travails have worn him thin.

There is something special about reading Homer, something wild and affecting. The poetry of the story instantly grasps me, gripping something fundamental, and I am quickly maneuvered into breathing "its pure serene."

I liked this a lot more than I did when I read it in school.

That's probably unsurprising: even for bookworms (perhaps especially for bookworms?) school has a tendency to analyze the fun out of anything. My memories of this story were of it printed in far-too-tiny font on the front and back of sheets of paper we had to staple together and keep in our binders, of small portions read aloud (badly) in the stumbling tones of bored classmates, and of a story that meandered through a few weeks of study (or at least they felt like a few weeks--it's hard to say how long it actually was) and then got wrapped up very suddenly at the end by the teacher, who must have realized she'd extended the lesson too long and had to fit something else in.

I think hearing it read aloud made a big difference. The translator (Emily Wilson) said in her note at the start that she'd tried hard to ensure it sounded good spoken, and it honestly showed. I found myself repeating small bits as the narrator spoke, and it felt like it flowed really well. I won't pretend to know enough about poetry to say more than I liked how it sounded and I was aware of the language and flow without them getting in the way, which is honestly what I want in most things. There was none of the feeling of un-wrangling the words and meaning I had when I first read this in school.

I'll leave the deconstruction of the actual story to people better qualified than I--I'm sure it's been done to death, and I'm sure anyone reading this has at least a cursory understanding of the problems faced by Odyessus on his way home. I had forgotten how much time we spent with Odysseus' son Telemachus, and that for all the story is named after him, Odysseus isn't necessarily even the main character of parts.

If, like me, you are wondering if you missed something when you read this in school, this is definitely worth picking up and listening to. The story holds up quite well, and for all I knew how it ended, I was listening fascinated throughout.