13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Indispensable Reading, September 1, 2006
This review is from: Homer - The Iliad & The Odyssey - The Greek Classics (Paperback)
It is hardly an exaggeration to say that Homer is to World Literature what Shakespeare is to English Literature. With the two books combined into this one volume - the scribe, scholar, genius or whatever Homer really was - made a mark on literature that stands alone. The epic siege of Troy and the adventures of Ulysses are so deeply ingrained into the consciousness of Western culture that these works are a part of us even today.
The world of literature, and culture itself, owes a debt to Homer that cannot even be estimated. To not have read (the movies are but pale imitations) the Iliad and The Odyssey is a loss beyond description.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Iliad***** and the Odyssey***, April 29, 2007
This review is from: Homer - The Iliad & The Odyssey - The Greek Classics (Paperback)
The Iliad*****
The Iliad is a story of martial heroism and a fascinating historical document. Although the Iliad is a fictional account, it provides considerable insight into ancient Greek warfare, technology, society, and metaphysics. To someone who's not being forced to read it in high school, the Iliad offers considerable attractions.
As the story opens, the Greeks and their allies are camped near the walls of Troy, many years into the Trojan War. Achilles, a demigod and the fiercest warrior among the Greeks, is angered by the commander of the Greek forces and withdraws from the fighting. Despite the loss of their best warrior, Ulysses and Nestor persuade the Greeks to continue their war against the Trojans. Throughout the rest of the book, over a period of several days, the two forces slaughter one another with arrow, sword, and spear, greatly preferring the latter weapon. The reader learns about the armor and shields that the fighters used, and every possible way they can fail their owners. The narrative focuses on the most prominent men on each side, but the opposing armies numbered in the thousands. Homer relates the action in terms that his listeners would understand, either realistically ("Diomed struck him in the middle of his neck with his sword and cut both sinews ...") or through simile ("... as a couple of well-trained hounds press forward after a doe or hare that runs screaming in front of them, even so did the son of Tydeus and Ulysses pursue Dolon ...")
There is a great deal of appreciation of martial spirit and character in the text. At one point, Sarpedon turns to Glaucus and says:
"Glaucus, why in Lycia do we receive especial honour as regards our place at the table? Why are the choicest portions served us and our cups kept brimming, and why do men look up to us as though we were gods? Moreover we hold a large estate by the banks of the river Xanthus, fair with orchards, lawns, and wheat-growing lands; it becomes us to, therefore, to take our stand at the head of all the Lycians and bear the brunt of the fight, that one may say to another, `Our princes in Lycia eat the fat of the land and drink the best of wine, but they are fine fellows: they fight well and are ever at the front in battle.' My good friend, if, when we were once out of this fight, we could escape old age and death thenceforth and for ever, I should neither press forward myself nor bid you to do so, but death in ten thousand shapes hangs ever over our heads, and no man can elude him; therefore let us go forward and either win glory for ourselves, or yield it to another."
The men encourage one another during the fighting, and share their strength. Diomed "of the loud war-cry" agrees to spy among the Trojans at night but asks for a companion: "When two men are together, one of them may see some opportunity which the other has not caught sight of; if a man is alone he is less full of resource, and his wit is weaker."
Interludes between the fighting offer scenes of a kind of domesticity and a glimpse at societal structure. The Greek leaders eat, drink, and rest in their tents, attended by large retinues, and the common fighting men sleep on the ground, using their shields as pillows. Decisions are made in assemblies that include all.
The fortunes of the two opposing armies wax and wane, and their fortunes are attributed to the gods, who intervene to help their favorites and even fight among themselves.
I read the Iliad rather slowly, over a period of three weeks or so, mostly before going to sleep at night, and drew a considerable amount of pleasure from it. The Samuel Butler translation is superb.
The Odyssey***
This Homeric poem focuses on Ulysses, one of the Greek heroes portrayed in the Iliad. When the story opens, Ulysses has been away from home for ten years, and a great deal of the book recounts his fantastic adventures as he tries to return to Ithaca. Meanwhile, at home, a group of suitors courts his wife, Penelope, while they eat his livestock and drink his wine. When he arrives home, Ulysses prowls about in disguise to establish who has been loyal and who disloyal in his absence. This done, he unleashes an unbelievably violent revenge on the suitors and their allies among his household staff.
Ulysses' adventures are highly imaginative, and, as in the Iliad, it is interesting to see how the ancient Greeks supposed that the gods intervene in our affairs. It is interesting, too, to see how they tried to read the gods' intentions through portents and omens. The extreme violence is rather surprising to a modern reader, and the poem could possibly be criticized for its rather abrupt resolution of the conflict between Ulysses and the other townspeople.
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