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Why, someone asked, is the Iliad overshadowed by the Odyssey? I'm sure the answer is a complex one, but I'll offer one possibility. We, like the soft suitors of Penelope, have no stomach for the business of war. We'd rather leave such business to others; live securely because of their wartime accomplishments; and repay them with condescension, poverty, and stigma. Heroic literature, especially heroic war literature, appalls us--unless, of course, it's heroic anti-war literature.
How odd. There are many things written on the Odyssey's review page, but there is nothing written here yet. I wonder why that is. I found the Iliad to be just as great as the Odyssey in many ways. The adventure was no less present, the suspense was just as great and the action was incredible; for some reason, however, this is always overlooked in, sitting in the shadows of the Odyssey. I would recomend that anyone who wants to read the Odyssey should read this first.