Yep. Homer obviously had alot of time on his hands.
Yep. Homer obviously had alot of time on his hands.
I agree with Chris. How can a book so fake and unbelievable be so inspiring. That's saying that if you wrote a book of completely unbelievable things, then you'd inspire people... That just doesn't make sense. All the power to you Chris!
yep he had alot of time on his hands
i think that this is a very narrow minded veiw of such an epic tale. it may not give clear lessons in life in the way that self help books and the like give, but for a poem that was written such a long time ago it has lessons of hope and the importance of the family that in these turbulant times are very apt.
Im a ninth grader in West Monroe,Louisiana and it is required that we read it..........i would be doing just fine with out it!! i mean like i agree with Chris! if i read something then i want facts not some myth but whatever floats your boat! some people enjoy it but teens today just find nothing in it!
Wow, Chris, you obviously need a lesson in lit. because your spelling is terrible!!
I think that everyone has a right to there opinon and that's fine. I just have to say that it's really not my type of story. Yea, some schools make u read it but maybe people would like it better if they weren't forced to read it and just read it for there enjoyment.
your life would be very boring indeed if all you read are war documentaries. at least an epic tale can boost your imagination.
I would say I appreciated it less as a child than an adult. A lot probably depends upon your translation, as well. There is a new one translated by Stanly Lombardo that may be more easy to handle. <br>If you focused, as most do, upon the few far out stories that you mention, then I can understand why it is simply a fantastic tale or bad movie, not even fit for mst3K. But if you look at it as the trials of a man who isn ot wandering merely, but seeking passionatley to get to an objective, his home, then it become a more personal book, with much you can learn from it. <br>For instance, he is seeking to get to his Penelope, his beloved. ALong the way, he is tempted by many differerent women, each with her own appeal, but ultimately a trap or sidetrack from his real heart's desire.<br>Perhaps you simply need a little more life experience to appreciate it more fully. Perhaps you can try to look at it with a fresh eye - just remember, toss out most of the stuff that you focus on in class. If you can repeat about the cyclops and a few other things, yes, you can get an 'A' without reading it (I did twice!), but then what benefit did you really receive?
What this book rocks! It is epic and has many ways you can apply this to real life.In our lit. class we have done many projects with it and I have found it to be very enjoyable.
This book seems very much a part of today's world to me. It describes a world in change, with social rules that don't fully provide for those changes. It talks of duty and what it means to be a hero or villian. Not only does this book allow you to view the world of ancient Greece, but also to look at how the ancients would view our world.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I find it fascinating that in this age of Hollywood blockbuster movies like X-men, the Matrix, etc., that people are complaining The Odyssey is a bad read because of how unrealistic it is. Is it really just that you don't feel like reading, and working through more advanced literature? Just remember--at the very least, reading the classics will make you a better writer, no matter what type of writing it is--and we all have to write some of the time, regardless of your chosen profession.
I can understand that point of view. However, the human spirit grows and changes through a mysterious process and responds to images and symbols that epxress meanings and experiences that are difficult if not impossible to express in ordinary language. Hisjourney is an interior journey that is reflected through an actual journey of the body. What he experiences are elements of his own psyche. We have parts of ourselves that do show up to us in our dreams and in our day-dreams as monsters, or seductive nymphs or evil sorcerers. We have distorted, underdeveloped, damaged, hurtful part of ourselves and we can show them in fiction in montrous forms and we can see them for what they are when dramatized. Our unconscious mind responds to these and helps us work through things that do not bear mental analysis or scrutiny. A large part of our mental and spritial processes are unconscious. Psychoanalysts use myth and fairy tales and epics to describe and understand experiences of the mind/spirit that somehow cannot be understood or expressed any other way and loses something when analyzed and described.
Wow, Shauna, you said it all right there. That is a wonderful interpretation about how Odysseus' voyage is both internal and external. I think I'll use that as one of the points in my reader response that's due in two days. Thanks! (I really did love the book though, I'm not just using that idea because it sounded cool..lol, I'm not that low.)
THANK YOU CHRIS! This is an awful book and when my teacher says "This will teach you about life," I think "Would you happen to be on drugs?" If you have enough free time to read The Odyssey out of class, you have way too much free time and an awful sense of what book to read. If you want some good reading materal that will teach you about life, read "The Winter of Red Snow" or a diary like that.
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