OK, not The Odyssey but The Iliad which comes first. Though either they got very, very lost on the way back, or they must have had some sort of odyssey on the way to Troy which Homer didn’t write about. Must have been uneventful and full of war-mongering songs.
Over at A Literary Odyssey, there’s an Iliad readalong for May. Whilst we only need to check in twice during the month, no doubt I’ll be sharing tidbits of information or just stopping by to go WTF?
I decided to get the Fagles translation on my Kindle as my paper copy contains The Odyssey as well so it’s huge. There is a big difference between the Robert Fagles and George Chapman translations, so I do recommend that you spend a few pennies to get the easier text (published by Penguin).
If all goes well, I’ll be finished before I get to I in my mythology A-Z and I can share a dummies guide with you.
Sign up is here if you want to join in.
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The Iliad is about the war between the Greeks and the Trojans, whereas The Odyssey is about the journey back. The Iliad describes the last few weeks of the ten year war between the two civilisations, if I am not mistaken. I did it in school when I was 12. I remember that year we had to do both The Odyssey (which we finished) and The Iliad (which we skimmed through, focusing only on the more important parts).
Good luck with your reading Ellie! I think I should get round to reading them again sometime… It's been nearly 10 years since I last read it! I think I might read it too, now you reminded me of it… I'm sure we have a Greek version of it somewhere…
Yeah, I'm familiar with The Odyssey and I know The Iliad is about the war…just wondering how they got there (and being a bit silly – can't take these big books too seriously!).
If I remember correctly, The Iliad is set during the last weeks of the Trojan War, there are explanations along the way, as to how everything started and how they got there and what happened before…
I've signed up for the readalong, so as to refresh the story in my mind! As soon as my Mum remembers where she put it…
P.S.: I love your new header! 🙂 (Matches your card!)
I'm looking forward to this.