This is a love letter to all the high school Literature teachers in the world for all the times they have tried to get their students to read and love The Odyssey. This is for all the times they had to grade papers that were obviously more Percy Jackson and less Odysseus because some of the myths are so similar. But this is also for all the students who, like me, just couldn’t figure out what was going on with this epic other than the similarities to TV shows like Hercules and Xena. This was far from my favorite read as a student, and, quite honestly, I still feel that way. But one undeniable fact is that Homer’s epics will forever be a central part of our Literature classes because of their far reaching and enduring impacts on storytelling.
I give The Odyssey 3 out of 5 stars. This is not for the casual reader. Told through complex flashbacks, the story is hard to follow if you aren’t paying close attention. Utilizing Homeric hexameter, meaning that this poem doesn’t rhyme, but its lines form complete sentences usually. In fact, if you didn’t know it was a poem, you may miss that part all together. There’s also a handful of themes used throughout the book – you can read more on those with any Cliff Notes or Spark Notes. The translation of the work from it’s original language may have led to some of the more complex and complicated passages with more difficult vocabulary, but I feel like it would have read just as difficult in the native Ancient Greek.
If you love Homer’s other epic – The Iliad – you will like this one, too. Other classic literature you may enjoy includes Virgil’s The Aeneid, Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, and any of Shakespear’s works. If you struggled with this in school like me, I’d recommend the audiobook version. I typically listen to audiobooks at 1.5x speed, but don’t recommend that here. It would be so easy to miss something!
I chose The Odyssey for the Read With Lindsey Reading Challenge prompt “read in school”. I read this in 10th grade World Literature – thank you, Mrs. Dearing. That year, we also read some other great books like Animal Farm, The Canterbury Tales, and The Scarlet Letter. I very distinctly remember reading each of these in that classroom. Literature was actually my least favorite class at that point in my life – writing essays and trying to understand the themes was so hard for someone as black and white as me. Mrs. Dearing made literature come alive for me and made me love reading all over again. She also introduced me to the connection between classic literature and famous artwork. I’d love to hear about your favorite (or least favorite) book from high school literature class, or your favorite teacher. Tell me more in the comments!
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What I’m Reading
- Current print book: I’ll Be Home for Christmas, Jenny Bayliss
- Current audio book: John Tyler, the Accidental President, Edward P. Crapol
- Book I’m most looking forward to: Fire Season, Phillip Connors
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