The Odyssey by Homer

The Odyssey by Homer

I’d only ever encountered bits and pieces of the Odyssey sporadically throughout middle school and high school, so it was nice to finally get the whole epic in context. Admittedly, the parts I was already familiar with (like the adventures with the Cyclops, Sirens, and Scylla and Charybdis) were the highlights of the book, while the unfamiliar parts were largely “connective tissue” - but ingesting it all as a cohesive story made the experience novel enough.

And with that new lens, two things really struck me. 

First is the character of Odysseus. I’d fully expected him to be an "ancient Greek superman” of spotless morals and unparalleled might. But what I got was a surprisingly deceptive and vengeful man who, while still a respectable and powerful figure, has an inclination for elaborate lies and an upsetting lack of mercy. An understandable trait for what is, in essence, a revenge story - but regrettable nonetheless.

Second - is just how foreign the ethics and customs of ancient Greece were to me (considering my knowledge of ancient customs comes from the middle-Eastern tradition in Bible stories). Even compared to modern ethics, it’s encouraging to see that we’ve actually improved as a society in spite of how mean and backwards the world can feel these days. The ancient Greeks do thoroughly outclass us in one respect, though - and that’s in their welcoming attitude toward strangers. Perhaps it was from their ever-present thought that strangers could be gods in disguise, or from the belief in Zeus’s favor toward pilgrims - but the Ancient Greeks seem overwhelmingly willing to take in those without a place to stay, and even shower them with gifts and hospitality. A bit extreme, perhaps, but we could certainly use more of that today.

I realize it was probably a mistake to start with the Odyssey and leave the Illiad for another day, but I’m happy to have finally experienced this one in its entirety, as one of the most significant pieces of literature ever written.