For today's discussion, I'll be using the Essential Homer, with the Japanese picture on the front cover. After all, it's just been sitting here in my room ever since my last review...
At any rate, let's begin, shall we?
SPOILERS AHOY!
Pros:
+Complex story: The Iliad was a pretty straight forward story, with a pretty straightforward, chronological plot. Not so much with the Odyssey. Even though the Odyssey is about "I AM THE SMARTEST MAN EVER!!!" Odysseus, the story starts off with his son, Telemachus. Poor Telemachus is upset with his mother's suitors, as is his mother, and he really needs to do something about it. In comes Athena, one of the most prominent gods in the book (the other one is obviously Poseidon). The story with Telemachus is one of growing up, aided by Athena; he grows from a little boy who's been bullied by his mother's suitors to a fine young man, ready to aid his father against the horrors that have occured since he sailed off for war so long ago. There's more to the story. As I mentioned, the story is about Odysseus. In book 5, we meet up with Odysseus, again, and he's in trouble, stuck at Calypso's place. Alone. With just her. Wait, wait, wait! What about the bits where he has the crew?! Like with the Cyclops, or with the Circe, who turns the sailors into pigs. Where have those parts gone? Of course, that's what everyone remembers from grade school, because those are the only parts that anyone has to read. All of those parts are couched within books 9-12 as a flashback that Odysseus tells to this guy named Alcinous. The rest of the book concerns Odysseus' last leg of the journey home, as well as beating up on the suitors. As I said, not such a straightforward story...
+The exiting bits: You have to admit, when this story is exciting, it's exciting. I mean, a man eating Cyclops! Beautiful, deadly Sirens! Lotus-Eaters who can't tell when time is passing! A witch who turns people into animals! One-eyed one-horned flying purple people eaters! Wait... nix that last one...
+Penelope and other portrayals of women: You've got to love Penelope. I mean, where else in a Greek text will you get a woman who's smarter than the men? She tricks them all several times (I'll let you read to see what I mean!), and at the end, she's able to keep up with the best of Odysseus' scheming. I suppose the only downside to her character is that she's not there for a lot of the rip-roaring action at the end. I suppose that would be a little much to ask of the Greeks.
The other female portrayal that I like is Calypso, simply for the fact that she brings up an interesting point. In book 5, in lines 118-143, she complains to Hermes that it's not fair that gods can take whatever mortal woman they want for a lover, but that goddesses can't turn around and do the same thing. It's an interesting point to bring up, especially in a culture that's so anti-feminist.
+The "puppy scene:" I call it thus because it's this part that I like to read every year with the group. Here's the lines (emphasis mine):
His hands
Reached out, seized two of them, and smashed them
To the ground like puppies. Their brains spattered out
And oozed into the dirt. He tore them limb from limb
To make his supper, gulping them down
Like a mountain lion, leaving nothing behind--
Guts, flesh, or marrowy bones. (9.280-286)
There's something about that description that makes me belive that the Greeks have some understanding of what it's like to brutally slaughter puppies. Beyond that, that's just a brilliant description of all the gore. Mmm...
+The story of Argus: As strange as it sounds, this scene is perhaps one of the most poignant in the whole story. It's in book 17, from lines 317-354. It's about Odysseus' faithful dog, Argus. That poor dog was so abused while Odysseys was away that it's stuck in manure and infested with lice, so old and abused that he can barely move. Odysseys, upon seeing the dog, cries, but he can't go out and greet it. Instead, he asks the swineherd that he's with, Eumaeus, to tell him about the dog, so Eumaeus does. The last mention of Argus is when Argus dies upon seeing his master return home. Truly, this scene deserves the manliest of tears.
Cons:
-The boring scenes: Remember when I said that most of you only read books 9-12 of the Odyssey in high school? There's a reason for that. Apart from the final battle scene with the suitors, the rest of the book is a little... boring, to say the least. I mean, behold, this scene where Nausicaa plays with a ball.
... Truly, the stuff of legends.
-Anti-climactic ending: For such an epic story, this story ends really... weird. So, after Odysseus kills all the suitors, he goes and has a nice chat with his dad. Well, that's nice! But oh-ho, what's that on the horizon?! The families of the suitors are pissed?! Whatever shall we do, Odysseus?! Aha, we must get prepared for battle! Quick, to arms, to ar--HOLY SHIT, IS THAT ATHENA?! Oh look all of a sudden, everyone sees the error of their ways and are no longer mad. We may all live happily ever after except for Odysseus, who has to do that thing with his oar that Tireseus told him to do in book 11.
... I shit you not, this is how it ends.
-The word "brazier:" I don't think that the Lombardo version uses that word. The Fagles one does. During my first Homerathon, I was challenged with that word up on the podium. I had never seen it before, and my first inclination was to pronounce it like "brassier," the underwear. As soon as I walked off the stage, one of the men there gave me a very stern look and said, "It's pronounced 'BRAY-zee-er.'" Needless to say, I was highly embarrassed, so embarrassed that the next year, I took that same part, again, just so that I could read that word correctly.
-The recognition scene: In book 19, Eurycleia, Odysseus' old nurse, recognizes Odysseus by the scar on his leg. I don't think I've ever read a favorable review of this particular scene. In general, it's depicted as being a weak scene in the Odyssey, due to its simplicity. Personally, I have no particularly strong feelings towards it, but I add it in the cons due to the critic's reactions. As far as I'm concerned, at least it's better than the scene in the Libation Bearers by Aeschylus when Electra identifies her brother Orestes, whom she hasn't seen for YEARS, by the fact that his hair and foot size is the same as hers. Wait... now THAT scene truly confuses me! I have some brothers, and I have to say that my hair and feet are nothing like theirs. In fact, this scene confused the Greeks so much that Euripdes parodied it in his Electra play.
... yeah. At least the recognition scene in the Odyssey isn't as bad as THAT.
~~~
I know that my last two reviews were a little bit far off to one side, to say the least. I think this one straddles the middle pretty well, and in my opinion, the Odyssey is really a middle-of-the-road read. Perhaps not as fun as the Iliad, but at the same time, not as bad as, say, Thucydides.
CARTHAGO DELENDA EST!
Homer. The Essential Homer. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2000.
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