May 15th

Day 136
19.024 read, +0.050
The Odyssey of Homer 202-229
Homer's Odyssey, A Companion 119-136

The Odyssey read is going great.  This Odysseus is quite a character!  It's strange to think the same man or at least the same tradition created both this and the Iliad.  In so many ways these two works are similar, but in so many ways they are very different, so different that the heroic and moral values in the Iliad (so important to the Greeks) are often turned on their heads in the Odyssey.  To me it shows a great depth of culture; instead of getting the sense of a rigid culture with a set of strict beliefs and values as I often think of ancient cultures, I instead with reading both these works get a sense of a somewhat diverse, multi-leveled culture.

Also, the companion is fabulous.  I was worried beforehand, as it said it was for the "beginner".  Not that I'm an expert at all, but after the Iliad read, the Iliad companion and thread discussion, I thought a "beginner" companion to the Odyssey may not have so much value.  But it's great and is actually better than the Iliad companion.  Which is funny, since the Wilcock Iliad companion I found highly recommended at multiple places online (it is good though) while the Odyssey companion I had to search for and just choose one of many (I chose this one because it was based on the Lattimore translation).  What's even funnier though is in the preface, Jones mentions Wilcock as inspiration, and that Wilcock actually proofread this companion for Jones!

I just find that the companion really broadens the horizons of my understanding of the Odyssey so much.  Sure some notes are repetitive or unnecessary or I already know, but there's many great notes.  And Jones begins each book with general notes on that entire book which are always interesting, before delving into specific line by line notes.