Ever wonder? At least he'd have had someone to talk to twenty years, and how could Penelope refuse such a courteous and civil house-guest? (Platypi are very civil.) So maybe you haven't ever wondered that, but taking another read (or a first-time read) through the "Odyssey" is well worth the effort. I've just been touring back through Robert Fagles translation in preparation for the new semester. I'm going to be focusing on Ancient Greece now, as opposed to Colonialism, so what better way to start than with the "bible" of the Ancient Greeks. What made the Greeks tick? The answers are on ever page of this book. And no, there are no platypi in the "Odyssey". More's the pity...
Thoughts after reading the "Iliad" to prepare a Greece unit for my students: -Hector is a jerk until he's dead. He even advocates the exposure of Achaean corpses and then has the cheek to turn around and ask Achilles to spare his. He rudely ignores Polydamas' prophecies and fights outside the gate to save his pride knowing full well what it will cost his family and city. After he's dead, he becomes a martyr for the cause. -Agamemnon has several moments of true leadership to balance out his pettiness. In this way, he's a haunting foil to Achilles: the two men are more alike than they want to acknowledge. -We see that Achilles is the better man at the funeral games of Patroclos. His lordliness, tact, and generosity there give us a window into Achilles before his fight with Agamemnon and the death of Patroclos consumed him. -Nestor is a boring, rambling, old man who's better days are far behind him, and yet every Achaean treats him with the upmo...
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