- Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
- Publication Date: October 1st, 2008
- Disks: 20
- ISBN: 9781433248832
- ISBN-10: 1433248832
- Author: Homer
- Translated by: W H D Rouse
- Read by: Anthony Heard
Iliad and Odyssey by Homer, translated by W H D Rouse, are the classic Greek tales written about 3,000 years ago and probably based on earlier oral traditions. In my youth, I read a lot of mythology, especially Greek mythology, but I never got around to reading these epics until now. I was always under the impression that the Iliad told the full story of the Trojan War and the Odyssey described the happenings as Odysseus tried to make his way home after the war. This is true, regarding the Odyssey, but I was not aware that the Iliad only covers a few weeks of that decade long conflict. I also remember the stories being about heroes and their exploits. This is also true to a certain extent, but the stories are largely about the petty squabbles of the gods and how they are willing to let hundreds (thousands) of people be killed to satisfy their need for fealty and sacrifices.
These books provide a view of the culture of a bronze age society. In this society, might makes right and the weak and powerless are rarely mentioned, except as fodder for plunder and slavery. Women are the property of the strong men and the only powerful women are the goddesses. Even the goddesses must submit to the stronger gods, like Zeus. Other women are there to be ‘won’ and exchanged after ransacking their towns and villages. The remaining men are either slaughtered or become slaves.
It is a brutal time,and the ‘religion’ of the time reflects this nature. The gods are not there to be loved, they are just the mightiest of the mighty. They are to be feared and appeased. They take what they want from the human world, and from each other. They are not loving gods.
One interesting thing is that both sides in the Trojan War prayed and sacrificed to the same set of Olympian gods and goddesses. Different gods had their own reasons for siding with one side or the other, but none of them really cared for the people other than as chess pieces to move around to satisfy their own petty grievances. These are not the gods of a chosen people. They are selfish gods who use people as they see fit to appease themselves.
Iliad
Paris, a prince of Troy, absconded with Helen. Helen was the wife of Menelaus , the king of Sparta. In response, various loosely aligned Achaean ‘kingdoms’ based around individual Greek cities and islands came together and sent armies against the city of Troy. To the extent they have one, King Agamemnon is the leader of the Achaeans. The war has already been raging for nine years at the beginning of the Iliad. Along the way, the Greeks have sacked many towns and villages and taken women and other plunder. As the story begins, Agamemnon is forced by Apollo to return one of the women he has taken in one of these raids. Feeling slighted that he lost some of his booty, he insists that Achilles give him his prized captured woman. Achilles agrees reluctantly, but is so incensed that he refuses to fight against the Trojans for Agamemnon and spends most of the story on his ship in camp as the battles rage.
The battles run back and forth with the Achaeans winning some and the Trojans under their hero, Hector, dominating in others. A huge percentage of the book is listing the details of who killed who and how they were killed in various battles. Many of these individual deaths give the author a chance to include some ‘historical’ perspective on the the killer or killed and why they or their families may have been important in the past. There is a large amount of repetition in the text which was probably a mnemonic device to help the tellers of the story remember the details when it was an oral tradition.
Odyssey
The Odyssey begins about 10 years after the Achaeans finally conquered Troy. Most of the surviving Achaeans have returned home, but Odysseus has not. His wife, Penelope, and his their son, Telemachus, are convinced that he is probably dead, but still hold out some hope that he may return. Several young men have become suitors of Penelope, hoping to win her hand in marriage and gain possession of Odysseus’ lands, etc. While they are attempting this wooing, they are staying in the house of Odysseus, eating his food, slaughtering his animals, drinking his wine, sleeping with the women slaves, etc. Telemachus, at about 20 years old, is not strong enough to drive them out, but is disgusted. Penelope uses various delaying tactics to avoid making a decision on which one she will marry, but it is assumed that she must choose one eventually.
Odysseus has endured many hardships and lost his entire crew before spending the last seven years as the captive of the nymph, Calypso. Eventually, he escapes and makes his way to the land of the Phaeacians. It is here where we learn most of the story of his adventures. He, eventually relates these to the Phaeacians before they help him return to his home in Ithaca.
He deals with various folks in his adventures, and often he does not want his identity known, so he makes up detailed stories of alternate identities complete with adventures this fictional persona faced. Part of me wonders if folks who originally heard the epic had the same thoughts that I did. If he is so good at making up these fictional adventures, why would anyone believe his ‘true’ adventures. Couldn’t he have made up the stories of the Cyclops and Circe and Calypso and…
The Iliad and The Odyssey are grand stories. Some of the earliest fantastical tales that survive to modern times. They give insight into humanity and how it has changed over the millennia. They are not easy reads, and especially since they were probably meant to be heard rather than read, I recommend listening to the audiobook versions.
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Matt Truxaw is the author of the hard science fiction thriller “Plastiphobia: aka Plastivore” and his newest novel “Anthrophobia: A Teacher’s Tale” – released January 3, 2025.
They are both available on Amazon in Paperback, Kindle and are free to read with Kindle Unlimited.
When you read either, he would really appreciate a review/rating on Amazon or your favorite book seller/book reader site.
More about Matt:
He was born in Orange County California many years ago and he still lives there. He has been reading books for most of those years and writing up book reviews for the last few years. He gets most of his books out of the library so expect a lot of old science fiction classics book reviews and other science related reviews in addition to newer books he comes across.
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