From my Goodreads review...
It feels somewhat wrong to give the same number of stars to this book as The Iliad and The Odyssey; however, I've done just that because Charles Rowan Beye has made Odysseus extremely accessible without this book being overly scholarly, and thus, overly dry. The style of the work is good and reconstructs Odysseus' life and times that a neophyte Greek historian like myself can digest. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to understand either of Homer's works a little more clearly.
I had just finished up the aforementioned books before getting into this one and it was very good to get a recap at the end. I only wish I had read the Aeneid prior, but chest la vie? Now it's on to Ulysses (and if my previous encounter with Joyce is a harbinger of things to come, a commentary on that as well).
Friday, August 18, 2017
Saturday, August 12, 2017
Assessment of the Odyssey
I finished The Odyssey earlier this month, but I've been slack on my digitization and compiling of my notes on this here blog. But, I'm trying to catch up. Here is what I wrote, in my Goodreads review.
What a slog! Going back to back on The Iliad and The Odyssey. Don't get me wrong, they are both great. They're just big, wordy books. I think that I prefer The Odyssey, but just slightly.
There are a number of great stories wrapped up into The Odyssey. Some are triumphant, others gory, others happy and some sad. The whole thing oozes emotion. One short little one stuck out to me thought. The little interaction between Argos, Odysseus' dog, was especially poignant. In that tiny bit of a minor passage you see how Homer can weave contradictory powerful emotions together into a unity.
What a slog! Going back to back on The Iliad and The Odyssey. Don't get me wrong, they are both great. They're just big, wordy books. I think that I prefer The Odyssey, but just slightly.
There are a number of great stories wrapped up into The Odyssey. Some are triumphant, others gory, others happy and some sad. The whole thing oozes emotion. One short little one stuck out to me thought. The little interaction between Argos, Odysseus' dog, was especially poignant. In that tiny bit of a minor passage you see how Homer can weave contradictory powerful emotions together into a unity.
Sunday, July 23, 2017
Assessment of the Iliad
I finished The Iliad by Homer over my vacation and am nearly done with The Odyssey. Once upon a time I had read The Odyssey but I don't think I've ever read the unabridged version of The Iliad. Here was my quick goodreads assessment:
"There are few storytellers throughout history who can spar with Homer. The Iliad is a riveting tale of war, love, hate and every emotion that lies between. My only complaint about this book (and this is true of many ancient works or epic poetry in general) is when a commander or a god informs some underling or mortal of some plan of action and on the next page that underling or mortal relays that message in full. The repetition is sometimes a bit much. Otherwise it's a great story, full of complex characters".
It's really amazing to see the violent swings in emotions in the characters in the story. I found myself at times really rooting against Achilles or Agamemnon. Achilles seemed a spoiled brat and Agamemnon is just really unlikeable at times. But then Agamemnon sort of redeems himself. Achilles really doesn't redeem himself too much in the story. I know it's a cultural thing - but I just find Achilles' petulance his most remarkable characteristic.
"There are few storytellers throughout history who can spar with Homer. The Iliad is a riveting tale of war, love, hate and every emotion that lies between. My only complaint about this book (and this is true of many ancient works or epic poetry in general) is when a commander or a god informs some underling or mortal of some plan of action and on the next page that underling or mortal relays that message in full. The repetition is sometimes a bit much. Otherwise it's a great story, full of complex characters".
It's really amazing to see the violent swings in emotions in the characters in the story. I found myself at times really rooting against Achilles or Agamemnon. Achilles seemed a spoiled brat and Agamemnon is just really unlikeable at times. But then Agamemnon sort of redeems himself. Achilles really doesn't redeem himself too much in the story. I know it's a cultural thing - but I just find Achilles' petulance his most remarkable characteristic.
Sunday, July 2, 2017
The Four Socratic Dialogues of Plato
I finished The Four Socratic Dialogues of Plato last night after nearly two months of reading it at a start and stop pace. This was my Goodreads entry: "My goodness! That took me a long time to read! I'll admit I was a bit slack; but, goodness gracious. I like to have two books going at a time - a story format and a non-story, non-fiction one. (When I'm on my A game I have a third religious one going too). But I have utterly neglected that latter two recently.
Anyway, this has four of Plato's dialogues in it: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito and Phaedo. All of them are good. I think Apology and Phaedo are stellar. This is the second and third reading of each dialogue in my recent attempt to read all of Plato cycle. What makes this particular book so great is that it is a Benjamin Jowett translation (one that most other translations look to) with Jowett's own notes and prefaces. It's an edition from 1928 based on the first printing from 1903. If you're lucky enough like me to find one collecting dust in a long-neglected corner of some rundown bookshop for $4 bucks snap it up!
Anyway, this has four of Plato's dialogues in it: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito and Phaedo. All of them are good. I think Apology and Phaedo are stellar. This is the second and third reading of each dialogue in my recent attempt to read all of Plato cycle. What makes this particular book so great is that it is a Benjamin Jowett translation (one that most other translations look to) with Jowett's own notes and prefaces. It's an edition from 1928 based on the first printing from 1903. If you're lucky enough like me to find one collecting dust in a long-neglected corner of some rundown bookshop for $4 bucks snap it up!
Half-Hearted Creatures
There is a tendency in this age (Lewis states) for us to substitute a negative term for a positive one. I cannot speak for this age; but, I can for myself agree with Lewis. He takes for example the notion of Unselfishness as a virtue replacing Love. To be unselfish is to deny ourselves some good for other's. To Love that other is to do something positive for that other (which may include some self-denial). But, the purpose or intention is totally different and because of that so is the psychological outcome. I may be unselfish with my wife and not do the thing that I wanted to do. She may derive some pleasure from that. In the long-term I will not and will grow bitter. But, if I do something for my wife out of love and she derives pleasure from it, I will derive pleasure from hers and will be acting in love and inherently selflessly.
Interestingly, Lewis points out that we do not suffer from an overactive or too strong sense of desire. God does not want to curb our desires or to weaken them. Instead he wants to repurpose them and strengthen it. "We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased" (Lewis, 109).
I am far too easily pleased, fooling around with all sorts of trivialities. I am that child playing in the mud because I cannot envision the trip to the Ocean that God has offered me. Lord, help me to see the higher things. Take away not my desire, but my ability to be satiated by lesser things than you.
Interestingly, Lewis points out that we do not suffer from an overactive or too strong sense of desire. God does not want to curb our desires or to weaken them. Instead he wants to repurpose them and strengthen it. "We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased" (Lewis, 109).
I am far too easily pleased, fooling around with all sorts of trivialities. I am that child playing in the mud because I cannot envision the trip to the Ocean that God has offered me. Lord, help me to see the higher things. Take away not my desire, but my ability to be satiated by lesser things than you.
Closer to God or Closer to Hell?
Screwtape notes that whether "love, or patriotism, or celibacy, or candles on altars, or teetotalism, or education, are 'good' or 'bad'. Can't you see there's no answer? Nothing matters at all except the tendency of a given state of mind, in given circumstances, to move a particular patient at a particular moment nearer to the Enemy or nearer to us" (Lewis, 106).
It is both very chilling and very calming to realize that nothing in and of itself that I can do is essentially the wrong thing (aside from the obvious sins that I commit). It is chilling because in my moments of strength of mind when I focus hard and actually do some studying of intellectual things that I can be erring if those things are leading me in the opposite direction of God. It is also very calming to thing that if I am in a good state, and in moderation doing something as relaxing and banal as cooking a dinner, or playing FIFA that if I am not moving towards Hell I am ebbing closer to God. It's a double-edged sword. I believe that God allows us relaxation and the chance to do the things we enjoy (for me studying philosophy or creating in the kitchen). But, and I speak fully for myself, if I attend those things at the expense of attending towards God then those things that He has given to me as a way of relaxation or of feeling good doing I am putting a distance between He and I. He is immovable and thus, I am the one backing away. It is important for me to remember that it is God who has given me my interests, hobbies and relaxation moments. At this moment I want to remember that and thank Him for His generosity and to ask Him to remind me or nudge me if I am doing them at such a fervor to neglect the giver for the sake of the gifts.
It is both very chilling and very calming to realize that nothing in and of itself that I can do is essentially the wrong thing (aside from the obvious sins that I commit). It is chilling because in my moments of strength of mind when I focus hard and actually do some studying of intellectual things that I can be erring if those things are leading me in the opposite direction of God. It is also very calming to thing that if I am in a good state, and in moderation doing something as relaxing and banal as cooking a dinner, or playing FIFA that if I am not moving towards Hell I am ebbing closer to God. It's a double-edged sword. I believe that God allows us relaxation and the chance to do the things we enjoy (for me studying philosophy or creating in the kitchen). But, and I speak fully for myself, if I attend those things at the expense of attending towards God then those things that He has given to me as a way of relaxation or of feeling good doing I am putting a distance between He and I. He is immovable and thus, I am the one backing away. It is important for me to remember that it is God who has given me my interests, hobbies and relaxation moments. At this moment I want to remember that and thank Him for His generosity and to ask Him to remind me or nudge me if I am doing them at such a fervor to neglect the giver for the sake of the gifts.
The Essential Vice
Pride or Self-Conceit is the chief vice of creation. "According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind" (Lewis, 87).
Pride is essentially competitive by nature. The man that is proud of his wealth, his house or his beautiful wife is not actually proud of those things. He is proud that he is wealthier than so-and-so, that his house is the largest on the block and that in his circle of friends his wife is more beautiful than all the others. If everyone were equally rich, with an equally palatial house and equally beautiful wives the proud man would not be proud. The key to ridding oneself of Pride then is remove the competition. Lewis states that the Christian virtue opposed to Pride is Humility. I wonder if it isn't contentment.
Pride never brings two together. Pride always means enmity, enmity between man and man and enmity between man and God. When you get to know God you realize that He is something that is immeasurably superior to yourself in every aspect. If one does not recognize this fact, one does not know God. "As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you" (Lewis, 90).
"Pride is a spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense" (Lewis, 92). Pride is the primary sin. It requires very little other than the awareness of the self and of God. It then places the self ahead of God. All other sins than flow forth from pride. "It is the fall in every individual life, and in each day of each individual life, the basic sin behind all particular sins: at this very moment you ad I are either committing it, or about to commit it, or repenting it" (Lewis, 104).
Pride is essentially competitive by nature. The man that is proud of his wealth, his house or his beautiful wife is not actually proud of those things. He is proud that he is wealthier than so-and-so, that his house is the largest on the block and that in his circle of friends his wife is more beautiful than all the others. If everyone were equally rich, with an equally palatial house and equally beautiful wives the proud man would not be proud. The key to ridding oneself of Pride then is remove the competition. Lewis states that the Christian virtue opposed to Pride is Humility. I wonder if it isn't contentment.
Pride never brings two together. Pride always means enmity, enmity between man and man and enmity between man and God. When you get to know God you realize that He is something that is immeasurably superior to yourself in every aspect. If one does not recognize this fact, one does not know God. "As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you" (Lewis, 90).
"Pride is a spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense" (Lewis, 92). Pride is the primary sin. It requires very little other than the awareness of the self and of God. It then places the self ahead of God. All other sins than flow forth from pride. "It is the fall in every individual life, and in each day of each individual life, the basic sin behind all particular sins: at this very moment you ad I are either committing it, or about to commit it, or repenting it" (Lewis, 104).
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