Now that we have more or less put Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five behind us, we will be venturing into new territory.
The Odyssey.
My thoughts are that we will break the novel into three parts over the next three months.
- June – Chapters 1-8
- July Chapters 9-17
- August Chapters 18-24
That roughly breaks down to 100ish pages per month. Which is a little less than what we normally read, but there are a lot of historical characters and narratives that you may want to explore outside of this epic poem while you’re reading to help elevate your experience of the tale.
I’ll be reading the Penguin Classics edition which is E.V. Rieu translation, but there is a new Emily Wilson translation that is very popular right now and there are a handful of others. I don’t think it much matters which translation you pick.
I’ve provided a loose list of resources below that might be helpful, but there is a plethora of resources available online for The Odyssey if none of these peak your interest.
I have always loved the In Our Time Podcast, this discussion provides a great overview of The Odyssey and some of its historical context and influence.
Crash Course Literature is another resource for a good overview. John Green provides a great fast paced rundown of the story.
If you have an extra Audible credit and want a much more in-depth look into the history of The Odyssey, the Great Courses lecture by Elizabeth Vandiver is really quite good.
If you get to the end of the first nine chapters and don’t want to read ahead, but want a little more background, you can always pick up a copy of The Iliad which was the precursor to The Odyssey.
There is also a really good BBC production of the Aeschylus trilogy, Oresteia on YouTube for free. The Oresteia is the story of Agamemnon’s return from the Trojan War. The story is briefly told a couple of times in The Odyssey, but Aeschylus expounds on the tale a bit. And the cast of voice actors is pretty phenomenal.
Though, you don’t really have to any of that. Maybe some light Wikipedia adventures along the way would be sufficient and we can bring out alot more in our group discussion.
Looking forward to getting together next month!
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