Review: The Odyssey

The Odyssey by Homer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Extremely enjoyable edition, reading more like a modern historical novel than ancient verse. There are the usual repetitions (like many rosy-fingered dawns), but that's inevitable.

Also, did Odysseus really strip naked to fight the suitors in his house? I didn't remember that at all.

https://4201mass.blogspot.com/





View all my reviews

Review: Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae

Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae by Steven Pressfield
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ok this was an excellent start to this year (ok I started the book last year).

I know the movie 300 already exists, but while reading this I couldn't help wishing they'd make a movie based on this book. It would delve so much deeper into Spartan psyche and life and be so much less of a caricature.

Plus I am amazed since I read "Do the Work" years ago and it was one of my favorite business books. Yet for some reason I figured this precluded this historical fiction from being any good. But obviously this was the original work, and it was asbolutely worth reading.


First review of the year, first 5-star-rating. Let's hope that's a good omen.


https://4201mass.blogspot.com/

View all my reviews

Review: The Greek Way

The Greek Way by Edith Hamilton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

To an amateur like me, this book reignites a lost interest in Ancient Greece. I'm not knowledgeable enough to find any issues with it. Her prose is a bit old fashioned at times. Then again, the book was written a while ago. Not only when they spoke differently, but when it wasn't considered a bad thing to be somewhat snobby. All in all I loved it. 

View all my reviews

Review: Troy

Troy by Stephen Fry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Every time I read another book about Troy or the Illiad I'm always struck by how Diomedes got a raw deal. He features throughout the tale, is one of the most fierce warriors, is sent with Odysseus on two other trips, survives until the end with honor, and yet he's never remembered. 

It's probably because he doesn't have a schtick, like Odysseus's craftiness, Helen's looks, or Achilles's heel. 

Basically, his lack of an Achilles heel is his Achilles heel. 

Anyway, having gotten that off my chest, this book was truly excellent. And the Audiobook is read by Stephen Fry, so it's definitely worth the listen. It brings the story and characters alive, and shows how they are intertwined in ways you don't get from just reading the Illiad and Odyssey. 

View all my reviews

Review: Herodotus: The Father of History

Herodotus: The Father of History by Elizabeth Vandiver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found this excellent. The first few lectures give some background, and then it delves into the Histories themselves. A more thorough way of reading this might have been to read The Histories at the same time. 

Regardless, some fascinating insight into the different cultures, the similarities of various myths, and plenty of other tidbits. 

View all my reviews

Review: The Histories

The Histories by Herodotus
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

"In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons."

This needs to be read a lot more attentively than I did. It is a history book, but it reads a lot like mythology quite frankly (a man being saved by riding on a dolphin to safety, oracles, prophecies, etc.). Regardless, just reading it without much background (besides what I randomly already knew or had already heard of) it is certainly a collection of interesting stories. Much like mythology. 

I think I found the section on the different populations and differences between them most interesting. Also the story of the battle of Thermopylae. 

Some notes:

The Hellenes kissed each other on the mouth when greeting?

The Babylonians didn't have doctors but if someone was ill he or she went to the town square and tried to see if anyone else had had the same sickness and how they got better. 

Amazed at how much the Ancient Egyptians seem to have in common with the ancient Israelites (circumcision, aversion to pork, etc.)

"from lands which are not rugged men who are not rugged are apt to come forth"

View all my reviews

Review: Democritus

Democritus by Paul Anthony Cartledge
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a 2nd read-through for me, and I think I enjoyed it more this time (I gave it 3 stars last time). 

It is rather short, also given the fact that we don't have much information about Democritus. He is credited with coming up with the idea of the indivisible "atom", making up everything. 

Interesting how he states that thoughts are also made up of atoms:

"We know nothing truly about anything, but for each of us opining is a rearrangement (of soul atoms). (p. 10)

Also, he talks about how bodies and worlds are held together by "a membrane", which seems like his version of explaining gravity, and which seems to work quite well. 

Some of my  other notes:

"All those who make their pleasures from the belly, exceeding the right time (or measure) for food, drink or sex, have short-lived pleasures - only for as long as they eat or drink - but many pains." (p. 30)

"Poverty in a democracy is preferable to so-called prosperity among dictators to the same extent as freedom is to slavery. (p. 38)

Apparently Karl Marx wrote his doctoral thesis on a scholarly comparison between Democritus and Epicurus. 

View all my reviews

Review: The Bacchae and Other Plays

The Bacchae and Other Plays by Euripides
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

Some personal notes for each play, since Goodreads doesn't give me enough space under "Private notes". Definite Spoilers, if that matters for you here:

Ion

Nice play, with a happy ending. I liked it. 

The Women of Troy

Well this was the complete opposite. It describes the fate of the various women of Troy. None of them is a good one. 

Helen

So apparently the Helen in Troy was a hologram or a ghost or something. So they all killed each other over nothing. I guess this could be an allegory to the futility of war. Regardless, maybe my antipathy for Helen is too hardly engrained (or I'm on Team Troy) but I found myself not really rooting for her or Menelaus. 

Bacchae

Man, these Gods are mean

View all my reviews

Review: Alcestis and Other Plays

Alcestis and Other Plays by Euripides
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Quite a fun read, even for someone with no particular knowledge of Greek myths and tragedies (except for what I read from time to time).

Alcestis seems like a Greek tragedy, but actually has a happy ending (although quite frankly the husband deserved to be punished imho)

Medea was the juicy, scandalous and ultimately tragic one. Although Jason totally deserved it, but not his children.

The Children of Heracles was just ok. Also, I'm not sure about the timeline. Heracles's brother is an old man, but his mother is still around and kicking, and his kids are young, although his son who appears toward the end is grown. This confused me a tad.

Hippolytus was probably the most tragic (Medea was more evil). Although, once again here, when he started badmouthing aphrodite you could almost hear the ominous soundtrack of foreboding in the background.

View all my reviews

Review: Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold

Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold by Stephen Fry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After having read "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman, I couldn't help but compare these two, although Stephen Fry brings his usual self to this, adding his asides and general comments related to how the god and place names are still used to this day (i.e. Bosphorus and Oxford have the same meaning). His appendices at the end also add some light to how he compiled and retold the myths.

I enjoyed this book so much I started reading Euripides' plays (Alcestis, Medea and others) right after (actually, before even finishing) and, despite the plays involving other characters, they seemed more alive having just learned that much more about the context, etc.

I get the impression that most of the low ratings I see here seem to be by people wanting to show off that they knew about Greek myths prior to reading the book, while not finding any real fault with this book per se.

If you wish to learn more about Greek myths, or even if you don't, this will be a very entertaining and informative book.

View all my reviews

Review: The Oresteian Trilogy

The Oresteian Trilogy by Aeschylus
My rating: 0 of 5 stars



View all my reviews

Review: Pericle: L'inventore della democrazia

Pericle: L'inventore della democrazia by Claude Mossé
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Non una biografia vera e propria, bensì un libro su Atene e lo stato della democrazia in Grecia durante il V secolo A.C. Secondo me il fatto che manchi la storia della vita di Pericle vera e propria lascia un po' da desiderare, specialmente dato che, verso la fine, Mossé critica altri biografi come Plutarco e de Paux. Il tutto un po' troppo denso per me.


View all my reviews

Review: Circe

Circe by Madeline Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This must have been great fun to write. It basically ties together many (all?) of the myths involving Circe, and ends up spanning many (most?) of the greatest Greek myths.

I confess, occasionally it seemed like a bit of a stretch. Not that she veered away from the myths all that much (from what I could tell at least), but it seemed like she was just trying to connect the dots, which seemed to make the storyline a bit awkward. Also, much of the action seems to happen offstage.

But otherwise it's a great introduction to the story of an often overlooked character from Greek mythology.

View all my reviews