The Odyssey

I liked this better than the Iliad. Maybe it was the translator, but who knows. Either way, this was much more exciting and engaging for me to read. Of course, I've also seen the miniseries that was based on this, so I understood what was happening a little better.

But really, let's be honest. The story of the Odyssey is just so much better than the Iliad. The Iliad was war and battle and the same stuff just different page. The Odyssey was an adventure.

Ulysses is forced to remain away from his home. After the war in Troy was finished (which was 10 years in and of itself), Ulysses spends 10 years just trying to return home to his wife, his son, and his people. He encounters goddesses who want him for themselves, gods are angry with him, he loses his ship and his entire crew after they eat the sun-god's cattle.

While he's working to get home, his wife is being wooed by men who eat his sheep, goats, and pigs, who fraternize with the women servants, and just overall behave badly in Ulysses' house. But Ulysses gets his revenge in the end.

I really did just fully enjoy this book.

The Iliad

I had sort of a love-hate relationship with this book. I loved the story. I've always been a bit of a fan of Greek mythology, and this is Greek mythology to the max. You've got gods interfering in war, the famous Trojan War, and the dispute between Achilles and Hector. But I think I hated the particular translation of Homer's epic poem that I read.

Once I got past the language that was just really difficult for me to understand sometimes (I used my Nook's dictionary a lot while reading, simply so I could understand words that I didn't know), I enjoyed the story. A lot of battle. Actually, it's all battle. There's very few interludes where the story visits the Trojan wives and the gods on Olympus, but really it covers the battles. I didn't always love the overly descriptive parts of the book - essentially metaphors and similes just kept being used to describe one thing. It got a little much.

Now, I need to go read the Odyssey.