An Odessey

It has been a while since I have written on this blog, but I have finally found a way back. I have not fallen out of love with intellectual pursuits, or the absurdities found there; I was just too busy studying for my college classes to keep up with writing for a blog, too. Now that I have graduated, though, I have realized that there are many situations that demand some sort of an outlet. I want to keep learning (it is a problem. But, everyone already knew I was a nerd). So, now that I am out of college, I am trying to read the books that I have told myself I should read in college.

In pursuit of this goal, I recently finished The Odyssey. It was actually a pretty decent read, once I found a translation I liked. I just want to say, though, it reads like a soap opera! Between the Greek gods, who are cattier and more insecure than a lot of the soap opera stars I've seen, and the minor background characters whose only purpose seems to be stirring up trouble, it seems like a classical Greek soap opera!

Also, I thought I was familiar with the basic premise of the story. The monsters he encountered and, once he finally reached home, the troubles he had there. What I did not realize was how little time you actually spend on the travels. We all feel sorry for Odysseus, who spent 20 years searching for his home? I've done a little research (I know, I'm a nerd. Deal with it.) Chronologically, from the opening line to the closing line, the story itself takes no more than 50 days; and more than half of it is with Odysseus at home trying to straighten out the property now that he has been gone for 20 years.

What I appreciated, though, was first of all the background. I like knowing what more modern literature is referencing. It provided some interesting insight into Greek culture. I always find it interesting to see the values other cultures place on certain things. For instance, the Greeks thought it was very important to welcome strangers as guests. You never knew when it might be a god in disguise, so you wanted to make sure that you treated them with great honor and saw to their needs. This continued well into the Middle Ages in Europe, where the Christians were at least supposed to see to the needs of strangers. It was not actually God, they did not think, but God would take the kind actions given to this needy individual as if they were done for Him. Ever since the Renaissance, the cultures I am more familiar with have seemed to put more emphasis on science than on God. It is weird to welcome a stranger, let alone honor him. So, I thought it was interesting to trace trends through the ages.

Next, the Greek idea of honor was very interesting. The whole world had to know you. They had to know that you were physically and mentally the toughest person out there. Everyone had to know your name. That can be a dangerous proposition. If you tell someone your name, they can find you again later, hunt you down. They can call down a curse on you and bring a grudge back to your doorstep. In The Odyssey, though, the danger meant nothing in comparison to gaining the reputation. It was a calculated risk, and one apparently worth taking. That is somewhat different from our culture. Given the same situation, most of us probably would not choose to give our names out if we thought we could be cursed. At the same time, most of us still want our names out there. We want to be on TV and have the world know our name. At least for the thing that we are the most proud of.

It is always strange to me to look at a somewhat foreign culture and be able to find the humanity in it. Not that it is really that challenging to find the humanity there, but it says a lot of interesting things about man when you can see the same desire manifested in completely different ways.