Monk

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How Bo loves this moody autumn weather, overcast and windy. He will stay outside forever. I fancy it, too, and I oblige the old boy, reading my Homer out there, even feeling as though we could be standing on the strife-filled plains of Troy.

xXx

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In reading the ancient lore, such as Home's epic work, one often comes across references to how the generations of men even earlier on were much bigger and grander, as though the world has been declining. In reading Fox's ancient historical survey, this is the first time I have come across the suggestion that such notions were based on the uncovering of the bones of the extinct dinosaurs.

This came up in the discussion of how the Spartans were boosted in the belief that they had the bones of Orestes, the son of Agamemnon with them:

In battle, the trained Spartan soldiers had been heartened by the presence among them of the great mythical hero Orestes, son of Agamemnon. In the 560s BC his enormous bones were believed to have been discovered in Arcadia by a very prestigious Spartan who transferred them to Sparta, bringing the hero's power with them. The hero's bones were probably the bones of a big prehistoric animal which the Spartans, like other Greeks, misunderstood as the remains of one of their race of superhuman heroes ('Orestesaurus Rex').

Much bigger and grander indeed! Heh. No wonder they could lift a boulder that ten men of today cannot lift.


(Source: "The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian" by Robin Lane Fox)

xXx

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I guess Monk must be spending quite a bit of time with the Iliad, because I am actually growing weary with the repetitive battle scenes and bloodshed. How many places can a bronze spearhead go through a body?

So, there are limits on how much time I can satisfactorily spend on my favorite masterpiece. Or maybe I'm just in a sour mood.

xXx

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After dinner,
skimming through my Friends Page
taking a reading break from the Iliad,
I see a post about "Beowulf",
a new movie coming out.

I remember
back in the early days when my reading life was taking off
and I was taking a look at all the renowned classics,
I gave "Beowulf" a look but found it easy to pass by.

Funny
that I should come across this ad reading the Iliad.
You cannot beat the original.

Of all the ancient lore
my heart is lost in Troy.

xXx

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It is love at first page! Monk found a treasure trove on the Homer shelves at the library. First and foremost, he discovered Allen Mandelbaum's "The Odyssey." Mandelbaum is the one who saved Ovid's "Metamorphoses" for him, and he has brought his ability to make these classics sing in even greater force here, making the phrases rhyme more faithfully.

As if that were not enough, Monk also found a great exegetic volume. It is a volume of essays put together by no less than Harold Bloom, "Modern Critical Interpretations: Homer's The Odyssey." Monk's eyes brightened when he saw that on Amazon, only to learn that one has to get it through their used-books dealers. And now he has it in his excited hands, even if it is not his own property - possession is nine-tenths of the law, and ten-tenths of the heart.

As for that history book, "Grand Expectations," it is being left aside again. It is not that bad a book, though it also is not that fun either, but this Homer fever is just burning too hot now. Indeed, one is tempted to forget the weekend fiction and give all seven days a week to these "Odyssey" works. Sense has prevailed over passion on this question, however, and, if for no other reason, Charles Dickens on the weekend should help to keep Monk from burning out too soon on Homer. Neverthemore, the expectation is to keep Dickens to two-day weekends, not three days.

After finishing "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" last weekend, reading life continues to soar higher than ever. And it really does make all the difference!

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