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Understanding the Odyssey: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historic Documents
For thousands of years, The Odyssey has resonated throughout the Western world. Homer has been an original source of inspiration to writers, painters, sculptors, and filmmakers, as well as a vital source of information about the mythology, history, and culture of ancient Greece. This casebook uniquely blends commentary and primary documents, situating the epic within historical contexts that are important for students to understand.
The literary analysis chapter is ideal for readers coming to The Odyssey for the first time, introducing the work with a chronology of events and identification of major characters and themes. Topical chapters carefully consider matters of mythology, geography, archeology, and class issues pertinent to The Odyssey . Excerpts from classical and scholarly sources, including Herodotus, Plato, Thucydides, and Bulfinch, help students understand the historical framework, and materials from government documents and newspaper accounts help students make connections between The Odyssey's thematic ideas and current events, such as the September 11th attacks and the ongoing conflict in Ireland.
The literary analysis chapter is ideal for readers coming to The Odyssey for the first time, introducing the work with a chronology of events and identification of major characters and themes. Topical chapters carefully consider matters of mythology, geography, archeology, and class issues pertinent to The Odyssey . Excerpts from classical and scholarly sources, including Herodotus, Plato, Thucydides, and Bulfinch, help students understand the historical framework, and materials from government documents and newspaper accounts help students make connections between The Odyssey's thematic ideas and current events, such as the September 11th attacks and the ongoing conflict in Ireland.
248 pages, Hardcover
First published September 5, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Did Not Finish
August 2, 2026Apparently aimed at high school and beginning undergraduate college students, complete with discussion questions and homework assignments.
The lists of books for further reading are handy and were up-to-date at the time (2003), but almost none of the readings come from them. Even at the time, the archaeological, historical, and literary readings were decades or centuries out of date because the editors had to scrounge public domain material for a publisher unwilling or unable to pay royalties to copyright holders.
Bald assertions in the chapter introductions cry out for "[citation needed]." The last section tries to be relevant by forcing analogies between the Trojan War and the War on Terror, as though the editors can't tell the Iliad from the Odyssey or a few dozen unarmed suitors with no military training from Al Qaida.
None of the readings gives any clue as to how late Bronze Age ships were constructed, what they looked like, or what the scenery looked like. Several readings discuss controversies over actual locations that may correspond to those in the poem, but who cares? All the proposed routes were suggested because the sites fit descriptions in the poem. Readers need sketches or photos more than lines on maps.
There's too much good reading material out there on the Odyssey and the late Bronze Age to waste time finishing this book
The lists of books for further reading are handy and were up-to-date at the time (2003), but almost none of the readings come from them. Even at the time, the archaeological, historical, and literary readings were decades or centuries out of date because the editors had to scrounge public domain material for a publisher unwilling or unable to pay royalties to copyright holders.
Bald assertions in the chapter introductions cry out for "[citation needed]." The last section tries to be relevant by forcing analogies between the Trojan War and the War on Terror, as though the editors can't tell the Iliad from the Odyssey or a few dozen unarmed suitors with no military training from Al Qaida.
None of the readings gives any clue as to how late Bronze Age ships were constructed, what they looked like, or what the scenery looked like. Several readings discuss controversies over actual locations that may correspond to those in the poem, but who cares? All the proposed routes were suggested because the sites fit descriptions in the poem. Readers need sketches or photos more than lines on maps.
There's too much good reading material out there on the Odyssey and the late Bronze Age to waste time finishing this book
January 6, 2025
Some documents are interesting. Many are somewhat random.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews