Daniel > Recent Status Updates

This went unbelievably wild and whacky and I'm only at lecture 15/29 ...

Ok, the first six lectures (i.e. part one Der Monotheismus) were very tough and conclude the train of thought from the introductory lectures. It's Begriffsarbeit at its purest but also at its finest. His handling of the Potenzlehre is not easy to follow, but the rewards are precise notions of monotheism, god and mythology. Now I'm excited for the second part, which is about the theogonic process in action.

Just realized that I missed my man Marcel. Insanely good beginning.

So far, I don’t know if I can forgive her.

Time for a Trollope marathon!

Book 23 finished. A moving reunion of Odysseus and Penelope.

Book 22 finished. The long awaited slaughter. Cruel and gory, but so satisfying.

Book 21 finished. Now Odysseus got his bow it's time to slay.

Book 20 finished. A whole book of insults just to further raise Odysseus' anger.

Book 19 finished. I hate Melantho!
Homer continues to build tension and can't wait to let Odysseus release his anger.
There are also the famous scenes of Odysseus' scar and Penelope's dream.

Book 18 finished.
Everyone talks about Cyclopses and Sirens in the Odyssey but not about fighting beggars or throwing stools. These later books are so action packed and awesome!

Book 17 finished.
The meanness of the suitors and the evil goat-herd Melanthius is over the top in this book. Poor Odysseus :(

Book 16 finished.
A moving reunion of father and son.
I love how Homer always talks of Eumaeus in the second person as he were his dear friend.

Book 15 finished.
What a wonderful friend and human being our noble swineherd is!

Book 14 finished. Eumaeus, the noble swineherd, was definitely one of Homer's dearest characters, and for me too.

Book 13 finished.Odysseus is finally back home at Ithaca and now it's time to kick some suitors. Oh nevermind, he got a side quest from Athene to talk to one swineherd ...

Letter 362 (Vol. 3/4).
Oh man, this totally got out of hand, and still over 150 letters to go ...

Book 12 finished.
This was full of memorable moments: Sirens, sea monsters and Odysseus' stupid crew performing a disgraceful sacrifice as an excuse for slaughtering Helios' beloved cattle.
Against stupidity even Odysseus 'of many counsels' is helpless.

Book 11 finished.

Odysseus meets his dead friends in Hades. Homer's obsession and struggle with the topics of death and immortality is quite strong here; we get moving encounters e.g. with his dead mother. Another cool thing is all the short myths (often only a paragraph) of the heroines and heros.
I really liked that one despite it's dubious authenticity.

Book 10 finished.
The Circe story is great. Odysseus sleeping with her was totally unnecessary but Homer, as so often, wanted to make it spicy. Maybe he needed a reason why they accidently stayed for a whole year.

Book 9 finished.
This contains the famous Cyclops story, entertaining gore, and a lot of sheep.

Book 8 finished.
Homer really stresses that Odysseus has PTSD. In this book he is not so much the hero as the minstrel Demodocus (he's literally called "hero" (483)) and his powerful music. An important source of ancient song culture. The self-referentiality is quite interesting to watch - Homer wanted to praise himself a little bit.

Pindar must have been a great connoisseur (and desperately in need) of wine when he calls it "Dionysos' life-giving remedy for helplessness." (Pae. 4.25 f.)

Book 7 finished.
Odysseus in fairyland.

Book 6 finished.
Homer once again thought the story needs some spice and thus introduces Odysseus to Nausicaa ...

Book 5 finished.
Now Odysseus appears, but he's quite a wretch, always sad and crying. Not at all the hero you would expect him to be. I pitied him :(
The stranding scenes at the end are memorable.