Black Raven Dragoons

[Zancarius]

http://www.salon.com/2013/12/21/teaching_the_odyssey_at_san_quentin/

[Grimblast]

Their responses and reactions are interesting. The Odyssey is one of those stories that I recommend to people that have never read it before. There's a lot of interesting detail and meaning to the story. How much of it may have been added after translation, well, who knows but it's a very good read.

[Zancarius]

That's the curious thing about Greek epics: It's more likely that the nature of their origin as an oral tradition changed them dramatically more than translation, though you do have to be somewhat selective of the translations you read since many of them suck.

Who knows how much has changed over the millennia that the stories have been retold, which adds to the charm and mystery. For that matter, Homer may not have even existed at all, or at the least, the two most well known works attributed to him (Iliad and Odyssey) might not have been written by the same person. I recall a Greek history professor of mine who shared that some historians believe the Odyssey may have even been written (or heavily contributed to) by a woman and then erroneously attributed to Homer.

I really need to re-read both. The Iliad is actually my favorite even though it is substantially more brutal, but I think that's because it captured the gritty reality of the human condition better than most modern works. And it's curious how such an archaic piece can reach across the centuries and speak to modern readers as if little has changed since.

Side note: The Robert Fagles' translation of the Iliad is the best, IMO, because he painstakingly translated each verse, taking inventory of the stock phrases used, and reintroducing them in a manner similar to how a bard might have repeated the story. I've struggled through one other translation, but it was such an awkward read because the translation was so poor relative to the Fagles' version that it almost wasn't worth reading if it weren't for the fact that I had to quote from that text for another class. Otherwise I would have never read it.

It's also why I think that programs like the one the author of the linked article is part of are so important. Many of the men in prison never had the opportunity to be exposed to culturally important works, and it's incredible how most of them ate it up. The human mind yearns to be fed, and it seems like something of a second chance for many of these men to finally partake in history they may never have heard of. I wouldn't dare argue that such programs could rehabilitate the hardened criminal, but it almost seems like an understatement to suggest that such reading is therapeutic when many of them likely didn't even have the opportunity to enjoy the education most of society takes for granted.

Okay, I'm done waxing philosophical. If I continue too much further, I might hurt myself.