Classic literature

The Iliad and the Odyssey are the two most known stories in Western literature. The Illiad tells the story of the last year of the Trojan War. The Odyssey could possibly well be the most read and longest poem in history. The poem recounts the adventures Odysseus had on his way home from the Trojan War.

These stories belong to classic literature and a must-read for any historian/avid book reader, having said that I appreciated the Odyssey a lot more than I did the Iliad. It was my first time reading the Iliad and the second time reading the Odyssey. The Iliad has very gruesome and vivid descriptions of war actions and people being killed in the Trojan War. I didn’t really connect with the characters or the story telling in both books, but mostly in the Iliad. I probably won’t reread the Iliad, I did reread the Odyssey in a different translation a third time and that one was worse. I think I still really like the first translation I’ve read of it the best. The characters were not likeable to me, I found them whiney and deceitful. I know that the standards, morals and the role of women in Ancient Greek society were different, however it made me less able to place myself in their situations and get their decisions.

I read a Dutch translation by Frans van Oldenburg Emke from 1959.