MN Readalong : Homer’s The Odyssey in 2026

I fell of the thread ages ago as have been reading The Odyssey in conjunction with Ulysses so had to work on a different timeline but was wondering if anyone has heard much about the movie? DH and I just booked tickets for Sunday.

Haven't had the time to get too far into the audiobook (sad face). However seeing this in my TRiH feed reminded me of this thread and I thought some may enjoy this.

I see there’s a dramatisation of The Odyssey on R4 Extra. It’ll be interesting to see how it compares.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit I hope you're feeling better? Shall we do 25 July for Books 13-14?

@Stowickthevast- Telemachus & Circe really is weird - especially as I have vague memories that Odysseus & Circe have a son. Surely that would lead to Oedipus- style tragedy?

I found the part in the underworld where Odysseus is talking to his friends moving especially as he didn’t know that Agamemnon was dead. Also the part about Ajax being unable to forgive Odysseus about the armour. Then there’s the advice to Odysseus where he hopes that it will help him save his men, but the reader knows from the story so far that he might have failed.

@Stowickthevast- great name for a nightclub (you were definitely ahead of me as I remember reading the myth & having no idea how to actually pronounce Charybdis).

@Stowickthevast interesting!! I always remembered poor Elpenor too, it's a sad little tale. Telemachus marry Circe?! Too wrong!!

That's a very interesting Reddit thread for a Greek geek like me, thanks! The upshot for anyone else interested is that the phrase we were discussing ('speaks in human tongues') is a formula that appears several times -so i personally would put less weight on that as to some extent it's a bit of a filler to make up the syllables in the line. Apparently the relevant word (audao) in Greek means "speaks" but it's used only of non-humans (Achilles' horse, Ino, Circe, and Calypso according to one poster) and there's a scholarly debate about what it implies.
I'd love to meet Emily Wilson in person, she'd never get away 😃

I've just caught up @ShackletonSailingSouth. Agree these were great chapters. I remember learning about Scylla and Charybdis at school and wanting to run a nightclub called Charybdis!

Poor Elpenor - first falling from the loft and then being left unburied. At least he finally gets his burial. Meeting the dead and various children/wives whom the gods had affairs with was interesting. Thought it was a bit odd that he mentions Leda being Castor and Pollux' mother but not Clytemnestra and Helen's. Also personally I always supported Clytemnestra killing Agamemnon who seemed like a total tool, but Homer seems to disagree.

The bit where the ship is destroyed is very dramatic. I can picture that working well in the movie. Another slightly odd simile there at the end of ch12 about Charybdis belching up the mast "as one who spends the whole day judging quarrels between young men, at last goes home to eat". Not sure what he's eluding there.

I was interested in the human tongues part you mentioned Shackleton and found this:

Homer describes Circe's island as a place of mystery and danger. Her home is described as a grand stone palace, befitting a Mycenaean king, yet it stands isolated on an island. Circe herself is introduced as a "dread goddess of human voice," a description that highlights her unique position in the Greek pantheon - divine yet accessible to mortals.

I also found this Reddit thread which discussed human voice in Homer:

www.reddit.com/r/AncientGreek/s/JIsJNQdVD8

Also as an aside, Telemachus possibly ends up marrying Circe after Odysseus dies which is interesting in itself. ( not in Homer)

Thanks for the comments @ShackletonSailingSouth. Busy time at work but I’m still in and trying to catch up. My edition doesn’t have line numbers but I’ll watch out for the references when I get there.

How did you get on with books 11-12 @Benvenuto @Stowickthevast @EineReiseDurchDieZeit @RomanMum and anyone else still in!
I thought these were a great read. Book 11 is really emotional when Odysseus travels to the underworld. Lots of cameos of famous characters so I'm imagining this book went down well in performance.
Puzzled by line 6 describing Circe as "the goddess who can speak in human tongues". Making me wonder - do the other gods NOT speak greek? Hermes and Calypso obviously do. Curious.
Book 12 I enjoyed more adventures on the sea. The bit where the dead cows start mooing is pretty grim and gives us that sense of the supernatural we get throughout the Odyssey. I was also excited to get another extended similes (there are so few in the Odyssey and so many in the Iliad) at line 250, talking about the men who were snatched by Scylla being like little fishes caught by a fisherman. I like to imagine the similes show us the real world of Homer.
Great stuff!

I really enjoyed these two books - I found the description of Polyphemus surprisingly exciting (even though I know the story well).

I'm finding the book very readable Eine.

@ShackletonSailingSouth there was a chat on the 50 book thread about a book called The World According to Colour. One of the points was that blue is the last colour named in most languages.

I find it really difficult to listen to whole books just on audio Eine. Maybe do a mix?

What date for books 11-12?

Thanks for the summaries @Stowickthevastand @RomanMum.
What is the other thread about colours? I'd missed the blue painted ship but did note blue-haired Poseidon and red-cheeked ships.
I really enjoyed books 9 and 10. The translation continues to be so engaging, much more than the one I read previously.
I was puzzled why the Cyclops says "my people think nothing of that Zeus...nor any god". Why would he say that when he's the son of Poseidon?
Like others have said, Odysseus really makes a big mistake with the Cyclops, and in the rest of these two books we're seeing the curse start to take shape. There's a good argument that Odysseus is a terrible failure, since he loses every single man in his fleet, and not a hero at all!

In book 10 it is really painful when they sail within sight of people tending fires on the coast of Ithaca (another little detail I loved) only to be blown back to Aeolia again.
The arrival at Laestrygonia when they meet a princess fetching water, is like a horrible topsy turvy version of Odysseus meeting princess Nausicaa back on Phaeacia (bearing in mind Odysseus is talking to the Phaeacians at this point) - instead of a sweet naive pretty girl who wants to marry him we have a huge monster who wants to eat him.
On Circes island I love the encounter with Hermes, and the final lines "who can see the gods go by unless they wish to show themselves?" It is pretty funny how Odysseus gives himself the ultimate get out of jail free card by telling the Phaeacians at this point that he had to have sex with Circe (for a YEAR!!) because Hermes told him to. Sure, sure he did 🤥

Edited typo

Maybe go back to the written text @EineReiseDurchDieZeit? I’m starting again this week to coincide with my reading of Ulysses with my book group so will cross over with you guys at some stage

These two chapters were certainly action packed, and more familiar stories. One thing that shocked me was the description of Polyphemus eating Odysseus’ men – graphic stuff. And yes, a lapse of common sense on Odysseus’ part in telling Polyphemus his name – what was he thinking, surely he would have some idea of the consequences of bragging to his defeated foe? I guess for the plot the Cyclops had to know in order to fulfil his prophesy, but would he have figured that out when Odysseus blinded him in the first place? Again, is there more Cyclops backstory that has not survived? Perhaps the legend of the prophesy was independently known about so that readers/listeners would be aware of this and join the stories together?

Regarding the discussion on another thread about colours I note that when the Cyclops threw a rock at Odysseus when he was escaping it missed the “blue-painted ship”. I wonder if this is poetic license from the translator.

I’d half forgotten about some of the other people Odysseus meets, the Lotus-Eaters and Aeolians. There was also a passing mention of mass incest among the luxuriant Aeolian royalty, hmm. Then back to familiar territory with Circe and the pigs. Looking forward to The Book of the Dead next time – not the Egyptian version. I vaguely remember the next part, tissues at the ready.

Just finished book 10... we're really getting into the proper adventure now. As mentioned up thread, I did book 9 at school for Greek GCSE. I think it's one of the more famous stories showing Odysseus as cunning but also rather foolish for telling Polyphemus his name as he left, which then enrages Poseidon.
Book 10 was newer to me, I didn't know that all the ships were lost to the man-eating giants. I also quite liked the jealousy of the men releasing the "treasure" which turns out to be the wind. Was unsure why Aeolus was quite so annoyed with him when he came back, but maybe just thought he'd wasted his hospitality.
Circe's story is more familiar. Odysseus again gets to get his end away for a year on his way home. Will Eurylochus appear again? He was quite strong minded but then seemed to be punished by Odysseus. And poor Eleanor, living my fear every time I go up to our loft!

Looking forward to hearing everyone else's thoughts, and our upcoming trip to the underworld.

@BookEngine that looks really interesting, thanks. Another one for the list!
I'm really enjoying books 9-10, looking forward to hearing people's thoughts.

New book on translation by Emily Wilson reviewed in the Guardian, thought of you all!

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/may/26/crossing-the-wine-dark-sea-by-emily-wilson-review-a-masterclass-in-translation