MN Readalong : Homer’s The Odyssey in 2026

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

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

What date for books 11-12?

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

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!

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.

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)

@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 😃

@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).

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

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

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 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.

Oh thanks Eine

I've fallen a bit behind but have been enjoying reading the comments here. With the film about to be released I am determined to get back into the book and with that in mind thought I would share this article for anyone else who's struggling😊A voyage of discovery: an idiot’s guide to reading The Odyssey | Books | The Guardian

Thanks Eine - that sounds better than I was expecting. Looking forward to it!

Thanks for the Radio BBC sounds recommendation!

I saw the movie today and agree with you @EineReiseDurchDieZeitwell worth the watch despite the focus and things cut. Found that Odysseus wasn’t proud enough and was sad Nestor was cut (who I love) but some of the effects and the acting was top notch. The Circe section was jaw-dropping.

Thanks @EineReiseDurchDieZeit
I loved books 13 with Odysseus making it back to Ithaca and meeting Athena. I like how they almost seem like equals and the descriptions of the nymphs cave. Then Odysseus meeting Eumaeus the swineherd in book 14 where there is a lot of dramatic irony, a bit over the top I thought. Why does Homer address the swineherd as You? That was strange.

I'm also enjoying the Instant Classics book club podcast with Mary Beard and Charlotte Higgins where they go through the Odyssey book by book. I haven't caught up to book 14 yet but it's good stuff. You have to pay for it though.