MN Readalong : Homer’s The Odyssey in 2026

Thanks for the reminder. I finished books 13 &14 last week and really enjoyed them. For some reason, I thought Odysseus took longer to get home, so was quite surprised to find we're in Ithaca with 10 books to go.

I felt quite sorry for the Phaecians who had helped Odysseus and then got turned to stone and possibly a mountain hiding their city.

I did find the parts wth Eumaeus a bit odd, there's lots of twisty story telling going on.

The Mary Beard analysis sounds great @ShackletonSailingSouth I'll have a look for it.

I think I'm going to power on through to the end now as I want to watch the film. And am I'm Kefalonia on holiday looking over at Ithaca, so seems like the right time to finish it. I'll still tune in for the monthly catch up if they continue.

Thanks for the reminder @EineReiseDurchDieZeit. I enjoyed these last two chapters but felt the Eumaeus bit dragged, no need for yet another shaggy dog story from Odysseus, he just can’t help lying about his past can he? Also the chapter in my version is called In Eumaeus’ Hut, but it turns out he has quite the pig empire, rather than being a simple swineherd as suggested.

I also felt very sorry for the Phaeacians who displayed good guest friendship and yet were turned to stone by Poseidon, who really knows how to hold a grudge. He’s rapidly becoming my least favourite god.

I’m hoping to see the film next weekend, and am looking forward to it.

@Stowickthevast that sounds amazing!

@RomanMum I'd also forgotten quite how many pigs Eumaeus is in charge of! Though he is also a slave. Seems pretty unlikely that Ithaca could support that many pigs, but on the podcast they talk about how the Homeric heroes eat nothing but meat as a way of showing their status, whereas in reality the diet at that time would mostly have been vegetables, grain and fish.

Interesting comments in the Guardian today by Emily Wilson on the film - she is clearly not a fan!

@Stowickthevast- I think the impression of a long journey is because the retellings I read as a child tell the story in chronological order & condense the Telemachus part. This means that the Calypso & Nausicaa episodes are told as part of his journey, whereas here they are part as the present action.

I think Homer’s way of narrating it is clever as it means the story doesn’t drag as you have the present action for both Telemachus & Odysseus & both looking back. It also separates the Circe & Calypso episodes which are similar (aside from the pigs).

[I noticed this because I’ve just reread A Town like Alice which uses a similar structure & was struck by how that made for quite a pacy read.]