Hi friends and happy Friday! I hope you’re all doing well. I’m back again today with yet another classic read! Today I’m posting my reading update thoughts on Homer’s The Odyssey.

Homer’s Odyssey is the ancient Greek tale of Odysseus and his eventful voyage home after the Trojan War.

The hero and his crew escape a man-eating Cyclops and, having angered the sea-god Poseidon, are then beset by storms and blown to an island where a witch transforms the sailors into pigs.

With his fleet destroyed, Odysseus is held captive for seven years by the nymph Calypso, who offers him immortality if he will stay with her.  But the desire to return to his loving wife, Penelope, is too strong and Odysseus determines to reach his home at Ithaca.  His many adventures are the subject of this famous prose translation by T.E. Lawrence, which was the first to be aimed at a general readership.

StoryGraph synopsis

Reading Update: So far, this has been a lot easier a read than the Iliad. This reads like an actual story and we’re not introduced to millions of characters and their backstories all at once. This follows Odysseus on his journey back home after the Trojan War. I’m only at book 8 and so far he’s been through quite a bit; lost at sea, thought he was going to die; meets these women who basically save him, now they’ve taken him back to their land and they want to keep him there. Like I said, lots happening and I’m really enjoying the read.

Reading update: Each chapter reads like it could be a short story because something different is always happening that doesn’t quite add up to a plot line. Sure, the underlying plot of this novel is Odysseus trying to get back home, but he goes on adventure after adventure that each chapter has a beginning, middle and end. It’s been enjoyable and some stories have been better than others. I’m at the point though where I want to know how (or if) he’s going to get home and when. So far, I’ve been on almost 14 different adventures – it’s time for the plot to move on.

Reading update: Ask and you shall receive. Finally we are getting somewhere! These last few chapters have really moved the plot exponentially. We learn that Odysseus’ son wants to find where his father is because he believes he’s still alive… unlike a lot of other people from their town. His homeland has been taken over by evil pretty much, and when Odysseus returns he plans to take it back and become the man he was before the war. But first he has to get there without notice, so he disguises himself as a beggar. He thinks he’ll be treated with hospitality, but he’s not. He’s abused and beaten. His wife, Penelope sees something familiar in the beggar and gives him a test only Odysseus would know how to do (smart lady). It’s been fast paced, sometimes it could get a little boring to read and the fact that this also isn’t told in one point of view but many gets really confusing. I’m a few chapters away from finishing, intrigued to see how it all ends.

Reading update: Just like with the Iliad, I’m glad to have read this, but it’s not something I’m likely to reread again. This was easier to follow with a better structure of a plot and characters, but the fact that narrators and points of view shifted throughout it made it confusing as to what was really happening. This ended on a happy note, which I wasn’t truly surprised by. Penelope was a great character to read because as we got to know her better in the end, we got to see how clever she was. Seeing her and Odysseus reunite was sweet; it was also really nice to see him reunite with his friends, although why he felt he needed to disguise himself to them was strange. Overall, this was an entertaining journey of a read with lots of ups and downs.

 Have you read The Odyssey? Let me know in the comments!