The Odyssey

F-14 Ace · **on:** December 04, 2006, 10:43:09 PM

I have been reading Homer's classic Epic poem, The Odyssey at school. This story totally rocks! At first, I thought because it was poetry, it would be boring but this is incredible! I love it! It is actually hard to believe that The Odyssey is just one big poem because it is so long. There is so much action in the story and I love the way Odysseus gloats after escaping from the cyclops. Basicly, don't mess with this guy or he will ruin your day. Sadly, the version I read was condenced and major parts have been left out. It never even mentioned that Odysseus went to the Underworld or the time he spent on Calypso's island. Son, has anyone here has ever read the story or seen the movies about it.

WeirdRaptor · **Reply #1 on:** December 04, 2006, 10:59:51 PM

Well, there was a 90's TV mini-series that was quite good.

Yeah, I remember reading that one, quite good.

Never underestimate poetry, my friend, it has a few surprises of its own to wield.

F-14 Ace · **Reply #2 on:** December 05, 2006, 12:11:39 AM

My class is watching the DVD for the miniseries at school. It is pretty good except they leave out several things. The monster that attacked them as they sailed through the cave was freaky. So was the mouth in the middle of the water. The one that swallowed the ship.

Malte279 · **Reply #3 on:** December 05, 2006, 02:09:35 AM

I'm very much into ancient sagas and legends myself. Some of them are a bit difficult for many people to relate to today, and I do think that those who criticize that many heroes of the ancient sagas act like mere toys to the Gods and Godesses, always knowing about their own impending doom and the doom of what they are fighting for but never doing anything to prevent this. Ulysses in the Odyssey is more than many heroes the kind of guy who does something rather than accepting "fate" without complaining which makes it easier to relate to him than some other heroes of ancient legend.
I haven't seen every movie made on the basis of ancient legends, but I must say that so far all of them (including the most recent Troy movie) were too much the directors own story being not true enough to the original legend in my opinion.
One remarkable thing about many ancient legends is that there is no clear cut line between "good" and "evil". While we may see Paris and his abduction of Helena as the cause for the Trojan war, it doesn't make all the Trojans evil. Some of them seem less so than some of the Greeks. This notion that the world isn't just black and white is something that lacks even many modern day stories.

WeirdRaptor · **Reply #4 on:** December 05, 2006, 02:18:29 AM

Well, to be fair to "Troy", it has been proven that the Trojan War really did happen, and the film, itself, was the filmmakers' theory of how it could have happened in real life.

Oh yeah, Odysseys was definitely a cool hero. Granted, I didn't like him much in "The Iliad", but he became more sympathetic in "The Odyssey". Man, piss off one water god, and, well... <_<

Nick22 · **Reply #5 on:** December 05, 2006, 11:38:16 AM

The 1997 miniseries was very well done. It had Amante assad (sp) as Odyseses9sp0 Beredette Peters as Circe, Vanessa Villiams as calypso and Christopher lee as Tiresias, who meets with oddesyes in the underworld. In many ways it was the prototypical NBC miniseries of the 90s, large budget, story split over a couple nights.

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #6 on:** April 29, 2007, 11:10:32 AM

The book was good but the movie they made us watch was like punishment! It was so lame and stupid! I doubt that they had others watch the same stupid movie.