/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.13537013]

Why should I read the Iliad, and why is it a good book? Don't insist because it's influential, I'm looking for merit in the work itself. I've been reading The Breakdown of Consciousness Bicameral etc... by Jaynes, and it turns out that the Iliad was made by schizophrenic NPC greeks. Is it because i don't know the original language that i find the iliad so boring? I'm not one to use the "boring" pejorative, and im usually very appreciative of classics, but i just can't into the iliad.

[Anonymous No.13537033]

>>13537013
Read it and find out for yourself. Don't act like you have anything better to do.

[Anonymous No.13537045]

>>13537033
i read halfway into it and gave up. i dont usually give up.

[Anonymous No.13537051]

>>13537013
kek, your loss pleb

[Anonymous No.13537087]

>>13537051
no one calls me a pleb...

[Anonymous No.13537153]

>>13537013
>Is it because i don't know the original language that i find the iliad so boring?
idk i thought the opposite, one of the least "boring" things i ever read, i was very much entertained
i read it as a young kid, like when i was like 10yo, and it felt like i was reading the lore of a fantasy video game, or an adventure novel
idk how it'd feel re-reading it today but back then it was a really easy read, clear-cut story with a beginning and an end, simple style, cool stuff like people going to war, and then they have power levels like in an anime (achilles clearly is the best)
and scary things like people that eat their children (the beginning of the book really shocked me, like wtf a guy kills another guy's children then feeds them to him ? wew)
and mythology in general with monsters and gods, like that part when paris has to choose between the 3 goddesses, that really did read like a fantasy novel

but yeah if you're the type to actually read non-fiction for entertainment it might be a bit of a boring read, maybe it's just not serious enough for you

[Anonymous No.13537179]

>>13537013
I'm going to suggest you read the Alexander Pope translation, believe it or not. Everyone always encourages new anons to fall for the Fagles/ Lattimore meme but poetry just isn't meant to be translated. No matter what you do, you'll never recreate the experience in your own language. Poetry is meant to be recited not read, and there are word choices made for the specific sounds like certain words in greek that mimic the rushing waves or the clashing of weapons.
That will always be lost
Anyway isn't it more appropriate for a continuous tradition (homer's poems are based on long standing oral traditions, as I'm sure you're aware) to.. well continued?
Rather than simply translate the work, we should let this story evolve naturally. Be retold in a way that suits the newer languages that predominate today.
Pope's "translation" is in fact more a retelling of the story of the Iliad, with all the same beats and themes it's not a "reimagining" or anything gay like that, but instead of trying to go line by line and recreate it in English he crafted a poem of his own with it as source material

A timeless Iliad for the English language, by one of the greatest English poets rather than some autist classicist.

[Anonymous No.13537186]

>>13537153
the mythology is pretty dope. i really wanna visit the louvre at some point to see the winged victory statue.

[Anonymous No.13537683]

The Iliad and Odyssey exalt the nobility of Honor.

The very first word of the Iliad is “RAGE.” The “RAGE” of Achilles when his honor is violated and his rightful prize and love is taken from him by his very own commander.

Right here we see Man versus State, as Achilles is the superior warrior, and as he takes all the risks, he ought get the reward. That is the Natural Law of Zeus, for after Achilles Natural Rights are violated and Achilles quits, Zeus sees to it that the Greeks begin to lose, as Zeus’s will was done.

Long before Atlas Shrugged in Rand’s cheap novel, Achilles quit the Greek army.

Homer shows that women who honor their commitments, like Penelope, lead to happy endings. Women who disregard their commitments, like Helen, lead to War.

Achilles quits for the sake of Honor, refuses to return when offered millions times more prizes, arguing that once honor is taken away, mere money/prizes cannot buy it back. He also reasons that all the wealth in the world is not worth him losing his life in an arena where his honor was taken away. When offered honors and awards, Achilles states, “I receive my honor from Zeus, not from corrupt Kings."

And too Achilles returns to fight for Honor, so as to avenge the death of his friend Patroculus, knowing full well he will die.

Simply put, Achilles is a man who lives and dies not for mere prizes, nor perks, nor tenure, nor titles, nor money, but for honor, and honor alone.

A few hundred years later, Socrates would invoke Achilles while facing death at his own trial. Socrates was offered perks and prizes and life if he would only recant his teachings that “Virtue does not come from money, but money and every lasting good of man derives form virtue.”

But then Socrates asked, “Would Achilles back down from battle if bribed by physical wealth?” Socrates reasoned he would be dishonoring the Great Achilles if he ever recanted his teachings.

[Anonymous No.13537699]

>>13537683
I wouldn't say The Iliad exalts honor. Some of the characters in it do, but the work also constantly shows the horrors and folly of war.

[Anonymous No.13537709]

I don't care if you read it.

[Anonymous No.13537716]

>>13537013
>Why should I read the Iliad, and why is it a good book?
its full of scenes like this

[Anonymous No.13537721]

>>13537699
War is the only place, or at least the best place, to achieve honor (in Homer's time). It comes at the expense of your enemy's death. As old peleus said to Achilles, "be the best".