I enjoy reading Greek mythology and while at the bookstore this week, I picked up a copy of The Odyssey by Homer. This Classics Club HC 1944 vintage copy is translated by Samuel Butler and edited by Louise Ropes Loomis.
The Odyssey is an influential epic poem of ancient Greece.
We all share stories of our experiences and this effective communal experience makes us aware we are a part of others' lives and provides us with a sense of belonging.
Odysseus had to go to war for ten years and then had a tough ten-year struggle wandering the seas to return home after the Trojan War.
The story often grabs readers' attention by being filled with the likes of cyclopes, a sea monster, and sirens.
In the Odyssey, the island is ruled by the wealthy and they share it with the less fortunate so there is communal living throughout the read. Readers have the opportunity to look at the dynamics of family relationships and class inequality and learn from it.
Odysseus had many obstacles throughout the journey home to Ithaca, where his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus were waiting. Perhaps some of the greatest gifts of the Odyssey is it teaches us that Odysseus is a cunning manipulator who was taught a lesson in humility. Odysseus was spared while all of his men perished. Odysseus never gave up hope and applied perseverance and resilience to forge on.