February 25, 2011 The Odyssey by Homer

(9 people attended, we all had a good time, no photo taken)
Our next meeting will be February 25, 2011 at 7:00 p.m.  Our meeting place will be the small meeting room at the Plaza Branch Library, 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO.

We will be discussing The Odyssey by Homer.

This book is our ancient Greek (or Roman) classic for the year.  It's also a book that our group previously discussed six years ago.  It is included in this year's reading list because we believe classics deserve to be reread.

The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer,  It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work traditionally ascribed to Homer.  The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon.  Indeed it is the second--the Iliad being the first--extant work of Western literature.  It iwas probably composed near the end of the 8th century BC.

The poem mainly centers on the Greek hero Odysseus (or Ulysses, as he was known in Roman myths) and his long journey home following the fall of Troy.  It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War.

Please see the following link for a discussion of Odyssey translations:
http://www.meetup.com/greatbookskc/pages/Odyssey_Translations/

Check the following link for a message from Christopher about spoken ancient Greek:
http://www.meetup.com/greatbookskc/messages/boards/thread/10426002/#39737402