Fair Ilium

I've been listening to an audiobook of "The Iliad" when driving to and from work every day. It's the old Samuel Butler translation read by Robert Lescaut. Really, really excellent. It's so good, in fact, that I'm worried about not paying enough attention to the road.

Homer is one of my all time favorites. I've read both the Iliad and the Odyssey a couple of times (maybe more). It's an interesting question as to which is better. The Iliad is the ultimate war story full of passion, horror, blood, and great deeds. The Achaens come to Troy to reclaim Helen, hence the famed thousand ships. They lay siege to Troy (also known as Ilium) for nine years. The Iliad is the story of what happens in the tenth year. Most of the action takes place on the plains in front of Troy. The Odyssey has more subtle charms, being the story of Odysseus returning from the Trojan wars to his home and long lost wife and son in Ithaca.

So while I'm driving down the Beecroft road, I'm really back 3500 years or so in ancient Greece. The power of literature.

Tim