True confession time: I love me some epic
poetry. Total nerd-alert I know, but there is nothing better than reading
something you know is ancient, and being able to understand it and relate to
it. Right now I'm ready both The Iliad and The Odyssey (one on the kindle, one
on the Path train aka paperback). I read The Odyssey in 9th grade (I don't even
want to talk about how many years ago that is) and I loved it then, and I love
it now. I am particularly fond of the Robert Fitzgerald translations perhaps
because they are the easiest for me to read because they sound how people
actually speak.
Aside from the Greek cycle (epic poetry is told
in "cycles" or series based on location) I have also read Beowulf
recently as well as slogged through Nibelungenlied (Think ride of
the Valkyries). Each poem provides the reader with ancient insight that
was important then just as it is now. In the Odyssey, Homer says "Each man
delights in the work that suits him best", which is grandfather to most
important and quintessential phrase in job-hunting, "do what you love, the
money will follow. Not bad considering it was written centuries ago. This
timeless advice, along with many other lines is why I cherish epic poetry so
much. I highly recommend , if you have or haven't taken a recent dip,
dive on into some epic poetry.
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