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Feb. 22, 2005 Two of the best books I have ever read are the Iliad and the Odyssey, by the ancient Greek epic poet, Homer. The Iliad chronicles the Trojan War, which took place in Troy, also called Ilion, around 1184 BC. The Odyssey relates the adventures of one of the heroes of the war, Odysseus, better known as Ulysses, on his home return from Troy to Ithaca. The ruins of Troy were discovered by a German archeologist, Heinrich Schliemann, in the 19th century, but no compelling evidence has been found to prove the historicity of the Trojan War. There is some question as to who Homer was, and where and when he lived. Some even suggest that more than one poet participated in the composition. The traditional view is that the books were written by one man, a blind poet, in the 8th century BC. The question of whether or not the Trojan War can be proven to have really occurred is not extremely important, however. One merely accepts it as very probable. When someone reads the Iliad and the Odyssey, he knows from the outset that he is dealing with epic poetry, and that not every little episode has to be taken absolutely literally. The Iliad and the Odyssey are glorious, beautiful, magnificent, dramatic, astonishing stories, but they are stories. In one episode, the Goddess Aphrodite wafts Paris, one of the Trojans, from the battlefield into the bedchamber of Helen of Troy, for whose honor the war was fought in the first place. No one requires that you insist you believe the account; it's just a tale. Again, when the river Skamander turns into a God and chases Achilles down the battlefield, you don't have to testify that this is historical fact; it's rhapsody or myth. Probably many people recall the tale of how Ulysses' men were enchanted by the Sirens, turned into pigs by Circe and fought against the Cyclopes. In the early 20th century, one Richard Halliburton, falling in love with the Odyssey and believing it, tried to replicate Ulysses' voyages. But most people probably accept the Odyssey as a thrilling fantasy, a wonderful tale. You can enjoy it for what it's worth, without believing every last episode, or going off to sail the Mediterranean, like Halliburton. Of course, I don't have to make any introductory remarks about the Bible, which is really a set of two books, the Jewish Bible and the New Testament, written by a variety of people, in three different languages, on a wide variety of unrelated subjects and reflecting a multitude of viewpoints. When one approaches the Bible, he knows before he reads a single word that the whole book is supposed to have been inspired by God, and that it is perfect, complete, infallible, inexorable and omniscient. Like the Iliad and the Odyssey, the Bible has tales of wondrous feats, like the opening of the Red Sea, the trumpets of Jericho and Samson's destruction of the Philistines, not to mention the miracles of the Gospels. The only problem is that the reader is bound by peer- pressure to pretend to believe all these tales literally. He is required to raise his right hand and say, "I believe. I believe. I believe." If he doesn't make that obeisance, he's a sinner, a hellion, a scapegrace and a pariah. He is going to go to Hell, there to burn forever and ever, for not believing in the all- merciful Lord. So, one approaches Homer with the attitude that his poetry was meant for enjoyment, appreciation and enlightenment. One approaches the Bible with the attitude that this is for his chastisement, correction and reproof, and he'd better watch his mouth when discussing it. To me, some of the stories of the Bible are nauseating. Every time one of the Biblical leaders meets or defeats a new people, the first thing he does is check in their loin cloths to see whether they're circumcised. In the second Book of Kings, Elisha makes two bears tear up 42 children for calling him bald, as he indeed was, and he contaminates Gehazi and all his descendants forever with leprosy, as punishment for a minor offense. In Genesis, Lot's daughters get Lot drunk and commit incest with him. And here's a quotation from the Book of Ezekiel, in the New International Version, "There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of a horse." The Iliad and the Odyssey have blood and gore, but nothing quite so loathesome as the above Biblical slime. At any rate, in the Iliad, we know we're reading a story, and we know that we don't have to approve of everything we read. In the Bible, every little sentence, every word, is supposed to be a repository of divine wisdom from which we are to gain deep spiritual insights. There are some good stories in the Bible. I personally liked the Book of Ruth and the Book of Esther. I might even have liked the Book of Exodus, if I hadn't felt obligated to accept it as divinely inspired history instead of quaint and curious tall tales. The Iliad and the Odyssey are better than the Bible by far. ------------ About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written two books: A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction) and A TALE OF UNG (fiction), neither published so far. I have studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents. Email: udikeyes@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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