Ms. Hen reviews The Odyssey

 

The Odyssey

Homer

Farrar, Straus and Girioux

This edition 1998

Translated by Robert Fitzgerald

Ms. Hen decided to venture into these waters

because a friend recommended this book to her;

she doesn't usually like to read books in verse form,

but she decided to give this a chance,

for she wants to know the best of storytelling,

and this is the first epic journey of its kind,

the original hero's journey,

the tale to end all tales.

Odysseus goes on a trip and does not come home

for a long time.

He goes on adventures, almost gets killed, 

but kills a lot of beings,

human and non-human along the way.

Ms. Hen enjoyed the part when Kirke turned his men

into pigs. Ms. Hen thinks she is a talented woman.

This book is darker than Ms. Hen thought it would be.

Odysseus' wife Penelope waits for him, but is harassed

in the meantime. A gang of men want to marry her,

but she waits for her husband, not patiently, but

with much agony. When Odysseus returns, he tricks

everyone because he does not reveal himself at first.

Bedlam ensues.

Ms. Hen can see how this tale has influenced

almost everything ever written

from Shakespeare to STAR TREK,

and a plethora in between.

The story of being lost and finding our way home

is timeless

and never gets old.

Ms. Hen likes to read heavy books in the summer,

when everyone else imbibes in frivolous ones, 

because she has to be different,

though this book was not as heavy as others she has read,

but it's intense enough to qualify

as Ms. Hen's light summer reading.

Ms. Hen recommends being like Odysseus,

and fighting for what you believe,

to get home, 

or your rights,

do what you must to prove your weight in the world,

and live your life as best you can.