Stories That Moved and Shaped Me

Books

Odyssey

Cover of Robert Fagles's translation of the Odyssey, Penguin Classics Cover of Daniel Mendelsohn's translation of the Odyssey, Penguin edition Cover of Daniel Mendelsohn's translation of the Odyssey, University of Chicago Press edition Cover of The Odyssey: The Complete Screenplay by Christopher Nolan

Homer · Book years are varied(across different editions and translations)

Notes and commentary by Daniel Mendelsohn(2025), and Bernard Knox's(1996) Introduction in Robert Fagles's(1996) Odyssey book, moved me the most.

what it's about and why it matters.

My personal notes and reflections.

Key Themes:

There are many takeaways from this book that I find meaningful.

The two main takeaways for me are that,

  1. Firstly, Do Not Give Up. This reflection comes from Book 11, the Book of Hades. The land of the dead is no place for rest or respite. Achilles, the greatest warrior of Troy, would rather be a slave to a serf and be alive, even for just a moment, rather than be king of the dead.
    Continue on, Soldier on.
  2. Secondly, the theme of Reconciliation. In the Iliad, the conflict of Agamemnon and Achilles is a central theme. At least and at last, (and fortunately), Agamemnon and Achilles does reconcile at the tail end of the Odyssey, (albeit and poignantly), as Shades.

Bless.