Hello Close Readers!
I hope you’re enjoying the first couple episode on the Odyssey. Episode two, about books III and IV, just dropped this evening, so if you haven’t had time for that hopefully that conversation will be good company during your weekend chores or errands or whatever you’ve got going on. We talked a lot about the nature of ancient Greek religion and especially the relationship between the gods and the characters in Homer’s story.
Of course, one of the things that makes Homer tricky is the language and one of the things that makes translating Homer tricky is determining how to present that language to English speakers. Emily Wilson wrote her version in iambic pentameter, one of the essential verse forms in English, but the original Homer is in a form called dactylic hexameter. It’s complicated (but beautiful!) and each translator takes a different approach in how to render it. So we wanted to find a way to explain what dactylic hexameter actually is. It sounds like either a deadly disease your car engine would contract from a rusty old bridge or a tiny part in a grandfather clock. Luckily we have help, though.
Our great friends over at Roman Roads Media cut together a portion of their Old Western Culture video series, featuring Wes Callihan, specifically for us. So if you want to learn more about the incredible original language in Homer check this video out. Thanks to David and Daniel and their team for helping us out.
In the meantime, get reading. Next week’s episode will cover books V-VIII so don’t be a procrastinator!
Oh, and by the way, The Daily Poem is coming back on Monday, the 5th. As in next Monday. I’ll be back with a poem by a great poet who happens to be celebrating a birthday that day (hint, hint). I’m really looking forward to bringing you more poems for the whole next school year. Hope you’ll tune in.
And, finally, for those who have been asking: The Play’s the Thing will be back next week. We will be recording a conversation about Act I of Othello next Friday, so be on the lookout for that episode next weekend.
That’s all for now. Thanks so much for listening, reading, and chatting with us. It’s a real pleasure.
Happy reading,
David