Some of the words you’ll find within yourself;
The rest, some power will inspire you to say.
The Odyssey, ~Book 3, Lines 29-20
Nobody ever told me to read The Odyssey—and that was the greatest educational travesty of my life. I first read it after High School while working at Colonial Motors in West Concord. I didn’t “get it” any more than the most confused among you, but what I did do is “feel it.” I felt its primordial power and emotional bareness; I felt another world, another age, and another human journey come alive inside of me. It made me feel that I was a part of long and unbroken lineage of humanity searching for truth and purpose in a world—especially my world, a world not always blessed with clarity and opportunity. I had always been the kid in the back of the class staring out the window dreaming of a better world—and scheming a way to get there. I liked to read, and we read good books in school, but I only lived in those books for the moment. Good books were like a party with a great group of friends: fun, exciting, and memorable, but not life changing. They died, most of them, the moment I closed the book; but, The Odyssey changed my life. It showed me that wisdom is not learned, it is cultivated by deliberation and attentiveness.
I say this and you might wonder why it is not changing your life. (Hopefully, on some level, it is changing your life.) You might wonder if you are missing something everyone else is getting. You probably wonder why I feel it is worthwhile to read this book during your 8th grade year. Why don’t we just watch “Star Wars” or”24″ or “Wizard of Oz?” Why? Because “Star Wars, “24” and “Wizard of Oz” are archetypes; they are variations of experiences infinitely more real; they are built on the backs of hundreds of books and movies that came before them: but, The Odyssey was built on human experience; it was created out of our most primal need for the wisdom, hope, and guidance that will get us through life. The Odyssey doesn’t give us the tools we need to tackle the problems of life, it simply shows us the heroic nature required to deal and cope with the setbacks, sorrows and tragedies of every life. Bright-Eyed Athena might not be at our side helping us through the day, but The Odyssey shows us that Athena comes in many guises and seldom reveals her true self, and that we, too, need to accept wisdom at opportune and inopportune times in its many forms and guises.
As much as we are taught to stay away from strangers we still must turn our ears to the words they speak—for it might be the very truth we long and need to hear. We might not have a six headed monster on one side of the hallway and a deadly whirlpool on the other, but we do have to make tough decisions where the outcomes range from bad to worse. Don’t despair or even allow for frustration. If you wonder what is going on, then you are doing the right thing. Please, keep on wondering. I hope you wonder; I hope you wonder about who you are and where you are going; I hope you wonder about the problems of life; I hope you wonder where you will find the strength, the wiles, the courage—and the desire—to face these problems with insight, cunning and perseverance. This is what Odysseus had to do; and, if you are to grow towards your individual greatness, then this is what you must do as well. If songs are to sung about you, then you must be the hero of your own odyssey through life.
In a few short weeks you will have defeated me. You will leave my classroom a pillaged wasteland of poems, projects, broken pencils, essays, reflections, ballads, cheese-its, comments, short stories, blogs and granola wrappers. Maybe you will burn your Huck Finn mini series, shred your twenty writing mistakes, meditate—literally—on your haiku book, delete your website, disown your blog, and refuse to listen to ballads, write clear opening sentences and/or paragraph your thoughts; you will throw-away your active reading sheets, erase your margin notes and refuse to admit you know where a comma goes; you will dangle and misplace modifiers and use lusciously disturbing adverbs and insipid adjectives at will. You will forget when Kat died, when Huck tricked Jim, and when “Leaves of Grass” finally ended.
It might feel like you forgot everything you are supposed to remember.
But you will not forget The Odyssey. It does not happen.
Was your reference in the title intentional?
First sentence of the last paragraph is awesome. You’ve inspired me to try to make this book mean something to me past when I finish reading it.
This was a very extrodinary piece of writing!
The last paragraph was very nice to read. It was descriptive of our time spending reading the Odyssey
I really liked the ending of this. I thought that it was very deep. I am now very exited to read the oddesy.
That was a great way to explain the oddesy. Thanks!
Wow. Before this I thought that the Odyssey was a life changing book, but I didn’t know it could trump the superpower of all teenagers: forgetfulness. If I was excited to get started with this story before, I am ecstatic now!
Wow this is a really amazing and deep piece, thus just makes me look forward to reading the odyssey even more in the coming days!
Wow. That might change my opinion of reading. I haven’t ever been a big fan. Maybe this will change me.
I really enjoyed the last paragraph of this piece. The last sentence made the whole essay. Thanks for sharing!
I enjoyed reading the blog and I can’t wait to read ‘The Odyssey’ again.
This was clearly a very well ought out post. I really enjoyed listening to it while you read it to us. I really wonder if I will or won’t forget The Odyssey.
Wow, you must really love the Odyssey! I never knew what kind of book it was, and now I’m really getting psyched for it!
Sorry that last one was me. Oops!
I am so excited to read the Odyssey. I have only heard great things about it and you seem to love it. I have always loved Greek mythology so this seems like a great read.
I, like Abhi, can’t wait to start reading this. When we looked at it in class, it seemed a bit confusing at first, but then when you showed us all of the support, and things that we can do to overcome our confusion, I was happy.
The odyssey sounds like a great book! I never would have thought about movies such as the hobbit and the incredibles actually have things incommon with the odyssey. I can’t wait to read it!
I can’t wait to see were all the movie plots came from.
This is very powerful. Every book I have read before in my life have really hung to me or changed my life (at least I think). I can’t wait to read the Odyssey and learn so much about my life and life in general; it seems from what you have written, that it made a big impact on you, hope that happens to me! I hope that after this year, I don’t “give up” on my blog!
Great piece of reading I loved the end. It was so powerful and I enjoyed the description.
This will definitely change my view on this book. Thanks for sharing!
I have always hear great things about the odyssey but nothing this persuasive. I am looking forward to reading this and finding a meaning in it not just reading it to finish it.
I hope I have a similar experience that you had reading this book. I guess I am ready to lose my boyhood!
I have loved the Odyssey I hope that it will have an impact on me as well.