As with my vintage snapshots and
classic films I love old stuff. This series of work just happens to be a whole
lot older! I love being connected to the past. There is something about it that
delights and inspires me infinitely. Finding bits and pieces of another time
which I get to reassemble with bits and pieces of my own time to recreate a
reality of my own imagination, my own making. My reality, my fantasy. It is an
interaction, a co-creation.
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| Odysseus and The Sirens, Attic Red Figure, ca 500 - 480 B.C |
Ancient writings open a door into my imagination.
Ancient writing has a cadence that is different than today’s way of expressing
oneself. It is simple and rich. The details are succinct and non-superfluous.
Ancient stories are the foundation of all our other stories. It is part of our cultural, psychological
heritage.
The Iliad and The Odyssey are one of
the major cultural building blocks of western society. The character and
incidents in it have been borrowed from and built upon ever since. It is one of
the original Hero stories. Odysseus is the classic trickster hero. Its elements
are reflected in almost every story you will read or watch.
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| Polyphemus & Odysseus' Escape on the Ram, Athenian Red Figure ca 5th B.C. |
About The Odyssey
Aristotle, in his work “Poetics“
reduces the Epic poem to 3 sentences:
“...The story of The Odyssey can be
stated briefly. A certain man is absent from home for many years; he is
jealously watched by Poseidon, and left desolate. Meanwhile his home is in a
wretched plight—suitors are wasting his substance and plotting against his son.
At length, tempest-tossed, he himself arrives; he makes certain persons
acquainted with him; he attacks the suitors with his own hand, and is himself
preserved while he destroys them. This is the essence of the plot; the rest is
episode.”
This is the bare bones of The
Odyssey. But I’d have to say that the “episode” of it is the part that
delights. He confronts monsters and gods, foreign people with strange
abilities, drama, romance, heartbreak, daring feats, deceptions, politics, comedy, this story has got a bit of
everything.
The Odyssey was written down almost
3000 years ago. It is a long story and it may seem sort of daunting to imagine
reading it if you haven’t attempted. It isn’t exactly an easy read. You have to
put yourself into a certain mindset, enjoy the poetry and appreciate the way
our sensibilities have changed over the millennia. But the more you read
ancient literature the easier it gets. It is the sequel to The Iliad, which is
an equally long and influential poem about the Trojan War. It is also a
beautiful book, but the Odyssey is actually easier to get. So if you are thinking
about reading Homer, you may want to start with The Odyssey.
I found a wonderful primer
about Greek mythology in general and about The Odyssey in particular on a terrific
website called The Art of Manliness.
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| Achilles and Patroclus, Attic Red Figure, ca 500 B.C |
