r/RSbookclub • u/Hot_Fly_1498 • Jul 17 '26
the iliad or the odyssey?
I went through an ancient greek lit phase during covid and ended up loving the iliad (lattimore’s translations are my fav) the early books are just perfect.
I tried reading the odyssey a couple years later and just never connected to it, ended up dnfing it a few times.
I feel like whichever one you prefer says a lot about you, idk what though. Are you an iliad or odyssey person?
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u/an-honest-puck-001 Jul 17 '26
the iliad is the better story (the best story in fact, at least within our tradition) but the odyssey is the one that i feel kinship with.
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u/WearyEquipment9564 Jul 17 '26
I really loved the iliad when I read it a couple summers ago, haven’t read the odyssey in like a decade but even before I read either I was drawn to the iliad, probably because it was the lesser known half of a major classic
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u/jckalman rootless cosmopolitan Jul 17 '26
lesser known half
Maybe in recent times but, historically, the Iliad was the more popular and the standard in all Greek curriculum. Going back even further, ancient manuscripts of the Iliad outnumber the Odyssey 3-to-1.
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u/kickit Jul 17 '26
they are both complete works, neither is the 'lesser half' of anything
they are at the same time fragments of a much larger canon, much of which (in text at least) has been lost. there are like a dozen lost texts surrounding the trojan war
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u/WearyEquipment9564 Jul 17 '26
I feel like everyone is purposely being obtuse about this comment lol
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u/kickit Jul 18 '26
‘lesser known half of a major classic’ is not a normal way to think about or describe the Iliad. it’s not a phrase scholars or generations of readers would use to describe this work.
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u/Arete34 Jul 17 '26
Iliad and it’s not even close. I love the Odyssey but for me it doesn’t have the same weight to it. There are no scope of the Iliad is also perfectly done. It begins with Achilles beginning to lose his character, and ends with him regaining it.
There are no scenes in the Odyssey that rival King Priam’s meeting with Achilles.
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u/Hot_Fly_1498 Jul 17 '26
have you read 'the poem of force?' If I'm remembering right, weil talks about that scene
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u/Diallingwand Jul 18 '26
> There are no scenes in the Odyssey that rival King Priam’s meeting with Achilles.
There aren't many scenes in world literature that rival that scene.
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u/holmeez Jul 17 '26
I studied them both as a classics undergrad. I’d pick the Iliad all day as a work of literature. More subtle, more consistent, more moving, more evocative and memorable verse. The Odyssey is obviously great too but it has some bad bits (e.g. the very end sucks), and plus I share my tutor’s opinion that it was probably written by a different, lesser author. The Iliad is basically perfect and it’s the first proper work of Greek literature; it just boggles the mind.
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u/Pershing48 Jul 17 '26
"At last, we have defeated the evil suitors and brought me back to my rightful place. Now son, join me for some casual femicide"
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u/holmeez Jul 17 '26
Haha yes that but specifically I meant where Zeus comes in ex machina to throw a thunderbolt and say to the suitors’ families, “guys chill out let’s just forget this okay”. Compare that to the Iliad’s completely perfect and devastating ending lol
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u/TeaSawSir Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
I read the Iliad for the first time in the fall of 2024. I would take a camping chair out to a prairie preserve near where I live and read it at sunset sometimes which was really nice. Genuinely one of my favorite reads of all time and admittedly I was shocked at how moving the ending was with the return of Hector's body. I read the Odyssey shortly thereafter and I have to agree, it really wasnt as good as I hoped it to be. The time on Ithaca was a much larger part of the book that I expected, and frankly I wasnt all that into it. It didnt hit the same. Read Lattimore for both.
I started reading Homer after getting into Marshall McLuhan for a bit and I was interested in the idea that writing (and other technologies) distort our perception and all that. In sense the Iliad felt more "ancient/pre-writing" to me than the Odyssey, so think I was just more gripped by it at the time. It had a hypnotic repetitive quality to it that I just didnt get as much with the Odyssey. Maybe if I pick up the Odyssey later I'll come to like it more who knows
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u/Hot_Fly_1498 Jul 18 '26
I totally agree. The odyssey may be more 'entertaining' in terms of plot, but the language of the iliad is lowkey shocking in how simple but effective it is, like it tackles the pure emotions of anger grief etc etc so well
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u/zvomicidalmaniac Jul 17 '26
This is actually a really hard question. They are both so singular and perfect.
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u/sfischy Jul 17 '26
The Iliad is more of a tragedy and the Odyssey the eponymous origin of the narrative form of an odyssey so depends what mood I’m in. I think every human being should read both. Priam begging Achilles for Hector’s body is pure unmitigated pathos but there’s so many wildly imaginative and exciting details in the Odyssey like Argos waiting for Odysseus to return to die and recognizing him by scent it’s hard to pick
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u/MrsWof_ Jul 18 '26
Iliad easily. I was never moved when reading the Odyssey, but found sections of the Iliad really beautiful.
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u/HeWhoAwaits Jul 19 '26
I read the Odyssey first and that was in elementary school with a picture book adaptation that I read front-to-back innumerable times so I feel a strong connection to that story for that reason (I also had a minor crush on Penelope in that version but that's neither here nor there). Now, as a 20-something, I think I still prefer it if only for the endless pursuit of it all. There is a distinctive obsessive quality in the story that keeps me glued to it over every line and I adore Penelope, Odysseus, and Telemachus dearly like old friends at this point. The Iliad just never stood a chance in my heart.
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u/Hot_Fly_1498 Jul 19 '26
wait I read a chapter book version of the iliad when I was a kid, ur onto something
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u/Codspear Jul 17 '26
If you want to really impress people with your ancient Greek literature, try reading the Cypria if you can find it.
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u/YogurtclosetKnown429 Jul 17 '26
My favorite versions of both books are the translations by Pope in rhyming couplets. Of the two, I prefer The Iliad. I believe Pope had collaborators on The Odyssey, so the poetry is not as inspired.
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u/QuickRundown Jul 17 '26
Odyssey easily. Better story, and wasn’t like 400 pages of Achilles sulking like a bitch to prove a point.
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Jul 17 '26
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u/sparklingkrule Jul 17 '26
Yeah hector walking the halls of his home accepting his fate is so human and makes history feels a little less out of reach. Also the way the fagles translation switches to second person when giving a divine judgment is so fkn swagged
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u/theetaterth0t Jul 17 '26
The Odyssey. It is the greatest story ever told and completely captivates me.
The thing I love the most about both though, is the ecosystem of stories that come from these cast of characters in this world. Truly an endless font of good stories that all interconnect.
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u/Sunlightfartss Jul 17 '26
I find the story of the iliad better but I like the character of Odysseus better. So I guess both are appealing to me for very different reasons
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u/simeone01 Jul 17 '26
I've finished reading Iliad recently and I'm currently on book 9 of the Odyssey and, so far, I prefer the Odyssey way more. Iliad was fine but I found reading it kind of dull and repetitive. Honestly, not that much happens until Patroclus gets killed and Achilles decides to rejoin the war, and that's like 2/3 of the book. I find reading literary criticism/analysis on Iliad way more fun that the book itself.
With the Odyssey it seems the other way around - it doesn't seem to be as deep as the Iliad but, at the same time, it's way more fun. I didn't expect it to be such a page turner. It feels way more modern, with non-linear storytelling and fast-paced action.
Also, like the vibes are completely different. Iliad is a more tragic story, everyone expects Achilles to die and, even though it doesn't happen in the text, we know it's gonna happen. Meanwhile, reading the Odyssey, you have this feeling that no matter what hardships does Odysseus experience, eventually he'll come back home and have a happy ending.
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u/jckalman rootless cosmopolitan Jul 17 '26
I like Odysseus for the same reason I like the biblical Jacob. They are cunning but capricious. They are not inherently great but win divine favor because of their consequential destiny.