I'm just going to be straight up here: I hate studying Greek mythology.
I'm working on my summer reading assignment right now. My assignment was to read the second book in the Percy Jackson series, then to write an essay comparing each mythological character depicted in that book to the "real" characters. No big deal. Maybe a 8-10 page essay? Considering how many characters are in the book?
That's no problem, I'm actually excited to have a challenging essay to write. (Yes, I am a total nerd.)
The problem is that in class this year we are reading the Odyssey by Homer. I read the Iliad in 6th grade, and we reviewed it sometime in the next two years. Last year at my first high school, we read the Odyssey, now this year, at my 'new' high school we are reading it again.
I'm beginning to feel like I'm on a 20 year journey.
Here's the basic plot, in case you haven't read the book:
Odysseus goes off to fight in the Trojan War for the Greeks. On his way home, Odysseus almost gets eaten by a Cyclops. The Cyclops is Poseidon's son. In order to escape Odysseus blinds him. Poseidon gets all offended because the Cyclops is his son. Being one of the Greek gods, (5 year olds that live forever), Poseidon stays true to form and throws a little temper tantrum.
Only problem with a god throwing a temper tantrum- is that, well, he can make life pretty miserable for you. Poseidon decides that he is never going to let Odysseus get back home to his wife. The result? It takes Odysseus twenty years to get home. He's almost eaten by the monsters Scylla and Charybdis, plus half a dozen other mythological creatures that I can't remember the names of.
Finally he makes it home only to find men living in his house wanting to marry his wife. So simple solution really, he kills them all. His wife and son are like "OMG! Odysseus is home!" And it's all happily ever after. The end.
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