epic

[sam.trip]

Hi I have just graduated in ancient history, which is surprisingly interesting and put me on the road to reading ancient authors. I have always been a big reader but never came across a book that struck me like the Iliad. If Herodotus was the father of history then Homer is arguably the father of epic/fantasy/sci-fi. The ILiad, Odyssey and Virgil's Aeneid are brilliant stories with a fascinating amount of literary brilliance and I would urge anyone who enjoyed The Count of Monte Cristo/ Lord of the Rings/ Dune/ Dark Materials/ Wheel of Time/Beawolf etc. to read these stories. Penguin Classics offer easily available and good translation of them all.
I hope Brad Pitt's film of Troy will do Homer justice because it really is a great and familier story. Is there anyone out there of a similer view?

 

[member 737]

Hi.
I'm definitely not such an expert in ancient literature as you are, but I've read some of ancient books. I particularly like 'Antygona' by Sophocles. It's an ideal tragedy - although both main characters have totally different opinions on the matter, they are simultaneously both right. Like in real life, nothing is simple, black and white. The trouble is that whatever choice they will make, no compromise is possible. Therefore, tragic ending is inevitable.

I also liked Illiad, but I'm rather sceptical about the film. Taking into account the budget, it will be for sure spectacular and full of necessary special effects - like gods and goddesses interventions. That's OK. Probably the battle scenes will be also the adventage of the film. But I'm afraid of so-called love-plots. I know that the war was because of a woman, but during the epic action and fights there were no mortal women involved. What if they will put long and sentimental and trashy dialogues between, let's say, Hector and Andromacha? It may change the film into another Titanic, or, to make matters worse, Pearl Harbour. The spirit of the great heroism may be lost.