The Epics

Good evening Veeky Forums,
I'm thinking of spending the next few months reading all the epic poems (odyssey, iliad, divine comedy etc.) and was wondering should I just read them all in one go or read some contextualising books before each one?

Definitely some contextualising books before.

What's the last epic poem in you list?

Paradise lost more than likely. How would i get contextualisation for the Epic of Gilgamesh?

Published versions of the poems will almost always come with a short introductory essay that explains it to you and puts it in context. Publishers want you to 'get it'. Just pick up the books and start reading.

There have been great epics also after Paradise Lost.

I don't know about Gilgamesh, sorry.

Dante's Inferno was a fucking trip for me to read. I like to make sure that I understand EVERYTHING before going through the chapter, so I read it, re-read it, and again, again, again...

It was tough.

Is Argonautica an epic?

Yeah, but not nearly as good as the ones in OP's post.

Depends what kind of reader you are. As said, many versions will have at least some explanatory content. Get the Norton Critical Edition if available and it will typically have plenty of academic content.

what's the best translation for the Iliad and Odyssey?

mine is by Richmond Lattimore from like the 60s

You got the best

Read Enuma Elish. It's pretty short and contains the sumerian myth for the creation of the Earth.

Could any of you guys give me some reasons why reading The Iliad, The Odyssey and The Aeneid is indespensable ?
I'm currently reading The Odyssey, and although I enjoy it alot, as far as the story and the universe around it goes, it just doesn't feel ''deep'' enough to give me real artistic satisfaction, say, as opposed to the Divine Comedy or Paradise Lost.

Start with the Plauto comedies, they are easy and will help tou to undertand the Roman/Greek thinking

Like what?

It provides an understanding on how the greeks used to think and how their societies work. Also, there's a fuckton of really subtle references to mythology that were pretty important at the time. There's a reason everyone sucked Homer's dick and hailed him as one of the wisest men in history throughout all of ancient Greece up to Plato. The only problem is that in order to fully 'get' him you must study a lot of mythology and presocratic philosophy.

They're some of the greatest poems of all time, but you need to know Greek and Latin to truly appreciate them.

Also, Ovid >>>> Virgil

People from every century enjoyed them for their simplicity and immediacy, as an example of literary innocence and purity

This isn't even close to right.

It's very good poetry. Pick up Pharr's book on Homeric Greek and try and approach it as a poem rather than just a story.

inb4 fapping to Ars Amatoria

>reading introductory essays before reading the main work

I seriously hope you don't do that. It's like going through wikipedia summary of a film before seeing it.
If you really need background info, go with annotated versions, skip introductions often present before each canto, and only go for annotations when you are lost.

That's just your opinion, not a general rule, you arrogant hipster

Odyssey is written by young Hommer. It's an adventure story, pure and simple. Illiad is on another level, while Aneid is something else completely.

>It's an adventure story, pure and simple.

Wrong.

The Iliad was written before the Odyssey

Hey, you're the one reading essays written by (((them))), not me.

>needs a modern author to explain ancient work for him

>This isn't even close to right.

See, here's one of the guys who didn't get it.

People generally watch films that are at most 70 years old, so they are at leas somewath familiar with the colture of the time and space. But epic poems are milenias old so people outside academia aren't realy familiar with the way societis functioned then. A general introduction to the mentality of the time is very helpful to understanding the work.

By different Hommer.

Most likely Homer didn't even exist

Name me one instance where that is discussed in introduction. You're forgetting that they are written by translators and literary scholars, and not by historians.

Most translations I've read of old works have included historical context in the intro; you just haven't read a lot.

I read the Slovenian translation by Sovre, who also wrote an important History of Greece, and it included quite some context. Why you think that most Homer translators aren't familiar with society in Greece at that time I just don't understant.

The Aeneid is also an important bridge between pagan and Christian cultures -- one that Dante acknowledged by choosing Virgil as his guide. Not only is the poem perfect from a dramatic standpoint -- incorporating and surpassing both the Iliad and the Odyssey -- but you can sense the willingness to leave behind the old pagan virtues of honor and bravery in favor of more transcendent values.

Also, to OP: don't forget about Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. It's not as interesting philosophically as the above epics, neither is it so well constructed (it's actually a total mess) but it's held together by the pervasive joy of the mediterranean renaissance. One of the most fun books I've ever read in my entire life.

The Orlando Furioso is great, I agree. The Jerusalem Delivered is another beautiful epic poem, if someone here is interested. It's about the Crusades and mixes a lot of christian elements with medieval superstitions and pagan magic. More similar to the Iliad than the Odyssey, if we can put it this way.

>incorporates and surpasses both the Iliad and the Odyssey
I also agree with this. Remember:

Iliad = Thesis
Odyssey = Antithesis
Aeneid = Synthesis

Anyone here read this?

yep

How did you like it?
What language did you read it in?

You are legitimately just a pleb

Kill yourself
Same post every thread

english.
And it was very good, very entertaining, with some sad bits with Kullervo; well worth the read especially if you're into rare and obscure literature like me

i fuk ur mom

Cool, I've ever met a non-finn whose read the Kalevala
What got you to read it?
Have you read the Kalevipoeg too?

>the story and the universe
Thought I was on Veeky Forums, but I guess I ended up on Reddit somehow.

When I read Dante's comedy, the translation I had included footnotes that primarily referred to historical context of the figures encountered, with very little in the way of interpretation.

>all the epic poems
>lists homer and dante
laughingstatius.jpg
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kys

>What got you to read it?
found it in a second hand bookstore and it said it was Finnish and I was just like 'sure why not'.
>Have you read the Kalevipoeg too?
No, but I want to

Anyone know of a good English translation of the Pharsalia?