4 ms·

You should not be reading the Illiad to check a box. My advice is to approach it as a serious historical work and engage it with a mindset of trying to underst

by pravus 6y ago

You should not be reading the Illiad to check a box. My advice is to approach it as a serious historical work and engage it with a mindset of trying to understand a culture that is very distant while providing clues of similarity to modern life. As an example, the boring part in the beginning is the names of ships and tribes enlisted to sail to Troy. What I am thinking while reading these parts is why this list was so important and the sheer complexity of organizing all of it. You are talking about months if not years worth of preparation and yet it's reduced to this almost data-like catalog where you can get the sense that the message is: "We have a lot of friends... and we are coming." And this isn't to say that you should hold it as Truth. What I am saying is that this work had a profound cultural impact over the course of hundreds of years similar to the The Bible today. It will take work to enjoy it and you should only approach it if reading literature of this kind is of interest to you in general.

sharker8 6y ago
Great answer and compelling thanks. However, ouch, you used the B word. I also read the Bible for the cultural relevance. I found it to be incredibly boring as well. I do not feel better off having read it. For contrast, reading Harry Potter (just as an example) does not enlist such a feeling of monotony and dread. It generally just hums along and is mostly enjoyable. I have often heard this 'canon' argument ie. If it survived this long, and was so influential, it must be worth reading. However precisely this argument unravels for me when reading the Bible itself in its entirety. On the contrary, if one is like me one becomes convinced of humanity's inability to select valuable work for lasting significance, and even more doubtful of the Canon as a great starting point. It seems to be like a 3500 year old imdb with a really inconsistent voting mechanism, if the analogy makes sense.

by pravus 6y ago

sharker8 6y ago

Great answer and compelling thanks. However, ouch, you used the B word. I also read the Bible for the cultural relevance. I found it to be incredibly boring as well. I do not feel better off having read it. For contrast, reading Harry Potter (just as an example) does not enlist such a feeling of monotony and dread. It generally just hums along and is mostly enjoyable. I have often heard this 'canon' argument ie. If it survived this long, and was so influential, it must be worth reading. However precisely this argument unravels for me when reading the Bible itself in its entirety. On the contrary, if one is like me one becomes convinced of humanity's inability to select valuable work for lasting significance, and even more doubtful of the Canon as a great starting point. It seems to be like a 3500 year old imdb with a really inconsistent voting mechanism, if the analogy makes sense.