These were my first encounters with the stories first hand, and loved them. I suppose it’s a matter of taste. We’ve never been through classic texts at school

These were my first encounters with the stories first hand, and loved them. I suppose it’s a matter of taste. We’ve never been through classic texts at school, I think it’s a cultural thing if they are fundamental enough to be taught at school or not. Probably depends a lot with what expectations you come to the poem. My expectation was that it would be a struggle, but was captivated from the start. I’ve looked some older translations in english and the ’old style’ verses have been complete turn-offs. The ’simplified’ or more dynamic translations were what made them work for me. And it’s not the specific turns of phrazes that matter as much as the whole. The stories of both Iliad and Odyssey totally kick ass, and are amazing portals to bronze age life.