Reading Notes: Homers Odyssey Part B

This entire second part would be a great basis for a story book! I could select 3-4 ghosts and retell the stories they share with Odysseus while he is in the underworld. All of the ghosts are so different and unique. It would be interesting to go through and tell their stories in a different, modern format. I especially like the story of Odysseus's mother Anticleia. It is so somber and it gets the reader emotionally involved. For once, we are seeing a softer side of Odysseus where he is not being arrogant or careless. He is crying out for his mother, wanting to embrace her but is unable to because she is deceased and remains only in the form of a spirit now. It would be an emotional story to re-tell.

On the opposite end of that, I loved the story of Achilles. It is the exact opposite of all the other stories because it starts with Achilles lamenting over his passing but ends with him prideful in the way his son has conducted himself and become a hero back home. Instead of being a story of sorrow and mourning, Odysseus tells Achilles of all the great an honorable warrior moments Eurypylus exhibited. It's an interesting contrasting between his story and the more serious and depressing stories told to Odysseus by the spirits.

The warrior Achilles in battle

The story of Scylla and Charybdis through me for a loop at the end. While I knew that Odysseus was the only one of his entire crew to survive their treacherous journey, I had no idea the end for the rest of his shipmates to come so abruptly and brutally at that. Although it was sad reading about the death of all Odysseus' men, it was also somewhat satisfying that Odysseus's arrogance is what led them all to their death. If I had to redo the story I would have had all the men turn on Odysseus and stay with the boat on the shore instead of following him into the goddess Circe's temple. Lastly, it was so frustrating to me that they survived all those other terrible encounters and yet still perished before they made it back home to Ithaca. I would have preferred a happier ending, but I guess Homer had something else in mind. 
Bibliography:
Homer's Odyssey Part B  as translated into English by Tony Kline