By: Julia Nijjar, SFU Student

There is nothing better than sitting by the seaside while indulging in literature that captures the essence of summer along the coast. My favourite piece of literature to read by the ocean is Homer’s Odyssey. I adore being perched by the sea watching ships pass by in the distance, imagining it’s Odysseus and his remaining troops travelling back home to his wife Queen Penelope in Ithaca, Greece, after fighting for 10 years in the Trojan War and voyaging home for another 10.  

In the poem, the cunning and clever protagonist Odysseus undergoes many misfortunes after his departure from Troy. From shipwrecks to monsters and a sorceress, he endures his destiny condemned by the Fates and tainted by the Greek gods. The Odyssey is a tragically beautiful read enriched with melancholic passages and deep nostalgia. The visual aesthetics of the tale possess sensationally powerful prose and description of ancient Greece during the Mycenaean Age, combined with mythology and fantastical imagery. This read encapsulates the richness of ancient Greek culture through character interactions demonstrated by acts of hospitality, connection, and longing for family.

There is no better time than now to read the epic than this summer, as all-time favourite director of mine Christopher Nolan is releasing his adaption of The Odyssey on July 17. I have no doubt that the film will be an incredible hit. Not to mention that the skillful and beloved composer Ludwig Göransson — well-known for his contributions to blockbusters like Black Panther and Sinners — is in charge of the film score for this project.

While I look forward to watching The Odyssey on the big screen, I cannot help but urge others to read the epic before visiting your nearest cinema. It’s important to understand the very core of ancient Greek culture and storytelling embedded within the epic before enjoying the story unfold through the lens of film. I notice that oftentimes components such as religion and societal values can be lost in translation or undermined in big blockbuster movies.

The best way to enjoy the movie to the fullest is to go into the theatre with prior knowledge of Bronze Age Greece as depicted in Homer’s epic.

For those who have avoided reading Homer’s The Odyssey for its potentially complex terminology and vocabulary, I strongly recommend starting with Emily Wilson’s translation. She does an incredible job of simplifying the content of the tale while still maintaining the poetic charm of the epic through her writing style. Wilson also remains revolutionary for translating The Odyssey without misogynistic renderings of women. It’s a monumental change from other translations which tended to either sanitize or misrepresent how women slaves were spoken about and treated in ancient Greece.

There are also various less well-known Greek mythology-based fiction set during the events of The Odyssey like the Songs of Penelope trilogy by author Claire North. Through North’s feminist retellings, readers are given the opportunity to be acquainted with the Queen of Ithaca. The trilogy discusses themes of patriarchy, power struggles, and survival of ancient Greek women who suffered amidst a society dominated by men during the era of the Trojan War. 

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes is another fantastic feminist work that explores the time period through multiple perspectives of the women who experienced great losses and tragedies on the opposite side of the war, in the city of Troy. It’s a perfect read for those who seek stories with powerful women combined with gorgeously written imagery. 

For non-fiction readers, try Epic Continent by award-winning traveller Nicholas Jubber. His work covers his journey across Europe where he explored various destinations visited in Homer’s The Odyssey. Many of those places have forgone the names they possessed during the Bronze Age, but it is still fascinating nonetheless to read about the places that inspired the myths and retellings we revisit today.