Reading Notes: Homer's Odyssey Part A

(Head Odysseus MAR Sperlonga from Wikipedia)

Each time I read Homer's Odyssey, I relearn what descriptive language should be. The use of adjectives, metaphors, and similes is something I adore, and in this piece there is no shortage of it. Prime examples include "rosy-fingered dawn" and "high-crowned oaks". This language gives an accurate depiction of what is being described, while appealing to the reader's imagination as well. I have also always been partial to the type of speech used in mythology. It is very "antique" sounding, or at least that is how I would put it, so I plan to use speech patterns and phrases of the same caliber in some of my own stories. 

In this story, not only is there the use of descriptive text devices, but also most everything is described in detail as well. For example, "There were baskets full of cheeses, and pens crowded with lambs and kids, each flock with its firstlings, later ones, and newborn separated. The pails and bowls for milking, all solidly made, were swimming with whey." This description of what is around Odysseus and his 12 men when they are inside the cyclopes's cave leaves little to be imagined about the inside of the cave. Then again, "Then he lifted his door, a huge stone, and set it in place. Twenty-two four-wheeled wagons could not have carried it, yet such was the great rocky mass he used for a door." This information details exactly how large the cyclops must be, and how terribly strong he must be to accomplish such a task. Detailed descriptions, in my opinion, are a vital element to story-telling. Otherwise, a reader can get easily lost as to the visuals of a story, and wonder what exactly is going on.

Bibliography

• Tony Kline, Homer's Odyssey, from http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-homers-odyssey.html