Written by Zachary Mason; The Lost Books of the Odyssey was originally published in 2008 by Starcherone Books and then later republished in 2010 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. The book is made up of 228 pages with 44 chapters. Mason tries to show that the last 44 books of the Odyssey are new stories about Odysseus that show new points that are not in the Odyssey as well as a different way of thinking about the people that appear in this book. Mason wants to show that in these 44 books the warriors, mainly Odysseus, become tired, turn their back on the past, and move on to a new life. The book starts with Odysseus coming home in the chapter named A Sad Revelation. As he is going home he thinks of all the different ways the situation could turn
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The answer to the riddle is a person and the hints the stranger gives are about something that happened to Odysseus when he was young that nobody would know about. The answer to the riddle is the Odysseus and the reason the stranger claims to know these is because he says he is Odysseus. The stranger tells Odysseus that
In chapter five “Agamemnon and the word” Agamemnon wants an answer to everything under the sun. Odysseus and two others went off and searched for the answer for years. When they returned, the king was much older and told them that it was not what he was looking for. He sent them out again looking for a sentence that contains the sum of all wisdom. They left again for years and came back with a better answer but still wrong. Agamemnon sent them out one last time looking for a single word that contains everything in world. The only one to return with the answer to the task was …show more content…
It is a fairly easy read, but it is also a little confusing. I think the book is interesting, but it will probably make more sense once I read the Odyssey because it should connect the chapters in the book that I am currently reading. Something I found interesting was that nobody questioned whether it was actually Achilles fighting in chapter 15. Mason supports his argument because throughout the book, he shows different ways to think of the characters in the Iliad and Odyssey. One of the strengths of this book is the structure; it is very easy to read, follow, and it keeps the reader’s attention. The weaknesses are that in some chapters it is hard to connect the chapters to one another and at least for me it does not flow well at some points. I would recommend this book to college students or high school students that have read the Odyssey. I would also recommend it to those who study ancient Greek epics or
The answer to the riddle is a person and the hints the stranger gives are about something that happened to Odysseus when he was young that nobody would know about. The answer to the riddle is the Odysseus and the reason the stranger claims to know these is because he says he is Odysseus. The stranger tells Odysseus that
In chapter five “Agamemnon and the word” Agamemnon wants an answer to everything under the sun. Odysseus and two others went off and searched for the answer for years. When they returned, the king was much older and told them that it was not what he was looking for. He sent them out again looking for a sentence that contains the sum of all wisdom. They left again for years and came back with a better answer but still wrong. Agamemnon sent them out one last time looking for a single word that contains everything in world. The only one to return with the answer to the task was …show more content…
It is a fairly easy read, but it is also a little confusing. I think the book is interesting, but it will probably make more sense once I read the Odyssey because it should connect the chapters in the book that I am currently reading. Something I found interesting was that nobody questioned whether it was actually Achilles fighting in chapter 15. Mason supports his argument because throughout the book, he shows different ways to think of the characters in the Iliad and Odyssey. One of the strengths of this book is the structure; it is very easy to read, follow, and it keeps the reader’s attention. The weaknesses are that in some chapters it is hard to connect the chapters to one another and at least for me it does not flow well at some points. I would recommend this book to college students or high school students that have read the Odyssey. I would also recommend it to those who study ancient Greek epics or