Day 9 – A Book You Thought You Would Hate and Ended up Loving

I had been planning to read this Greek classic for years but was completely intimidated.  While I had a very basic overview of ancient Greece, what did I truly know about the people, their lives, their beliefs, their motivations?  Yes, I could certainly read the book, but I didn’t feel I had the background information to truly understand it.

What I considered the theme of the Iliad was also off-putting.  War, war and more war.  What lessons were there to learn from it?  What point was there in reading about the power-struggles of men and the capriciousness of the gods?  It was going to be a terrible slog through, it was going to take forever to finish, and I was sure I would regret the time I wasted on it.


When I saw one of the groups on Goodreads preparing to read The Iliad, despite my reservations, I decided to jump in and what a surprise when it exceeded my furthest expectations!!  Fortunately, some well-read intellectuals in the group were able to impart background information that made the work and the times come alive and I became on intimate footing with Agamemnon, Achilles, Hector, King Priam and many of the warriors and women within the poem.  

The read and the group brought Ancient Greece to life and at the end it was difficult to leave this world in which I had become so invested.

One day when I have more time, I’d like to make it a yearly read but, for now, I can only say, if you haven’t read it, DO!  Homer is truly a master of epic verse!