Greek literature offers
tragedy, sex, drama, war
Why are “The Iliad,” “The
Odyssey,” and “The
Aeneid” worth reading?
Why, out of all the books in our
many Eugene bookstores, should
the works of Homer and Virgil be
bought over Tom Clancy or
Stephen King’s latest bestsellers?
Ultimately, ancient epics are
menus for all tastes. They have the
elegance of Jane Austen with the
scandal of Jerry Springer. They
wield the grace and suspense of
Hitchcock with the gore of “Brave
heart” and ’’Saving Private Ryan.”
They tell one story and yet encom
pass every story ever told. They are
masterpieces and have lasted this
long for a reason.
When I first read “The Iliad,” be
tween the words, in the white of
the pages, I saw greedy Agamem
non and proud Achilles argue in
the firelight over a woman. The
thick clouds of duston the battle
field made me choke. The gross,
festering spear wounds made my
stomach clench. And my eyes
squinted under that merciless
blaze of the sun that beat down on
the men of Ilium. The imagery
alone is worth reading these epics,
but there is so much more.
Imagine a man well in his 40s,
wealthy and famous, who be
moans a fate of adventure-hop
ping around the world, constantly
being seduced by goddesses who
Guest Commentary
Georgia
Billingsley
make Victoria’s Secret underwear
models look plain — and all be
cause the one he really wants is
his wife at home.
This is Odysseus.
Imagine a war as horrific and
terrible as any other, lasting 10 in
terminable years. And how does
this war begin? Because one of bin
Laden’s groupies abducts Dick
Cheney’s wife, who in this sce
nario just happens to be the most
beautiful woman in the world.
This is the beginning of “The
Iliad.”
Imagine a strong, intelligent
and beautiful woman. She is the
founder and leader of an empire,
and she torches a massive pile of
the things her boyfriend forgot to
pack on his way out the door, all
because his excuse is, “But baby,
I gotta go or else Zeus is gonna
get ticked.”
This is Dido.
One of the greatest tragedies of
life is when we begin to view
things as either beneath or be
yond us. The world is too fasci
nating and our minds are too ca
pable for either.
Yet, so many people look at the
stories of Ancient Greece and
Rome as boring, dated or too diffi
cult to decipher. The language is a
path, not a wall, and for each of
the epics there are many different
translations to fit personal reading
style preferences.
As unlikely as it may seem, there
may come a time when many of
the brightest literary stars of our
age will fade. While Jack Ryan
slowly disappears to the land of
“unheardof ’ and even the mighty
towers of Hogwarts begin to crum
ble, Achilles will still shout his
war cry over the din of battle.
Odysseus will still chill on the
beach with the lotus-eaters, and
Aeneas will time and again mes
merize his African queen. These
epics have lasted for thousands
of years, and they will last much
longer. Ultimately, it is an eerie
and humbling feeling to know
that the stories and characters in
these classics endure before and
after this age.
The classics are worth reading
because they existed before my
life, my family, my country and
the world as I know it came to be.
The classics are worth reading
because they will no doubt still
exist after my life, my family, my
country and the world as I know
it all end.
Georgia Billingsley is a freelance columnist.
Her opinions do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.
Readings
continued from page 1
holding its Women’s Poetry Slam
at 7 p.m. Aug. 5. This is an oppor
tunity for those who like to read
their own works aloud while also
getting to listen to the poetry of
other local authors.
Chinosole and Alma Jean
Billingslea-Brown are also sched
uled to visit Mother Kali’s.
Chinosole, a San Francisco
scholar, activist and author of
“African Diaspora and Autobiogra
phies,” is scheduled to come to the
bookstore for a reading, discussion
and slide show 7 p.m. Aug. 6.
Scheduled for the same time,
Billingslea-Brown, civil rights
movement veteran and author of
“Crossing Borders Through Folk
lore: African American Women’s
Fiction and Art,” will also read.
Addressing controversial is
sues with flair, Arlene Stein will
hit the highlights of her book,
“The Stranger Next Door,” 7 p.m.
Aug. 20, which details the strug
gle between local community
members and the OCA.
For the pleasure of a poetry
reading along with the delight of
music, drinks and food, Cozmic
Pizza presents the Celtic Jam every
Thursday. Today’s event features
the Fiannel Cats’ music from 6:30
to 8 p.m. followed by Claudia
Lapp’s poetry reading and an open
mic. The event is free.
Contact the reporter
atjilliandaley@dailyemerald.com.
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