While I adore Greek mythology, I'm not really a huge fan of the history. Consequently, I preferred The Odyssey to The Iliad. Odysseus' exploits into the domains of monsters, nymphs, and other creatures of fancy fascinated me, and the telling of a war fought almost entirely by mortals and demigods seemed mundane in comparison.
I must, however, continue to be skeptical that anyone would ever truly believe these outrageous stories. In the tradition of David Macaulay's Motel of the Mysteries, Mike Nelson writes in his book, Megacheese, "Frankly, I think each and every ancient Greek had a one-hitter stashed in his toga. I hope some stoner from our era sits down and, in a haze, writes down the legends of Pluthomene, who rode into Gasthemea and took the dreaded lock of Platheran from Galgothen in the time of Oifkjn--- and then every single school kid two thousand years from now will have to read his cannabis-fueled ramblings day in and day out, a ruler poised over their tender knuckles just waiting to strike if they confuse the golden yahmanian with the fleece of Thartuniam!!!" While I don't feel as strongly about this as Mr. Nelson seems to, he has a point. Is some archeologist 2000 years in the future going to discover some piece of conclusive evidence that the people of the '90s worshipped the omnipotent god Internet and sang their praises to a great heroine by the name of Buffy?
The testosterone fairly oozes from the pages of these tales and with that comes a certain amount of senseless detail. I found it quite interesting that Homer decided to include a bit in the seventeenth book of The Odyssey in which the hero’s dog dies upon seeing him. Other details that could have been left out but instead give the reader a tiny glimpse into the disturbing mindset of the ancient Greek include the whole business with the footstool and an irrelevant piece about Melantius, a goatherd who curses and attempts to kick Odysseus as he walks by.
Another bone I have to pick with the weavers of these tales is the invariable guarantee that at least one character will disguise themselves as a beggar or an old man or woman for no apparent reason. In some cases it is necessary to use a disguise, however it seems at times that the authors added some of the occurrences in just for kicks. The point at which they reveal themselves is always highly glamorous and overdone, so it must be great fun to write.
One must also begin to wonder how many heroes were in ancient Greece. On top of all of those heralded today, those that always seem to be the only survivor of every encounter, how many heroes were included in those that were destroyed along the way? Could it not just as easily have been Odysseus being chomped on by Polyphemus? And how is it that these heroes always refrain from doing anything to anger the gods? Odysseus tells the story as though every one of his crew members was partaking in the sacrifice of the cattle save him. Sounds a little fishy to me.
Either way, I have found much enjoyment in delving further into the mythology of the past and had a few good laughs, generally at the expense of one or more of the characters.