The Odyessy: Books VII-X-II

The Odyssey reading this week, I thought, was more entertaining, as it read more like a story, as opposed to the past reading, which I found to be almost of a history-textbook nature. The cyclops description (eating-style wise) was, in a word... Interesting. However, I still don't understand exactly why the Cyclopes behave as they do; inhospitable and rude in general, with blatant disregard for any rules. Why do they behave as though they are in any way superior to general society, seeing as they are cyclopes, which I would assume they would be lower status-wise to the human population. Also, another thing I didn't really understand; why does Polyphemus, of all Cyclopes, not care for the rules of the gods? I mean, Neptune is his father, so it would only make sense that he have greater respect for the gods then the rest of his species, if indeed being contrite is a common attribute among them.

The Oddyssy- Books V-VII

The reading this week was much more fulfilling and interesting to read. We finally got into the reason the story is named: Oddyseus! His story is finally beginning, and has much more validity and pertinence then the ramble going on with Telemachus.
A trend that I'm noticing to be consistent throughout is how, whenever someone comes to some else's house, the host or hostess brings them lavish refreshments and treats the guest like royalty, regardless of whether or not they actually know the person. The people really do hVe a sense of hospitality.

The Oddyssey Review (books 2&3)

As I read through books 2 and 3, I am using the active reading method and, I have to admit, it does make the story a lot easier to digest. It does take a lot of time, but in the long run it's worth it because you can understand the story much better. Also, yes! The explanation that I have the Roman version makes sense. However, I find it kind of strange that the Romans changed the main character names and the gods names, but kept the supporting characters (Telemachus, Polyphemus, etc) the same...?