The Odyssey, By Homer

                            Homer. The Odyssey, New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Homer

Homer's The Odyssey is the second poetic narrative which concludes the legendary journey home to Ithaca of the Greek hero Odysseus after the war of Troy illustrated in Homer's first epic The Illiad. This 8th century B.C.E. poem consisting of 12, 110 lines is the literary antiquity of ancient Greece at its greatest.

Filled with all the imagery of Greek mythology, this sea-faring adventure contains interventions of and meddling in the journey of Odysseus by the Greek gods, many whom are out to destroy his ill-fated voyage. It is a story of family loyalty, tests of courage, the horrors of war and the mortality of men, with strong suggestions of the introduction of historical changes in Greek philosophical culture and beliefs embedded in this tale.

Students may wish to take note of the powerful conversation between Odysseus and the great hero Achilles whilst in the netherworld of Hades. Archeologists and Historians have come to learn a great deal about the meanings of Greek phrases, burial customs and beliefs concerning the afterlife from this most poignant and solemn conversation on mortality, including the ritual of feeding blood to the dead (post-funerary rites).

Links of interest to students:

• http://www.mythweb.com/odyssey/

• http://www.amazon.com/Odyssey-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/0192833758

Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift

Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's travels, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Jonothan Swift 1667-1745

Almost finding himself executed for sedition because of this book, Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's travels follows in the typically politically-insensitive feet of his forebears in English literature, taking a swipe at British colonialism, cultural customs and monarchy in this classic of world literature.

Written in 1726 by Anglo-Irish Clergyman Swift, Gulliver's travels, although a fantasy novel in most respects, it is in actuality a "travelers tale" by genre, which means that it is a social commentary disguised through the characters of the novel, in this case Gulliver and the characters he meets in the mythical and overtly allegorical lands and cultures in which he visits.

Similar therefore to the Canterbury tales and Homer's The Odyssey, the novel is also an adventure of lost races, magical experiences, oriental superstitions and kings in grand palaces. The elements of a sacred story are present such as, an injustice to his wife and child, his wife's loyalty to him, and naturally the journey of redemption which Gulliver's travels is about, illustrated by moral maxims, allegorical symbolism and dramas. 



Gulliver and his friend the Houyhnhnm

Although shaming and poking more than a little fun at British and Western history, politics and culture, Swift then concludes the tale by attacking the more terrible points of human nature such as slavery, cruelty to animals and savagery, not to mention human desire for riches and the suffering inflicted by such desires and human greed. This takes place after Gulliver meets and befriends the culture of civilized horses or Houyhnhnm (pronounced to sound like a horses 'ney'). His experiences with this morally and intellectually elite race changes his life forever, and Gulliver, although arriving home to the wife and child that needed him so desperately, becomes a withdrawn almost anti-human because of his experiences.

Further reading for students:

www.sparknotes.com/lit/gulliver/themes.html

and for biographical information on both Jonathan Swift and his novel visit:

http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/swift/bio.html

Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte

Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. 

(Emily Bronte, 1830)

    This emotively dark and Gothic novel by Emily Bronte parts literary ways with the genre styles and plots of the works by her sisters Anne and Charlotte, and is possibly the one novel which has been the most hotly debated, interpreted and discussed by scholars and critics since its publication in 1846.

Containing the Gothic elements of ghosts, dungeons and madness, Emily Bronte combined such with the social context of 19th century England, with specific note of the treatment of women, the possibility of feminine empowerment, inheritance and class, whilst crossing the lines of moral and ethical proprieties.

Set on a hilltop property amidst the Moors of the English country side, the story of the Earnshaw and Linton families of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange are told by the character Nelly Dean, the former maid and nanny of Wuthering Heights. Although loosely defined as a tale of both romance and generational curses and redemption, the story focuses on the unhealthy and destructive soal-mate type relationship between the main characters of the novel Catherine Earnshaw (Linton) and the gypsy-type adopted child to the Earnshaw family, Heathcliff. However, every relationship in Wuthering Heights is poisoned with one type of tragedy, embittered episode, or longing for redemption and even death.
 

Wuthering Heights is a powerful, brilliant and disturbing novel which unleashed questions from her own sisters on Emily's view of the world and propositions from scholars concerning the dark ability of Emily Bronte to conjure and create such destructive forces and characters of this novel.

As stated, there are numerous interpretations of this novel, including musical adaptations, the most famous being Wuthering Heights by 1980's musician Kate Bush. Follow the link and observe her taking on the character of the ghost of Catherine Earnshaw through the song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WChywYrwHBY

The following two links are reviews with different interpretations of the novel and students may benefit from the exegesis presented in both: 

http://www.iwise.com/Emily_Bront%C3%AB/Communism%20and%20Socialism_quotes

academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/novel.../gothic.html