In The Aeneid, Aeneas and his crew stop in Siciliy, where they end up seeing the aforementioned cyclops, who by now is furious that Odysseus gouged his eye out. There's also mention of Scylla and Charybdis, two more monsters Odysseus and his crew encounter. 3/3

Right away, something I've enjoyed is the callback to Homer's The Odyssey. In The Odyssey, Odysseus runs into Polyphemus, a cyclops that lives in Sicily. In order for he and his men to escape, they gouge out the cyclops' eye. 2/3

I've started reading #TheAeneid, and I'm enjoying it. I wasn't sure if the writing would be different than #TheIliad because the former is Roman, and the latter is Greek, but there hasn't been much of a difference, which is nice. 1/3

I forgot how much fun I have reading, and I devoured #TheIliad in the span of probably a week? It was primarily reading before work, during breaks and lunches, with occasional reading over the weekend and before bed. 5/5

I've already ordered my next book, which is #TheAeneid by Virgil. I'm curious to see how the writing differs, not just because the author's different but because it's Latin, not Greek. Since the events of the Aeneid occur right after the Trojan war, there should be some continuity between them. 4/5

At the time of writing, Achilles has finally entered the war, and is single-handedly obliterating the Trojan army. He's slaughtered probably over 2 dozen people by this point. There was also a couple battles between the gods themselves, which I wasn't expecting. 3/5

Ironically, the last book I remember actually reading was #TheOdyssey, also written by Homer, and that was for an English class. I thoroughly enjoyed that one, so I knew this would be up my alley as well. I could totally see this being adapted into a manga, given how the story's written. 2/5

I'm within 60 pages of finishing #TheIliad, so I might as well give my final thoughts here. The book has been a fantastic read. Manga and anime are typically the media I regularly consume, and I haven't read an actual, proper book in 15 years, not counting light novels. 1/5

It sounds like you're trying to Jedi mind track people into watching the Round 5 VOD.

It seems as though Achilles, who's been left to stew and seethe his hatred for Agamemnon this entire book, is about to be forced into the fray. I'm curious and excited to see how he fares against the Trojans, since he obviously has a storied reputation in terms of historical events. 5/5

Additionally, the tides of war have ebbed and flowed constantly. What started with the Greeks pushing the Trojans back evolved into a fair fight, to the Trojans pushing the Greeks all the way back to, and into even, their own camp and fighting amidst the ships. But I suspect change is near. 4/5

And boy is there fighting. And boy is it graphic. Constant talk of spears going through peoples' temples, brains coating the insides of helmets, guts spilling out from glancing shots, etc. Hell, there was even a mention of someone's eyeball coming out of his head? 3/5

What's interesting to look back on is the natural progression of events, which I think is a sign of a well-written story. What began with a lot of talking and not a lot of fighting slowly progressed through a pretty even split of the two, to now where it's almost exclusively fighting. 2/5

It's been 4 days, so let's do a quick #TheIliad update. As is the norm when it comes to Greek mythology, Zeus is a bit of an asshole. Through the lens of The Iliad, the entirety of the war could boil down to Zeus wanting to be amused.

In the days since my last update, the war has truly begun. 1/5

Here they are! I had an idea that, since they were part of a collection, they would look good in the same frame. After a bit of math to figure out spacing, it's all done!

Athena tells Diomedes that if he sees a Greek god on the battlefield to just leave them alone because it's not worth the trouble.

Except Aphrodite. If he sees her, she wants him to stab her with his spear.

Again, maybe it's just my sense of humor, but that also had me in stitches. 6/6

Maybe it's just my sense of humor, but those three paragraphs killed me.

Another instance involves Athena giving Diomedes Godsight, allowing him to distinguish man from god. That way he can determine whether or not it's worth it to try and fight them.

Side bar: Athena hates Aphrodite. 5/6

Menelaus prays, but Zeus never reacts. So when he swings his sword, it hits the top of Paris' helmet and shatters immediately. He then essentially says, "Zeus! I asked for your strength and you didn't do a damn thing to help me!"

All of that happens in the span of 3 paragraphs. 4/6

and throws his spear at Paris, which misses. So he then unsheathes his sword and swings at him. An important detail to mention is that usually, when someone says a prayer to a Greek god, Homer makes a point of the respective god reacting in some way or another, be it a nod or otherwise. 3/6

One thing I didn't expect going in was how goddamn funny Homer can be at times.

At one point, a duel is declared between Paris and Menelaus. If Menelaus wins, Helen returns home to her family. Otherwise she stays in Troy. Menelaus says a prayer to Zeus, essentially asking for the power to win 2/6

Time for another #TheIliad update. I'm 132 pages into the story, and we're finally getting to the real meat and potatoes. The battle has officially broken out, and a lot of people have died. There's still a lot of talking and redundancy happening, but it's almost charming in a way. 1/6

That said, the wordiness and excessive detail isn't bothering me, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I'll try and provide periodical updates as I progress through the story.

Additionally, being as it's Greek and from ~2,500 years ago, nearly every named character in the story has several titles, and a title is used almost every time a character is referenced.

For example: "...godlike Odysseus" or "Zeus who drives the storm cloud"

As is expected of a story that's ~2,500 years old, and was told orally and during a very different time, it's pretty long-winded. Several times already there have been instances where something has been repeated verbatim, rather than being truncated.

I started reading #TheIliad this morning, and even though I'm a little less than two chapters in, I figured I could give updates and impressions as I go through the book.

First blush: I'm excited to get into it. I read pretty much exclusively manga, so an actual book is a nice change of pace.

I did, however, pick up the Penguin Classics translation of The Iliad by Homer. I read The Odyssey during my senior year of high school, and I'm actually really excited to get into it.

A friend mentioned reading Dante's Inferno in college for a course, and it reminded me that I wanted to read it at one point. Barnes & Noble didn't have it in-store, but they did have Tolkien's adaptation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which I recognized from @acollierastro.bsky.social's video.

Finally got around to getting a frame for this beautiful @kelogsloops.bsky.social print.

Got some more artwork framed this afternoon.

- Memory Lapse by @wyliebeckert.bsky.social.
- The Prismatic Bridge and Sphere of Safety by @johannesvoss.bsky.social.
- Hear No Evil by a guy at a local farmer's market.

Now to find room to hang them.

I picked up the Violet and Cobalt prints, and have plans to put them together inside of one frame. I'm so excited!