Quote:
Originally Posted by djulian
Strategies for reading the classics:
- Translations matter! I hated Kafka's Castle when I tried to read it in the old Modern Library edition. The newer translation is much better, the whole book became much more enjoyable. This is definitely true with books like the Iliad and the Odyssey. (And while I'm at it, someone claimed that the Iliad was an anti-war book. It's not. That's an adjunct college professor's dim hope.)
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That someone was me. As I am neither a college professor nor have I ever attended one this is what I read in the Iliad. For me it is an anti-war book because whenever someone gets killed not only does Homer give a description of the death cause and shows us thus how the person suffered, he also give details of the persons life, such as: he was good with kids or cared for his old parents and so on. It makes the victims of war what they are: victims. Very human, with faults and strengths and loved ones. And he does so for all that stay forever on the battle field, friends and enemies.
What is your argument for it being a war book?