Category Archives: The Writing Life

Ancient World Now: Introspection in the Character of Odysseus

Click here for direct link to audio Episode #12.

Click here for previous episodes.

Now that I have told you the three most important tales of the ancient world, The Iliad, The Odyssey, and The Aeneid, we can turn our attention to going deeper into the characters and familiarizing ourselves with the cycle of stories surrounding each epic.

Ever since I was a little girl, I had the distinct feeling that Odysseus was really a scoundrel. In all the stories I knew, he was dishonest. He lied, he stole, and he got away with things. That was how I saw it. It just wasn’t fair. It didn’t matter to me that he triumphed over divine obstacles, was revered by his fellow soldiers, or that his wife Penelope thought he was worth waiting for (although I did so love the story of the bed he carved from the olive tree). What mattered to me was his truthfulness. Are there degrees of honesty? Or is honesty like pregnancy, you either are or you are not? Consider these questions and ask someone else what they think. Let’s create a dialogue of issues of great import—we seem to have less and less of that in our daily lives these days! To me, honor and truth were all. If I worked hard and told the truth, why should a man like Odysseus, who lies, runs and hides, and looks out for his own best interests to the peril of others, be held in high regard. Indeed, he is called “hero”. In today’s podcast, I delve deeper into the character of Odysseus, trying to get at the qualities others admire, while honoring my own personal biases against him.

In fact, one of the many benefits of the process of writing is that it brings clarity of thought. After much meditation, and revision after revision, I have come to an understanding with myself on the matter of Odysseus. I had to address the question as to why truth and honesty matter so much to me. I find it impossible to lie. To me, there are no little lies, and telling an untruth about something insignificant is as despicable as telling an untruth about something significant. Why does it matter so much to me, when people all around lie in their everyday lives and see no harm in it? Some of my very biases against Odysseus have to do with my own personal life struggles. The mark of good literature raises good questions, and this question, like all things worthwhile, made me face myself and who I am. For this new insight into my understanding of myself, I thank Homer and his wily hero, Odysseus, and hope you, too, find wisdom through these ancient tales.

I would be very interested in hearing what comes out of your discussions. Please leave a comment or write to me at the website by clicking on the “Contact” button above. I’ll post your comments in all their various hues. Oh yes, and be sure your little talk about honesty doesn’t “come to blows”, as there are many ways of seeing it! Have fun and see you next week!

Reference books used in today’s podcast: The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Religion, Literature, and Art by Oskar Seyffert and The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Classical World by Michael Avi Yonah & Israel Shatzman.

Enjoy!

Remis Velisque!

Remis Velisque means “with oars and sails; with all one’s might” in Latin.Okay. I don’t know where this is taking me, but are you along for the ride?

The publishing world is in flux. Authors have been talking about it for a few years now, wondering how we all need to change to adapt to the new technology. This is historic, folks. We are in a revolution. Think cuneiform, papyrus, moveable type. Think awesome. And I am ready to jump.

I am ready to embrace the new reality and make it my friend. Jump into the infinite space and enjoy the free fall. I am not going to worry about where or if I land. I’ll just do it and see what happens.

My intention: to offer my writing for free to whomever is interested! My stories and novels will be available as free podcasts from itunes and podiobooks. Read on to find out why this is a solution for me.

After years of writing and pursuing my unique interests in the ancient world, I published my first book with Scholastic in 2007, Read Aloud Plays: The Iliad, The Odyssey, and The Aeneid. But with book publication comes the pressures of marketing, publicity, events, sales, networking, and positioning for the next work. All of these daily concerns are a severe drain to the body, mind, and spirit. Writers are held hostage by these demands that are so out-of-sync with their natural flow of research, reflection, and writing.

Jockeying for position has never been a part of my personality. In other words, I suck at schmoozing! I always feel the real insincerity of it so that what should be a great pleasure (meeting new people who love stories) is marred by the tense and uncomfortable reality of promotion. Very unnatural! With this new enterprise I hope to take back my power and put all my energy into my work. If you like it, hang with me and let’s enjoy the stories together!

Grammateus!

Grammateus means “writer” in Greek.

Welcome to the blog!

Every season has its events. For the fall, my favorite event is San Francisco’s Litquake. This is Litquake’s 10th anniversary, so plenty of celebratory activities are planned. The eight-day festival culminates in the Lit Crawl, a 6-11 pm walk down Valencia/16th Street area stopping into cafes, bookstores, nightclubs, & even laundromats, to hear the spoken word. An event not to miss, as thousands of literary revelers crowd the Mission. Check out the line-up: http://www.litquake.org/

I’ll be doing a Litquake workshop for junior high students on Thursday, October 15th at the Main Library. With helmets and swords I’ll be introducing them to the Trojan War with my very own abbreviated version of The Iliad. By the time they leave the library they will know who was “the face that launched a thousand ships” and the original meaning of Achilles’ heel. Take a look at my book to see the full play used by teachers in their classrooms.