LAL #044 — Norm Reads Aloud: The Odyssey, Book VI

"You know Zeus metes out fortune to good and bad men as it pleases him. Hardship he sent you, you must bear it." Odysseus awakens on foreign shores after being tossed for weeks on violent seas. Is he among friends or strangers? Athena arranges a friendly reception, the daughter of a prince, Nausikaa,  stumbles upon him. Her hand-maidens recoil in fear. "Strangers and beggars come from Zeus," she reminds them. "A small gift, then, is friendly." Odysseus utters immortal words to her, words which are the hope of all those bound together in matrimony: "And may the gods accomplish your desire: a home, a husband, and harmonious converse with him — the best thing in the world being a strong house held in serenity where man and wife agree." Nausikaa sees the nobility in this stranger. Book VI is brief and yet contains so much grace and dignity. Hospitality, fortitude, plain spoken gratitude — all the higher virtues are on display here. Listen. Enjoy. We are all Odysseus finding our way blindly, hopefully, in a world of traps and snares. ______________________________________ Too busy to read? Fine—I will read for you. Listen as though your soul's life depends on it, because, in fact it does. Herewith, Book VI of Homer's Odyssey. See: LAL #035 for my reading of Book V. See Also: Norm Pattis on Patreon. _____________________________________ I've a confession: Months go by without my ever turning on the television; I cannot recall the last time I watched cable news. I see the talking heads, and I think Macbeth: "Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing." All the chatter, all the news, the breathless repetition of the obvious, the rendering of half-truths into complete nonsense, and yet the audience, the millions who cannot tear themselves away from the noise. We're rubbernecking at the catastrophe that has become our common lot. We can do better. We are living on the capital of a great civilization, drawing down from ancient fonts of wisdom even as we tear at the foundations of what makes our foolish extravagance possible.  It's terrifying. So what can you do? Nourish the best within you and within our civilization. Read the classics, I say. Start with the Bible, or, with Homer. Aren't we all Odysseus's son now? "He's gone, no sign, no word of him; and I inherit trouble and tears …" Odysseus is a man of many wiles and troubles. Join me as we chart his course. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/norm-pattis/support