Themes that inspire me.

Homeric themes have always inspired me and lately, I've devoted countless hours of my time to the examination of his works. Homer was a mentor to many greats of brave and noble deeds. Amongst the best were Alexander the Great, who carried copies of the epics on his military campaigns. I have read the Iliad and the Odyssey several times which leads me to my blog for September 2021.

" Everyone of us have read these two books over and over again, again, and again. Each time I found the same things: an excellent narrative, superbly told; well-drawn characters; the worlds best plots; pathos, horror, excitement, calm, philosophy, history and so on. Yet each time I finished reading, my reaction has always been the same: I felt I had missed the point. I have read dozens of books on Greek Mythology, I studied ancient history, I lived in Europe for fifteen years, and I read criticism and comments by world renown authors. I re-read the Iliad and the Odyssey several times while writing the Black Water Mist Series., but the same old feelings remained, that I was missing the point. Homer, so it seems to me, was saying something very clearly, yet something I did not grasp. Between his words and my understanding was a veil. So I studied and wrote, studied and wrote more about Greek Mythology until I finalized a couple of questions that needed answered. Are both epics extended metaphor? Figurative language is a poetic device. To sustain the metaphor for the length of two books is long. Nevertheless, I found a Cape Fear Community College Professor at a block party, who by the way, is teaching both epics. I explained my theory of the two books and what I thought to be Homer's purpose. She totally disagreed with me and voiced her opinion of the two books. Not to be defeated or deterred, I put everything aside to explore the possibility of the Homer's epics being the said metaphor. What did he think worthwhile to put into a book length poem, at a time when writing was either unknown, or if known, an expensive process? What was the incentive, good literature apart, for poets, and scholars to memorize both books even after writing was known?"