tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8117439219993737916.post2200506757491215370..comments2023-06-11T04:55:09.337-07:00Comments on Alms for Oblivion: OdysseusThomas Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855333805635398250noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8117439219993737916.post-23121239175041368212007-08-06T16:14:00.000-07:002007-08-06T16:14:00.000-07:00I don't know what it is about greek mythology but ...I don't know what it is about greek mythology but they definitely did something right. Something about it holds a special place in my heart. So, I would have to say I couldn't agree with you more (except maybe about Achilles).The wanderer Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07785412383894754060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8117439219993737916.post-83357528614914392612007-08-06T14:02:00.000-07:002007-08-06T14:02:00.000-07:00Thanks, Jeff.Thanks, Jeff.Thomas Bankshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06855333805635398250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8117439219993737916.post-87026973315890755072007-08-06T09:36:00.000-07:002007-08-06T09:36:00.000-07:00The goodness of these works stands out in sharp re...The goodness of these works stands out in sharp relief when you contrast them with kitsch. Worth considering:<BR/><A HREF="http://www.leithart.com/archives/003185.php" REL="nofollow">Leithart on the "War Against Artifice"</A>Jeff Mosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08114418077449866628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8117439219993737916.post-86239103498138778392007-08-06T09:10:00.000-07:002007-08-06T09:10:00.000-07:00A beautiful and wise post.Odysseus is the kind of ...A beautiful and wise post.<BR/><BR/>Odysseus is the kind of great man who is all the greater, because his greatness is accessible to other men.<BR/><BR/>The heroes of the Bible are amazingly diverse and worthy of long meditation: besides those you mentioned, there are Joseph, Joshua, Jael, Jephthah, Samson, Uzziah, Josiah, Nehemiah, Mary Magdalene, Peter, Stephen, Mark...just to pick a few of the more "interesting" ones. Each of them with their own glory, and each with their own pathos; each one with a unique place in the stream of mankind that flows between First Adam and Last Adam.<BR/><BR/>I need to go back and read the <I>Odyssey</I> again. I myself have been more deeply moved by Tolkien's great characters, particularly in the <I>Silmarillion</I>: Ulmo, Fëanor, Thingol, Galadriel, Turgon, Elrond, Denethor, for their heights of lordly majesty; Finrod Felagund, Beren, Túrin, Mithrandir, Théoden, Faramir, and above all Aragorn and Frodo, for that heart-rending mixture of nobility and suffering that suggests the Odyssey, or the best of Norse myth, even while it transcends it. As Lewis wrote about <I>The Lord of the Rings</I>: "Here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold iron; here is a book that will break your heart.... good beyond hope."Jeff Mosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08114418077449866628noreply@blogger.com