This would make a great set-up for someone who hasn't yet read Homer and a worthwhile reminder of interesting stories within the epics for those who have. I appreciated the structure - dividing "moments" of Homer into topical chapters that were more pedestrian than academic. While most provide an interesting view supplied by the author, few go very deep. I came away with few insights - humans get their value because the gods bother to notice them.

There were times when the writing itself became a bit to choppy for my pleasure - page 19 - "Besides telling some of the delightful discoveries any well-disposed reader can make in epics, I would like, really incidentally, to demonstrate a way of reading the epics that will, I think, make more such things reveal themselves." I love commas. I don't love them this much.

If someone said to me that the were planning on reading either Homeric epic I would suggest they start with Brann's book as a primer.

"For my purposes, ... the best commentators on both epics are Homer's fellow poets of all ages."

One of the very best books for deepening one's appreciation of Homer. Very well-written, and tremendously observant and thoughtful. Required reading for those who teach the Iliad and Odyssey.

Still a delight, but occasionally goes too far.

Highly recommend to teachers and lovers of Homer, but would also be a great companion to anyone wanting to tackle the Iliad or Odyssey for the first time. One of my grad school advisors derogatorily referred to my other advisor as “an appreciator, not a scholar”—which I thought actually pretty high praise—and I would put Brann delightfully in that camp. No high literary theory here, just an excellent reader showing us how to get more from these books.

Really excellent! She has so many insights into the characters, actions, layers of story in the Iliad & Odyssey! These were very interesting, delightfully Short essays, and now I'm Almost looking forward to re-reading Homer!

Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak are stuck in my head. "Imma leave the door OOOPEEEEN," said Telemachus when he was supposed to close (and lock) the door where he was hiding the armor of the suitors.

Made me want to drop everything and learn Greek.

The first 75 pages are really well put together. Each chapter is like a short essay or classroom talk. They are independent of each other. The later part of the book goes through all the books of the Odyssey. I thought the beginning and these chapters were the most interesting.

Love love love!!

Great collection of vignettes and moments from the Iliad and the Odyssey (mostly the Odyssey).

This book was so incredibly helpful as I taught The Odyssey. Eva Brann’s 50 years of insight on Odysseus are literally invaluable but they can be purchased or even just borrowed from the library! I loved her way of exploring some of the themes of the book in short, roughly sequential chapters. This was a great guide that has helped me interpret this story and given me better historical context for The Odyssey. Along with An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic, this book helped me love the adventure of The Odyssey. These two books by college professors and classics scholars give me a crash course in what makes The Odyssey such an enduring story so that I could convey genuine enthusiasm about this story to my students!