Brann’s book is a wonderful companion to The Odyssey, as well as to The Iliad. I think that the book’s strength lies in the fact that it is not intended to be a scholarly commentary, but rather as a companion to actually reading and enjoying the work. Brann walks the reader through The Odyssey as a tour guide might walk one around the ruins of Athens or Ilium, pointing out aspects of the epic that may slip past the reader’s attention. Brann briefly discusses the debate on the “Homeric question” without going into too much detail, more as a way to familiarize the reader with the academic questions surrounding the authorship, an aspect of her narrative which I appreciated, since her work is primarily devoted to the enjoyment of reading the epic. Brann discusses the meanings of words and names, and how these are reflective of the different layers of meaning found in both The Iliad and The Odyssey, which reinforces the fact that learning Homeric Greek is a worthwhile endeavor in order to understand these meanings. She focuses on different parts of Odysseus’ journey to bring out what this epic taught the Greeks and what it continues to teach modern readers, and uses quotations from different authors, from Shakespeare to Tennyson, to illustrate the impact these works have had on succeeding generations. My favorite part of her book is where she discusses the homecoming of Odysseus, and the interplay between Odysseus and Penelope. I really missed that completely, the first time I read The Odyssey, and now I want to go back and re-read it. The overall feel of the book is of a teacher pointing out unnoticed aspects of the text, and will reward anyone who reads it. It is not a comprehensive look at The Odyssey, nor is it intended to be one. The intent is to bring the reader to a deeper appreciation of one of the foundations of the Western Canon.

I would love taking classes under her. Have all of her books but two. (She does a lot of her reading and writing in the bathtub._