Extra Reading Diary: The Odyssey

For the extra reading diary this week, I chose The Odyssey unit and one of the stories that stuck out to me the most during this unit was The Land of the Cyclopes.  I have always been interested in this story so I was looking forward to reading about it.  

While I was reading, there was a part that I really liked and was one of my favorite parts of the story because I liked the way it was written.  “The Cyclopes have no vessels with crimson-painted prows, no shipwrights to build sound boats with oars, to meet their need and let them travel to other men’s cities, as other races visit each other over the sea in ships, no craftsmen that is who might also have turned it into a fine colony.”  

Further on down in the story, in The Cyclops’ Cave, was my favorite line out of all of the readings in this unit.  “There a giant spent the night, one that grazed his herds far off, alone, and keeping clear of others, lived in lawless solitude. He was born a monster and a wonder, not like any ordinary human, but like some wooded peak of the high mountains, that stands there isolated to our gaze.”  I think that there is a truth to this statement for me personally and maybe to some other people too.  Every so often, I feel like I am keeping clear of others and not like any ordinary human.  I imagine that others have probably felt this way too but in addition to the actual words, I liked the description used to describe him not being like any ordinary human.  

Cyclops, Roman Mosaic Source: commons.wikimedia.org