The Naked Lion

This seems like a good place to store my favorite Homer quotes, so here is one from my reading today.

In Odyssey Book 6, Odysseus lies unconscious after being shipwrecked on the island of the Phaeacians. Aroused from oblivion by the shouts of Nausicaa and her handmaids at play, he struggles to shed his mind of cobwebs as he ponders his location. He emerges from the heavy brush, grabbing a leafy branch to hide his nakedness, and as Homer describes it:

βῆ δ᾽ ἴμεν ὥς τε λέων ὀρεσίτροφος ἀλκὶ πεποιθώς,
ὅς τ᾽ εἶσ᾽ ὑόμενος καὶ ἀήμενος, ἐν δέ οἱ ὄσσε
δαίεται· (Odyssey 6.130-131)

(But he went, going as a mountain-reared lion, sure in his prowess,
who goes, whipped by rain and wind, fire blazing in his two eyes;)

Somehow the juxtaposition of a naked man holding a leaf over his privates with the simile of a lion is at once humorous and noble to me. In any case, it sounds much better in Homer's words and rhythm.

The Greeks and Democracy

Below is a short commentary from the teacher's manual to A Reading Course in Homeric Greek, by Raymond Schoder and Vincent Horrigan (Lesson 119). This course is terrific, not only for its teaching of Homeric Greek, but for its insightful and informative commentary on Greek culture. This is a good example.

The second paragraph is especially apropos given the current state of our republic.

It is important here neither to exaggerate nor underestimate the historical importance and later influence of the Greek experiment in democracy. Be sure, then, that this essay is read carefully, then re-read to get things in balanced perspective. The Greeks certainly had for a considerable period an exalted and authentic ideal of democracy; but they also lacked all too commonly the moral fiber and selfless generosity to make the ideal work out effectively in practice. Some of their exaggerated steps in pursuit of the ideal in abstraction from other

2009 Motorcycle Fall Tour

Each fall, my Lady and I go for a bike ride to view the awesome Idaho mountain vistas while the autumn colors are in full blaze. This year we deviated from our normal route through the Sawtooth mountains and Sun Valley, and toured instead the Teton and Yellowstone Parks.

Divna Ljubojevic

My discovery on Ancient Faith Radio today. The song is "To Thee Our Captain," the Kontakion of Annunciation.

Desiring the right thing

What does not satisfy when we find it, was not the thing we were desiring.

C.S. Lewis The Pilgrim’s Regress, Bk. 7, Ch. 9

C. S. Lewis: That Hideous...Chauvinist?

I am re-reading the marvelous Space Trilogy of C. S. Lewis for the third time, and at present just over halfway through That Hideous Strength. I’ve always considered Perelandra to be the crowning work of this set, but now I’m almost convinced THS should hold that honor. This time through, I am taking the time to research thoroughly the many quotes and allusions, and it is as though the blinds in a dim room have been drawn, allowing the brilliance of the sun to illuminate and color the exquisite details, and to provide better perspective on the overall depth and breadth of Lewis’s genius in this masterpiece. In particular, I have noticed how much of the book deals with the beauty of love, especially married love. Lewis explicitly mentions in his letters that he was influenced by the poetry of Coventry Patmore, which is readily apparent from even a cursory reading of that amorous poet.
While researching some of these quotes, I was quite surprised to find how many of his critics consider Lewis to be a chauvinist, or sexist, or both. Sometimes I wondered whether they were even reading the same book! For example, in his epiphany at the end of the book, Mark has finally realized how shabbily he had treated his own gift:

He was discovering the hedge after he had plucked the rose, and not only plucked it but torn it all to pieces and crumpled it with hot, thumb-like, greedy fingers. How had he dared? And who that understood could forgive him? He knew now what he must look like in the eyes of her friends and equals. Seeing that picture, he grew hot to the forehead, alone there in the mist.
The word Lady had made no part of his vocabulary save as a pure form or else in mockery. He had laughed too soon.

It seems incredible that someone who wrote such effusive descriptions of the sanctity of marital love could be accused of chauvinism. Upon further reflection, however, it started to make sense in a world where that Hideous Strength still holds sway.

Why?

As opposed to my first posting under this title, there really is an answer this time. I'm trying out this blog service to compare it with my first attempt and decide which site I like the best. Until I decide where to land, they will be duplicates of each other to the extent feasible.