Thread by @DrOsamaSiddique

In the deepest recesses of my memory are images of illustrated classics that have stayed with me and still give me a thrill. One such image is of a raft-wrecked and exhausted Odysseus who is desperately trying to make his way to land but is confounded by the vengeful Poseidon

who brews vicious storms and mighty waves. The artist in that comic book captured it so well. I just saw that image again after decades & it evoked so many memories. Years later as I revisit the The Odyssey through a late 19th century translation and read the following:

I am reminded of the feeling of awe that it first inspired:

"So for two nights and two days he was wandering in the swell of the sea, and much his heart boded of death ... but when he was within earshot of the shore, and heard now the thunder of the sea against the reefs ..

- for the great wave crashed against the dry land belching in terrible wise, & all was covered with foam of the sea, - for there were no harbours for ships nor shelter, but jutting headlands & reefs and cliffs; then at last the knees of Odysseus were loosened & his heart melted,

and in heaviness he spoke to his own brave spirit..."

I am convinced that it is very important to evoke a sense of wonder in children and introduce them to classical literature in every language fairly early on. Good pictorial depictions - like the Classics Illustrated Comics -

are a great tool to get them hooked to reading literature, an amazing aesthetic experience on their own, & something that brings about a lifetime of joy & reflection through art as well as the written word #TheOdyssey #Homer #ClassicalLiterature #IllustratedBooks #Comics

#Reading #Childhood #Fiction #ChildhoodReading #Nostalgia

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