(no subject)

I'm reading the Iliad (Fitzgerald translation) -- I do actually rather like the translation, but I am struck by how whiny and obnoxious all the characters are. If this were a novel, I would have already skipped to the last page to find out the plot. Of course, I already know the plot of the Iliad, so I guess I could even skip that step.

ACHILLES: Waah! Mommy, help!
ZEUS: Dude, I'm the god of gods here. Don't mess with me. Unless you're a pretty girl, that is. Yeah, then I'll do whatever you say. Because I'm so godly and all.
OTHER GODS: Okay, he said not to mess with him, so we'll just go behind his back. Because being a god and all, he won't realize what we're doing. Once the Judeo-Christian god gets the idea to be omniscient, he's gonna kick our butts.
MORTALS: Hey Zeus, we're making sacrifices to you and we'd like you to do various contradictory things!
ZEUS: I've already made up my mind to help that pretty Thetis there, so you could've saved your meat and wine and had it yourself. But thanks anyway.

Speaking of whiny...

I've been reading the Old Testament in great gobs this week. My church (as opposed to D's, that is) is doing the OT in Sunday School this year. Between being completely bored by their take on Genesis (although it's kind of fun to see the sorts of contortions you have to go through to make the text support the belief that Eve was *right* to take the fruit, when it so clearly doesn't) and other events kicking in, they somehow got to 1 Samuel without me noticing. I'm doing something different and reading the Living Bible translation, which is frustratingly non-poetic (I've never seriously read through any translation but good old King James) but does bring out the amazingly rich story.

The story is good, but reading Genesis and Exodus in big gulps has really emphasized that those books are filled with obnoxious whiny and/or sneaky sorts, including God. The best part, I've always thought, is the "duel" between Rachel and Leah where they start naming their kids stuff like, "I have prevailed over my sister by claiming my maid and my husband's kid as my own!" Makes me crack up every time. They are seriously messed up.

I was reminded on Sunday, though, that by 1 Samuel, if I ever make it that far, there are some pretty cool sorts. Samuel, and later Nathan, are the kings of the snappy comeback. ("What then is this bleating of goats that I hear?") And I absolutely adore Jonathan. So I've got some incentive to keep going even though the beginning is slow. Also, I've made it to the shinies in Exodus, which unsurprisingly is my favorite part of the Pentateuch.