From Argyle Street is an ongoing exploration of literature, theology, and cocktails. If you’ve been forwarded this by someone else, why not sign up yourself?
Intro to The Odyssey
How do you introduce The Odyssey? It’s a work that needs no introduction, and yet, here’s one anyways.
It’s one of two ancient Greek epic poems that survived through multiple civilizations across several thousand years. Legend is there were upwards of a dozen epic poems originally, but The Iliad and The Odyssey were the only ones that endured.
The Iliad tells the story of the Trojan War, in which Ajax, Odysseus, Hector, and Achilles all fought. The Odyssey tells of Odysseus’s journey home afterward, back to his island kingdom, Ithaca.
Tradition attributes both works to the blind poet, Homer, of whom we know basically nothing (including whether he was actually blind). Regardless, he’s credited with the creation of two of history’s most influential stories ever told.
The Odyssey deals with so many themes it’s difficult to narrow in on any particular interpretation. Treachery and justice, curiosity and ambition, the desire for home and family, and even the transition from childhood to adulthood—these are all on the table.
It’s one of the few works that has always been considered worth reading again and again because each encounter yields new findings and insight. My most recent read was my third in total, and I was struck more by the story of Telemachus, Odysseus’s son, than by the hero himself.
His transition from boyhood into manhood required him to leave home; it took crossing the sea. For Odysseus, the sea presents an obvious obstacle on his return home.
The sum of these is that Homer’s “wine-dark sea” symbolizes a separation from home. One that can bolster a transition from childhood into adulthood, or one that causes acute pain because it separates you from everything you love most.
The Wine-Dark Sea
I came across a solid mocktail recipe that was lacking both strict ingredient specifications and a name. So, I played with it a bit, tightened up the measurements, added some gin, and titled it with a Homeric name:
“The Wine-Dark Sea”
It’s a delicious cocktail that’s basically a liquid vitamin. Plus, it puts you in the perfect mood for enjoying Odysseus’s journey across the wine-dark sea of the ancient Mediterranean world.
Enjoy!
Recipe for a Wine-Dark Sea
1/2 cup Pomegranate Juice
1/4 cup Fresh-Squeezed Orange Juice
1/2 cup Sparkling Water (I recommend Topo Chico)
2 oz. Gin
Steps
Add ice to a highboy cocktail glass.
Add all ingredients and stir to combine.
Enjoy!
Until next time, enjoy your reading!
-Trevor