Reading Options

The unit that I am choosing for week 2 is the section about Homer's Illiad.  This unit intrigued me because I know bits and pieces of the Illiad, but have never read it and feel as though I really ought to be more acquainted with such a classic work.  The only connection that comes to mind in modern art is a movie called Troy (I think?) which I haven't seen, so that hardly spoils the plot line.

I was also intrigued by Alice's Looking Glass.  Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass have both been on my reading list for a long time, but I never quite got to them.  I know that the stories are incredibly creative, and I enjoy the language of excerpts I've read (such as Jabberwocky), which makes me want to read the whole thing.

Perhaps I'm using this class as an excuse to read things that I always felt I ought to but never quite got around to, because Dante's Inferno stood out to me too.  I think that this is because I know it's famous and influential, but I've never read it and would like to.

I am also interested in reading the Welsh Fairy Book (Thomas).  I am not familiar with Welsh legends at all (except, I suppose, a very vague and general knowledge of fairies and the like), but I love celtic culture.  Also, according to the overview Thomas was a schoolmaster in Whales, which gives his retelling of Welsh fairy tales a ring of legitimacy.

(Illustration by Gustave Doré)