Spoilers on Tonight's Reading

Okay, spoiler alert if you haven’t read tonight’s reading yet.

I really just want to talk about Penelope. We finally get to see Odysseus and Penelope reunited (even though she doesn’t quite know who he is yet). But in this scene, I can’t help but be frustrated with her. Odysseus comes up, disguised, and says that he’s Odysseus in the flesh, and heard that he was alive and well and on his way home. Penelope just says, “nah, that’s not true, but I’ll cry about it some more anyway.” Seriously?? I really understand that she’s “lost” her husband to war, and has no idea if he’s dead or alive. But come on, this is the one guy that’s come to the house since Odysseus left that wasn’t a complete jerk, and he’s telling her that Odysseus is alive and on his way home. Why doesn’t she believe him?

Before you think it mighty cruel of me to judge her this way, remember that I’m thinking in the context of this society. Gods dressed up like people and declared fate ALL THE TIME, and she couldn’t believe this man. Now, she might have had some false hopes over the years, but compared to the amount of people who tell lies like this (and by that number I mean practically nobody) his credibility is through the roof.

Modern reading and Greek mythology

Like many of us, I had my own “Greek Mythology Phase” when I was younger. But, my phase was a lot different than that of my peers.
I did not read Percy Jackson. (I’ll let you take a moment to let that sink in…) It’s true. I never read the books, probably never will. But, I did read the Cronus Chronicles, a series by the author Anne Ursu. It was probably the first “hero” series I ever read. She uses greek mythology in a way that’s really entertaining, and is actually a little educational. She also gives descriptions of the various gods/goddesses, beasts, etc., in  the back of the book. After reading the first book, I pretty much grabbed anything I could find on greek mythology (not including PJ), and began reading. Needless to say, I was pretty excited when I found out that we’d be reading The Odyssey for school later that year.
With Greek Mythology you’re pretty much guaranteed a hero story, and even though the logic might not always make sense, it’s still pretty cool to see these characters interacting with the gods in this way.
But, I still don't understand why books like Percy Jackson get so popular,
while books like the Cronus Chronicles don't.

Journeys in the life of a "heroic" novel reader

There are a lot of different books that should be classified as "hero" books, but usually, I read more books about an everyday person. I mean, I've read some of the Harry Potter books, and I've read many dystopian novels where the protagonist is the hero. But now that I think about it, I really don't read many books about heroes. I’m the type of person that can identify plot clues, and am able to foresee what happens at the end of a book. It’s frustrating for me, because I’d rather have more books where I can’t tell what’s going to happen next. Then again, I seem to like books that purposefully give you the ending in a handbasket at the beginning, and then do something cool and/or interesting with that, which is probably why I loved TFIOS. Anyway, for me, it’s not as easy to find a really good book that does something like that for me. That’s why when I read really good books, I harp on and on about them, because it truly means something to me to have a book that does the unpredictable. I guess this is why you won’t usually catch me reading “heroic” novels.