through the wire people kept telling me this was the 'go to' translation of homers 'the odyssy' which i had read when a young man and really loved. it's one of those books that influences your life without really knowing it, a fantastic rich story and one which beckons a re read every few years. old captain mission never got around to that re read until now, this literally fell into my lap. and wow! it is indeed an excellent translation, it reads beautifully and flows with such frictionless it really is like drinking a book.
her introduction goes into some detail about the culture and history around the book, it looks at the characters, motivations and relationships blending the more mythological with the human events. 
after reading julian jaynme's 'origin of consciousness in the the bicameral mind' i always think of the events that take place in the odyssy in relation to jaymes's theory.
his idea is consciousness is relatively new to humans, and evolved from a metaphorical language. he suggests before consciousness humans had a two part structure to their mind. (two chambered)   
instead of an internal voice they heard an external one, an auditory hallucination that directs their actions. these voices were credited as gods.

you can fill in the gaps yourself.

it's another stinking hot morning at mission control as i wander around sipping my coffee. these days i am down to one cup each morning with a drop of milk. i don't eat anything until around 1500 or 1700 if i can. obviously taking medication i need something to accompany my morning meds so i occasionally have yogurt.

i water the front garden, it's threatening rain but you never know what it will do and my plants are thirsty. it's already sweltering and it's only 0930.