by Walt Whitman

Reminiscences of Walt Whitman
Read this thought-provoking article, originally printed in the Atlantic Monthly in 1902, in which author John Townsend Trowbridge examines the genius of Walt Whitman—along with his shortcomings. As a class, discuss the article. What in it do you find surprising? What is your opinion of the author? What impression do you now have of Whitman?

Homer's Iliad and Odyssey
Whitman was profoundly influenced by Homer's epic poem the Iliad. He later created his own epic poem, Song of Myself, that describes the journey of a hero. Explore this student-generated site devoted to the Iliad and Odyssey and speculate about why the work might have appealed to Whitman. As a class, discuss whether Whitman's characters seem as heroic as the "godlike or lordly born characters" written of in ancient Greece.