Week 2

but the gods
Stood in the doorway and laughed uncontrollably
When they saw Hephaestus’ cunning and craft.
One of them would look at another and snigger:

“Crime doesn’t pay.”
“The slow catches the swift.
Slow as he is, old Gimpy caught Ares,
The fastest god on Olympus.”
“Ares has to pay the fine for adultery.”
That was the general drift of their jibes.
And then Apollo turned to Hermes and said:

“Tell me, Hermes, would you be willing
To be pinched in chains if it meant you could lie
Side by side with golden Aphrodite?”

And the quicksilver messenger shot back:

“I tell you what, Apollo. Tie me up
With three times as many unbreakable chains,
And get all the gods and goddesses, too,
To come here and look, if it means I can sleep
Side by side with golden Aphrodite.”

The gods roared with laughter

The excerpt in book VIII that I chose is preceded by Aphrodite and Ares caught in bed, by Hephaestus, Aphrodite’s husband. Hephaestus snared the couple in unbreakable chains, and summoned the Gods to take a look. The Gods, perhaps not unexpected by Hephaestus, were laughing uncontrollably at the situation. Then, instead of condemning Ares for his wrongdoing, Apollo and Hermes discussed the sacrifices that one would make to be with Aphrodite.
The diction depicted a vivid imagery. In particular, the use of the phrase “shot back”, which meant “answered” by Hermes, showed that there was no hesitation in his response, that there was no room for moral debate. It would be worth it for Hermes, even if he has to suffer through humiliation of caught in chains and looked down by the pantheon of Gods and Goddesses, to be with Aphrodite. The repetition of “laughter”, in the beginning and the end of the excerpt, also helped paint the mood of the situation. The Gods were more so amused than disgusted by Ares and Aphrodite’s actions, and that what they did was not a deadly sin to them, as exemplified by the laughter that followed Hermes’ response.
From a larger perspective, fidelity is a major theme in Odyssey, and this excerpt presents the unique viewpoint of the immortals on the issue. Zeus and the patheon lamented the death of Agamemnon and the bloodshed that his wife’s affair had caused. Penelope wittingly dodged suitors to buy time for Odysseus to return, preserving her fidelity to her husband. Clearly, the mortals value of fidelity and are aware of the dire consequences of affairs. The immortals, however, seems to not value it so much. This is an outcome of being immortal, living forever long and able to experience in ways that mere mortals cannot. Perhaps monotonous relationships, fitting for relatively short-lived mortals, become boring for the long life span of the Gods. Perhaps the immortals have already experienced love, dedication, and commitment to a single person that they are seeking the thrills of being with someone else’s partner. This made me think about Odysseus turning down Calypso’s offer to become ageless. Perhaps Odysseus knew that being immortal is not as perfect as it seems, that maybe life is meant to only be lived in a limited amount of time.