- 439: Book X, Lines 53-60
“The winds rushed out and bore them far out to sea, weeping
As their native land faded on the horizon.
When I woke up and saw what had happened
I thought long and hard about whether I should
Just go over the side and end it all in the sea
Or endure in silence and remain among the living.
In the end I decided to bear it and live.”
At this point in Odysseus’ tale, he’s semi-humorously questioning whether or not committing suicide is the best route to take given his current situation. For a long time now, Odysseus has been travelling from place to place, out at sea with a disappearing crew, and unsure of his ultimate fate. He had been fighting his hardest to get back home, warding off all of the immortal-sent obstacles that were in his way, but his efforts just didn’t seem to substantiate. “Sleep” got the best of him in the end, and caused the ship to be pushed off of its path. This passage is a perfect combination of comedic relief through hyperbolized anger and a serious look into the prospect of the life or death binary.
The passage is striking not only because of its poetic nature, but also because of its presentation of an internal existential argument, contemplation about such a grandiose subject. Odysseus, in a comedic context, considers the most polarized and seemingly concrete binary – being alive, or not being alive – and what side he should chose to align with. Paradoxically, though, it’s at this moment that the reader is given the opportunity to realize how accessible either one of those sides is, and how being alive is also being dead, because of the ability to do the latter at any time.
This is not like other binaries that are based on a scale, that have a gradual change from one end of the spectrum to another, or that allow the option of floating in the middle. It’s a fact that you are only alive, or you are only dead. The destruction of this binary, however, comes with the inevitability of each outcome; by being alive, you are destined for death. This whole scene complicates the spectrum of existing by introducing the idea of literal “sudden death” coupled with bodily autonomy. It almost suggests that the gray space in the black and white is the realization of one’s presence in the middle – the mental state of being aware of the life/death choice.
It also incorporates the role of the Fates and the humans on a larger scale. When looking at a scene like this in Greek mythology, its hard not to wonder if the Fates plan such a change in the inter-weavings, or if the human makes the spontaneous decision to snip their string then and there.
Hey Regina,
As I read this excerpt, I relaized that there were many oppositional pairs that were connected with another. You mentioned the life/death binary, which I also saw as a land/sea binary. At this point, Odysseus is on the water, unaware of where he will end up or where Poseidon and the gods will take him. However, he has longed for life on his land of Ithaca. This passage brought up the idea of fate, an idea rarely seen because of the heroic characterisic of many of the characters. I like how you mentioned fate because from this short passage, it appears that Odysseus has the decision, but we do not know if that had to do with the the higher beings of Fate.
Fascinating post. It’s a moment that I have trouble with, tonally; I think you are right that it’s not entirely serious. Yet how comical IS he being? He may be amping up his despair for comic (or dramatic) effect, since he is after all telling his tale to an audience–and he’s a master at winning over audiences. But the desire to die, expressed here, has serious implications. It may also be *felt* as well as performed. Which raises, for me, the question of what constitutes life for Odysseus at this point (journeying, delay, constantly moving backwards) versus what constitutes death (rest? more sleep, a longer sleep?).
I love how you pointed out that no scale or degrees exist for this binary, and how that differentiates it from the other binaries in the epic. Most of the other binaries work and are important to the epic because of their flexibility and the potential for a gray area (e.g. Odysseus’ midpoint existence between god and man). But focusing on the life or death binary is interesting because, while it might not be as obvious or as frequently mentioned as some of the other binaries, it is entirely central to the epic. The whole point is for Odysseus to reach Ithaca, but his journey is very dangerous and he could easily die. And if he dies, then he will not achieve his telos. It probably sounds obvious to the point of humorous, but Odysseus really needs to stay alive. I agree–the question about the Fates fits perfectly here, too, because it makes you wonder how Odysseus could come so close to death, so many times, and still make it home.