Topic: Memory
Focus: The binary of memory vs forgetting with the guiding question “what is worth remembering?”
Thesis: In the Odyssey, memories prove to be more curse than treasure; yet the present cannot compete with the augmented past, where certain memories—of home, hospitality, and glory—take on a poetic shine as time rubs them smooth.
Passage 1:
But Helen, child of Zeus, had other ideas.
She threw a drug into the wine bowl
They were drinking from, a drug
That stilled all pain, quieted all anger
And brought forgetfulness of every ill.
Whoever drank wine laced with this drug
Would not be sad or shed a tear that day.
Not even if his own father and mother
Should lie there dead, or if someone killed
His brother, or son, before his eyes.
(4.231-240)
This drug is desirable to Helen and Menelaus, because they do not deem their memories worth the pain they cause. Telemachus, on the other hand, would not have voluntarily taken the drug, because the memory of his father, despite the pain it causes him, gives him purpose.
Passage 2:
They headed out and made contact with the Lotus-Eaters,
Who meant no harm but did give my men
Some lotus to eat. Whoever ate that sweet fruit
Lost the will to report back, preferring instead
To stay there, munching lotus, oblivious of home.
I hauled them back wailing to the ships,
Bound them under the benches, then ordered
All hands to board their ships on the double
Before anyone else tasted the lotus.
(9.92-100)
The Lotus-Eater’s island is one of many places Odysseus encounters where he could forget the past and find a pleasant future. Had his crew remained there, they would have lived out the rest of their days, oblivious but at peace, instead of clinging to the immaterial memory of home and meeting an early death.
Passage 3:
I died from the same grief. The keen-eyed goddess
Did not shoot me at home with her gentle shafts,
Nor did any long illness waste my body away.
No, it was longing for you, my glorious Odysseus,
For your gentle heart and your gentle ways,
That robbed me of my honey-sweet life.
(11.198-203)
The memory of her lost son killed Odysseus’ mother. Solid proof of the danger memory poses, I’d say.
Maya, this already sounds amazing. I’m excited to see how your essay will progress, and even more so eager to read your complete and polished version. I really like how you were able to further the topic of memory into something that is not explicit anywhere in the text rather floats through the unconscious of the characters (First example). They know what is noteworthy, but they don’t describe it as you will in your paper based on this. Awesome job, as usual. 🙂