Michael–Memory and the Odyssey

Topic: Binary of Memory vs. forgetfulness, with a focus on the prominent importance given to the act of remembering and the cautionary tales and adverse attitudes towards forgetfulness.

Thesis: In The Odyssey, Homer is obsessed with recounting as many stories as possible, regardless of their importance to the telos; indeed, though there are times when certain characters would prefer to forget the past, nearly all of these episodes are cast in a negative light.

Passage 1: Book 21 (9-39)

And there lay the curved bow

And the quiver, still loaded with arrows,

Gifts which a friend of Odysseus had given him

When they met in Lacedaemon long ago.

This was Iphitus, Eurytus’ son, a godlike man.

They had met in Messene, in the house of Ortilochus.

Odysseus had come to collect a debt

The Messenians owed him: three hundred sheep

They had taken from Ithaca in a sea raid,

And the shepherds with them. Odysseus

Had come to get them back, a long journey

For a young man, sent by his father and elders

Iphitus had come to search for twelve mares

He had lost, along with the mules they were nursing.

These mares turned out to be the death of Iphitus

When he came to the house of Heracles, Zeus’ tough-hearted son, who killed him,

Guest though he was, without any regard

For the gods’ wrath or the table they had shared—

Killed the man and kept the strong-hoofed mares.

It was while looking for these mares that Iphitus

Met Odysseus and gave him the bow

Which old Eurytus had carried and left to his son.

Odysseus gave him a sword and spear

To mark the beginning of their friendship

But before they had a chance to entertain each other

Zeus’ son killed Iphitus, son of Eurytus,

A man like the gods. Odysseus did not take

The bow with him on his black ship to Troy.

It lay at home as a memento of his friend,

And Odysseus carried it only on Ithaca.

Notes: These 30 lines are solely dedicated to a chronicle of Odysseus’ bow. Rehashing the bow’s lengthy history in such a verbose, detailed and repetitive manner adds little to the teleological scheme of the narrative. Like Eumaeus’ backstory, considering this passage as “unpractical”, belies the reader’s inaccurate expectations of the narration. Indeed, the bow is the quintessence of the immense value Homer places on remembering everything.

Passage 2: Book 4 (239-248)

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.

Helen had gotten this potent, cunning drug

From Polydamna, the wife of Thon,

A woman in Egypt, where the land

Proliferates with all sorts of drugs,

Many beneficial, many poisonous.

Men there know more about medicines

Than any other people on earth,

For they are of the race of Paeeon, the Healer

Notes: the fact that Helen did this operation in secret, points to a reality in the attitudes of the time—namely, at least amongst the royalty, achieving forgetfulness wasn’t something typically sought out. This is especially true for Telemachus, whose memory of his father is the entire reason he sets out on his own journey.

Passage 3: Book 9 (92-102)

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.

They were aboard in no time and at their benches,

Churning the sea white with their oars.

Notes: The main takeaway from this passage is that if people don’t remember their purpose in life they become goalless zombies. They may be happier, but judging by Odysseus’ refusal to even experiment with the Lotus, it is clear that this was considered a forbidden pleasure. Judging by Odysseus’ reaction, he knew right away that such intensely relaxing forgetfulness is too intoxicating, and would derail any prospect of returning home.