Great Works of Literature I (Fall 2016)

Topic: Memory

Thesis: Memory is the most useful and powerful tool featured in The Odyssey.

Passage 1: Book I Lines 356-364

“‘Phemius, you know many other songs
To soothe human sorrows, songs of the exploits
Of gids and men. Sing one of those
To your enraptured audience as they sit
Sipping their wine. But stop singing this one,
This painful song that always tears at my heart.
I am already sorrowful, constantly grieving
For my husband, remembering him, a man
Renowned in Argos and throughout all Hellas.'”

• Penelope has rejected her suitors while still grieving over Odysseus
• As she cannot actually “cling” to Odysseus for support, she only has the memory of him to hold onto
• Her faithfulness is to the memory of him, not the actual person, as she does not know whether he is alive or not

Passage 2: Book V Lines 151-157

“His eyes were perpetually wet with tears now,
His life draining away in homesickness.
The nymph had long since ceased to please.
He still slept with her at night in her cavern,
An unwilling lover mated to her eager embrace.
Days he spent sitting on the rocks by the breakers,
Staring out to sea with hollow, salt-rimmed eyes.”

• Odysseus’ persistence to return home is fueled by his memory
• At several points throughout the poem, Odysseus was in a desirable place where he could have just stayed and fared less trouble
• Aeaea, Calypso’s Island, and Phaeacia are some of the places Odysseus could have chosen to stay peacefully
• The memory of his home and family is what makes him want to return

Passage 3:  Book III Lines 132-137

“No man could match Odysseus for cunning.
You father was the master of all strategies –
If indeed you are his son. I am amazed
As I look upon you. The way you speak
Is very much like him. One would not think
A younger man could speak so appropriately.”

• Everyone Telemachus recieves help from praises Odysseus (here it is Nestor)
• Telemachus receives help because people remember how great his father was
• The memory of the heroic Odysseus is what drives people to help him in his search for information

In The Odyssey, death is something that is possible while being alive. A person being away from their home, held up in a place against their will without control over their own fate is essentially dead. While Odysseus was held against his will, chaos ensued in his home as his family and home fell apart. Suitors that wanted to steal Odysseus’ fortune as if it were their own harassed Odysseus’ wife Penelope. Telemachus was threatened and the suitors squandered his inheritance. The suitors, who could not be coaxed to leave, were abusing Penelope’s hospitality. If one is held far away from their home, family and life, he is dead. When one’s life is bound to seduction and pleasure and these cease to please, he is essentially dead.

You know how precious a father’s life is
To children who have seen him through a long disease
Gripped by a malevolent spirit and melting away,
But then released from suffering in a spasm of joy.
(Book V, 397-400)

This passage speaks about the feelings of the children of a man nearing death after he reverses the course of his disease and beats the odds of death, returning back to life as it had been. All of the things the proverbial father longed to do but could not do while he was ill could be done once again. Odysseus longs for home, his wife Penelope and son Telemachus, as they long for him. Throughout Odysseus’ journeys back to Ithaca, his fate has been wrought to peril and ruin by Poseidon, as Odysseus’ life has melted away from him and his loved ones. As readers, we long to see the foreshadowing of this passage come to its fruition at the end of the poem.

‘Don’t try to sell me on death, Odysseus.
I’d rather be a hired hand back up on earth,
Slaving away for some poor dirt farmer,
Than lord it over all these withered dead.
(Book XI, 510-513)

Here, Achilles says that he would rather be alive with no status than to be dead with fame and legacy, having died prematurely without seeing his son grow. At this point, Odysseus gets a new perspective on life and death, and likely questions his achievements. Were all his adventures and victories worth the years of suffering? Should he have curbed his curious bravado to return to his life in Ithaca instead of trying to make a name for himself? It was now as if Odysseus was already dead. Glory and honor outlive a person, and are the affairs of other people once the person dies. However, Apollo professes that being alive and at home matters more than what others think of a person after he dies.

Topic: Memory

Focus: The act of sharing memories/story telling as a social tool. How is story telling used to further relationships and achieve a goal?

Thesis: Throughout The Odyssey, memory and storytelling are subtly granted a protean trait whereas it is observed acting in different ways to help our characters achieve a task whether it be to prove a point, further a relationship, or act as a bridge between past and present.

Odysseus says this to Amphinomus, then proceeds to him this touching story advising him to be wary of his shameful behavior. Odysseus, nor Athena, have any intention of sparing a single suitor and so our cunning Odysseus is not sharing this story to build a relationship or really even allow Amphinomus the opportunity to redeem himself, rather to inflict suffering without physical abrasion or blowing his disguise. This is an example of memory being used tactically. 

Book XVIII lines 132-133, 160-164

“Amphinous, you come across as a sensible man,

Just as your father was. I have heard of him…

“He spoke, poured libation, drank the sweet wine,

And then gave the cup back to Amphinomus,

Who went away through the hall with his head bowed

And his heart heavy with a sense of foreboding.”

We see Menelaus and Telemachus exchange stories, thus bonding upon common ground despite never having met each other. This story telling helps build trust using pillars they both support, here the pillar is Odysseus’ honor. After this night of emotional display and feasting Menelaus proves to be a great help to Telemachus. 

“What’s this? Here in my house, the son

Of my dear friend who did so much for me!”

Book IV lines 176-177

Another, and possibly the most interesting way in which memory appears in The Odyssey is throughout the narration. We have multiple narrators, and at one point our main narrator is Odysseus. Through his portion of the retelling, he repeatedly breaks out to directly address Eumaeus. This is significant it because it adds a dimension to memory, granting it the power to act as a tool in a strategic plan, connecting people, and connecting the past and present. Eumaeus was present for these events, but taking a moment to mention him is almost like hosting a commentary on a film. 

“And you answered him, Eumaeus, my swineherd:” 

Book XVI line 499

Topic: Women

Thesis: All women that Odysseus’ confronts on his journey home pose an inevitable threat, either through seduction, wit, beauty, or sheer strength, to men on missions. Although these women aren’t always the focus of the plot, and are usually included as a hindrance (which adds to the point), they fully make a case for the power of femininity.

Book XII, Lines 200-208:

-This passage is describing the efforts that Odysseus’ crew made to keep him safe from the sirens’ song, while taking their own precautions with “sweet wax”

-The sheer power of the beautiful voice of a siren is enough to take a man down, not physically but in every other facet of his life (home life, happiness)

-Sirens can only affect men/are not a hindrance to other women… Unity? Togetherness?

-Femininity: Meadow habitat, favorable voice, play upon the conventional weaknesses of men (forgetfulness, unawareness)

Book XII, Lines 263-267:

-Scylla, debatably, is the most intimidating and feared character in the story, possessing an incredible amount of strength and evilness

-However, her ability to evoke fear in the minds of all men, and also take down any that come by her, is a fantastic showcasing of feminine power

-Her abilities aren’t typically feminine at all, but the fact that she is indeed a female character gives more credibility to women as a whole

-Her description and role were perhaps meant to be a dig at women, but ended up further supporting female power

Book V, Lines 191-204:

-The nymph Calypso, through beauty, power, and seduction, was able to keep Odysseus on her island for almost 10 years

-Was able to provide him with pleasure and sexual satisfaction in light of his incurable lament for his family and homeland

-She was very domestic, caring, and almost wife-like to Odysseus – all very feminine values. Had this been a man keeping Odysseus against his will, one who couldn’t provide him with sex and care, he most likely wouldn’t have lasted

-Calypso also made a great feminist argument supporting her perseverance and justification in keeping Odysseus on her island

(May include Penelope’s case and/or Athena’s as an add-on or substitution)

Topic: Death of the suitors

The bloody end of the suitors fulfills the frequently-mentioned prophecy of Odysseus. Through his might and wit, Odysseus took revenge against the young schemers in heroic fashion.

Main Idea:

The death of the suitors shed light on Odysseus’s character, no matter how God-like, is flawed and human after all. As a cunning hero, there were more optimal methods to drive the suitors out of his house; instead, Odysseus fixated on taking revenge for his wife and the embarrassment he received as a beggar. The bloodshed could have led to much more, as evidenced in Agamemnon’s story. Odysseus, destroyer of cities, used the death of suitors to win glory, much like he did with the Trojan War and Polyphemus.

Supporting Passages:

“But spare your people. We will pay you back

For all we have eaten and drunk in your house.

We will make a collection; each man will put in

The worth of twenty oxen; we will make restitution

In bronze and gold until your heart is soothed.

Until then no one could blame you for being angry.”

Odysseus fixed him with a stare and said:

“Eurymachus, not even if all of you

Gave me your entire family fortunes,

All that you have and ever will have,

Would I stay my hands from killing.

You courted my wife, and you will pay in full.

Your only choice now is to fight like men

Or run for it. Who knows, one or two of you

Might live to see another day. But I doubt it.”

(Lines 58 – 72, Book 22)

The suitor Eurymachus begs Odysseus to spare the rest of suitors, offering him plenty of restitution to put an end to the bloodshed. Here, Odysseus is clearly given an option to stop killing the very people that he presides over. Odysseus, however, did not even give it any thought and made it clear that he will kill all the suitors.

Less than half of them took his advice

And stayed in their seats. Most of them

Jumped up with a whoop and went with Eupeithes.

They rushed to get weapons, and when the mob

Had armed themselves in glowing bronze,

They put the city behind them, following Eupeithes

(Lines 481 – 486, Book 24)

Eupeithes, father of Antinous, rallied many Ithacans against the atrocities that Odysseus caused. Had Athena not intervene, Odysseus may have suffered a tragic ending, stemming from his decision to put all the suitors to death.

And the ghost of Agamemnon responded:

“Well done, Odysseus, Laertes’ wily son!

200You won a wife of great character

In Icarius’ daughter. What a mind she has,

A woman beyond reproach! How well Penelope

Kept in her heart her husband, Odysseus.

And so her virtue’s fame will never perish,

205And the gods will make among men on earth

A song of praise for steadfast Penelope.

But Tyndareus’ daughter was evil to the core,

Killing her own husband, and her song will be

A song of scorn, bringing ill-repute

210To all women, even the virtuous.”

(Lines 199 – 210, Book 24)

Agamemnon reacted to the story of the suitors’ death with praise to Odysseus and Penelope, for his glorious return and her loyalty, without lament for the suitors. Odysseus’s actions, therefore, further cemented his glorious legacy, as a cruel conqueror.

TOPIC: Women in the Odyssey (Focusing on the underlying power of women)

POSSIBLE THESIS: In the Odyssey, women are responsible for shaping a large part of Odysseus’ journey to Ithaca—through interventions and by influencing his decisions—which allows them to exhibit their underlying power in this seemingly male dominated world.

WHAT I HOPE TO PROVE:

• Despite the fact that women appear to be in the background and not have much of an impact in the world of the odyssey, women are responsible for more than we seem to notice.
• Most women mentioned in the story have some kind of influence on Odysseus and his choices, even though it might not be explicitly stated.
• Through selected passages I plan to portray women’s power in the Odyssey and show how they play a big part in how the story develops and its ultimate outcome.

EVIDENCE:

1. “But it’s Odysseus I’m worried about,

That discerning, ill-fated man. He’s suffered

So long, separated from his dear ones,

A wooded isle that is home to a goddess,

The daughter of Atlas…His daughter detains the poor man in his grief,

Sweet-talking him constantly, trying to charm him

Into forgetting Ithaca. But Odysseus,

Longing to see even the smoke curling up

From his land, simply wants to die. And yet you

Never think of him, Olympian.”

While in Olympus, Athena is the one who brings Odysseus’ current situation to Zeus’ attention. She emphasizes the need to end his suffering and finally bring him home to Ithaca. From this moment on, she takes matter into her own hands and does whatever is necessary to achieve her goal of bringing him home—from disguising herself to Telemachus, pretending she is an old friend of his father in order to give him advice, all the way to disguising Odysseus himself once he has arrived to Ithaca—Athena is more or less the ultimate creator of his journey and the way in which it plays out.

2. “Goddess and mistress, don’t be angry with me.

I know very well that Penelope,

For all her virtues, would be pale beside you.

She is only human, and you are a goddess,

Eternally young. Still, I want to go back.

My heart aches for the day I return to my home.

I’ll weather it like the sea-bitten veteran I am.

God knows I’ve suffered and had my shares of sorrows

In war and at sea. I can take more if I have to.”

Although Penelope has not had any contact with her husband Odysseus for the past twenty years, she has great influence over his decisions. Odysseus longs to return to Ithaca and be reunited with his wife. His desire to be with her gives her power over him in the sense that it forces him to chose to return home rather than avoid the painful journey and simply stay with a beautiful goddess on an island. His everlasting sight of her keeps him focused in returning home and re-establishing his life as her husband, Telemachus’ father and Ithaca’s king.

3. “Calypso composed herself and went to Odysseus,

Zeus’ message still ringing in her ears.

She found him sitting where the breakers rolled in.

His life draining away in homesickness.

The nymph had long ceased to please.

He still slept with her at night in her cavern

An unwilling lover mated to her eager embrace.”

Calypso depicts her power over Odysseus through her seductive ways. She manages to compel him into staying with her for seven years. As can be interpreted from the text, she used to please him; however, as time passed he seems to have gotten tired of her and once again wished to go home. Although he no longer wanted to stay in Calypso’s island, he was not able to leave until Hermes came along sent by Zeus and told her to let him go. Calypso has power over Odysseus both in the sense that she is a goddess and therefore stronger but also in that she was able to seduce him leading to his extensive stay.

4. “She spoke and I took her words to heart.

So we sat there day after day for a year,

Feasting on abundant meat and sweet wine.

But when a year had passed, and the seasons turned,

And the moons waned and the long days were done,

My trusty crew called me out and said:

‘Good god, man, at long last remember your home,

If it is heaven’s will for you to be saved

And return to your house and your own native land.”

The previous passage is from Odysseus’ episode in Circe’s house. Circe is another goddess who manages to seduce him, leading him to stay at her island for an entire year and only be reminded of home when his crew members speak up. Just like Calypso, Circe has power over Odysseus because she is able to seduce him and give him what tends to be men’s biggest weakness.

Women in the Odyssey: Female characters in the Odyssey usually are not the central focus in the epic, but they help move along the plot: whether it be helping a man’s journey or hindering it.

Athena: She uses her magic to change Odysseus’ appearance to help him with his journey. First she makes him look unrecognizable, like an old man, so that he can enter his homeland without being recognized by his people. Then she changes him to his idealized, godlike self, so that he could reunite with Telemachus and tell him about his plans to return things to how they should be.

“She shriveled the flesh on his gnarled limbs,/ And withered his tawny hair. She wrinkled the skin/ All over his body so he looked like a man,/ And she made his beautiful eyes bleary and dim” (Book 14, Lines 447-50).

“A fresh tunic and cloak replaced his rags,/ And he was taller and younger, his skin tanned,/ His jawline firm, and his beard glossy black./ Having worked her magic, the goddess left” (Book 16, Lines 184-87).

Calypso: She distracts Odysseus from continuing his journey back. She keeps him hostage on her island for many years, making his journey home further delayed.

“‘…he’s still languishing on that island, detained/ Against his will by that nymph Calypso,/ No way in the world for him to get back to his land'” (Book 5, Lines 15-17).

Penelope: She hinders the suitors pursuit to wed her and gain control of her house by promising to choose one of them to marry once she finishes weaving a robe. However, every night she unweaves what she wove during the day to delay getting rewed. The delay is also how she helps control the environment at her house as she waits for Odysseus to return from his journey.

“‘Every day she would weave at the great loom,/ And every night she would unweave by torchlight./ She fooled [the suitors] for three years with her craft'” (Book 2, Lines 113-115).

Theme: Women, with a focus on immortal women and the power they hold with their sexual independence as well as the punishment that comes from that

Possible Thesis:

Goddesses, although straying from the “powerless” stereotype linked to women, end up being punished for their sexual independence. Homer shows society’s (both that of the immortals and the mortals) double edge sword on the topic of sex.

Passages:

 “You gods are the most jealous bastards in the universe—

Persecuting any goddess who openly takes

A mortal lover to her bed and sleeps with him.

When Dawn caressed Orion with her rosy fingers,

You celestial layabouts gave her nothing but trouble

Until Artemis finally shot him on the Ortygia—

Gold-throned, holy, gentle-shafted assault goddess!

When Demeter followed her heart and unbound

Her hair for Iason and made love to him

In a late-summer field, Zeus was there taking notes

And executed the man with a cobalt lightning blast.

And now you gods are after me for having a man.

Well, I was the one who saved his life, unprying him

From the spar he came floating here on, sole survivor

Of the wreck Zeus made of his streamlined ship,

Slivering it with lightning on the wine-dark sea.

I loved him, I took care of him, I even told him

I’d make him immortal and ageless all of his days.”

(Book V: Lines 118-143)

-Calypso talks about how goddesses are shamed and even punished for taking on mortal lovers and includes many examples where this has also occurred to other goddesses.

“Father Zeus and all you blessed gods eternal,

Come see something that is as ridiculous

As it is unendurable, how Aphrodite,

Daughter of Zeus, scorns me for being lame

And loves that marauder Ares instead

…..

Poseidon came,

The God of Earthquake, and Hermes the Guide,

And the Archer Apollo. The goddesses

All stayed home, out of modesty; but the gods

Stood in the doorway and laughed uncontrollably

When they say Hephaestus’ cunning and craft.

One of them would look at another and snigger:

“Crime doesn’t pay.””

(Book VIII: Lines 328-332 and 348-354)

-Another example of a goddess being punished and ridiculed for taking on another lover even when gods were known for cheating on their partners and fathering many children with many different mothers, both mortal and immortal.

“Who are you, and where do you come from?

What is your city and who are your parents?

I am amazed that you drank this potion

And are not bewitched. No other man

Has ever resisted this drug once it’s past his lips.

But you have a mind that cannot be beguiled.

You must be Odysseus, the man of many wiles,

Who Quicksilver Hermes always said would come here

In his swift black ship on his way home from Troy.

Well then, sheath your sword and let’s

Climb into my bed and tangle in love there,

So we may come to trust each other.”

(Book X: Lines 346-357)

-In some ways Circe is being punished for her power over men by Herme’s interruption of her next “victim”. In the end, she ends up using her sexuality as a “weapon” since Odysseus and his crew end up staying with her for a year.

Topic: Women

In the Odyssey, the female characters are often dichotomized into two character forms: that which is ‘pure’ like Nausicaa, and that which is a ‘nymph’ like Calypso.

Nymph Calypso initially hinders Odysseus from returning home, while pure Nausicaa assists him in his journey. In my essay, I would like to further analyze the role that ‘nymphomania’ and ‘purity’ play in the odyssey.

Thesis: The way that sexuality is depicted in The Odyssey divides the female characters into two roles: those that threaten Odysseus and his journey, and those that assist him.

Book 6 lines 230 – 233

‘And the nymph slipped on a long silver robe

Shimmering in the light, cinched it at the waist

With a golden belt and put a veil on her head’

The following quote is a description of Calypso as she prepares to send Odysseus home. The description makes Calypso seem powerful and mighty, despite her current state of vulnerability at the preparation of releasing Odysseus from her grasp. Calypso’s world revolves around love and sexuality. She keeps Odysseus as a slave on her island which resembles a womb. Calypso’s being is very much tied up with sex, and she is seen as a hindrance to Odysseus.

Book 7 lines 145 – 147

‘He thought it over and decided it was better

To keep his distance and not take the chance

Of offending the girl by touching her knees’

The following quote depicts Odysseus mulling over how to approach Nausicaa, in order to speak to her parents in an effort to make his way home. At the point that Odysseus is approaching Nausicaa, he is naked. He views her as a ‘pure’ female, so he approaches her with caution as he attempts to hide his body from her view. The way that Nausicaa and Kalypso are treated by Odysseus, and depicted in the novel are vastly different based on the expression of their sexualities.

Book 6 lines 242 – 245

‘A while ago he seemed an unpromising man to me.

Now he even resembles one of the gods, who hold high heaven.

If only the man to be called my husband could be like this one, a man living here, if only this one were pleased to stay here.’

Nausicaa is smitten with Odysseus. However, Odysseus respectfully declines her hand in marriage. Odysseus’ refusal to sleep with Nausicaa is important to note. He has no qualms cheating on Penelope with other women, however, he refrains from doing so with Nausicaa. Nausicaa is depicted pure and virginal, she is able to aid Odysseus in his quest.

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.