Month: February 2017

Despite making detours during his voyage back to his family and home, I trust in Odysseus’ desire to return to Ithaka. Odysseus may have delayed his journey back home, but he declined the offer to marry Nausikaa and left Phaiakia thus prioritized returning back to Ithaka. However, I think that Homer is not absolutely sure that Odysseus is willing to go back to his wife and matured son. In The Odyssey, Homer emphasized Odysseus’ long stay with Kirke on Aiaia; Odysseus and his men stayed with the cunning Kirke for a couple of years before continuing their voyage home. Moreover, Odysseus and his men are always caught in some sort of dilemma wherever they are even with Athena’s guidance. I believe that Homer does not trust in Odysseus because he creates an idea that Odysseus is not in any rush to return home. On the other hand, I blame Poseidon for prolonging Odysseus’ trip.

A common definition of a hero is someone who represents a culture or community in some way. However, the most popular heroes usually have one thing in common – they are able to find success on their journey, which leads many observers to overlook pertinent flaws in a hero’s character. Odysseus is able to get away with several dangerous and senseless actions that jeopardized himself and his crew members; one example of this occurs when Odysseus taunts Polyphemus upon his departure from the island. If Odysseus was unsuccessful on his return to Ithaca, then perhaps Homer may have further highlighted Odysseus’ high regard for himself as a tragic flaw that got in the way of his ultimate goal. Nonetheless, the final product that Odysseus puts forth outweighs the convoluted path he took to get home.

Even today, similar situations exist with modern icons, especially given the volatile nature of the mass media. One example I think of occurred during the NFL season two seasons ago. Cam Newton had a breakout year, one that none of the major football writers or analysts could have predicted. Along the way, he made it a habit to give out footballs to young children wearing Panthers gear whenever his team scored. He came to represent an entire city and fan base that bought into him as a leader and a hero. Newton made it to his biggest stage yet, the Super Bowl, and ended up struggling to compete with one of the league’s best defenses. His meteoric rise was then swiftly followed by one of the roughest spans of his career. People began to question his character, and wondered whether his personality ultimately got in the way of his success.

Thus, many of the basic principles that define a hero have remained the same throughout centuries, but today, the influence of mass media places much more scrutiny on a character if he/she begins to falter and encounters failure.

 

The “Odyssey”, written by Homer, is considered one of the greatest literature works of all time. It was supposedly written in an era that has been dubbed by historians as the “Golden Age of Ancient Greece.” During this time period, Greece wasn’t so much a unified nation, but a conglomerate of independent city-states, each known in greek as a Polis. One of the largest and greatest city-states in Greece was Athens, a city which politically and philosophically espoused beliefs that were hundreds of years before its time. It was the first society to ever implement a democracy as its rule of law, although only white land owners could vote, it separated itself from the severe autocratic rule of other city-states and empires of centuries past. Though, while forward in its thinking in regard of its rule of law, it still regarded women as the rest of the world had, as property, suitable only for marriage and bearing children.

While reading Homer’s “Odyssey,” it’s critical to be mindful of the thoughts the society had regarding women in Ancient Greece. For the most part, the story stayed true to the society’s many stereotypes of women. Beginning the story, detailing the suitors many attempts for the hand of Odysseus’ wife, Penelope. The suitors crowded the walls of her home in attempt for her hand, though gave no notice to the fact that she didn’t particularly want a husband, only managing to keep them at bay by saying she was knitting a burial shroud. Unlike today’s Western Society, a female was seen as being incomplete without a husband and Homer played right into the misconception.

Although Homer did deviate from the standard position with an impassioned plea to the Gods from Calypso, a women trapped on Ogygia for eternity. Here, Homer gave a voice, albeit a small one, for women everywhere. Stating, “They are unhappy if goddesses make mortal men their partners and take them to bed for sex.” Calypso, in an entirely uncharacteristic move for a women, berated the God’s hypocrisy for becoming unhappy when a Goddess takes a mortal man but taking as many mortal women as they’d like. While she did however send Odysseus on his way and listen to Zeus, Calypso’s outburst can be seen as Homer highlighting the many injustices women must endure and he might even be the first feminist. I’m sure he’d be happy to know a lot has changed since the Golden Age of Ancient Greece.

Throughout the reading, we can see that the father-son relationships are strong. The bond between Odysseus and Telemachus as well as Poseidon and Polyphemus are shown. Even though Odysseus and Telemachus may not be together they are still a unit. When everyone told Telemachus that his father was dead he did not believe it and perused to find the truth about his father, we also see problems arrive with the suitors. They work together even if they are not together because of this father-son relationship. As for Poseidon and Polyphemus we can see the father-son relationship activated when Poseidon finds out Odysseus was released he produces a storm. This act from Poseidon shows that he cares very much about his son.

Odysseus was a hero when he fought in the Trojan war. He sacrificed and risked his life for others in his city. A hero is a person that risks their own lives for others safety and security,without even thinking about themselves or the consequences. They are selfless people that do not see themselves as heroes, but the people around them do. Someone who is a heroe, has impulsive actions and can be considered a leader by the people.

 

“History is written by the victors.” While The Odyssey is not exactly a piece of nonfiction literature, the quote can still be applied here. The entire epic poem reads as an oral recollection of a grand tale, so it must have been told after the story was over, or post-‘Odysseus vs. suitors’ war. Also, at various points of the work, whenever the swineherd Eumaios says something, it is preceded by, “And you replied, Eumaios – O my loyal swineherd” (16, Line 71) which makes it sound like either Homer or Odysseus is telling the whole tale to the swineherd after the conflict was all over. What makes The Odyssey most like a post-war work though, is the grandeur of the story. Odysseus is a hero to rival all other heroes and his deeds and adventures are even more extravagant. There definitely was a lot of polishing and exaggeration in this piece about our protagonist and it reads as a tale told by a bard or a minstrel to entertain after this conflict was over. Odysseus was the victor, and him and those who heard his story, only heard his gassed up version of it.

In all honesty my view of Odysseus had changed throughout this play/epic. As the play started off, I felt deeply for Odysseus being kept away from his family through a string of mishaps and unfortunate events. But as the play went on, and the more Homer revealed the mindset of Odysseus and his infamous “polytropos” outlook, the more I began to doubt Odysseus’s true intentions. Odysseus has had continuously given in to desires with Calypso, Nausicaa and Circe and time and time again he had stretched out his stay at the islands.

But one might say that going against the Cyclopes and Scylla and many such monsters do showcase his intentions and desire to get back home. Instead, I believe this is just a part of his polytropos. He more often runs into such predicaments because of his own fault, i.e. leading his men on to kill the Sacred cattle of the Sun. Secondly, I believe his true concern is his own thrown/kingdom, I don’t really believe he cares much about his family but it is more of a concern to him that he was being dethroned by the suitors. This is where his true intentions really lie, his own greed for sexual desires, his hubris and his desire for power and wealth that are rooted back home.

As for Homer, I believe I asked this question in class too. It seems that though Homer writes and portrays Odysseus making poor decisions and or giving in to his desire for women, Homer actually wants to emphasize on the hardships that Odysseus actually endures to return back home. One monster after the other, storms hitting his ship and his crew that continuously slowed him down, but yet Odysseus manages a way out. Thus in doing so, Homer builds up Odysseus’ loyalty and true desire to get back home to his family.

In The Odyssey, there is a guest-host relationship unlike anything the modern world has seen. Wherever, Odysseus and Telemakhos go they are treated like royalty and are given the best food and sleeping arrangements their hosts have to offer, even though they show up unannounced and often have no pre-existing relationship to the host. However, there is an exception of the Kyklops, Polyphemus, as a host to Odysseus and his crew. Polyphemus is a terrible host in the way that he eats his guests and that’s not an acceptable way to treat visitors. Not only is this action considered heinous by mortals, the gods feel the same way. This is brought to our knowledge when Odysseus shouts, “‘It was our luck to come here; here we stand, beholden for your help, or any gifts you give—as custom is to honor strangers. We would entreat you, great Sir, have a care for the gods’ courtesy; Zeus will avenge the unoffending guest.’” However, in the end, it was Odysseus who avenged himself by putting out Polyphemus’s eye.

One of the major themes in the Odyssey is the father-son relationship. Having a father in one’s life is often viewed as critical for one’s mental and social development. Having a father in one’s life is especially critical for a son, who looks up to his father as a role and seeks to understand the world with their guidance. Sons often follow their fathers around and look to emulate all of their actions, in hopes of being like them one day. Telemachus, unfortunately, did not have the opportunity to be raised by his father and as a result failed to develop certain attributes like courage or leadership. He never had that dear father-son relationship that more than likely, would have caused Telemachus to stand up to the suitors and defend the honor of both his father and his mother. He would have had the courage to kill all the suitors himself and ensure that his father’s kingdom was as stable and well run as when he left. Even though, his father is not around Telemachus still admired his father for his military accomplishments and looked to make him proud, dead or not.

In many parts of the world, the position of the man or the father in the family is valued.  A lot of the time, there is emphasis on the man being the head of the family. In The Odyssey, Homer points out the focus on the father-son relationship.  At first sight, when looking at the relationship between Odysseus and Telemachus, there is a mutual connection or a two way street of pride and respect.  Telemachus respects and is proud of his father, a war hero, just as Odysseus is proud of his son.  Despite there being a physical gap in their relationship, Homer is able to keep the father-son bond between Odysseus and Telemachus.  However, what I find interesting is that the missing presence of his father, allows Telemachus to achieve a greater bond with his father, in his adventure to look for his father.  From Odysseus’ point, although his yearning to come home may be controversial, from the Homer’s standpoint, Odysseus wants to come home to see his wife and son.