Great Works I: Remixing Memory

1) To get ready for our discussion of Aristophanes’ comedy Lysistrata next week, I want to give you a bit of background on Greek theater.

To get a sense of the conventions of ancient theater, check out the following short films:

Then, for part one of your assignment, leave one comment on this post with either a question you still have after watching the videos or a fact that particularly interested you (and why).

Note that there’s no reading due for this Tuesday. (This is different from what’s listed on the syllabus.) For next Thursday, read roughly the first half of the play (but feel free to read ahead—it’s a page turner!).

2) You’ll also be working on your first formal essay. With a partner or in groups of three (but no larger!), start drafting and sharpening a preliminary thesis statement, using the thesis checklist we discussed in class. Try to help your partner strengthen what is already strong and question or change what isn’t yet working. Whenever you review a peer’s writing, you should keep in mind that the goal is not to persuade them to take on your view (that’s the job of your essay!), but instead to help them produce the strongest version of their own line of thinking. Constructive criticism is a sign of respect, so don’t just say, “It’s fine!” In fact, you’ll probably want to go back and forth at least a couple of times to get closer to a solid, arguable thesis statement (that will likely continue to develop as you write).

Send me evidence of your peer review. You can work in a shared Google Doc that you also share with me (stephanie.insley [at] gmail.com); you can use an email thread that you forward to me; you can work together in person and send me notes or screenshots; you can send me a Gchat transcript; and so on. (If you’re unsure of a method, you can always check with me.) Just make sure to get me evidence of your exchange by the usual time on Tuesday night.

As always, if you have questions, just let me know!

So far, we’ve been talking about the ways that ancient texts encourage us to think about the concept of memory. This is both because they explicitly address memory as a shared cultural value (as Socrates does when he worries that writing will erode memory or as Homer does when he shows Telemachus collecting memories of his long-absent father), and because, in order to understand these texts fully, we have to consider the ways they were performed and shared orally over the course of generations.

First, I’m going to ask you to watch this twenty-minute video by science writer Joshua Foer, who is also a U.S. Memory Champion:

The feats of memory (both ancient and modern) Foer talks about in this video are truly impressive. But it’s also important, I think, to reflect on what he says at the end of the video about the link between memory and meaning. Now, for this assignment, you won’t be memorizing entire novels or a series of thousands of binary digits, but you will be exercising a part of your brain that you may not use very often. And, as you do so, you’ll focus on the ways that considering what a series of words mean might help you retain them.

For this assignment, you’ll first choose a short passage from any book of The Odyssey (it needn’t be from books 17-20, which you’ll also be reading for Tuesday). Your passage should be no fewer than 8 lines, but it may be as long as you like. (Your reward for exceeding eight lines, other than immense pride, will be a boost to your participation grade.) You should feel free to choose a passage you’ve already written about in one of your blog posts (after all, you’ve already read those passages several times). Using whatever technique works for you (it needn’t be the spatial method Foer discusses in his video), you’ll memorize your chosen passage.

Next, you’ll perform your passage in a short video to be uploaded to VOCAT, a platform that will allow you to share your video with me. (Unfortunately, we don’t have time to share all of the passages in our face to face meeting, though we may have time if you’re eager to volunteer!) Here are instructions for using VOCAT.

While you’re recording your recitation, try to keep in mind the role of the ancient Greek aoidos (oral poet). That is, you should avoid rushing through the lines as quickly as possible and instead think of them as advancing the story. Emphasize important words and phrases, use gestures, adjust your tone and inflection to convey as much information as you can in the short time that you have. Don’t be afraid to go slowly, and try to concentrate on enunciating so that your speech is clear. When you’re happy with your result, upload your video to VOCAT.

You will then provide a few brief annotations to your video, explaining the decisions you made in your performance. Why did you emphasize that line? Why did you make that face at that moment? Is there a pattern that you were trying to emphasize? Your annotations may also include reflections on your memorization process. Was there a particular line that gave you trouble? Why do you think so? What finally helped you retain it?

Your video, with your annotations, should be uploaded to VOCAT by Tuesday (2/24). (There’s no additional post to the blog for this week.)

The passage I chose to analyze is lines 310- 330 in Book 10, “The Bewitching Queen of Aeaea” of The Odyssey. In this passage, Odysseus and his men have come upon the Aeaen island, which is the home of the nymph Circe. At this point, Circe has bewitched all the men and turned them into swine, except Eurylochus, who runs back to warn Odysseus. Odysseus insists upon being noble and trying to rescue his men, but the god Hermes intercepts him before he enters Circe’s lair. In this instance, I find it interesting how Hermes first urges Odysseus to avoid the perils of Circe’s feminine wiles, in saying “Where are you going now, my unlucky friend- trekking over the hills alone in unfamiliar country?” and going on to say, “Well I warn you, you won’t get home yourself, you’ll stay right there, trapped like the rest. But wait, I can save you, free you from great danger.” By Hermes saying this to Odysseus, he is clearly highlighting the weaknesses of male mortals to make bad decisions regarding females, and therefore affording greater status to gods like himself. What I question is, is why the gods do not simply interfere with things before they happen, rather than just swooping in to help out afterwards?  In this case, I think it just sounds like Hermes really wants to ensure that he is given credit for Odysseus’s good fortune, as he originally is “unlucky” without guidance from the gods; he wants Odysseus to recognize his weaknesses as a mere “man.”

This seems to correlate with my previous blog post, in which I discussed how Athena led Odysseus and Nausicaa to meet in Book 5, “The Princess and the Stranger.” It also raised a huge question for me about the importance of sexuality in negotiations in this era, as it seems that the perfectly executed manipulation could make or break a situation, as I further realized as I came to line 330. In this prose, Hermes gives Odysseus a magic herb that would shield him from Circe’s charms; yet he then goes on to say, “She’ll cower in fear and coax you to her bed- but don’t refuse the goddesses bed, not then, not if she’s to release your friends and treat you well herself.” While both Hermes and Odysseus are aware that Circe is malicious, she still must be “bedded” in order for Odysseus to get what he needs. This is exactly like the situation he had in the past with Calypso- which further raises the question, as to why it is okay for Odysseus to be unfaithful to Penelope in his “quest” to return back to her and his home, but Penelope is painted as having to remain virtuous and true, despite Odysseus having been gone for so many years. It paints women as using their sexual charms for manipulative means, and I can only deduce that gender roles were viewed very differently, with female sexuality being viewed as cunning and devious, while male sexuality was more “natural.”

The passages I found most compelling were all from Book 10, starting from page 234 to 248. Odysseus and his men land on the island of Aeaean , the home of Circe the nymph with the lovely braids. “The true sister of murderous-minded Aeetes. Both were bred by the sun who lights our lives; their mother was Perse, a child the Ocean bore. Who is Aeetes and Perse? Will they show up later in this book? On page 237 passage 230, Odysseus’s men later discover the nymph Circe’s palace, as they walk through the front ground on the palace they encounter all the beasts that Circe bewitched. The men were clearly frightened, why did they continue to progress into her palace? Wouldn’t it be logical just to walk the other way, and try to get away from the place as soon you possibly can? Were they put under a spell as well, the moment they stared walking on the ground surrounding her palace? Is that the reason why they continued to move forward? Once Odysseus and his men proceed into her palace, Circe makes them sit and gives them a potion to erase all their memories of their past experiences and turned them in pigs. (238). Odysseus then goes to save his men from the nymph; on the way there he encounters Hermes (the giant-killer), who gives him a potent drug to help shield Odysseus from Circe’s witchcraft (239). I find it very interesting how some gods are there to assist Odysseus and others are just completely against him and want him to suffer. Then on page 240, after Circe tries to enchant Odysseus and fails, she asks him to “mount my bed and mix in the magic work of love—we’ll breed deep trust between us”, this made no sense to me whatsoever, why is she asking him to have sex with her? Then later on all of Odysseus’s comrades stay with Circe for a year. This entire section of passages just puzzled me; this is why I found it so fascinating and compelling. It certainly invoked my interest, and raised many unanswered questions.

1. I’m analyzing the passage on pages 243-244, lines 472-482, said by Eurylochus. Odysseus and his crew has just had an encounter with Circe, in which Odysseus overpowered her magic and demanded his crew be turned back from swine to men. He is letting the rest of his crew know that it is safe to return to Circe’s halls. Eurylochus is the lone dissenter.

2. Having read Books 9-12, Eurylochus’ concerns don’t add up. He berates the crew for following Odysseus’ commands, because he believes Odysseus has only been leading them to danger. But Odysseus has actively tried to save his men at every turn. Eurylochus mentions “…tempting fate…”, what role does the fate the gods prescribe have in the realistic amount of his crew Odysseus can save? Is it Odysseus’ curse that leads them into peril’s way, or does a larger arc reveal itself in their daily struggles?

3. This passage is especially interesting because it begins with Odysseus saying that the rest of his crew “…jumped to do [his] bidding…”, where only Euylochus shows his discontent. It’s understandable that after a long and arduous journey, the crew might be upset at almost dying once again, but that only one member outwardly denounces Odysseus when he has proven that this time he isn’t putting his men in danger is symbolic of the role a fate set in stone plays for Odysseus. This is not the first mutinous outcry, not the first time members of Odysseus’ crew have went against Odysseus, and certainly not the last time until they all perish by the end of Book 12. Eurylochus asks “Why are we tempting fate?”. I don’t believe any action on the part of the crew, not their mutiny, not their strict adherence and loyalty to Odysseus, actually tempts fate. This is a story that begins and ends with Odysseus, it is Odysseus who shapes it when he can (when he makes a god angry). It’s prophesized by Tiresias in Book 11, and Circe in Book 12, what will inevitably happen to Odysseus and his crew, and clear restrictions are put on their behavior if they are to reach home. Even when his crew kills the cattle of the Sun, it is still the fault of Odysseus, because his lack of control over his crew not to rest on the island led to their actions. He is the figure in control for better or worse, and when he slips, he angers the gods.

It’s interesting foreshadowing that Circe turns some of Odysseus’ crew into swine, and then they are all to die, like pigs to the slaughter because they, like slaughterhouse pigs, have no role in their inescapable fate.

I will discuss the passage in book ten, around line 290-300.Eurylochus told Odysseus, “Don’t force me back there, captain, king- leave me here on the spot. You will never return yourself, I swear, you’ll never bring back a single man alive. Quick, cut and run with the rest of us here- we can still escape the fatal day!(Homer, Odysseus,(239)” Odysseus replied, “Eurylochus, stay right here, eating, drinking, safe by the black ship. I must be off. Necessity drives me on. (Homer, Odysseus, page238)”. Eurylocus wanted to escape away from nymph Circe. Circe is a beautiful nymph, lives in a luxurious palace in Aeaean Island. She bewitches people, and captives them in her palace, by make them drink a magical potion. Eurylocus went in her palace with a group of about twenty comrades. After entering in her palace, Eurylocus felt that there is a trap there, so when the nymph served them the drink he did not drink it. Circe bewitched all his fellow comrades by make them drink the potion. Eurylocus observed the whole scene and got very scared. He came back, told Odysseus the whole story, and told him to run away from there. But Odysseus refused to do so. Odysseus went to the nymph’s palace knowing that he may be will not be able to come back from there. The question raises here, is Odysseus a responsible captain and merciful king? If Odysseus wanted, he could escape away without rescuing his friends but he did not do that. He went to Circe’s palace knowing about all the risks. While he was going there, on his way he met with the golden wand god Hermes. Hermes told Odysseus everything and warned him about Circe’s trap. Though Odysseus did not try to escape away, did not scare, he moved ahead. He wanted to go there to rescue his fellow companions. Nobody, no Gods or Goddesses ordered him to do it. He did it out of his sense of responsibility. He went inside the nymph’s palace, drunk the potion, but the potion could not do any harm to him because he had a magical herb with him given by Hermes, and that save him from the harmful potion. The nymph asked Odysseus to go to her bed. Odysseus responded to her offer. Now a questing can rise here, that why Odysseus respond to Circe’s offer? Odysseus responded to her offer because Hermes told Odysseus that if the nymph asked you to go in her bed do not refuse to do it. Odysseus do it for rescuing his friends, he did not had any attraction for the nymph in his mind. The whole time he stayed there with her in palace, he always thought about rescuing his friends. To see his friends’ pity situation, he lost his thirst and appetite. To see this Circe released his friends and told them the way to get their native land. Odysseus took the risk of going to the palace for rescuing his companions, and he did it. By doing this, he proved that he is a responsible captain.

On page 227 lines 559-562 Odysseus defeats Poseidon’s son, the Cyclops, by blinding him. Odysseus overpowers him and managed to even save a few of his men. In the previous pages he is very admirable in the sense that he tells him his name is “Nobody” and that helps him conquer the beast when someone asks if he’s ok and he screams out that no one is killing him. It seems like a genius idea and you begin to think of Odysseus as a bit of a mastermind.
However, all that is ruined once the deed is done and he screams out “Cyclops—if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so—you say Odysseus raider of cities, he gouged out your eye, Laertes’ son who make his home in Ithaca!” Why did he reveal his identity purely out of selfishness and this need to be known as this great hero instead of doing the right thing and leaving unidentified? Does Odysseus not realize that the Cyclops is Poseidon’s son and Poseidon wouldn’t let something like this go unpunished? Is satisfying this need to go down in history as the “Raider of Cities” worth what came after? His ego is the reason that it took him twenty years to finally start heading home. If he had left the cave without revealing his identity he would’ve gotten away with the brutal murder and got home to his wife and baby twenty years sooner. His self-worth is so unbelievably high that in his twisted mind revealing himself and suffering the consequences is worth all the fame and glory. Any respect he earned for his brilliantly devised plan was totally ruined by his giant ego.

Daiana Gorbach

I’m looking at the passage in book 12 lines 349-378, when Eurylochus convinces the crew to go after the Sun God’s cattle. I had a few questions when reading this passage. Some of the questions were, why did Eurylochus disobey Odysseus when he has been right basically the while voyage, why did Eurylochus go after Helios’ cattle knowing they are Helios’ cattle and that a God would be unhappy about his cattle being slaughtered and why does Odysseus have so bad luck on his voyage?
Right before this passage Odysseus says these are the Sun God’s cattle and he sees and hears everything and if they harm his herd the price will be paid (Homer, book 12 lines 345-48). A few lines later when Odysseus isn’t paying attention Eurylochus convinces everybody to go after the cattle anyway. Eurylochus must have a problem with Odysseus’s leadership because when Odysseus was given the bag of winds from the God, the crew thought it was gold and silver and distrusted Odysseus to share the wealth with them. As a crew they ripped open the bag and brought them far from home which they were near to. When they were blown far from their course Eurylochus should have seen that Odysseus isn’t lying to the crew. When Odysseus said don’t go after the cattle, Eurylochus should have believed him when Odysseus said leave the cattle alone.
Even if Eurylochus didn’t believe Odysseus, before attacking the cattle he should have thought about how the God will be upset with those who slaughtered his cattle. This entire trip has been having setback after setback for upsetting various different Gods. Eurylochus is showing more examples that he believes that he is better than the rest of the crew. He is making decisions without considering the possible repercussions and getting the crew into trouble.
This whole voyage for Odysseus has been one of just horrible luck. He battles multiple storms, fights cyclopes, a whirlpool, six headed monster, sails by an island of sirens and upsets almost every God there is. He continues to fight through hardships over and over that are mostly caused by his crew and not him. He is just suffering through other peoples mistakes. The Great Odysseus cannot seem to catch a break.

While I am enjoying reading Homer’s The Odyssey, the ridiculous events that take place make me a little impatient when reading it. Book ten, in particular, was when I really started to feel my patience with the story dwindle. Around lines 471-482, Eurylochus tries to keep Odysseus and his shipmates from joining Circe, “Poor fools, where are we running now? Why are we tempting fate?-why stumble blindly down yo Circe’s halls? She’ll turn us all into pigs or wolves or lions made to guard that palace of hers-by force, I tell you-just as Cyclops trapped our comrades in his lair with hotheaded Odysseus right beside them all-thanks to this man’s rashness they died too” (243).The reason this passage stuck out to me as I was reading book ten is because is the only part in the book that seemed rational. I understand that Homer’s The Odyssey is a story and that as a reader, I must accept what happens. However, I have trouble accepting that Odysseus simply had to blind Cyclops and simply had to stay an entire year at Circe’s place. I have trouble accepting that Odysseus actually wanted to go home for that year but could not for whatever unknown reason. Optimistically, I may think that all the men wanted to return back home after spending ten years in war and then a year at Circe’s place or in Circe’s “captivity”. Odysseus would especially want to reach home so that he can feel pride as captain over getting his shipmates back home. Cynically, I may think that Odysseus has never been all that eager to return home. In a sense, he would have no reason to wish for home. Staying at Circe’s house means having a steady supply of meat and wine. Odysseus can also mount “Circe’s gorgeous bed” (241). Circe had handmaids there that were willing to wait on Odysseus and the captain’s shipmates were there to keep him company. Later on in the story, when Odysseus and Calypso meet, the  beautiful goddess says she will make him immortal and sleeps with him every night. Up to this point in the story, Odysseus has not objected to much at all. All Circe had to do to get his trust was say some words and I have not read anything that proves that Odysseus attempted to resist Calypso’s plans.

Eurylochus warned the crew about Circe’s possible intentions which makes sense considering she is a powerful goddess and they are mere mortals that were already tired out by the unfortunate events they had gone through. Eurylochus also questioned Odysseus’ integrity like I am as well in my analysis. He blamed the deaths of their comrades on Odysseus’ rashness. Instead of acknowledging Eurylochus words, Odysseus just referred to it as a “mutinous outburst” (245).

Odysseus is evidently a very suspicious character. His sincere motives and intentions are not very clear at all. The suspicion he stirs in the reader makes him less reliable as a character in terms of knowing what to believe.

Reading through book 9 pages 211-229, Odyssey takes the time to tell his story about his voyage that lead him to where his standing today in Phaeacians’s Kingdom. As Odysseus tell about his adventure in the city of Cicones’ and the land of Cyclops it was brought to my attention how the ancient greek culture value of Xenia in Odyssey can be quite disturbing and intruding. The question that was brought to attention throughout Book 9 reading was is disobeying the Greek culture, Xenia, such a bad thing. Zeus being greek god , protector of travelers, holding xenon as a law being a concept of hospitality that has to be devoted to travelers. To allow strangers into your home having no jurisdiction or say.

The Cicones felt invaded and offended at Odysseus’s and his men who assumed to be squatting and feasting in the their home “There was too much wine to swill, too many sheep to slaughter…”(213) From this Cicones didn’t show much hospitality towards their visitor. As the warriors ate the “Cicones sought out other other Cicones”(213) and attacked Odysseus and his men “broke our lines and beats lies down at last”(213). Chased out off Ismarus island and coming across the land of Cyclops, encounter the same situation which is becoming very redundant for Odysseus’s and his men. The confrontation between the one-eyed beast, Polyphemus, and the Odysseus’s and his men is the centerpiece of how the greek culture of Xenia is not followed in everyones household. As the one-eyed beast is provoked by their presence Odysseus try to remind the beast Xenia law of the geeks “respect the gods, my friend. We’re suppliants…Zeus of Strangers guards all guest and suppliants:strangers are sacred-Zeus will avenge their rights!”(220) But Polyphemus challenges and responds “must be a fool, strangers…telling me to fear the gods or avoid their worth.”(220). This scene in Book 9 is essentially important for Odysseus as he intends to seek vigorous o Suitor who are invading his home where whom his wife Penelope tends to be home alone with.