1 September 27: , books 10-16 2 3 Phaeacians / unfair gods 4 5 >After reading the most recent assignment I had one question about the hospitality of the 6 Phaeacians. It seems that a huge theme through out the entire story is hospitality. We have even 7 discussed in class just how important hospitality is to the gods even though things like murder 8 and fowl play go unpunished. For this reason, it was really shocking to me that agreed to 9 let punish the Phaeacians for helping when they were incredibly hospitable. 10 They allowed Odysseus to sleep completely uninterrupted on the voyage and even carried him 11 from the ship with his gifts. It was just really weird to me that Zeus would punish this 12 especially because it turns the hearts of the Phaeacians towards no longer being hospitable 13 towards sailors and sea fairers. It seems to be a big discrepancy to me. 14 15 Men / men in groups 16 17 >This book possesses many instances in which temptation seems to overtake the male 18 characters. My question to that is what do you think this says about men of this age? Perhaps 19 that they are disloyal and lacking temperance? Or was the norm and even women were ok with 20 it? 21 ¶My other comment is that it is reoccurring that Odysseus' crew gets him into trouble. Does the 22 fact that he has a careless/uncontrollable crew make Odysseus look better in the eyes of the 23 audience? Are they necessary to make Odysseus look smarter and sharper because he always 24 has to fix their mistakes? 25 26 Women and monsters 27 28 >Why did change her attitude suddenly after she failed to deceive Odysseus? Why does 29 she want to 'lie together in the bed of love(p.161.335)', instead of sending him back? (This 30 question can be similarly applied to Kalypso's case.) 31 If being naked means 'being a weakling, unmanned(p.161.341)', does this mean that the 32 masculinity lies not on a male body but somewhere else(e.g. his sword)? 33 ¶Why were Skylla and Charybdis represented as female? (Something treacherous in general 34 seems to be depicted in as a female one.) 35 36 >I found 's reaction to the suitors interesting after their failed attempt to kill 37 Telemachos. It seems like she decided to change her tactics and confront the issue directly. 38 Odysseus also seem to enjoy his life with Circe. He has to be reminded that he has to continue 39 with his voyage! 40 41

September 27, 2010 1

42 43 Hades 44 > I am interested in the way depicted the underworld. It seems that this depiction of the 45 afterlife makes all worship to the gods pointless. Souls do not seem to enjoy the after life but 46 are mindless shades who can only speak after drinking blood??? It reminds me of a horror film. 47 What exactly did the Greeks believe happened to a soul in the afterlife? Was there any 48 enjoyment or just death? Why then worship the gods? 49 > What is the importance of talking to all the dead people and recounting their stories? I 50 understand that talking to his mother and was important but why the need to talk 51 to the women one by one? 52 - -Changing your social rank was hard to do so it was surprising to hear about Eumaios’ story 53 and how he once was a king’s son and now is a servant. It must have been really frustrating. 54 55 Divine help / godlike mortals 56 57 >A theme brought up in class was the idea of rites of passage for some of the main characters in 58 the epic. We talked how telemachos and Odysseus had to endure much suffering in order to 59 become a man and soon ruler of and earn a return home respectively. But how 60 meaningful are these tasks or rites when the gods themselves walk them through what is 61 necessary to do in order to drive out the suitors or find their way home in Odysseus's case? 62 Because the gods are already on the sides of our heroes and will that they succeed in the end, I 63 find it difficult to understand the purpose for all of their "troubles". 64 65 >"...he bestowed his daughters on his sons, to be their consorts." If I am not mistaken, this is a 66 case of incest. Was this considered acceptable, or tradition? 67 ¶"I counted off al my strong-greaved companions into two divisions, and appointed a leader for 68 each, I myself taking one, while godlike Eurylochos has the other." I found this interesting for 69 two reasons, one, this is a prime example of his capabilities as a leader and, two, the use of 70 "godlike" struck me as a high sense of appraisal for another individual. I think he later proves 71 his worth, however. 72 ¶Last of all, I found it quite common to compare certain individuals with the gods. Was this a 73 common comparison? It was interesting to read this, when gods and goddesses of this period 74 seem unreachable and untouchable. 75 76 Omens 77 78 >What I found interesting in this reading were the omens. Several times, the gods told of the 79 future, and yet I still managed to be surprised by the actual outcome. For example, when Helen 80 predicted that Odysseus would soon seek revenge on the suitors, I expected the battle to occur 81 as soon as he arrived at Ithaca. While that might have been exciting, I much rather preferred 82 how Homer instead added the slowly paced reunion with . It was very 83 heartwarming...and Odysseus really needed that after all the struggles he had been through!

September 27, 2010 2

84 85 It got me wondering about the omens, though. They obviously were a very important part of 86 Greek culture, but obviously, as seen above, their predictions are not immediately carried 87 through. Were omens, then, not as binding as an oath from a god was? 88 89 90 Sirens / fine line 91 >What I found particularly interesting in this week's reading takes place in Book XII - when 92 Odysseus insists on being strapped to his ship's mast so that he can hear the song of the Sirens. 93 Although a relatively short scene, I felt like this section in particular sort of emphasized a 94 recurring struggle though out the book: Odysseus is constantly faced with temptations that 95 attempt to allude him from the accomplishment of his long-term goal: homecoming. In this 96 scene in particular, Odysseus anticipates the potential for trouble: He has his crew's ears 97 plugged, and himself strapped down so that he may not be allowed to make any rash decisions. 98 When Odysseus signals for his companions to set him free, we are presented with a physical 99 representation of what must always be going through Odysseus' head: He wants so badly to 100 feed his immediate wants and yearnings, but forces himself (in this case through the use of 101 forethought and tight ropes) to endure the seductive luring so that he can continue on his 102 journey. Maybe the reason the storyteller doesn't have Odysseus plug his ears is to show the 103 listener that he is one who will indulge in these seductions (as he did with Kalypso), but whose 104 priorities manage to take front seat. In this respect, by walking a thin line, Odysseus manages to 105 reap the benefits without paying the consequences. 106 107 Slavery / Ithaka 108 >I think it is interesting how Odysseus uses the character of a slave as an alias. The ideas of 109 slaves are very different because it is as if slavery is a transient position of life. Any man can 110 become a slave but any slave can become a man. When Odysseus' alias was captured he was a 111 slave but as soon as he escaped he was considered a man and Eumaius treated him as a man, 112 not an escaped slave, or a subhuman. This seems to be the main difference between slavery in 113 the Ancient Greek sense and slavery in the American sense, slavery is not as permanent. 114 115 >-Why does change Ithaka’s appearance to Odysseus? He’s been dreaming about seeing 116 his wonderful homeland for so long and seems very dissapointed at the sight of it. 117 ¶-Why is Odysseus still undercover when he is taken in by Eumaios? 118 119 >In these books, there is a lot of deceit. As usual, Athene transforms Odyesseus into whoever is 120 appropriate for the situation and together they fool someone. In book 16 one of the suitors, 121 Eurymachos, is planning the murder of Telemachos, but he tells Penelope that he will not have 122 anyone lay a hand on Telemachos for as long as he lives. The Odyssey as a whole is about 123 treachery and its consequences. This includes the act of treachery, the suspicion of treachery 124 (oaths), and the consequences of a treacherous act.

September 27, 2010 3

125 ¶In response to why Telemachos failed to accept his father's revelation, it would be because 126 there are so many tricksters around. Even Odysseus himself is called a trickster. Apparently, 127 being a trickster is an acquired virtue because it means that you know how to meet desired 128 ends. In order to convince Telemachos, Odysseus has to explain to him that Athene assisted him 129 with his disguise. 130 131 132 (fixed adjectives) 133 134 ¶Last of all, I found it quite common to compare certain individuals with the gods. Was this a 135 common comparison? It was interesting to read this, when gods and goddesses of this period 136 seem unreachable and untouchable. 137 138 People called godlike: 139 Odysseus 140 Telemachos 141 Menelaos 142 Alkinoos (good king of the Phaiakians) and his grandfather Nausithoos 143 Deiphobos (Helen’s paramour after , as described by ) 144 Eurylochos (particulary cowardly crew member) 145 Theoklymenos (prophet and kin-murderer, to whom Telemachos gives passage) 146 Eurymachos (one of the ring-leaders of the suitors) 147 148 Result: In some cases, closeness to the gods is important (e..g, with the 149 Phaeacians); in other cases, the poet needs to fill a slot in the line and “godlike” is 150 relatively routine. All the nobles in this glamorous age were more like the gods 151 (who aren’t necessarily admirable) than are the poet and his audience. 152 Unique epithets for a character, however , can characterize vividly, as do the whole system of 153 epithets for an individual: 154

155  Odysseus1 156 o resourceful, man of many resources, of many turns (πολύ-τροπος polú-tropos) 157 o much-enduring (πολύ-τλᾱς polú-tlās) 158 o great-hearted (μεγαλ-ήτωρ megal-ḗtōr) 159 o sacker of cities (πτολι-πόρθιος ptoli-pórthios) 160 o wise 161 o loved of Zeus 162 o great glory of the 163 o master mariner

1 This list is adapted from “Epithets in Homer” in Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epithets_in_Homer

September 27, 2010 4

164 o mastermind of war 165 o hotheaded 166 o man of action 167 o the great teller of tales 168 o man of exploits 169 o man of pain 170 o that kingly man 171 o the hero 172 o Raider of Cities 173 o The great tactician 174  Telemachus 175 o poised 176 o thoughtful 177  Penelope 178 o Circumspect 179  Suitors 180 o Swaggering (but “god-like” is used for Antinoos and Eurymachos

181  men 182 o shining, divine (δῖος dîos) 183 o god-like (ἀντί-θεος antí-theos) 184 o high-hearted

185  leaders 186 o lord of men

187  women 188 o white-armed (λευκ-ώλενος leuk-ṓlenos) 189 o lovely-haired (ἐυπλοκάμις or ἐυπλόκαμος eüplokámis, eüplókamos)

September 27, 2010 5