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Odysseus in Democratic Athens Aara Lauren Suksi a Thesis Subrnitted In Odysseus in Democratic Athens Aara Lauren Suksi A thesis subrnitted in confbnriity with the requirements for the degree of PhD Graduate Department of Classics University of Toronto O Copyright by Aara Lauren Suksi 1999. National Library Bibliothéque nationale B*m of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibiiograp hic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue W8Miingtm Ottawa ON KI A ON4 OriawaON K1A ON4 CaMda Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive Licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or seii reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microfoxm, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Abstract Odysseus in Democratic Athens PhD 1999 Gara Lauren Suksi Graduate Department of Classics University of Toronto This is a study of the many-faceted usage of the traditional character Odysseus by the culture of democratic Athens. Evidence is drawn largely from texts of and about dramatic productions. Athens in the fifth and eariy fourth centuries BC maintained a remarkable equilibrium arnid the sociopolitical tensions between the democratic and egalitarian interests of the majonty of citizens and the elitist concerns of an aristocracy recently deposed from an institutionalized position of power, but still vital to the successful management of the polis. Attic drama, as a civically-sponsored art form produced by and for Athenian citizens, necessarïly reflects and expresses these tensions and concems of the polis as a whole. One of the vehicles for this expression is characterization. But characterization on the Athenian dramatic stage was limited by the fact that the plays drarnatized traditional stories with characters well-known to the audience from narratives originating in a socio- political context in many ways quite different from that of fifth-century Athens. Certain of these traditional characters e-g. the heroic icon Achilles, are by nature resistant to adaptation to varying roles in subsequent cultural products. On the other hand, a traditional hero such as Odysseus, whose most defining quality is his manysidedness, or polytrapeia, lends himself quite readily to a wedth of interpretations and so may reflect a number of different values and concems. Odysseus as a character is traditionally versatiIe, and so is his charticterizution in the culture of democratic Athens. The varied characterization of Odysseus in texts from demwratic Athens halong been problematic for scholars of Greek literature. The interpretation of his charactenzation as a reflection of conflicting ideological concerns offers a resolution to the problem within an interdisciplinary perspective. Acknowledgements A great many people have helped me, in ways various but dl crucial, in my progress through the work culminating in this dissertation. It is a great pleasure to acknowledge publicly my debt of gratitude to my doctoral supervisor Professor Emmet Robbins. not only for his intetlectual guidance through Greek language and Iiterature, but also for his exquisite editorial advice and for his encouragement through the rough patches. 1 am also grateful to the other members of my dissertation committee in Toronto. Professor Eric Csapo's conversations stimulated much of my thinking in the formulation of the thesis. Professor Jonathan Burgess provided invaluable and gracious comrnents on the work in progress. Professor Catherine Rubincam was kind enough to sit on the examination committee and offer her exîremely usefùl remarks. 1 would like to thank the external examiner, Professor David Konstan, who read and made many very helpful comrnents on the work. 1 would also like to thank Professor Brad Inwood, who in his role as Graduate Coordinator at the Department of Classics gave the very best advice and support wiîh the pragmatic problems of completing a PhD. There are colleagues at both the University of Toronto and the University of Alberta who have been a source of intellectual stimulation and just about every other kind of support. 1 would like to thank Andrew Comolly, Cecily Devereux, Mike Evans, Patncia Fagan, Susan Hamilton, Alison Keith, Fiona MacMurran, Robert Nickel, Julie Rak, Jane Samson, Kathryn Simonsen, and Heather Young-Leslie. Much of the work on this dissertation was done while 1 held a Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. 1 also received support in the early stages fiom the Woodbury Foundation. A University of Toronto Open Fellowship saw me through a fmal year of work. 1 would like to express my thanks to al1 of the above for financial support. Then there are those who helped at home. Robert Foell, Frances McShane, Mike Suksi, Patricia Suksi, and Ronald Suksi al1 gave more than 1 can ever repay. Those who are the reason why so much help was needed also deserve great thanks; my children Xavier, Magdalena and Dylan bore my distraction with generoàty and provided the most cornpelling reason to persevere through difficulties. Finally, I could have profitted fiom none of the above without my constant source of delight, cornfort, and perplexity, Myron McShane. Table of Contents .. Abstract .......................................................................................................................... 11 Ac knowledgements ........................................................................................................ iv Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... vi ......................................... Introduction ....................... .. ......................................... 1 Chapter One: The Epic Background ................................................................................ 5 Odysseus as Champion of Established Order .............................................................. 5 Odysseus is the Agent of Necessary Conditions for the Fa11 of Troy .......................... 14 Odysseus as Survivor ................................................................................................ 16 Odyssean Cunning versus the Bnwn of his Opponents ............................................ 19 Odyssean Deceitfulness............................................................................................ 26 Odyssean Culture versus Cyclopean Nature .............................................................. 32 Odyssean Disguise ................................................................................................. 33 Odysseus' Divine Cornpanions.................................................................................. 38 Odyssean Piety ........................................................................................................ 47 Odysseus and the Aristocracy .................................................................................... 48 Surnmary................ ... .......................................................................................... 57 Chapter Two: Odysseus and Democratic Athens ................................................ 63 The Patronage of Athena ..................................... ... ................................................... 63 Athens is Contested by Athena and Poseidon ............................................................ 67 Athens and Political Reconciliation ........................................................................... 70 Rhetorical Excellence ............................................................................................ 94 Athenian resourcefulness and self-humiliation in hardship ...................................... 100 Athenian Ambiguity Towards Ancestors ................................................................. 102 Athenian Expeiience at sea and wealth gained from abroad ..................................... 105 Sumary................................................................................................................. 105 Chapter Three: Polyphemus, Philoctetes, and Ajax in Athens ..................................... 113 Polyphernus ............................................................................................................ 1 13 Philoctetes ............................................................................................................... 134 Plato's Noble Savage .............................................................................................. 140 Ajax ........................................................................................................................ 147 Philoctetes 2 ............................................................................................................ 162 Surnmary ............................................................................................................... 180 Chapter Four: Hecuba, Agamemnon, and Achilles in Athens .....................................
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