2017 Study Guide The by Homer, adapted by Mary Zimmerman from the translation by Robert Fitzgerald

The Odyssey scenic design by Daniel Ostling

THE HOMERIC QUESTION

Mary Zimmerman used Robert Fitzger- ald’s English-language translation of The Odyssey for her stage adaptation. Fitzgerald was translating ancient Greek texts that are ascribed to an author named Homer. But who was Homer, or was there ever anyone by that name at all? The simple answer is that we have no idea. Various scholars Zeus, Greek vase Mary Zimmerman over the years have suggested that Homer may have been a woman or may THE ODYSSEY MARY ZIMMERMAN have been more than one person. One popular tradition holds that Homer was • Probably written between 750 • Born Aug. 23, 1960 in Lincoln, a blind bard. and 650 B.C.E. . • The first Golden Age of Greece • Spent much of her childhood in In his introduction to the Fitzgerald occurred between 1600-1150 Paris and London, where she first translation of The Odyssey, renowned B.C.E. , followed by a long encountered The Odyssey at the poet and scholar Seamus Heaney writes period of decline and loss of age of five or six. A teacher in that “a lifetime spent upon the study learning between 1150 and England read from it to the class (of who authored The Odyssey) would 850 B.C.E. every afternoon. • Stories were preserved by be unlikely to get us any nearer to satis- • Received her B.A., M.A., and factory answers than we might hope the bards, who turned them PhD degrees in theatre from to get through common sense, into epic songs to pass down in an informed awareness of the basic orally. limitations of our knowledge and a • From ca. 850 B.C.E. there was Chicago, where she is currently resignation to dwelling in uncertainty.” a renaissance of learning, Professor of Performance Studies. trade and conquest in Greece. • Her adaptation of The Odyssey With regard to the question of whether Stories of their first Golden was written in 1989, and had its Homer was blind, Mr. Heaney wrote “It Age were very popular, lead- professional premiere at Chicago’s does not really matter whether this was ing to the writing down of an Lookingglass Theatre, where literally so, or . . . a metaphor for an eye Epic Cycle of poems about the Ms. Zimmerman is currently an that had turned inward. The main thing Trojan War, including The Iliad ensemble member. is that his sense of the world was the and The Odyssey. • She was awarded a MacArthur work of his imagination.” Fellowship in 1998, and won the 2002 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Broadway Play for her produc- tion of . 4. What do the Lotus Eaters symbolize? What does the way Before seeing/reading the play they are staged in this production tell us about them? What 1. Research the Epic Cycle. This and other websites provide does Odysseus’s dislike of what they offer tell us about him? information: www.livius.org/sources/content/epic-cycle 5. What temptations does Odysseus endure and get past on his journey home? What is the effect of seeing him resist 2. Familiarize yourself with the story of the Trojan War. so many temptations? These and other websites provide information: www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/trojan-war 6. In what ways are Odysseus’ successes a result of help www.greekmythology.com/Myths/The_Myths/Trojan_ from the gods? In what ways are they the result of his own War/trojan_war.html cunning and superior intellect? When does his cunning and confidence get in his way? 3. Who was Helen of Troy? Was she victim or villain? What are the different versions of her story? These and other 7. What obstacles does the crew face on their journey? websites provide information: When are these obstacles a matter of fate or the interven- www.mythencyclopedia.com/Go-Hi/Helen-of-Troy.html tion of the gods? When are they, as Zeus says, brought upon www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Mortals/Helen/helen. themselves, by their own human failings? html 8. The Odyssey is a prototype for what has become known 4. Familiarize yourself with the plot of The Iliad by Homer. as the hero’s journey, which often includes a metaphorical This and other websites provide information: death and resurrection. What are the moments of death www.ancient-literature.com/greece_homer_iliad.html and rebirth for Odysseus? What does Odysseus learn or what information does he receive through these events? 5. Who were the Olympian Gods? In particular, who were How do they assist him in his quest? Zeus, Athena and Poseidon, and how were they related? This and other websites provide information: 9. Refer to your research on Athena. What attributes or www.greek-gods.org/olympian-gods.php events is she the goddess of? Why is she so strongly sympathetic toward Odysseus? 6. Research the concept of xenia, the ancient Greek laws of hospitality. This and other websites provide information: 10. Athena comes to Telemachus in the guise of Mentor. www.sfakia-xenia-hotel.gr/en/ancient How is this an appropriate choice of name? In what ways is Athena a mentor to Telemachus? Why has Telemachus not already dealt with the suitors before the story begins? What actions must he take to be ready to overcome his obstacles? After seeing/reading the play 11. When is Odysseus faithful to the men under his 1. Refer to your research on the laws of hospitality, and command? When is he less than truthful? When are the relate it to how strangers are treated in The Odyssey. How men faithful or faithless to him? When Odysseus uses is Telemachus treated by Menelaus and Helen? How is trickery or half-truth, to what extent is it justified? Which Odysseus treated by the Phaecians? Odysseus by Eumaeus? is the wiser or more honorable course: the certain death By the suitors? What does each exchange tell us about the of some or the possible death of all? What experiences people involved? does Odysseus rely on to make his choices? What are the consequences? 2. Odysseus is known for his cunning and clever tactics, and also for his steadfast devotion to his family. Homer’s 12. Why doesn’t Odysseus immediately reveal himself poem constantly refers to him as “the wily Odysseus,” when he lands on Ithaka? What are his concerns or or “Odysseus, the master tactician.” In what ways is suspicions? What does he gain by remaining in disguise? Penelope also a crafty and wily tactician? In what ways When and for what reasons does he choose to reveal does she display steadfast devotion to her family? How is himself? What do we learn about him and his society she a good match for Odysseus? from the order in which he reveals himself?

3. Alcinous says that it was prophesied “some day one 13. If you are also seeing UniSon, compare Odysseus’s trip of our cutters homeward bound would be wrecked by the to the underworld in The Odyssey with the Poet’s journey. gods, and a range of hills thrown round our city.” Why are What does each gain from conversing with or confronting the Phaecians still willing to help strangers in the way people from their past? they do? What does their dedication to the full concept of hospitality tell us about them? Who were the Sirens? Scylla and Charybdis

Sirens in Greek mythology were creatures who lured sailors In The Odyssey, Odysseus must navigate a narrow strait, on to their death on rocks in shallow seas. Originally it was just each side of which live monsters. His choice is between their voices that the sailors found enticing. Different ancient Scylla, a six-headed beast who will pick off several of his sources list anywhere from two to five sirens. They were men and eat them, or Charybdis, who will swallow the portrayed in Greek art as being part human and part bird. entire ship by gulping in an enormous amount of sea water They appear briefly in The Odyssey, and also in the legend of and creating a whirlpool. The Odyssey contains the first and the Argonauts, but they are not a major factor in mention in literature of Scylla and Charybdis, but not the either story. They have, however, caught the imagination of last. The term “between Scylla and Charybdis” has come to later centuries, where they are often protrayed as fully mean an impossible choice, another way of saying “between human females whose physical appearance is as great an a rock and a hard place.” Researchers believe that Scylla and allure as their voices. How are sirens portrayed in the pre- Charybdis may have been a mythical way to describe the raphaelite painitings of the 19th century? How are they dangers of sailing through the Strait of Messina, a narrow portrayed in the Coen Brothers film O Brother, Where art passage between the island of Sicily and southern Italy. Thou, or Ice Age: Continental Drift? What about the God of The conditions of the Strait do, in fact, create a permanent War video game series? How will they be portrayed by Mary natural whirlpool, which might explain Charybdis. And Zimmerman in our production at OSF in 2017? Scylla? The strait is so narrow that trying to avoid the whirlpool on one side might lead to dashing one’s ship on the rocky outcrop of the other side. Between a rock and a hard place, indeed.

Cyclops costume rendering by Mara Blumenfeld.

Who were the Cyclops?

The Cyclops in The Odyssey tells Odysseus “We Cyclops are stronger than the Gods, who cares for them?” In some versions of Greek mythology, Cyclops are born of the Titans, who came before the gods of Mount Olympus. Cyclops would therefore be cousins to the Olympian gods and equal to them. But Homer identifies the Cyclops in the story as a son of Poseidon, who is in turn a brother of Zeus. So his lack of fear for his Uncle Zeus may be just bluster and bravado. Athena, copy of 5th-century BCE statue Odysseus and the Sirens Greek Vase

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