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Home , Aeolus, Aeolus (Odyssey), Ajax (play), Cicones, Laestrygonians

The AND THE Marshall High School Mr. Cline Western Civilization I: Ancient Foundations Unit Three Bb * European Civilization

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• Introduction to The Odyssey

• 's second epic, The Odyssey, is a sequel to The Iliad.

• If The Iliad is all about the wrath of , The Odyssey is all about the cunning of .

• The Odyssey follows three story lines, which overlap and interweave throughout the epic:

• The story of Odysseus' son, , trying to find his father.

• The story of Odyseus' wife, , trying to hold off her many suitors.

• But the heart of The Odyssey is the story of Odysseus' long and perilous journey home. * European Civilization

• The Odyssey

• Introduction to The Odyssey

• In this respect, The Odyssey offers a sharp contrast to the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is all about Gilgamesh leaving home to find adventure. All Odysseus wants is to go home.

• For purpose of clarity, this presentation will focus on Odysseus's story line, as it comes to encompass the other two at the end.

• Yet before we follow Odysseus' long, perilous journey home, I imagine you all want to learn who Odysseus is, and how he brought about the end of the .

• Ajax and Odysseus

• After the death of Achilles, the greatest surviving Greek heroes, Odysseus and Ajax, compete for Achilles' fabulous armor, and, symbolically, the role as the new champion of the Greeks. * European Civilization

• The Odyssey

• Ajax and Odysseus

• The contest is resolved by Odysseus and Ajax delivering speeches on who is the greatest warrior.

• Though Ajax is considered the better warrior by most, Odysseus is the better speaker, and he wins the armor, despite the fact that it was Ajax who recovered Achilles' body and armor from the battlefield in the first place.

• Ajax is so dishonored, he decides to kill Odysseus.

• But , who really likes Odysseus, drives Ajax mad.

• Instead of killing Greeks, Ajax kills a bunch of livestock.

• In his shame, he commits suicide, while clever Odysseus goes on to lead the Greeks to victory. * European Civilization

• The Odyssey

• Ajax and Odysseus

• It is interesting to note that , the king who is supposedly the leader of this expedition, is not even in the running for Achilles' armor.

• Combine this fact with his earlier shameful behavior - sacrificing his daughter for calm seas, taking Briseis away from Achilles, and generally being a pompous ass - and one begins to get a picture of what the Greeks thought of centralized authority: that it put lesser men in charge of their betters.

• Compare this to the Epic of Gilgamesh, in which the imperial king is the hero.

• While Odysseus is clearly a better choice than Agamemnon, it is odd that he should've bested Ajax as well.

• Ajax is very similar to Achilles: prideful as he is powerful. * European Civilization

• The Odyssey

• Ajax and Odysseus

• As such, Ajax would seem the natural successor to Achilles as champion of the Greeks.

• Yet it is not another Achilles that the Greeks need to succeed. They don't need another proud killing machine. They need a brilliant strategist and clever schemer. They need Odysseus.

• Odysseus and Achilles

• Thus, from the first, we realize that Odysseus is a different sort of hero.

• The differences between Odysseus and Achilles are clear.

• Achilles is pure brute strength, an invincible warrior.

• Odysseus is intelligent, a clever schemer. * European Civilization

• The Odyssey

• Odysseus and Achilles

• To emphasize this point, Odysseus is protected by Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and herself a child of and Mentis (literally, thought).

• Like Gilgamesh, whose mind was enlarged by Anu, Enlil, and La, Odysseus' brilliance is considered a touch of the divine.

• Another difference is that where Achilles lives only for honor and immortal fame, Odysseus has a much more practical goal in mind. He wants to get home to his wife and family.

• With such a goal, his approach to honor tends to be a bit more pragmatic. Odysseus is not about to die an honorable death if he can think up an opportunistic way to survive.

• Though we might find some of what Odysseus gets up to disgusting, he is a much more relatable character than Achilles. * European Civilization

• The Odyssey

• Odysseus and Achilles

• Some of us may day dream of immortal fame and honor from time to time, but every human being can understand Odysseus' desire to return home to his family after ten years of brutal war.

• The

• That war came to an end when Odysseus comes up with the idea of the Trojan Horse.

• The Greeks build a gigantic horse of wood, and fill it with a squadron of elite fighters.

• The rest of the army pretends to sail away, leaving the Trojan Horse behind.

• The Trojans, thinking this great gift a peace offering, drag the massive horse into the city and begin to celebrate. * European Civilization

• The Odyssey

• The Trojan Horse

• When the Trojans are good and drunk, the Greeks descend from their hiding place in the belly of the horse, attack the guards, and open the gates.

• A slaughter ensues, which few Trojans survive.

• With sacked, and the pillage divided, it is time to go home. The Greeks are departing to their respective kingdoms. Odysseus decides to do a little pillaging on the way home.

• The Journey Home Begins

• He lands at , land of the (also known as the Hittites).

• Odysseus' men destroy the city, kill all the men, and take all the women. * European Civilization

• The Odyssey

• The Journey Home Begins

• Odysseus thinks it is time to leave, but his men don't listen and get drunk.

• The Cicones (a.k.a. Hittites) bring reinforcements in chariots, and chase them out to sea.

• This sets the basic pattern for most of Odysseus' problems.

• Clever Odysseus knows what to do, but his stupid men ignore him and get him into trouble.

• It is admirable that Odysseus continues to care for these idiots and doesn't just leave them ashore somewhere.

• As Odysseus and his men are fleeing the Cicones, Zeus sends a storm, which blows for ten days, sending Odysseus and his crew far past their island home of , to the land of the lotus-eaters. * European Civilization

• The Odyssey

• The Journey Home Begins

• Apparently lotus was an ancient euphemism for opium, because Odysseus' men who eat the lotuses lose any desire to go anywhere or do anything but sit and eat more lotuses.

• Odysseus rounds up his crew of lotus junkies and sails on to the island of the .

• The Land of the Cyclopes

• The land of the Cyclopes is lush but uncivilized.

• Apparently the Cyclopes are too stupid to farm, but too powerful to let starve.

• A hungry is a terrifying thing, so the gods keep them fed, and thereby keep them content.

• While hunting for food on this island, Odysseus notes a fire. * European Civilization

• The Odyssey

• The Land of the Cyclopes

• He and some of his men go to investigate, to see if there is someone there to offer them hospitality.

• Again we see the importance of xenia in Greek culture.

• What they find is a cave full of giant lambs and giant cheeses.

• They help themselves to the food until the return of the cave's occupant: a Cyclops named , an uncivilized, one-eyed giant, who happens to be the son of the god .

• Polyphemus leads in his flock and seals the entrance to the cave.

• Finding themselves trapped, Odysseus appeals to Polyphemus to honor Zeus and respect the rights of a guest. * European Civilization

• The Odyssey

• The Land of the Cyclopes

• The Cyclops laughs, picks up two of Odysseus' men, and smashes their brains out.

• Faced with such overwhelming force, the humans hide and wait for clever Odysseus to come up with a new plan.

• They don't have long to wait.

• Odysseus tricks Polyphemus into thinking he is still seeking the rights of hospitality by telling the Cyclops his name and offering him wine.

• Yet he lies to the Cyclops, telling him his name is 'Nobody'. * European Civilization

• The Odyssey

• The Land of the Cyclopes

• Odysseus' real plan is to get the Cyclops drunk. This he accomplishes rather quickly; apparently, Cyclopes are total lightweights.

• While the monster sleeps, Odysseus and his men jam a red-hot pole from the fire into his eye.

• Polyphemus shrieks in pain, attracting the other concerned Cyclopes.

• But when his neighbors ask him if he's all right, if someone is attacking him, Polyphemus screams 'Nobody! Nobody is attacking me!', and the confused Cyclopes depart.

• Odysseus and his men then escape the cave by clinging to the bottom of Polyphemus' sheep as the blind Cyclops herds them out in the morning. * European Civilization

• The Odyssey

• The Land of the Cyclopes

• Once again we see the importance of xenia in the Greek world, and once again we see the theme developed of Odysseus' clever brain beating barbaric brawn.

• Even Polyphemus' divine lineage cannot protect him from an intelligent fellow like Odysseus.

• Yet Odysseus is too cocky.

• Having escaped the Cyclops, he cries out his name, so that Poyphemus might tell others who had blinded him.

• Unbeknownst to Odysseus, Polyphemus is a son of Poseidon, the god of the sea. Poseidon now knows Odysseus' name, and he will make the hero of Troy pay for blinding his son.

• For a sailor, there is no worse god to make angry. * European Civilization

• The Odyssey

• The Bag of Wind

• But for now things seem to be going pretty well. Odysseus sails to the island of , the keeper of the winds.

• Aeolus gives Odysseus a bag full of wind, which he uses to push his ships toward Ithaca.

• He is within sight of his home when his idiotic crew, thinking that the bag full of gold and jewels, open it and release the winds.

• The wild winds drive them all the way back to the island they'd just left.

• But Aeolus will not help Odysseus again; he assumes the other gods must hate Odysseus to taunt him so, and he's not going to make enemies like that. * European Civilization

• The Odyssey

• The Island of

• Things go from bad to worse.

• Odysseus' dwindling crew is eaten by cannibalistic called .

• Then they sail on, only to be turned into pigs by the goddess Circe.

• Odysseus is only able to secure the release of his men by sharing Circe's bed.

• Still, the goddess manages to entangle Odysseus and his men for a year with her charms.

• When she finally releases them, she does not send them to Ithaca, as she does not know the way.

• Instead, she tells them to travel to the underworld to ask for directions from the dead prophet .