I'm taking coursera's Greek and Roman Mythology with Prof. Peter Struck. After just one week it looks like it will be amazing. We're going to spend the next three weeks reading The Odyssey, rereading in my case.
[Spoiler (click to open)]As in The Iliad, this poem opens with an invocation of the muse. According to Prof. Struck, in the original Greek the poem opens with the word "man" and traditionally the first word of an epic poem introduces its primary subject. The Iliad opens with the word "rage".
The first twelve lines Odysseus is introduced as a crafty, resourceful character (polytropos), "the man of twists and turns". Although Odysseus' actions may seem reckless to the modern reader, Homer claims that his crew was was destroyed by their own recklessness, specifically the devouring of the sun god's cattle.
By now all the survivors of Troy have reached home except for Odysseus who is a prisoner of the lovely nymph Calypso who "holds him back / deep in her arching caverns, carving him for a husband." Odysseus weeps for his beloved home land Ithaca and his loved ones. Even the gods, except for Poseidon who is still enraged by the blinding of his son Polyphemus, take pity.
While Poseidon is visiting the Ethiopians, the other gods assemble on Olympus. Zeus remarks
He mentions Aegisthus who coveted more than his share and seduced Agamemnon's wife and later conspired to kill the warlord. Zeus claims the gods warned Aegisthus beforehand that this would lead to his destruction at the hands of Orestes, Agamemnon's son.
Athena says that Aegisthus "goes down to a death he earned in full! / Let them all die so, all who do such things.", but the brave warrior Odysseus suffers unearned torments. Zeus agrees that it's time to help the man and assume that Poseidon will allow his anger to abate once he sees that all the gods are aligned against him. Zeus agrees to dispatch Hermes to Ogygia Island to tell Calypso to let Odysseus go.
Meanwhile Athena disguises herself as Mentes to visit Odysseus' son, Telemachus. The prince sits idly daydreaming about how his magnificent father would clear his halls of the lazy, swaggering, thieving, disrespectful gluttons abusing his hospitality. Keenly aware of his host duties, Telemachus quickly attends to the new arrival. Very ritualistic - stranger is given an impressive seat, allowed to feast, and treated like a friend before the host even asks who he is and what else he needs. Offered a gift on leaving.
Telemachus reveals to the stranger that he believes that his father lies dead while the suitors feast on his goods. He mentions that Odysseus was a wanderer in his time and wonders if the stranger is a friend of his father's from the past. Athena claims to be Mentes, lord of the Taphians and son of Anchialus. She assures Telemachus that "[a]s for the ties between your father and myself / we've been friends forever, I'm proud to say, / And he would bear me out / if you went and questioned old lord Laertes." She assures Telemachus that his father lives and "never at a loss" he's plotting a way to come home even as he's held back by hard and savage men (odd description of Calypso, no?)
Athena remarks that Telemachus bears an uncanny resemblance to Odysseus. Telemachus frankly replies that he has his own doubts. "Who, on his own, / has ever really known who gave him life?" He laments the fact that he wasn't born to a man who died of peaceful old age at home. I can see why he questions his paternity. Odysseus' "true" son would presumably love adventure and traveling and scorn the uneventful life. Telemachus goes on to say that knowing his father had a noble death or a death among friends would be some comfort as he grieves.
Athena advises Telemachus:
1. Call an assemble and tell the suitors to return to their homes.
2. If your mother wants to marry, send her back to her father.
3. Go on a search for news of your father. She even gives him an itinerary to follow.
"You must not cling to your boyhood any longer— / it's time you were a man." She cites Orestes as an example for Telemachus to follow. Telemachus thanks Athena for her fatherly advice.
When Athena flies away, Telemachus realizes with wonder that he's been in the presence of a god. He returns to the hall among the suitors "a man like a god himself."
Wary and reserved Penelope enters. Crying, she begs the bard to stop singing that particular song because it reminds her of the husband she longs for. Telemachus scolds her:
He tells her to tend to her own tasks and keep the other women working as well.
Oy, women are treated like children in this society. I realize this is an important first step in Telemachus' journey toward manhood, but to modern ears it does sound odd to start by bossing around your mom. Supposedly Penelope respects the good sense in her son's speech, but retires to her room to weep for her lost husband until Athena sends her welcome sleep.
Telemachus verbally spars with the suitor Antinuous and shrewdly hides the guest's true identity from another suitor Eurymachus.
The man-child retires to his commanding, lofty, set well apart bedroom to be tucked in by his nurse Eurycleia.
I didn't notice the foreshadowing before. In the great hall, Odysseus' spears "stood stacked and waiting." The suitors force the bard Phemius to play the lyre and sing for them.
[Spoiler (click to open)]As in The Iliad, this poem opens with an invocation of the muse. According to Prof. Struck, in the original Greek the poem opens with the word "man" and traditionally the first word of an epic poem introduces its primary subject. The Iliad opens with the word "rage".
The first twelve lines Odysseus is introduced as a crafty, resourceful character (polytropos), "the man of twists and turns". Although Odysseus' actions may seem reckless to the modern reader, Homer claims that his crew was was destroyed by their own recklessness, specifically the devouring of the sun god's cattle.
By now all the survivors of Troy have reached home except for Odysseus who is a prisoner of the lovely nymph Calypso who "holds him back / deep in her arching caverns, carving him for a husband." Odysseus weeps for his beloved home land Ithaca and his loved ones. Even the gods, except for Poseidon who is still enraged by the blinding of his son Polyphemus, take pity.
While Poseidon is visiting the Ethiopians, the other gods assemble on Olympus. Zeus remarks
Ah how shameless—the way these mortals blame teh gods
From us alone, they say, come all their miseries, yes,
but they themselves, with their own reckless ways,
compound their pains beyond their proper shape.
He mentions Aegisthus who coveted more than his share and seduced Agamemnon's wife and later conspired to kill the warlord. Zeus claims the gods warned Aegisthus beforehand that this would lead to his destruction at the hands of Orestes, Agamemnon's son.
Athena says that Aegisthus "goes down to a death he earned in full! / Let them all die so, all who do such things.", but the brave warrior Odysseus suffers unearned torments. Zeus agrees that it's time to help the man and assume that Poseidon will allow his anger to abate once he sees that all the gods are aligned against him. Zeus agrees to dispatch Hermes to Ogygia Island to tell Calypso to let Odysseus go.
Meanwhile Athena disguises herself as Mentes to visit Odysseus' son, Telemachus. The prince sits idly daydreaming about how his magnificent father would clear his halls of the lazy, swaggering, thieving, disrespectful gluttons abusing his hospitality. Keenly aware of his host duties, Telemachus quickly attends to the new arrival. Very ritualistic - stranger is given an impressive seat, allowed to feast, and treated like a friend before the host even asks who he is and what else he needs. Offered a gift on leaving.
Telemachus reveals to the stranger that he believes that his father lies dead while the suitors feast on his goods. He mentions that Odysseus was a wanderer in his time and wonders if the stranger is a friend of his father's from the past. Athena claims to be Mentes, lord of the Taphians and son of Anchialus. She assures Telemachus that "[a]s for the ties between your father and myself / we've been friends forever, I'm proud to say, / And he would bear me out / if you went and questioned old lord Laertes." She assures Telemachus that his father lives and "never at a loss" he's plotting a way to come home even as he's held back by hard and savage men (odd description of Calypso, no?)
Athena remarks that Telemachus bears an uncanny resemblance to Odysseus. Telemachus frankly replies that he has his own doubts. "Who, on his own, / has ever really known who gave him life?" He laments the fact that he wasn't born to a man who died of peaceful old age at home. I can see why he questions his paternity. Odysseus' "true" son would presumably love adventure and traveling and scorn the uneventful life. Telemachus goes on to say that knowing his father had a noble death or a death among friends would be some comfort as he grieves.
Athena advises Telemachus:
1. Call an assemble and tell the suitors to return to their homes.
2. If your mother wants to marry, send her back to her father.
3. Go on a search for news of your father. She even gives him an itinerary to follow.
"You must not cling to your boyhood any longer— / it's time you were a man." She cites Orestes as an example for Telemachus to follow. Telemachus thanks Athena for her fatherly advice.
When Athena flies away, Telemachus realizes with wonder that he's been in the presence of a god. He returns to the hall among the suitors "a man like a god himself."
Wary and reserved Penelope enters. Crying, she begs the bard to stop singing that particular song because it reminds her of the husband she longs for. Telemachus scolds her:
Bards are not to blame.
Zeus is to blame. He deals to each and every
laborer on this earth whatever doom he pleases . . .
Courage, mother. Harden your heart, and listen.
Odysseus was scarcely the only one, you know,
whose journey home was blotted out at Troy.
He tells her to tend to her own tasks and keep the other women working as well.
As for giving orders,
men will see to that, but I most of all:
I hold the reins of power in this house.
Oy, women are treated like children in this society. I realize this is an important first step in Telemachus' journey toward manhood, but to modern ears it does sound odd to start by bossing around your mom. Supposedly Penelope respects the good sense in her son's speech, but retires to her room to weep for her lost husband until Athena sends her welcome sleep.
Telemachus verbally spars with the suitor Antinuous and shrewdly hides the guest's true identity from another suitor Eurymachus.
The man-child retires to his commanding, lofty, set well apart bedroom to be tucked in by his nurse Eurycleia.
I didn't notice the foreshadowing before. In the great hall, Odysseus' spears "stood stacked and waiting." The suitors force the bard Phemius to play the lyre and sing for them.
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