Identity and kleos (glory) are central to Greek culture. We see this in the epic when Odysseus taunts Polyphemus by revealing his name, and in the many epithets that identify characters by their defining characteristics or their lineage.
Yet in the Odyssey, some characters choose to mask their identities at crucial moments. Athena disguises herself at every turn, assuming many different forms. Odysseus, too, chooses to withhold his identity strategically at times (on the Phaeacians' island in books 6-8, while playing a trick on Polyphemus in book 9, upon his return to Ithaca in book 13).
What factors determine identity in the Odyssey? What does the epic suggest about the significance of identity and of disguise?
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In The Odyssey, kleos plays a major factor in the story and in the characters behavior. This idea of kleos, or glory, is that it is the most important thing to achieve as a male and that it is the essential goal that one must attain. Whether or not someone has kleos in the Odyssey is not judged by the character themself but by public opinion and the gods, this is seen through epithets when someone mentions or is speaking of someone. If they have this glory then something in their epithet about their achievements will indicate this. But for the general public to decide whether or not someone has kleos they must know and be familiar with the character, this is where the concept of Identity comes into play. Identity in the Odyssey is the factor of the characters themselves and also the characters lineage, things theyve done and how they look. This epic suggests that Identity is very important because without it, kleos is unattainable and that disguise is just a way to hide Identity when a character doesn't want there actions to attribute to there Identity/Legacy.
ReplyDeleteI think that characters reveal their identity at different times for different reasons. When one reveals one’s identity it is because they are either victorious, or they are trying to be humble. On the other hand, the reason that one uses deceit and conceal their identity is because they are unsure of the situation or they think that they are above they people to whom they are concealing their identity.
ReplyDeleteMany times characters reveal their identity because they are victorious, and they want their opponent to know how they just became defeated by. A great example of this is during book nine when Odysseus has just blinded Polyphemsus. The great warrior sticks a red hot stake through the Cyclops’s eye and blinds him. He then escapes by holding onto the underbelly of the sheep. Once he thinks that he is out of the cave and is far enough away, he taunts the Cyclops by saying that he has escaped. His crew tries to keep him from revealing his identity, but he doesn’t listen and taunts Polyphemsus further.
A lesser used reason for revealing one’s identity is to be viewed as humble and not holding anything back. For example when Odysseus is trying to get Alcinous to give him ships and provisions for his ride home, Odysseus tells him his name. He does this so that Alcinous does not think that he is trying to trick him.
When people do not reveal their identity, it is sometimes because they are unsure of the situation. They are not sure how they will be welcomed, and so they do not want to reveal their identity if it could be to their advantage to conceal it. Going back to the example of Odysseus and Polyphemsus, when he first arrives at the cave of Polyphemsus, Odysseus does not tell Polyphemsus his real name because he doesn’t know if it will be to his advantage to conceal it. In this case it was very advantageous to have concealed it; it saved his life.
Finally, people do not reveal their identity because they think that they are above the people to whom they are concealing their identity. It is like this is the case of Athena. She refuses to reveal herself because she think that she is so far above the humans it would cause too much commotion in the human world if she put out her real form. This topic could be a full blown essay, so I’ll just leave it at that.
Identity informs people what type of person someone is. For this reason, one can be ruined by their identity, and as a result, it is important to disguise who he/she is. Take athena for example. Athena is constantly changing who she is and masking her true identity. This is because if the gods found out she was helping Odysseus, she would be in trouble, and certain gods like posiedon who truly dislike Odysseus would probably throw a fit. Odysseus had survived the wrath of Posiedon until he had told him his name. His disguise had saved him up until that moment. Also, some mask their true identity because they don't want others to see who they truly are. Odysseus seems as if he makes up his identity as he goes along telling this story. Although it is tough to say whether Odysseus is telling the truth or not, it is very possible that Odysseus doesn't like himself and feels like he must make himself seem tough and important. The greeks judge others based on who they make their idenities out to be, thus giving a reason for those like Odysseus to hide who they truly are. Your identity determines how you are treated and so people tell good stories and make their idenities favorable so they are treated well.
ReplyDeleteThere is a large significance of identity in the Odyssey, however a majority of it is on Odysseus’s part. Athena does her best to cover up her identity unless she is otherwise inclined to reveal it. This shows more about the characters themselves than it shows about the epic or Roman culture. While kleos is important in Roman Culture, it also shows greatly that Odysseus also has a large and easily inflatable ego. Athena is more humble. It can also be claimed that this also shows the difference between females and males in Roman culture. The female in the story often times disguises herself as a man, and rarely reveals her true identity as a woman, promoting the idea that not only are women not listened to largely but also that women are meant to be quieter and not take credit for things they’ve done. The male in the story likes to make his name known and is never afraid to “name drop”. He can be remembered for these things, and he wants to make sure that his name goes down in history, which is kleos. I disagree with Maddy when she says that Athena doesn’t reveal herself because she thinks herself above humans. I feel like Odysseus reveals himself because he wants to be above humans, much like Athena.
ReplyDeleteIdentity is a very important part of the book. Like Rebecca said, identity informs people who you are, especially through your lineage. “Royal son of Laertes.” Odysseus and Athena do the most of hiding their Identity and revealing it.
ReplyDeleteOne of the examples of identity with Odysseus is at good ol’ Polyphemus’s island. Odysseus chooses to cover his identity by calling himself “nobody” and this helps him escape. But later, he reveals his identity as Odysseus. And then Poseidon proceeds to get very angry at him and toss him around left and right. One could link Odysseus’s troubles with getting home to his one identity problem with Polyphemus. This shows how significant identity is in the Odyssey.
There are many more examples of hiding identities like Athena, when she appears to Odysseus as a shepherd boy and a young girl. And she also covers up Odysseus when he is back home in Ithaca with old skin and more. By hiding his identity here, Odysseus is keeping himself safe with also goes to show how important hiding oneself is. And as we continue further into the book, I am sure that hiding identity will continue to be very important. Thank you (for the extra two words I needed)
I agree with Sunjeev, and I half-agree with Rebecca.
ReplyDeleteIn [I believe it is] Book six of the Odyssey, Naussica and Odysseus cannot go into town together, lest people will believe that they are having an affair of some sort. Again, in Book six, another pertinent detail comes into play when Athena catches Nausicca attempting to disguise herself...
"Naussica, How could your mother bear a careless child like you? Look at your fine closthes, lying here, neglected - with your marriage not far off, the day you should be decked in all of your glory... That's how a bride's good name goes out across the world and it bring her father and queenly mother joy.."
Erm, Anyways. The above statement by Athena to Naussica heavily implies that a bride's good name is all she has before she is married, in the eyes of the public, that is. If you add the presumption to Naussica and Odysseus not walking together in order to avoid rumors, you get one heck of a hypothesis:
In the Odyssey, One's identity is partially forged by the public's predisposition towards said individual, and one becomes what society believes that one is.
Identity is something that tells people what you are like. This means that your identity can make or break someones first impression about you. Therefore if you don’t want people to really know who you are, then he or she must disguise themselves. An example of this is Athena. She is constantly changing who she is and she is hiding her true identity. This is because if the gods found out that she was helping Odysseus, she would be reprimanded. Another example is Odysseus himself. He at first had avoided the temper of Poseidon, until he told him his name. His disugiuse had saved him up to that point. Odyssesus also makes up his identity as the epic goes on. This might be because Odyssesus is trying to portray himself as tough or important, or something that he is not.
ReplyDeleteIdentity is a major theme in the Odyssey. Many of the characters take on a "mask", or disguise to come across as something different. Like Josh said, Athena is constantly disguising herself. She first disguises herself when she goes to Telemachus to confront him about his father. I think that she does this to test trust. She tests Telemachus' purity and loyalty, by testing to see that he is hospitable and lets a stranger into his house. By being very kind to her, he exhibits loyalty and she finds him worthy to tell him information about his father. I think this theme of "disguise as trust" also appears again when Odysseus is with the swineherd. Not only does he disguise himself to maintain the words of Agamemnon, suggesting to "come home unannounced", but he does so to see if the Swineherd is loyal and if he can trust him, much like Athena did. Also, just moments later, Odysseus pretends to need a cloak from the Swineherd to test his trust and helpfulness.
ReplyDeleteJust after Odysseus first arrives on the Phaecians' island, Athena transforms his appearance to not only being cleaner, but stronger and Godly looking. In my opinion, disguises are used not only to test people, but to advance in his story, whether it be to gain things from them, or hide things from them. Odysseus is disguised as a Godly looking figure so that the royal family is more apt to help him get home... and he is granted a crew and gets home. He is disguised as a beggar to get closer to Telemachus and the suitors, and also not to reveal who he is, which ultimately gets him... closer to telemachus and the suitors, and back into his home, which is where he wants to be. And, earlier, Odysseus disguises himself as "nobody" in an attempt to wound and flee the cyclops' cave... which he does successfully.
The many disguises take many different forms in the Odyssey. The main characters that we see changing are Odysseus and Athena. I have to agree with Maddy in saying that often, especially in the case of Athena, characters don't reveal themselves because of the commotion it would cause. If Athena appeared and revealed herself as Athena, it would cause chaos, as would it if when Odysseus arrived back in Ithaca, he stormed up to his home and tried to take on the suitors. Being in disguise allows for more thought and precision. It also allows for a bit of manipulation and caution. For example, when Odysseus is with the Swineherd, he tests his loyalty by him speaking so highly of Odysseus and not knowing that he was around.
To circle back to the original question, I believe that the main reasons for disguise consist of revealing truths, and progressing forwards (getting what/where you want).
In my opinion, the identity a character takes depends on the circumstances of that situation. Take Odysseus in Polythemus's cave for example. Instead of revealing himself as Odysseus to Polythemus when he asked who he was, Odysseus introduces himself as "Nobody". Therefore, when he is battling with Polythemus, and Polythemus shouts out that "Nobody is killing me", no one comes to his rescue. This is because the people truly believed that 'no one' was harming Polythemus. It was essential that Odysseus did not tell his true name, or else he could have potentially been killed.
ReplyDeleteHowever, once Odysseus has won the battle and has gotten away, he reveals his true identity as Odysseus in order to take responsibility for his great success in blinding Polythemus. This leads the reader to infer that in some cases, one reveals his or her true identity when they are taking responsibility for something great.
In addition, I agree with Colleen when she says that disguises are used to get what one wants. For example, when Odysseus washes up on the Phaecian's island, he needs to be helped in order to get back to Ithica. However, clever Athena knows that he will be more likely to get help if his appearance was not one of a withered man, wearing rags. So, she makes him look much younger, and more powerful. This helped him win the people over at the island and in the end, they assisted him in his journey.
I agree with some of the above postings. The identity you present is what you are judged by. The characters in the Odyssey that consistently disguise themselves do so for many different reasons but there's one common reason they do this. They disguise themselves so things can get done a certain way.Athena disguises herself as all of these things so people do not go "Oh Athena. I'll do things for you, show you hospitlity because you are a god." She wants to see the true character of some.To use Odysseus..If Odysseus retained his identity as a the great Odysseus, he would never have been able to tell how hospitable someone was or learned what they really thought about him. So identities and disguises are put into place to find out the true character of others.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the Odyssey, the epic suggests that identity is very important but even more important, are the glory and fame that are attached with identity. It is also crucial that identity is never forgotten. This idea is expressed numerous times in the epic through the role of the bard. The role of a bard is to remember the heroic stories of kings and warriors so that they are never forgotten, even after the individual is no longer alive. In Book 8, Alcinous, like many other kings, has a bard who tells three stories. The first story is of Odysseus and Achilles at war. The third story, the story of the Trojan Horse, is requested by Odysseus to show his crafty and brilliant tactics at battle. The importance of these two stories, in particular the third story, are to increase the fame that is attached to Odysseus’ name. Odysseus requests the third story so that when the time comes for him to reveal himself to Alcinous, he appears glorious for his crafty and brilliant scheme at Troy and so that his name is respected. Bards are crucial figures for fame because after the individuals are no longer living, their name and heroic stories live on. Without the bard, there would be no fame for individuals in Greece.
ReplyDeleteThe epic also suggests that disguise is crucial in order to maintain identity. In the story of the Cyclops, Odysseus tells Polyphemus his name is “nobody” and he chooses to conceal his identity. In this instance, disguise preserved Odysseus’ name so that when he blinded the Cyclops, Polyphemus did not know who had done it. However, when leaving the island, Odysseus chooses to remove his disguise and reveal himself to the Cyclops. Removing the disguise revealed Odysseus to the Cyclops, which then enabled the Cyclops to curse Odysseus and his crew on their journey home. Had Odysseus retained his disguised identity when leaving the Cyclops’ island, he would not have struggled so greatly on his journey home, or lost so many men along the way. If he remained disguised, he and his crew would have arrived safely home to Ithaca. When Odysseus finally reaches Ithaca, he once again disguises his identity as a beggar to avoid the wrath of the suitors. His disguise and fake story preserved himself from being plotted against or killed.
One can argue that Odysseus’ desire for kleos (fame and glory) is one of his few, if not only, flaws. Also, identity plays a major role in the actions that Odysseus decides to take. In one major decision between life and death, in Polyphemus’ cave (Book 9), Odysseus chooses to mask his identity in order to survive.
ReplyDeleteAs the Polyphemus, a cyclops, began to eat the men inside his cave, Odysseus began concocting his plan to escape. As Odysseus conversed with Polyphemus, Odysseus said his name was “Nobody.” At first one doesn’t realize the cunning of this statement. After Polyphemus ate his fill of men and washed it down with three bowls of Odysseus’ hearty wine, he quickly fell asleep: the first phase of Odysseus’ plan was thus complete. Then, as the cyclops slept, Odysseus removed the spear he had carved from Polyphemus’ club, and gouged out Polyphemus’ eye. When other cyclops came to help Polyphemus to determine why he was yelling so, Polyphemus told them that, “Nobody, friends…Nobody’s killing me now by fraud and not by force.” (Book 9: 454-455)
Hearing that statement, the other cyclops retreated to their caves, annoyed at the pointless disturbance. Then, the following morning, as Polyphemus let his animals out to graze, Odysseus tricked Polyphemus once again. He did this by placing his men in between sheep so Polyphemus couldn’t detect their departure and by hanging under the largest one. However, when Odysseus and his men returned to their ships and left for safer waters, Odysseus yelled stinging taunts, and who he actually was, back at Polyphemus. Hearing this, Polyphemus hurled a boulder back at Odysseus’ ship. The stone missed narrowly, but a large swell pushed the ship back to shore. Departing once more, when Odysseus was farther than before, he began taunting the beast again. His crewmates, wondering what had overcome their leader, asked “So headstrong-why? Why rile the beast again?” (Book 9: 550) That is quite a valid question, considering Polyphemus hurled another boulder that missed narrowly. Why would Odysseus reveal his name even though he knew it would bring consequences from Poseidon, Polyphemus’ father. Also, why would Odysseus taunt Polyphemus again after he had almost killed his crew the first time? It was all in the name of kleos and to be known for eternity. Odysseus could not leave the island without revealing his name and expanding the long list of exploits that he has achieved throughout his life.