Lies

In the later books that we have read as a class, characters take the role of another person. In addition to this, characters often lie about where they have been, what they have done, and specifically weather they have encountered Odysseus recently. Why do you think they do this and what is the rellevance of this?

Odysseus' Journey

The course of Odysseus’s journey should have been a straightforward ride home but obstacles in his way make it otherwise. He is affected by his own personal desire for honor and kleos as he sets foot onto the Cyclops’ island. His crewmen negatively impact his journey two different times as they open a bag of wind that backtracks them away from Ithaca, and eat Helios’ cattle, which they were told specifically not to, killing them all off. Athena, who is like his guide through the entire epic, helps Odysseus when times are rough. She saves him from the sea nymph, Calypo’s, island and convinces the Polynesians to send him home safely and with treasure.

There are three major factions that effect Odysseus' journey in both positive and negative ways. These factions being himself, others, and the gods. So which of these groups effected his journey the most? Or more specifically, which obstacle or event?

Personally, I would say that the catastrophe on Helios' island probably had the biggest effect on Odysseus' journey home. It is hard to say whose fault it is when both Odysseus and his crew mates are to blame. Odysseus does tell his crew that they will die a horrible death if they eat the cattle, but this obviously is not enough. His men kill the cattle because of their hunger and suffer the consequences. The loss of Odysseus' crew causes him to return home lonely and sad. We can only take guesses on how the story would have turned out if his crew would not have eaten Helios' cattle. Maybe Odysseus would make a huge entrance back into Ithaca, scaring the suitors out of his home, leaving no need to kill them. Anything is possible.

Revenge

This may have been posted before but this is an idea that I was thinking about recently -

Revenge is a key element of the Odyssey. Poseidon takes revenge upon Odysseus for an extended period of time. Odysseus, himself, takes revenge upon the suitors when he returns home. To what extent is this revenge justified, when should one stop exercising revenge, and what significance to the meaning of the story does this imply?

The Role of Fate in the Odyssey

Discuss the topic of prophesies and fate in the Odyssey and the power that the characters have to alter it. It is a positive or negative influence in their lives? Give specific examples and textual evidence to support.

Book 18 What has Odysseus learned?

In Book 18, Odysseus, still disguised as a beggar, “[a]nd the one who knew the world” (144), comments to one of the kinder suitors:

"Amphinomus, you seem a man of good sense to me. (145)
Just like your father – at least I’ve heard his praises . . . .
So I will tell you something. Listen. Listen closely.
Of all that breathes and crawls across the earth,
our mother earth breeds nothing feebler than a man.
So long as the gods grant him power, spring in his knees,
he thinks he will never suffer affliction down the years.
But then, when the happy gods bring on the long hard times,
bear them he must, against his will, and steel his heart.
I, too, seemed destined to be a man of fortune once . . . . (159)
Look at me now. (162)
And so, I say, let no man be lawless all his lifejust take in peace what gifts the gods will send . . . .


Early in the poem we witness Telemachus embarking on his journey from childhood to manhood. What do the lines above reveal about the impact of Odysseus own journey on him? What has he learned? What other episodes in the poem up to this point contribute to the viewpoint expressed by Odysseus in these lines?

The Order of Events

Let’s all face the Fact: the Odyssey is written in a non-chronological format, in which the story begins in the middle, and jumps around time, eventually letting us arrive at the ending. Now, why on earth would Homer, the eloquent epithet creator, make a story that is only semi-confluent, and lacks linear time?

In Mr. Ialacci’s Humanities class, we wrote down the two different orders that the story has; Chronological and Narrative order. The Chronological order is essentially the order of events that happen, regardless of when they happen according to the Narrator. The Narrative order, however, consists of the events of the story as told by the Narrator.

So, Why would Homer resort to writing a story that is in Narrative format?

My Personal Hypothesis is that Homer wrote the course of the story in a coagulated way in order to better show Odysseus and other character’s developments, by displaying their faults, and then displaying various ways that they overcome said faults. For example, take a look at the mutinous shipmates of Odysseus ungrateful twats that they are who, in the beginning of the story, seem to be loyal to him. However, as the Narrative time line goes on, Odysseus's men eventually become more hostile towards Odysseus, creating mutinies left and right. If we look at the Crew's development on the Chronological time line though, them seem schizophrenic sporadic in their mutinies.

Discuss.

-Nick

What's trust got to do with it?

Throughout the Odyssey we've seen many sticky situations, which most of the characters get themselves in and out of by on lying, scheming and or not trusting those around them. Penelope and the suitors: “Young men, my suitors, now that King Odysseus is no more, go slowly, keen as you are to marry me, until I can finish off this web…” “So by day she’d weave at her great and growing web—by night, by the light of her torches set beside her, she would unravel all she’d done.”(96) Odysseus and his men: “He gave me a sack, the skin of a full-grown ox, and binding inside the winds that howl from every quarter,” Jealousy and envy overcome Odysseus’s crew, who do not know what is in the sack. “Hurry, let’s see what loot is in that sack, how much gold and silver. Break it open—now!”(231-232). Many more trust issues are seen between Odysseus’s and his men and much plotting and scheming is seen back at Ithaca between Penelope and the suitors, and the suitors, Telemachus and now Odysseus. What relevance does lying, plotting and trust have to do with the book as a whole? What examples prove that these themes make up the entire book? What does lying, plotting and trust tell us about the characters and the Greek society?