Friday, March 6, 2009

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.
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5 comments:

  1. Max SegalMarch 7, 2009 at 6:19 PM

    In the Odyssey, there are several prophecies that are told to Odysseus and ultimately come true. “Nausithous used to say that lord Poseidon was vexed with us because we escorted all mankind and never came to grief. He said that one day, as a well-build ship of ours sailed home on the misty sea from such a convoy, the god would crush it….(8.632-37).” This prophecy that is given to the Phaeacians ultimately comes true in Chapter 13, when one of their ships is about to pull into harbor but turns to stone and sinks to the bottom of the sea. In this example, the Phaeacians had no ability to alter the prophecy, “…Hurry, friends, do as I say, let us all comply: stop our convoys home for every castaway chancing on our city! As for Poseidon, sacrifice twelve bulls to the god at once- the pick of the herds (13.203-07).” This experience had both a positive and a negative effect on their lives. Obviously, it had a negative effect because on of their ships had sunk and been destroyed. The positive effect was that the Phaeacians knew that the prophecy had already occurred so they didn’t need to worry about it anymore.

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  2. Zach VoigtMarch 8, 2009 at 10:42 AM

    Fate is an interesting topic. Sometimes, prophecies and fate actually seem to be work of the gods. Other times, however, cursing and prophecies are only coincidental. When Odysseus is wandering Ithaca as a beggar, the swineheard takes him to the palace of the King (ironic, but in this case irrelevant). While on their way, they meet the goatheard, who does not act appropriately towards the disguised Odysseus. The swineheard proceeds to curse him, saying that Odysseus will come home and clean house, getting rid of the goatherd. It is just a coincidence that Odysseus happens to be returning home then and is present at the cursing.
    On the other hand, this sort of cursing may be a universal threat. Saying, "Odysseus will come home and kill you for being bad" seems like a good way to stop further harassing. I'm sure that anyone in Ithaca that remembered a curse like that would be able to say that the curse came true, but its easy to predict the score when the game is over. Hindsight seems to be the primary component in fate and prophecies. If you say enough obscure predictions, then at least one will be later interpreted as an actual happening.

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  3. Morgan CoharaMarch 8, 2009 at 11:20 AM

    Prophecies and fate within the Odyssey tend to go hand in hand with each other. For example if a prophecy of good fortune has been cast, then the fate of a person will most likely be good as well. However, within the Odyssey most prophecies ten to be bad, therefore resulting in an unfortunate fate of a character(s). Also, prophecies tend to be forgotten by a character but then remembered when they have come true because of another character. For example, when Odysseus was escaping from Polyphemus, he yelled back at him and told him his name, resulting in Polyphemus remembering the prophecy that a man by the name of Odysseus would harm him. Plus, the fate of Polyphemus was negative because he was blinded in the eye. All throughout the story, Odysseus tends to influence the remembrance of many of these prophecies that have been forgotten. Some of these include Odysseus and Polyphemus, Odysseus and the Phaeacians, where Poseidon destroys a ship because they always granted passage to those who asked resulting in many Phaeacians being killed, and Odysseys and the swineherd. There is a distinct character to character relationship for the influences of prophecies and fates.

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  4. Maddy PesecMarch 8, 2009 at 11:24 AM

    The Odyssey by Homer foreshadows the change in Greek thought about fate. During Homeric times, no gods were able to control fate. But, over time, it evolved into Zeus controlling fate. A hint of this switch is demonstrated in the Epic as Zeus and Fate have the same mission regarding Odysseus’ journey home.
    Fate’s mission is to keep Odysseus at sea and make him suffer for a long time, but to eventually bring him home alive. In book one of the epic, Athena describes Odysseus as, “That seasoned veteran cursed by fate so long – / far from his loved one still, he suffers torments” (1.58-59). This description shows that Fate has been keeping Odysseus at sea making him suffer. Then, later in the Epic, we get a sense that Fate is keeping Odysseus alive. This comes in Book 5, when it is narrated, “A heavy sea covered him over, then and there / unlucky Odysseus would have met his death / against the will of Fate –” (5.479-481). This excerpt shows that Fate wants him to stay alive, presumably until he gets home.
    Zeus also is OK with Odysseus suffering on his long journey home. This can be seen in his argument with Athena in book 1, and also in the fact that he did nothing when Poseidon was cursing Odysseus. Zeus is the supreme god, and he could have protected Odysseus if he wanted to, but he did not. Zeus’s desire to bring Odysseus home alive, is established when he says, “But come, all of us here put heads together now, / work out his journey so Odysseus can return” (1.91-92). This egregious support of Odysseus leads us to the conclusion that Zeus lets Odysseus to suffer, but works to get him home safely. This position is almost identical to that of Fate.

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  5. StuMarch 8, 2009 at 6:15 PM

    Although many see fate as one's fixed destiny, we can still look at Odysseus' prophecy and what was told would happened, and what really did happen. Odysseus is given the prophecy that he will return home “a lonely and broken man.” If we define 'broken' as weak in spirit, then this prophecy is only partially true. He does return without any crew, but Athena has influenced the Polynesians to give Odysseus treasure and clothes. Odysseus' sneaky spirit is still big enough to disguise himself from his family to plot against the suitors. But many events that occur on Odysseus' journey do affect his destiny, as opposed to a fixed fate.

    The Gods play a major role in Odysseus’s destiny. Athena looks over Odysseus throughout the entire book, changing the fate of the king. She saves him from Calypso's island where he would have been otherwise stranded. She convinces the Polynesians to send him home clothed with treasure. Athena's interest in Odysseus causes much about his foretold fate to be changed. She directly influenced the aspect of the prophecy that Odysseus would return a broken man. Returning home, he is properly clothed and has spare treasure with him.

    Odysseus and his crew make other major changes to each other fate. His own self mistakes leads to the death of all of Odysseus's crew. By allowing his crew to eat the cattle of the sun god Helio, he is asking for the consequences he had already been told. Odysseus had the ultimate choice in deciding his and his crews' fate. Although Helio was the one that physically killed the crew, Odysseus was the one that brought upon himself.

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