Homer's Odyssey

Revision as of 14:36, 27 February 2012

Homer's Odyssey is Odysseus'(otherwise known as Uylesses)10 year journey back to Ithaca after fighting in the Trojan was as depicted in Homer's Iliad

During the ten years he is confined to an island by Kalypso but eventually leaves and goes to have many other adventures such as fighting the Cyclops. A recurring theme is that is always seems to be fighting with the sea. Meanwhile is wife, Penelope is ageing and running the household back in Ithaka. She is persued by influential suitors, other suitors sleep with the maids while his son (Telemakos) is growing up and making unsuccessful bids to assert is authority in the household.

What is Odysseus like?

He is a slightly ambivalent figure. He is courageous, smart, resourceful, skillful and (polymetis) cunning but also shows disdain for people. When he comes back to Ithaca, he is in disguise and tests people around him to see how he is treated and so spy on his household. After he reveals himself, he kills many princes of the realm and the maids who have slept with the suitors.He is very much like Aristotle's Autarchic Man - self sufficient pro-democratic man.

Who wrote the Odyssey?

This a very subtly argued topic. The poem is attributed to Homer and written in about 700BC But these Greek Myths come out of an oral (song-making) tradition of story making. Story tellers would roam around Greece giving recitals of these epic stories; ofter lasting many weeks. Given that is was not written down it is often likely that the events and actors in the story would change. However, the story is not a patchwork of stories. There seems to be a continuous sensibility on which the story hangs. This would point to a editiors or group of editors. This doesnt mean however that the Odyssey is story written by a committee but more a sense that the story tellers/editors had a sense of how and where to set the story and retell it and embellish within that framework.

We do know that a set text as written down by Thridodies in the 5th century (CITATION)

What is the meaning of the Odyessy

In many ways it is abour man and masculinity and the patriarchal society and about man's journey back to his roots. In Greek times you cound not buy or sell property so families were very stationary. It is asserting a man's rights to be in charge but there is also a sense of fidelity insofar as he is wanting to get back to his ageing wife whereas he could stay with Kalypso or Athena and live quite happily.

Even though it is patriarchal, which is obvious given the greek culture of the time, it is surprising that there are so many strong female characters such as Calypso who was able to subjugate Odysseus for so long. Equally, Penelope is seen as strong figure holding down and running the household.

Despite this being a story about a journey home, as soon as he is home and retored as head of the household he tells Penelope that his destiny is to travel and probably die in some foreign land

Why does the Odyssey have such popular appeal?

• There is a fixed pattern of meter that helps the retelling of the story but not in the sense that we understand poetry today.
• The story has pace and momentum with the action constantly changing
• Unlike other stories of the time their is no fixed time. The story keeps moving back in to the past and into the future. Sometimes, obviously so, othertime more deceitfully
• Although some argue that it has interest only for men of the time there is in fact something in it for everyone - Children (monsters), young and old, women love and (fidelity)as well as men (courage and cunning)