16/10/06 - Classical Literature - Odyssey: Introduction

Value of life taken for granted in Odyssey.

Everyday life, not about heroes. Odysseus's tales of fantasy. So very different from Iliad.

Similar characters: Odysseus. Described as "polumetis" - "man of many tricks." Crafty. And "polutropos" - "man of many turns." Unpredictable.

Agamemnon, Menelaos, Nestor, Helen.

War is in background of Odyssey, like Iliad has everyday life in background. Nostos - story of memories. Nostoi - stories of war. How Menelaos got home from war.

Odysseus returns to Ithaka. Interpreted in various ways. Explains what war is, the effects of war. Transitional narrative about rebuilding of community after war. Generally, people start to cohere about war ten years afterwards, as Odysseus returns after an absence of a similar time. But also Odysseus's journey. Odysseus seen as Christian "fighting for good". A figure of religion and peace. During Enlightenment, figure of reason overcoming all else.

Ethical structure to contemporaries. "Xenia" - hospitality. Very important! Zeus is God of xenia. Greeks believed important then. Rules and conventions that govern the way two parties interact. How to behave when meeting/receiving a stranger. Symbolised how Greeks believed civilised communities should interact. No community in Greece without xenia, otherwise anarchy, war, chaos, etc. Note: Paris in Trojan story breaks rules of xenia.

Represented in Odyssey as tiny actions.

"Hubris" - breaking the rules of xenia and other rules. In Odyssey, set out in black and white. Hubris is any act of someone going beyond their limits; invokes punishment of Gods.

Clear divisions between beings; first Gods, then humans, then animals. Apollo: know yourself. Know your limits.

"Kleos" - fame. Reasons behind epic poetry (klea andron).
Odysseus's problem. Willing to sacrifice peace for kleos (an heroic death, renown, etc.)

Narrative structure.
Nostos.
Kleos.
Interrelated words in Odyssey. Must get back so you can tell your story! Or if you die someone must survive to tell your story! Kleos relies on nostos, and vice versa. Odysseus - how much kleos can he give up?

Odyssey - how stories should be read. What stories do.

In medias res. Iliad - re-enact previous parts of story.
Odyssey
- Book 1-4: Telemachos's journey
- Book 5-12: Ogygia to Phaiakia
- Book 9-12: Flashback to Odysseus's journey to Ogygia
- Book 13+: Odysseus tells narrative about past.

Odysseus's stories change through his retellings. Polumetis, polutropos.

Book 1.
Polumetis - both physical and mental.
Gods' debate looking back on war - what it meant to them.
Humans don't take enough responsibility, blame the Gods too much.
"Just a man" - how do they figure in the world?
Aegistus complains of being murdered by Orestes when he brought it on himself - hubris.
Klytemnestra - Agamemnon married, Odysseus takes place of Agamemnon.

Narrative. Telemachos taking action. He blames his mother Penelope for letting guests eat and drink all the food in the house. She does nothing because it would be an act of hubris to turn them out. She displays herself at intervals to provoke the suitors' interest in her. They could take over the palace but that would be wrong. One of them must take her before it ends.

Odyssey book 1 about responsibility. Telemachos can't remember his father, Odysseus, very well, so he can't remember who he (himself) is. Identity.