The Odyssey
Introduction. Books 1-4
I. Historical background
Heinrich Schliemann (late 19th century)/archaeological evidence (1250 BCE)—Troy;
Mycenae,
Agamemnon
woman/raid
II. Mythological background
Trojan cycle-8 poems from the Cypria-Telegonia, that include the Iliad and the Odyssey
III. Composition
oral tradition
scale: over 12,000 lines
formulae: nouns + epithets; phrases; scenes
dactylic hexameter
Homeric Greek = verbal painting
aoidoi (singers)—interaction with audience
written down ca. 750-650 BCE
IV. Homer?
motif of blindness: Homer, Demodocus and others up to the modern era
“the Homeric question” starting with Friedrich A. Wolf in the 18th century
V. Audience and Venue
audiences at banquets and festivals, including athletic games, e.g. the Olympic games
VI. The Odyssey
general
time span: ca. 40 days
starting point: in medias res + flashbacks
shame culture
Names: Nomen-Omen
Odysseus
Penelope
Calypso
Antinous
Melantheus/Melantho
Telemachus
Man of Hatred
The Weaver
The Concealer
Anti-Mind, Anti-homecoming
(Dark) Sunburnt
Fighter from Afar
Divinity
“double motivation”—human and divine will inextricably combined, g. “the Gods help
great men”, or “the Gods help bad men to destroy themselves”
bicameral mind?
overall structure (and deployed 3 times: Books 1-4, 5-12, 13-24)
Withdrawal, Devastation and Return (WDR)—pervasive story pattern to this day:
1) Loss/Quarrel
2) Withdrawal
3) Disguise during absence or upon return (also deceitful stories)
4) Hospitality shown to wandering hero
5) Recognition
6) Disaster during or occasioned by hero’s absence
7) Reconciliation of hero and return of hero
overarching themes include:
metis
civilization
the group
Odysseus
Penelope
bie
nature
the individual
Poseidon
esp. male inhabitants of enchanted
realm
Crew
Suitors
Melanthius
Irus
Zeus
Athena
Books 1-4: The Telemachia
Book 1
WDR-first deployment
Proem-programmatic narrative (restated by Tiresias, Book 11)
Odusseos polutropos vs. his crew
Odusseos polutropos vs. generic heroes: metis over bie
Achilles
Herakles
Poseidon as ritual antagonist
Odysseus = Man of Hatred (with 2-fold meaning)
parallels/contrasts with proem of the Iliad
divine assembly-theodicy (with warning motif)
gods/Aegisthus
Odysseus/crew
Zeus and Telemachus/suitors
Zeus (justice)/Poseidon (family vendetta)
Athena as Mentes with boy-like Telemachus
Telemachus/suitors
Telemachus’ roundabout-Pylos and Sparta
Orestes motif offers parallels and alternative scenarios
Clytemnestra/Penelope
Orestes/Telemachus
Book 2
Telemachus’ coming of age
vs. suitors in assembly:
Antinous (Penelope’s trick, symbolism of shroud, meaning of her name alignment
with other female figures, letters!)
Eurymachus
warning motif
Telemachus
divine omen
internecine warfare
over-consumption
Mentor
Telemachus vs. Penelope
Subterfuge
psychology of separation/withdrawal-alienation
Book 3
Pylos
Peisistratus as role model
proper xenia (vs. crew)
Orestes motif
limits of Nestor’s knowledge
Book 4
Sparta
further knowledge
marriage and funeral banquet/foreshadowing of Odysseus’ nostos
proper xenia
Megapenthes (Mr. Great Pain) = marriage of Menelaus and Helen
Helen usurps identification of Telemachus
foreshadows other key identifications by females
Helen distributes nepenthes (sinister undertones) vs. memories of Troy-all cry
cf. Kirke, Kalypso
Helen’s story vs. Menelaus’
suggest alternate behaviors for Penelope
foreshadows killing of suitors
Menelaus’ account: Eidothea and Proteus
= repeated story pattern foreshadowed
Odysseus and Kalypso
Odysseus and Circe
Odysseus at Ogygia (island of Circe)
Telemachus’ extended stay
Book 14 with Eumaius’ greeting
parallels Odysseus with Calypso and Circe
Ithaka
switch to Ithaka with suitors/banqueters
contrasting images of licit and illicit feasting
Conclusions on the Telemachia (Books 1-4)
rite of passage
truncated heroic quest
situation at home defined-critical moment
note theme of suppression of individual identity in Book 4 (Odysseus at Troy)