i>clicker poll (anonymous)
Your identity is safe. Please
answer honestly:
Is it fair for the instructor to
impose a moratorium, a timethreshold after which no
further questions pertaining
to the paper will be
answered? E.g. after, say 3
p.m. Thursday, no emails
related to the paper will be
guaranteed a response. Is this
fair?
A. Yes, it is fair to impose a
moratorium.
B. No, it is not fair to impose
such a moratorium at all.
C. If a moratorium is imposed it
should be late, like two hours
before deadline.
D. The instructor and TAs should
try to answer all emails that
come until deadline.
E. An early moratorium
encourages students to finish
on their own.
Odysseus: son of Pain 19.410
Odysseus’ name may be connected to the Greek verb ὀδύσσομαι (‘to rage, to
hate’).
Fagles observes that the Greek middle voice — both active and passive at the
same time — allows this verb to imply that Odysseus “is not only an agent
of rage or hatred but its target, too.”
Thus: Odysseus “suffers for making others suffer ... as the rigors by which the
hero brings his identity to life.” So...
“Odysseus” may be translated as ‘man of pain’ — “active and passive, doing
and done to, agent and victim both, inflicting and bearing pain yet
somehow born himself in the process.”
Fagles, trans. p. 514 note on 19.463-64, with reference to Dimmock
i>clicker quiz
How long have the
suitors been
ravaging Odysseus’
estate?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Ten years
Twenty years
Three years
Thirteen years
i>clicker quiz
How long have the
suitors been ravaging
Odysseus’ estate?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Ten years
Twenty years
Three years
Thirteen years
Penelope wove the shroud of
Laertes for three years,
starting the fourth…. But
NOW they’re on to her.
i>clicker quiz
Homer himself addresses
only one character directly
in the poem. It’s a
remarkable feature of the
poem. Which of these is it?
A. The ignoble goatherd,
Melanthius
B. The noble swineherd,
Eumaeus
C. The prophet
Theoclymenus
D. The bard Demodocus
i>clicker quiz
Homer himself addresses
only one character directly
in the poem. It’s a
remarkable feature of the
poem. Which of these is it?
A. The ignoble goatherd,
Melanthius
B. The noble swineherd,
Eumaeus
C. The prophet
Theoclymenus
D. The bard Demodocus
This is a hard question, unless
you have read the poem in
Greek … or somebody tipped
you off to it. … or you
guessed.
i>clicker quiz
Departing Sparta,
Telemachus receives
lovely parting gifts
from Menelaus and
Helen and their son.
What does Helen give
him?
A. A golden drinking cup of
special ancestry
B. A hint on how to imitate
the voices of Greek heroes
C. A lovely robe she wove
herself
D. A key to the city of Sparta
i>clicker quiz
Penelope’s name in Greek
is related to the noun
ΠΗΝΗ, which refers to her
principle role a virtuous
wife. ΠΗΝΗ means which
of the following?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Duck
Bobbin
Shroud
Trickery
i>clicker quiz
Penelope’s name in Greek
is related to the noun
ΠΗΝΗ, which refers to her
principle role a virtuous
wife. ΠΗΝΗ means which
of the following?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Duck
Bobbin
Shroud
Trickery
Penelope’s name has
reference to the bobbin or
the thread by which she
busily weaves.
Pinturicchio, “Scenes from the
Odyssey” 1509, National
Gallery, London, inv. 911
Mastery Image
Penlope weaves at her loom, anchoring
the female side of this composition, as
Telemachus strides into her space. Over
Telemachus’ left shoulder, three suitors
and the disguised Odysseus (in the
doorway) strike various poses.
Penelope’s ultimate weapon, the test of
the bow, hangs on the wall behind her.
The vignettes over Telemachus’ right
shoulder depict Odysseus and the Sirens,
Odysseus and Circe, and the swine of
Circe (men whose fidelity to home and
family was not as resolute at was
Odysseus’).
Pinturicchio’s work was painted as a
fresco on a wall in the Petrucci Palace in
Siena, Italy. Other frescoes in the same
room celebrate “the triumph of chastity”
and other family values. This fresco was
detached and how hangs in the British
National Gallery. The NatGal’s excellent
website allows close-up views of the
entire surface.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pinturicchio,_Return_of_Odysseus.jpg
OGCMA0850Penelope_Pinturicchio
Where does the Odyssey end?
According to two famous ancient critics, the
Odyssey ‘ended’ at 23.296 and the rest was
written by later poets with less skill than Homer
exhibited. The notion has convinced many
modern scholars as well, and they find passages
in the later material that have ‘unhomeric’
language and narrative that doesn’t fit with the
rest. Of course, others disagree and think that the
narrative requires the details offered in the
remainder to bring the whole around fully.
What do you think?
Penelope’s attitude
What does she know…. and when?
Theoclymenos’ prophecy: 17.150ff.
Penelope’s response to the “beggar’s” surly treatment at Antinous’ hand: 17.490ff.
Cf. Irus/Arnaeus’s treatment of the beggar, before his own being Un-Irused: 18.201ff.
Her injunction to Eumaeus
Telemachus’ sneeze: 17.542
Her own interview with Odysseus: 19.105
Is she pressing him at 19.140ff.?
She does reveal the stratagem of the shroud.
It is an especially pressing moment: “my parents are pressing me to marry…”
cf. the dream of the geese 19.540ff. and lead in to it.
Her test of Odysseus: 19.215, the brooch on Crete “the infallible signs that he had disclosed”
[Eurycleia and the increased dramatic tension… 19.475ff.]
The challenge of the axes: proposed 19.570ff.
Her internal deliberation as she descends to the hall in 23.85ff. “Should she remain aloof as she questioned her
husband…?
Odysseus: “Telemachus, leave your mother to put me to the proof here in our home.” 23.112