ODYSSEY 15 -16
Women
Portents
Telemakhos Grows Up
The Story Thus Far…
Odysseus has made it home
 Telemakhos is on his way home from
Sparta
 The Suitors are actively planning on killing
Telemakhos when he returns
 Penelope is still in hiding from the Suitors

Women and their Wiles
Athena tells Telemakhos that Penelope is
close to getting married
 Eurymakhos – “Wide-Fighter”
 “You know a woman’s pride at bringing
riches to the man she marries” (pg. 268)

 Dowry
 Agreed
upon by the father and future husband
 Could be property, cash, or land
Marriage & Dowry





Sometimes called “bride price”
Dowry + husband’s contribution = oikos!
“ideal” was to provide support without having to
buy supplies
If divorced, dowry returned in full
5th C. Athens - women and their money
becoming more and more important for
production of Athenian citizens
Helen and her Wiles

Helen does two important things
 Give
Telemakhos a robe
 Interprets omens

The Robe
 “keep
it for your own bride, your joyful
wedding day” (pg. 271)
 How joyful was Helen’s marriage?
Menelaus & Helen




Menelaus had
intended to kill Helen
Took her on his ship,
intending to kill her
later
Forgot all about it by
the time he reached
Sparta
OR…the sight of her
topless changed his
mind
Women and their Wiles II

The Phoinikian Slave
 Intrigue
against her master
 Caused Eumaios to be sold to Laertes
 Tricky female slave

Odysseus’ Maidservants
 “You
and I alone must learn how far the women are
corrupted” (pg. 299)
 “Yes, make distinction between good girls and those
who shame your house” (pg. 300)
“Good” Women

Antikleia
Raised Eumaios
“gave new clothing, cloak and
sandals…well she loved me” (pg. 279)
The source of Eumaios’ loyalty to
Odysseus
Penelope




The model of sophrosyne –
“excellence”
North: “she is a good housekeeper, a nurturer of her
husband, a child-bearer..she is chaste, graceful and does
not like to talk about sex with other women”
Od. 18.333 (pg. 344): “Here, then, you must attend to
everything”
She is quite capable, though she loses her temper (pg.
303-304)
Portents and Birds

Two divinations in these books
1)The eagle and goose
2)Hawk and dove
The Hawk and Goose
A mountain eagle appears with a
goose in its talons
 Eagle = Odysseus, Goose = Suitors
 Helen interprets, not Menelaus
 Helen seems tuned in to domestic strife
 Bird signs VERY important (especially
eagles)

The Hawk and Dove

Theoklymenos is descendant of
Melampous
 Melampous
introduced the worship of
Dionysos to Greece (Herodotus)
 A serpent licked his ears and he could
then understand bird language and
guess the future


Theoklymenos interprets as sign of
eternal rule by Odysseus’ house
Pg. 285 “A god spoke in this bird-sign
on the right. I knew it when I saw the
hawk fly over us.”
Hesiod Works & Days 202-211
And now I will tell a fable for princes who
themselves understand. Thus said the hawk to
the nightingale with speckled neck, while he
carried her high up among the clouds, gripped
fast in his talons, and she, pierced by his
crooked talons, cried pitifully. To her he spoke
disdainfully: `Miserable thing, why do you cry
out? One far stronger than you now holds you
fast, and you must go wherever I take you,
songstress as you are. And if I please I will make
my meal of you, or let you go. He is a fool who
tries to withstand the stronger, for he does not
get the mastery and suffers pain besides his
shame.' So said the swiftly flying hawk, the longwinged bird.
Bird Signs





Aka Augury
haruspicy is the study of
entrails
Apollo was the god of
prophecy
Signs on the right were
favorable
Never organized into
state religion as in Rome
What do they mean?
Signs of unalterable divine will
 Here, they signify Odysseus as a
predatory, aggressive creature
 Sense of impending doom for the suitors

Telemakhos Grows Up

Not afraid to express himself now
 Turns

down extended xenia from Menelaos
Acts as a noble around other nobles
 To
Helen (pg. 273)
 Peisistratos (pg. 274-275)

Still uncertain about Odysseus, even
though Athena twice told him to buck up
Telemakhos Still Has Doubts
“uncomprehending, wild with incredulity,
[he] cried out, ‘You cannot be my father
Odysseus!” (pg. 295)
 “How can two men do battle with a
houseful in their prime?” (pg. 297)

 It’s
actually 118 suitors, according to
Telemakhos (pg. 297)

Once Telemakhos believes, however….
REVENGE

Telemakhos finds his courage
 “Even
when danger comes, I think you’ll find
courage in me.” (pg. 299)
“Telemakhos, now strong with magic..”
(pg. 305)
 Athena is going to fight with the two men,
and this finally gives hope to Telemakhos

Foreshadowing

The individualization of the suitors
good – Amphinomos
 Some bad - Antinoos
 Some
Sharp increase in omens and portents
 The last example of proper xenia
 The introduction and evolution of the
servants of Odysseus
