THE ODYSSEY III-V
The Magical Mystery Tour Continues
WHAT ARE WE GOING
TO DISCUSS TODAY?
• The Who and the Where of the
Odyssey 3-5
• The Mini-Epic of Telemakhos
• The Continual Rebirth of Odysseus
Major Players in the Odyssey 3-5
•
•
•
•
Odysseus – king of Ithaka and our hero
Telemakhos – son of Odysseus
Penelope – wife of Odysseus
Nestor – king of Pylos, elder sage of the
Greek army at Troy
• Kalypso – sea nymph trying to detain
Odysseus permanently
Major Players in the Odyssey 3-5
MENELAOS
• King of Sparta
• Husband of Helen, and
younger brother of
Agamemnon
• Had major issues
getting home
• Oath to uphold his
marriage led Odysseus
to go to war
Major Players in the Odyssey 3-5
AGAMEMNON
• Husband of
Klytemnestra (oops)
• Commander of the
Greek fleet at Troy
• Killed his daughter to
get to Troy
• Murdered by ______?
Major Players in the Odyssey 3-5
HELEN
• Wife of Menelaos, and
daughter of Zeus
• Supposedly the most
beautiful woman in
the world
• Might not have gone
to Troy
• Claims it wasn’t her
fault
Map of Ancient Greece
The Where of the Odyssey
ITHAKA
-Odysseus’ kingdom,
the place he just wants
to get back to
-located on the western
side of Greece
The Where of the Odyssey
PYLOS
-Home of Nestor
-Telemakhos’ first stop
on his way to find out his
father’s fate
The Where of the Odyssey
SPARTA
Home of Menelaos and Helen
TELEMACHUS’ JOURNEY
TELEMAKHOS’ JOURNEY
• WHY? – to find his father and himself
• WHERE? – Pylos, Sparta, back to Ithaka
• WHO? – Mentor, Nestor, Menelaos, Helen,
Athena
• What are the differences between
Telemakhos’ journey and Odysseus?
(besides the obvious ones)
FATHER AND SON GO
WALK-ABOUT
•
•
•
•
•
•
TELEMAKHOS
Goes on a rented boat
Has only one ship
Goes to visit friends
Has a goddess with him
Leaves behind a terrible
home situation
Gets home in a couple of
weeks or so
•
•
•
•
•
•
ODYSSEUS
Takes his own fleet
Has fifty ships
Goes to war
Doesn’t have a goddess
with him
Leaves nothing amiss at
home
Doesn’t think it’ll take so
blasted long to get home
DIFFERENT, BUT SAME
• Both men are going at the behest of others:
- Telemakhos because of the suitors
- Odysseus because of an oath to Menelaos
• Both men are tempted by hospitality
• Both men go with a single purpose: to
reclaim their kingdom
QUESTIONS TO PONDER
ABOUT TELEMAKHOS’
JOURNEY
1) Is Telemakhos, as
Nestor, Menelaos
and Helen say, a
spitting image of his
father in all respects?
2) Whose journey is
more filled with
peril, the father’s or
the son’s?
3) Would you consider
Telemakhos’ journey
an odyssey?
4) Is Telemakhos’
journey necessary? Is
Odysseus’?
Just what IS an odyssey?
“The first MYTHEME in our odyssey plot involves getting
there (getting started, then getting through or over any
hurdles, obstacles, perils, or getting out of baited traps
along the way), the second MYTHEME involves getting
what you went to get once you get there;while the third
MYTHEME involves getting away with it in spite of the
guards; and the fourth MYTHEME involves getting back
where you came from, again, as on the way out, getting past
dangers, which may be harder now because the prize you're
bringing back makes you more likely to get ripped off.”
(John van Sickle)
Just what IS an odyssey?
“In such a story, we can notice, the traveler keeps coming
up against the unexpected; in other words, dangers and
distractions keep overtaking one. Now "over" plus "take"
add up to what in the languages derived from Latin gets
called SURPRISE; while coming upon or up against gets
called ADVENTURE. So the odyssey we have been defining
turns out to be a classic plot of adventure and surprise.”
First Mytheme: Getting There
• Getting Started:
– Telemakhos
– Odysseus
• Getting Through Hurdles:
– Telemakhos: suitors, youth, inexperience,
despair
– Odysseus: nine major perils along the way,
distrust, despair, heroic nature
Second Mytheme: Getting What You
Want When You Get There
• Telemakhos:
– News of his father
– Courage and encouragement
– A plan and a friendly face
• Odysseus:
– Food
– Just a little bit closer
– Constitutional fortification
Third Mytheme: Getting Away With
It Despite The Guards
• Telemakhos:
– Doesn’t really apply here
• Odysseus:
–
–
–
–
–
The Cyclopes
The Sirens
Poseidon
The witch
The suitors
Fourth Mytheme: Getting Back
• Telemakhos:
– We’ll have to wait and see
• Odysseus:
– We’ll have to wait and see
REBIRTH
• Odysseus is constantly
left for dead, yet he
always manages to get
out of it
• The war, Calypso’s
island, the shipwrecks
• Usually with a little
(or a lot) of help from
the gods (Athena)
• Each time he reaches a
new place, he is
reborn
• Phaiakia: Odysseus,
for all intents and
purposes, goes
through the birth cycle
again
The Rebirth of Odysseus in
Phaiakia
• He is “sick with salt
water, and all his flesh
was swollen, and the
sea water crusted
stiffly in his mouth
and nostrils, and with
a terrible weariness he
lay unable to breathe
or speak in his
weakness” (Lattimore)
“Newborn is covered in
vernix, the greasy
substance covering the
skin…Some blood may
be visible on the body
of the little one…the
nose and airways may
need to be cleaned and
oxygen provided (if
necessary).”
Questions to Ponder
Concerning Women in the
Odyssey
1) What is the role of
women in the
Odyssey: to advance
plot, provide
paradigms, or serve
men?
2) Is Kalypso right to
be angry with
Hermes?
3) Does Penelope’s
refusal to remarry
smack of stupidity?
Would Odysseus even
have cared?
4) Was Helen guilty of
starting the Trojan
War?