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Homeric
Odyssey
and the Cultivation
of Justice
has concluded. This site will remain accessible for
those of you who have come upon the series after
its conclusion. We hope to offer other series in
the future - the target date for the next one is
late spring of 2001. Thanks to all of you who
participated in our dialogue!
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Discussion
Questions for Unit 1
1. The Odyssey is
Odysseus' story, yet it starts with the story of
Telemakhos (the first four scrolls are sometimes even
referred to as the "Telemakhy"). Why start with the
Telemakhos' journey? We have said that the journey of
Odysseus is a metaphorical 'journey of the soul' - can we
see a similar progression for Telemakhos already in these
four scrolls? One way to think about this is to examine
his interactions and relationships with others: his
mother, the suitors, his nurse, Athena disguised as
Mentes vs. as Mentor, Nestor, Menelaus, etc.
Discussion
forum for question 1
Discussion
forum for question 1 for first-time readers of Homeric
poetry
2. In scroll ii, Telemakhos
convenes an assembly (the first one since Odysseus has
left!) to ask for help with the suitors and the problems
they are causing in his home. How is the state of
law/justice in the community presented in this scroll?
What are the arguments made on both sides about the
situation? How do Mentor's words to the assembly (see
below) relate to the metaphor of the righteous king in
our central passage?
scroll ii 229ff: [Mentor -
the man, not Athena in disguise]: "Hear me, men of
Ithaca, I hope that you may never have a kind and
well-disposed ruler any more, nor one who will govern you
equitably; I hope that all your chiefs henceforward may
be cruel and unjust, for there is not one of you but has
forgotten Odysseus, who ruled you as though he were your
father. I am not half so angry with the suitors, for if
they choose to do violence in the naughtiness of their
minds [noos], and wager their heads that
Odysseus will not return, they can take the high hand and
eat up his estate, but as for you others I am shocked at
the way in which you the rest of the population
[dêmos] all sit still without even
trying to stop such scandalous goings on - which you
could do if you chose, for you are many and they are
few."
Discussion
forum for question 2
Discussion
forum for question 2 for first-time readers of Homeric
poetry
3. As Telemakhos is preparing
for his journey, he prays to Athena, who then appears to
him in the form of Mentor (scroll ii 262 ff.):
[262] "Hear me," he
cried, "you god who visited me yesterday, and bade me
sail the seas in search of the nostos of my father who
has so long been missing. I would obey you, but the
Achaeans, and more particularly the wicked suitors, are
hindering me that I cannot do so."
[267] As he thus prayed,
Athena came close up to him in the likeness and with the
voice of Mentor. "Telemakhos," said she, "if you are made
of the same stuff as your father you will be neither fool
nor coward henceforward, for Odysseus never broke his
word nor left his work half done. If, then, you take
after him, your voyage will not be fruitless, but unless
you have the blood of Odysseus and of Penelope in your
veins I see no likelihood of your succeeding. Sons are
seldom as good men as their fathers; they are generally
worse, not better; still, as you are not going to be
either fool or coward henceforward, and are not entirely
without some share of your father's wise discernment, I
look with hope upon your undertaking. But mind you never
make common cause [noos] with any of those
foolish suitors, for they are neither sensible nor just
[dikaioi], and give no thought to death
and to the doom that will shortly fall on one and all of
them, so that they shall perish on the same
day.
What are the father/son dynamics
set up not only in this passage, but in the first four
scrolls as a whole? (We will continue to think about this
throughout our reading!) How has Telemakhos fared without
a father all his life, and how will going to inquire
about his father's nostos make a
difference?
Also, why does Athena have to
warn Telemakhos not to join in with the suitors? Why
would he? And from the characterization of the suitors as
'neither sensible nor just', how can we begin to define
justice at this point in the narrative?
Discussion
forum for question 3
Discussion
forum for question 3 for first-time readers of Homeric
poetry
Discussion
Questions for Unit 2
1. In scroll viii,
Odysseus is entertained in the court of the Phaeacians,
where the singer Demodokos sings three songs. The subject
of the third song--the story of the wooden horse and the
fall of Troy--is requested by Odysseus himself (scroll
viii 487-498): "Demodokos, there is no one in the world
whom I praise with admiration more than I do you. You
must have studied under the Muse, Zeus' daughter, and
under Apollo, - with such a sense of order
[kosmos] do you sing the return of the
Achaeans with all their sufferings and adventures. If you
were not there yourself, you must have heard it all from
some one who was. Now, however, change your song and tell
us of the construction [kosmos] of the
wooden horse which Epeios made with the assistance of
Athena, and which Odysseus got by stratagem into the fort
of Troy after freighting it with the men who afterwards
sacked the city. If you will sing this tale aright I will
tell all the world how magnificently heaven has endowed
you." His reaction to the story is one of lamentation.
Why is this story entertainment for the Phaeacians but a
source of grief for Odysseus?
Discussion
forum for question 1
Discussion
forum for question 1 for first-time readers of Homeric
poetry
2. Odysseus tells the story of
his journey in scrolls ix-xii. We heard in Professor
Nagy's lecture the thematic importance of Odysseus'
learning the noos of those he met. Considering the
different places and peoples (the Laestrygonians, the
Cyclops, the Lotus-Eaters, Scylla and Charybdis, Circe's
island, and even the Phaeacians), what can we discern
about the state of society and social justice in each
one? How does learning the noos of each contribute
to Odysseus' own conception of justice, or to
ours?
Discussion
forum for question 2
Discussion
forum for question 2 for first-time readers of Homeric
poetry
3. When Odysseus travels to the
underworld in scroll xi, he has the chance to see and
communicate with many heroes, male and female. How do
these conversations connect with the ideas of hero cult
we heard about in the introductory lecture? How are these
ghosts [psukhai] able to communicate with
him--that is, what must Odysseus do to awaken their
consciousness? What can we make of Teiresias' prophecy
about what Odysseus must do after he kills the suitors
(see xi 121ff.)? How do the conversations with Achilles,
Agamemnon, and Herakles help to define Odysseus' heroic
status?
Discussion
forum for question 3
Discussion
forum for question 3 for first-time readers of Homeric
poetry
Discussion
Questions for Unit 3
1. Once Odysseus arrives
in Ithaka, he makes a series of "reconnections" with his
philoi, those who are near and dear to him. How is
the order in which he makes these reconnections
significant? How does Odysseus "introduce" himself to
various people? As one example, consider the ainos
that Odysseus tells Eumaios at xiv 459ff. (note that
Eumaios calls it an ainos at xiv 508). Also,
compare the reaction of the dogs as Odysseus approaches
Eumaios at xiv 29ff. with the story of Argos at xvii
290ff.
Discussion
forum for question 1
Discussion
forum for question 1 for first-time readers of Homeric
poetry
2. Consider the metaphors used
in these scenes of reconnection. For example, an
important reconnection for Odysseus is, of course, with
his son in scroll xvi, and in considering this scene, we
might reconnect ourselves to our prevous discussion of
Telemakhos in Unit 1. After Odysseus reveals himself, the
father and son are compared in their crying to birds (xvi
213ff.): "As he spoke he sat down, and Telemakhos threw
his arms about his father and wept. They were both so
much moved that they cried aloud like eagles or vultures
with crooked talons that have been robbed of their half
fledged young by peasants. Thus piteously did they
weep..." What is the significance of the metaphor? Can we
find any common threads in the metaphors used in these
scrolls?
Discussion
forum for question 2
Discussion
forum for question 2 for first-time readers of Homeric
poetry
3. In Scroll xix of the
Odyssey, Penelope speaks with the guest in her
home, the disguised Odysseus. At one point in their
conversation (xix 535ff.), Penelope tells him about a
dream she had--the passage is included below. Examine the
details of the dream, including the "metaphor" that
explains itself. Compare this dream to the portent in
scroll xv 160ff.--why is Penelope's dream so like the
omen that Helen, of all people, interprets? Why is
Penelope telling the dream to the "stranger" and asking
him to interpret it if the dream has, in effect,
interpreted itself? Why would Odysseus have a vested
interest in there being only one interpretation? Do you
think Penelope knows that she is speaking to her husband?
And why does she say that she thinks the dream is one of
the false variety? Be sure to look at the surrounding
context for clues in how to interpret the
passage.
"Listen, then, to a dream that I
have had and interpret it for me if you can. I have
twenty geese about the house that eat mash out of a
trough, and of which I am exceedingly fond. I dreamed
that a great eagle came swooping down from a mountain,
and dug his curved beak into the neck of each of them
till he had killed them all. Presently he soared off into
the sky, and left them lying dead about the yard; whereon
I wept in my room till all my maids gathered round me, so
piteously was I grieving because the eagle had killed my
geese. Then he came back again, and perching on a
projecting rafter spoke to me with human voice, and told
me to leave off crying. "Be of good courage," he said,
"daughter of Ikarios; this is no dream, but a vision of
good omen that shall surely come to pass. The geese are
the suitors, and I am no longer an eagle, but your own
husband, who am come back to you, and who will bring
these suitors to a disgraceful end." On this I woke, and
when I looked out I saw my geese at the trough eating
their mash as usual."
[554] "This dream,
lady," replied Odysseus, "can admit but of one
interpretation, for had not Odysseus himself told you how
it shall be fulfilled? The death of the suitors is
portended, and not one single one of them will
escape."
[559] And Penelope
answered, "Stranger, dreams are very curious and
unaccountable things, and they do not by any means
invariably come true. There are two gates through which
these unsubstantial fancies proceed; the one is of horn,
and the other ivory. Those that come through the gate of
ivory are fatuous, but those from the gate of horn mean
something to those that see them. I do not think,
however, that my own dream came through the gate of horn,
though I and my son should be most thankful if it proves
to have done so. Furthermore I say - and lay my saying to
your heart - the coming dawn will usher in the ill-omened
day that is to sever me from the house of Odysseus, for I
am about to hold a tournament [athlos] of
axes."
Discussion
forum for question 3
Discussion
forum for question 3 for first-time readers of Homeric
poetry
Discussion
Questions for Unit 4
1. The suitors who have
acted with hubris are killed by Odysseus,
Telemakhos, Eumaios, and Philoitios, as are the female
slaves who collaborated with them. How does the poetry
itself talk about the justice in these killings? What can
we make of the planned revenge for the suitors' death,
and how this confrontation is described? Consider the
arguments that the relatives of the suitors make in
scroll xxiv, and how the confrontation and the epic as we
have it ends, especially the imagery in this final
passage (xxiv 516ff., below). Why does Athena encourage
the first throw? Can we connect the thunderbolt and eagle
imagery with those we have seen elsewhere in the
poem?
[516] On this
Athena came close up to him and said, "Son of
Arceisius - best friend I have in the world - pray to
the gray-eyed damsel, and to Zeus her father; then
poise your spear and hurl it."
[520] As she spoke
she infused fresh vigor into him, and when he had
prayed to her he poised his spear and hurled it. He
hit Eupeithes' helmet, and the spear went right
through it, for the helmet stayed it not, and his
armor rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to
the ground. Meantime Odysseus and his son fell the
front line of the foe and smote them with their swords
and spears; indeed, they would have killed every one
of them, and prevented them from ever getting home
again, only Athena raised her voice aloud, and made
every one pause. "Men of Ithaca," she cried, "cease
this dreadful war, and settle the matter at once
without further bloodshed."
[533] On this pale
fear seized every one; they were so frightened that
their arms dropped from their hands and fell upon the
ground at the sound of the goddess' voice, and they
fled back to the city for their lives. But Odysseus
gave a great cry, and gathering himself together
swooped down like a soaring eagle. Then the son of
Kronos sent a thunderbolt of fire that fell just in
front of Athena, so she said to Odysseus, "Odysseus,
noble son of Laertes, stop this warful strife, or Zeus
will be angry with you."
[545] Thus spoke
Athena, and Odysseus obeyed her gladly. Then Athena
assumed the form and voice of Mentor, and presently
made a covenant of peace between the two contending
parties. [548]
Discussion
forum for question 1
2. In scroll xxiv, Odysseus
makes his last 'reconnection' with his father Laertes.
What is significant about the garden imagery (one of our
central passages) and the story Odysseus tells before
revealing himself? Consider also the intergenerational
relationships between fathers and sons in the following
passage (xxiv 502ff):
[502] Then
Zeus' daughter Athena came up to them, having assumed
the form and voice of Mentor. Odysseus was glad when
he saw her, and said to his son Telemakhos,
"Telemakhos, now that you are about to fight in an
engagement, which will show every man's mettle, be
sure not to disgrace your ancestors, who were eminent
for their strength and courage all the world
over."
[510] "You say truly,
my dear father," answered Telemakhos, "and you shall
see, if you will, that I am in no mind to disgrace
your family."
[513] Laertes was
delighted when he heard this. "Good heavens, he
exclaimed, "what a day I am enjoying: I do indeed
rejoice at it. My son and grandson are vying with one
another in the matter of valor
[aretê]."
Discussion
forum for question 2
3. Speaking of endings, the
Alexandrian scholars Aristarchus and Aristophanes ('of
Byzantium') thought that the "end" of the Odyssey
was line 296 of scroll xxiii, after Odysseus and Penelope
go "joyfully to the rites of their own old bed." How
would ending here change our understanding of the major
issues we have been discussing? Where would you end the
Odyssey if you were composing it in
performance?
Discussion
forum for question 3
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