For Next Week (Last Class): Graziosi, Homer, Chapters 8-10

As we wrap up the class next week, be sure to read the last three chapters from Graziosi's book on Homer. This will give us some further food for thought about The Odyssey, and might help you as you complete your Final Paper assignment. No questions, but we'll have an in-class writing as a way to think about this out loud. Here are some ideas to consider as you read, though:

* According to Graziosi, why might Penelope be the most "dangerous" women/monster of them all? What threat does she pose to him?

* Why might The Odyssey constantly pit the pursuit of pleasure against the desire (or necessity) to return home? Why might this have been a big theme for Homer and his audience? 

* Why does she think that The Odyssey "offers a more disenchanted, epic exploration of power and its consequences" than other stories about Odysseus and the heroes of Greek myth?

* What are some of the problems she (and other scholars/readers) have with the end of the poem, Book 24?

* How have our own perceptions and interest in the poem changed over time? What did Aristotle focus on in the poem--and what does he ignore? Was he a bad reader? Are we?

* If the first word of the poem is "andra" (man), is this poem really the story of one specific man--Odysseus? How much should we consider this his story? Or is he merely the framework that introduces a much more complicated epic? 

For Tuesday: The Odyssey, Books 19-24 (The End!)

LAST QUESTIONS! Answer TWO of the following for Tuesday's class: 

Q1: In Book 19, when Penelope is talking to Odysseus (as a beggar), she says:

“Of all the travelers who have come to my house,

None, dear guest, have been as thoughtful as you

And none as welcome, so wise are your words…

Eurycleia, rise and wash your master’s—that is,

Wash the feet of this man who is your master’s age.

Odysseus’ feet and hands are no doubt like his now,

For men age quickly when life is hard (lines 381-391).

In E.V. Rieu’s translation of the poem (Penguin Classics), he translates the same passage like this:

“My dear friend—as I cannot help calling the most understanding guest this house has ever welcomed from abroad, for you put everything so well and you talk with such understanding…Come, my dear kind Eurycleia, get up and wash the feet of someone who is of the same age as your master. No doubt Odysseus’ hands and feet are like our guests’ by now, for people age quickly in minsfortune” (296).

Readers have often wondered if Penelope recognizes her husband (after all, the dog does!). Odysseus doesn’t thinks he does, and nothing outwardly says she does, and yet this passage is a telling one. Which one do you think hints more knowledge than the other? Would we assume that she knows from one passage over another? Or both (or neither)? Why might it be important to assume that she does know?

Q2: In the midst of the ghastly slaughter, Odysseus spares two of the servants and tells them, "Don’t worry, he’s saved you. Now you know,/And you can tell the world, how much better/Good deeds are than evil. Go outside, now,/You and the singer, and sit in the yard/Away from the slaughter, until I finish" (Book 22, lines 396-401). Is this how we're supposed to read the slaughter of the Suitors, as divine justice? While they have clearly done 'wrong,' so have Odysseus and the entire Greek army which destroyed "sacred Troy." Are these just more "winged words" of Odysseus, or do you feel the poet truly believes them? 

Q3: In Book 23, Telemachus accuses his mother of having a heart “colder than stone,” and even Odysseus claims that she has “more than…any/Other woman, an unyielding heart.” How does she respond to these charges, and more importantly, how does she refute the female stereotype that Odysseus, Telemachus, Agamemnon, and even Athena have been selling throughout the entire narrative? In other words, what makes her a compelling character on par with women like Helen, Calypso, and Circe?

Q4: Some scholars believe that Book 24 is not one of the original books of the epic, but was tacked on by a later writer or tradition. Why is this? What might sound ‘wrong’ about this Book or dramatically irrelevant? Does it add anything crucial to his story?

Final Paper: Is Homer Still Piloting the Ship of Theseus? (Due May 7th!)

 

“Are you familiar with the thought experiment, ‘The Ship of Theseus?’ in the field of identity metaphysics?...“The Ship of Theseus is an artifact in a museum. Over time, its planks of wood rot and are replaced with new planks. When no original plank remains, is it still the Ship of Theseus?” (Vision, from Wandavision, 2021)

As Morales explains in Classical Mythology, myths (and stories about myths) survive because they keep being retold. Indeed, Tbe Iliad and The Odyssey are themselves retold stories, probably based on dozens if not hundreds of ‘originals’ that preceded them. Of course, we’ve forgotten the original stories (and the ones that preceded them!), so Homer has now become the original, the canonical text that all new myths have to refer to. In this way, Homer’s books have become the mythical ‘ship of Theseus,’ preserved in a museum and only read through each new translation, and each new work that continues to extend its legacy.

For your final paper, I want you to examine (a) a modern retelling of The Iliad or The Odyssey OR (b) another translation, besides the one we read, of one of the books. I want you to examine how much the second work changes, expands, adapts, and clarifies the original in order to answer the question, is this still the ship of Theseus? Or has it become another work and a brand new ship? Below are some questions you can examine and ask as you explore each work:

• How does the new work try to establish links to the original? Characters? Scenes? Themes? In other words, how do we know this is still Homer?
• If a translation, what words, ideas, or concepts do both works seem to agree on? What doesn’t fundamentally change?
• What changes does the new work introduce to the main story? How do they try to re-write certain key concepts of characters from a more ‘modern’ perspective? Why do you think this was necessary? Can we ‘see’ this in Homer’s original? Did they merely bring to the surface something hinted at in the text? Or is it completely original?
• If a translation, which work seems to be most radically different in its approach to the text? Are there words/ideas which seem anachronistic to Homer’s time and characters? Does the translation try to sound too modern/relatable to our audience? Is it at expense of Homer’s original meaning?
• Does the new work help us see/appreciate new ideas in the original? Do we come away understanding a character’s motivation or origin? Does it help us enjoy or appreciate the original more?
• If a translation, which version helps clarify and understand a moment in the text, or a character in the text, more than the other? Why is this?
• Could we call the new work “by Homer,” or “based upon Homer”? Has it crossed the line into a new work? Or could it still be seen as a translation?
• If a translation, which translator (if any) seems to cross the line into creating a new work? Which one sees the translation as a living poem, and no longer a ship in a museum? Is there one where the work should be credited to the translator instead of Homer?

REQUIREMENTS

• Close reading, close reading, close reading! Make sure we understand the ‘planks’ used to change the ship…and if you feel the ship has changed, make sure we know why.
• Quoting and responding to quotes: don’t rely on paraphrase. Help us see your exploration of text and ideas.
• Use at least one passage/quote from Morales and/or Graziosi for support.
• Due the last Friday of Final Exam week: May 7^th by 5pm!

Blog Response #6: Books 12, 13, 16,17 & 18

NO VIDEO this week. I can sense people are tired and simply want to get on with the semester. However, I do want you to keep reading and thinking, so here's a single passage I want you to think about as you read, and respond to with a COMMENT below. 

In Book 13, when Odysseus finally lands on Ithaca, he refuses to believe it's actually his home, and even challenges Athena when she assures that it is (she claims to have cast a spell on him, of course). She then responds,

"Ah, that mind of yours! That's why

I can't leave you when you're down and out:

Because you're so intelligent and self-possessed.

Any other man come home from hard travels

Would rush to his house to see his children and wife.

But you don't even want to hear how they are

Until you test your wife, who, 

As a matter of fact, just sits in the house..."

Indeed, he only reveals himself to Telemachus when Athena tells him to, and refuses to do the same for his wife. Instead, he wants to 

"figure out which way the women are leaning.

We'll test more than one of the servants, too,

And see who respects us and fears us,

And who cares nothing about either one of us

And fails to honor you." 

COMMENT: Do these passages seem to contradict much of Odysseus' story about getting home to his wife and family, and of being trapped by other goddesses? Why does he play this strange game of cat and mouse with his family, and why is he so obsessed about figuring out "who respects us and fears us"? How do you read his character in light of this passage, and does it seem consistent with the earlier Odysseus, or is it a strange reveal by the poet? Could this be another 'story' added years later to the narrative...or is this the original story shining through? Or does it all make perfect sense considering our 'cunning' and 'resourceful' hero?