Book 10–13: The Odyssey

October 29, 2020
8:10AM -9:30AM

Notes from Class:
homophrosune
homo-like, similar
phro-mind
sune-ness
kyklos-circle
ops-eye
Kyklos Klan
Noos-mind
mind=intention

When are encountering the minds of other individuals, or of other groups (e.g., fm. another state or foreign country), what are the categories you use to describe their minds/intentions?

Open vs Closed-minded
Liberal vs Conservative
open to change/not open to change
traditional/non-traditional
Rational vs irrational
Optimistic vs pessimistic
Intellectual vs emotional
Individualists vs. Collectivists
good vs bad

Chalephoi = difficult to deal with
Not dikaioi = just
Philoxeinoi = loving of foreigners
Theoudes = god-fearing
Theos: god
Des: fear
Xenophobia = fear of foreigners
metis-resourceful intelligence
Outis=Nobody

October 30, 2020
12:10AM -1:30AM

Book 10
Once again, judgment is a vital issue when the Greeks almost get home to Ithaca only to see their target disappear in a storm. With Odysseus, Aeolus is fascinated and honors him with typical kindness. The potentially harmful winds are harnessed by him, firmly wrapping them in an ox skin and storing the ox skin on board the ship of Odysseus. As he did after the original triumph over the Cicones, however, Odysseus lost control of his men. Curiosity and suspicion overtake them while he sleeps. They think there is treasure in the ox hide, which they believe should be exchanged. They unleash all the detrimental waves, unfortunately, and are blown back to Aeolus. The god of the winds refuses to further support Odysseus and he infers that someone too unlucky would be hated by the gods. When winds blow him away from Ithaca, Odysseus understandably despairs, but he continues to overcome the temptation to kill himself. Things really get worse as the flotilla marches to the land of the Laestrygonians, with no friendly wind from Aeolus. Odysseus sends spies carefully to search out the people who appear pleasant at first. The hosts unexpectedly consume the scouts and assault the ships of Odysseus. They throw immense boulders, an equivalent of the Cyclops’ assault, and spear the seafarers like fish. Only the chill leadership of Odysseus permits his single ship to row to safety. At Circe’s Island of Aeaea, vigilance and judgment, most of it from the gods, will finally rescue many of the surviving soldiers. Odysseus is carrying out a scouting group again. To their surprise, they are received with mystical beauty and a spellbinding voice by what seems to be a stunning, hospitable goddess. Circe summons them into her halls and gives them a potion that erases all feelings of home, like the lotus, from their minds. Then, with her wand, she attacks them and transforms them into swine, driving them into her pigs. In order to stand back and escape, only Eurylochus is suspicious enough. The always exemplary bravery of the king, who instantly sets out alone to try to save him, is aroused by his report to Odysseus. Bravery alone will not save the day, though. Hermes interferes and advises Odysseus how to defeat Circe, posing as a young man: he must take a magic leaf, moly, which will act as an alternative to the potions of Circe. Odysseus could draw his sword and strike as the goddess possesses her wand, not flee as if he were about to run her down. Then, Circe will concede and give Odysseus her immense sex in return. But only after obtaining assurances from the goddess must he agree that she will free his men and treat them all well afterward. As Hermes forecasts, things occur, and as they eat and drink, life is pleasant for Odysseus and his men for the next year. Odysseus occupies the bed with a Goddess, as Hermes expects. In the end, the crew needs to go on and persuades Odysseus to continue the trip home. Circe keeps her vow to support them but recommends that to contact the spirit of the blind prophet Tiresias, they first have to visit the Land of the Dead. The goddess provides the journey with directions and provisions. The Greeks set out, with certain concerns, to the ends of the world.

October 31, 2020
10:10AM -11:30AM

Book 11
For Odysseus, the path to the Land of the Dead is not so much a test as it is an aha moment. When he experiences the colors of warrior allies, historical individuals, and including his own mother, his existence is put into perspective. He must communicate with Tiresias, the blind seer of Thebes, following directions, before he can allow his mother or any others to approach. Blood drinking briefly reawakens the dead; they can interact with Odysseus quickly and only tell the truth. Tiresias states that Poseidon is furious with Odysseus for blinding his son Polyphemus, the Cyclops, causing a lot of trouble for Odysseus and his men. The Greeks will get home alive, though, Tiresias says, if they use good judgment and power. Above all, no matter the lure, they must not hurt the cattle of Helios. If they do so, the men of Odysseus will die. Tiresias, repeating the Cyclops’ curse, warns that Odysseus himself may inevitably come home, but he will be “a broken one” and find his household in disarray. In addition, the prophet instructs Odysseus that he must finally undertake another journey, taking his oar inside before he encounters a race of men who know so little about the sea that they believe the oar is a winnow grain fan. Odysseus has to make some sacrifices for Poseidon in that location. Odysseus will live out his life and die in peace if he follows these and other instructions. Only after his audience with the seer is Odysseus’ own mother permitted to approach, who died in sorrow and longing for him. Odysseus was unaware of the death of his mother when he found her among the dead. She tells him about his father, Laertes, who still lives but is mourning and losing his will in the same way. Odysseus attempts three times to hold his mother, in one of the most poignant moments in the epic but does not because she is no longer flesh and blood. Agamemnon and Achilles, Odysseus’s companions at Troy, are among the many others who are nearing the buried. Agamemnon relates the story of his murder by his wife, Clytemnestra, and her paramour, Aegisthus, a story repeatedly alluded to in the poem, essentially comparing Clytemnestra’s murderous infidelity with Penelope’s committed allegiance. The appearance of Achilles is more controversial because it opposes the noble concept of death with honor, contributing to some kind of glorious immortality. Here, the mentality of Achilles is that death is death; he would prefer to be a living slave to a tenant farmer rather than a dead king. His only consolation is to learn that his son is well adapted to life. The dead flock in Odysseus’ path. He is frustrated and accepts his leave, feeling he wants them to live in the Land of the Dead, whatever his problems in life may be.

November 1, 2020
8:10AM -9:30AM

Book 12
Two of the highest virtues of Homer’s universe are honesty and fulfilling obligations. Odysseus’ first thought, amid the horrors of the Land of the Dead and the joy of escape, is to return and Aeaea to bury the body of Elpenor. The short explanation of the burial rites tells us that, along with the warrior’s armor, the body is burnt on a funeral pyre. In a mound crowned with a monumental base, the ashes are buried and the seaman’s oar is planted to crown his tomb. The ritual is similar to that of the seafaring knights, composed about 1,500 years later, at the close of the Old English epic Beowulf. Considering that it is one of the best-known episodes in the epic, the segment on the Sirens is shockingly short. Homer has again hit upon a fundamental reality, the plight of the humanity of lethal yet overwhelming appeal. Circe’s approach is practical and simple: with beeswax, the men of Odysseus stop their mouths. Knowing Odysseus as much as she does, Circe knows that he must fulfill his scientific curiosity; he has to hear the song of the Sirens. The answer is to lash him to the ship’s anchor and to tie him more tightly as he pleads to be released. She warns any man who goes too close to the sea, “no sailing home for him, no wife rising to meet him, / no happy children beaming up at their father’s face”. The crew, thus alert and covered, escapes pressure, while Odysseus is almost driven insane by his need to succumb to the call of the Sirens. Moving beyond Scylla and Charybdis on the part of Odysseus requires absolute leadership. Not only must he show careful judgment, but he must also understand that six decent men still fail, even though things go well. He rejects Charybdis, taking the advice of Circe, and attempts to side with the six-headed monster Scylla. He powers through the monster’s offensive against his instincts without stopping for a fight, understanding the hesitation will only cost him more guys. He loses the six to a twisting death, Odysseus’s most heart-wrenching moment of all his wanderings. On the island of Thrinacia, the land of Sungod Helios, the last measure of judgment in the wanderings of Odysseus takes place. Because of Tiresias’ prophecy and Circe’s warning, Odysseus wishes to bypass the island. His men are exhausted and starving, though. Furthermore, the sea at night is extremely dangerous. Eurylocus speaks to the crew and asks Odysseus to settle on the island in order for the men to rest and eat a proper meal. He tells Odysseus that on board they have plenty of provisions, so Odysseys need not fear his men raiding the island or damaging the holy cattle. Odysseus, arguably having more humanity than administration, gives way. The decision originally seemed to be benevolent. Onboard the cruise, there is plenty of food and drink. But for a whole month, owing to a lack of favorable wind, the crew was stranded. The ship’s stocks are running low. Odysseus goes inland to ask for the gods’ aid, but sinks into a deep sleep, much as he did with the sick winds found in an ox skin pouch while reaching Ithaca. And, as was the case on that day, his men were revolting. Slaughtering the finest of the holy cattle of the Sungod, led by Eurylochus, they ironically go ahead with a sacrificial ritual, creating libations of water because the wine is finished. By the sacrifice, the gods are not fulfilled, and Zeus himself is angered but waits for revenge before a week later the ship sets sail. Zeus sends a gigantic storm as soon as the land is out of reach, which ruins the vessel and kills all the citizens, saving only Odysseus. Odysseus escapes the vortex of Charybdis and battles ashore ten days later at Ogygia, the island of Calypso, easily constructing a mast and keel raft. He will be left prisoner there for the next seven years.

Questions to prepare and write about in your weekly journal:

What does it mean to you to be “civilized”?
I would say to be civilized is to be polite and humane. This person is one who shows great compassion and caring for others and tries whenever possible to alleviate another’s suffering.

How can we tell whether the people Odysseus encounters on his homeward journey are “civilized”?
You can tell by the way they encounter each other. For example, when Odysseus and his men joined the land of the dead in book 10, they did just as Circe had said: they dug a trench, gave libations, and sacrificed a ewe and a ram. When the blood began pumping, thousands of ghosts emerged. Elpenor had been the first ghost who approached them. When the crew returned to Aeaea, he begged Odysseus to bury him and grieve for him properly, and Odysseus happily accepted. This ghost, you can say, is civilized.

November 4, 2020
8:10AM -9:30AM

Book 13
Sleep, like the potion and lotus flower of Circe, temporarily erases memory and drains one of ambition and will. Sleep is a gift for Penelope, so she is unable to take any action. It is also a pit for Odysseus, so he constantly needs to take initiative. In this situation, though, Athena and the crew are shielding him from pain, and sleep seems to be a sort of temporary haven from the burden of the last 20 years, almost like a rehearsal for his return home by letting him forget, for a moment, that he had never left. The Phaeacians obey the hospitality code of Zeus in accepting Odysseus, offering him presents, and escorting him home. Poseidon, however, finds their actions impious: by aiding Odysseus, they hinder the wrath of Poseidon, and thereby pit their human will against his divine will. The example reveals the chaotic complexities of biblical justice. While Zeus was willing to protect the Phaeacians, who obeyed his laws, he preferred not to stand in the way of Poseidon. Another kind of defensive mask is the mist of Athena, and it means the sleeping Odysseus stays out of the way of harm. Since the moment he walks on home soil, Odysseus takes the counsel of Agamemnon and keeps his identity secret. One of the new personalities he creates when he is hiding in his own court is the story he tells Athena. The fugitive myth, like all of the legends, is both true and untrue: many of the facts are exaggerated, but Odysseus murdered the Cyclops for attempting to take his freedom, and he’s a Poseidon fugitive. His remorse puts emphasis on this half-truth. The fidelity of Athena to Odysseus emerges from an unusual combination of righteousness and love. Must she shield him because his cunning is noble and deserving of praise, or because she finds it admirable and charming? We perceive the law as cold and rational, but the instruments of the law are emotional and capricious in this universe. Similarly, during her quest, Athena would not defend Odysseus, not because she thinks he was wrong or worthy of retribution, but because she hates another deity.

How do the Phaeacians compare to the other people that Odysseus meets on his homecoming? Is there land a place Odysseus could call home? Why or why not?

Aeolus refuses to support them on Aeolus’ island, convinced that the gods dislike Odysseus and want to hurt him. Odysseus and his surviving men escape to their ships on the island of the Laestragonians, but the Laestrygonians pelt the ships with boulders and drown them while floating in the harbor. Just the ship of Odysseus escapes. On the island of Circe, she makes them into creatures and keeps them on her island. She welcomes them into her palace with her enchanted stick, only to transform them into pigs. Back in Ithaca, from his long nap, Odysseus wakes. To shield him, Athena has surrounded him with mist, so he can not know his surroundings at first. I would say that there isn’t a place he can call home because they treat him horribly.