HOMER ODYSSEY LECTURE 2-6 JANUARY 10-22, 2018

Transcription

1 HOMER ODYSSEY LECTURE 2-6 JANUARY 10-22, 2018

2 Tell me about a complicated (polytropos) man. Muse, tell me how wandered and was lost when he had wrecked the holy town of Troy, and where he went, and who he met, the pain he suffered in the storms at sea, and how he worked to save his life and bring his men back home. He failed to keep them safe; poor fools, they ate the Sun God s cattle, and the god kept them from home. Now goddess, child of Zeus, tell the old story for our modern times. Find the beginning. -Emily Wilson s translation of Odyssey

3 Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns (polytropos) driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy. Many cities of men he saw and learned their minds, many pains he suffered, heartsick on the open sea, fighting to save his life and bring his comrades home. But he could not save them from disaster, hard as he strove the recklessness of their own ways destroyed them all, the blind fools, they devoured the cattle of the Sun and the Sungod wiped from sight the day of their return. Launch out on his story, Muse, daughter of Zeus, start from where you will sing for our time too. -Robert Fagles s translation of Odyssey

4 HOMER & THE TROJAN WAR LECTURE OUTLINE 1. Brief history of Ancient Greece 2. The gods 3. Epic poetry 4. Iliad

5 MYCENAEAN AGE Bronze Age, BC Archaeological site at Mycenae Agamemnon s city Trojan War, approximately 1250BC Troy is in modern Turkey 10-yr war was unthinkable for a raiding culture Appears to be a sudden, violent collapse of culture around 1200BC

6 Source: Wilson s The Odyssey, p96

7 Homer knows little about this time Time of heroes is in the past Homer s anachronisms Warrior culture vs Polis (city-state) Temples Burial of the dead Mycenaean place names remain

8 DARK AGES & ARCHAIC GREECE Dark Age, or Iron Age, BC Decline in culture & political organization Archaic Greece, BC Polis strengthens with & against familial aristocracy Introduction of modified Phoenician alphabet Economy shifts from pastoral to agricultural Greeks begin colonizing west Homer writes early in this period

9 THE GODS Modern difficulty reading about old gods This mythic-religious world is dead to us We don t know what the Greeks believed Can the gods be reduced to deifications of human psychological states? Principles of polytheism Embrace totality & diversity of life Adaptability of the system & use of it

10 HOMER S GODS Two streams of mythology: Epic & Folk Folk-Religion is nearly absent in Homer Identified with the people & specific locations Religion of nature: sun, moon, wind, etc. Demeter (fertility) & Dionysus (wine, ecstatic) Homer s aristocratic Olympian gods Mirrors aristocratic society of equals

11 Zeus is first among equals He is the prepotent (most strong) god Has limits in confrontation with other gods & fate Commands certain spheres of life (Zeus Xenia, guest-friendship) Evolution of Olympian gods Over time, Zeus gains stronger sense of king & serves as a source of cosmic justice Reflects political shift from aristocracy to polis

12 EPIC POETRY Poetry as the sacred language We know nothing about Homer, teacher of Hellas Iliad & Odyssey represent the transition from oral tradition to the written one Oral quality: Repetition of personal epithets & other lines Collects bardic community s knowledge & art Also, a single performer (author) here

13 THE BARD IN HOMER Performance: Sung with lyre in palace courts Bard has a variety of material Each performance is improvised with a set base structure Verse is dactylic hexameter Bard s sacred role in the community Moved by the Muses Preserves the honor of the heroes

14 I respect you, Demodocus, more than any man alive surely the Muse has taught you, Zeus s daughter, or god Apollo himself. How true to life, all too true you sing the Achaeans fate, all they did and suffered, all they soldiered through, as if you were there yourself or heard form one who was..... Sing that [of the Trojan Horse] for me true to life as it deserves and I will tell the world at once how freely the Muse gave you the gods own gift of song. ( , 555-7)

15 ILIAD Rage Goddess sing the rage of Peleus s son, Achilles Achilles & Agamemnon Greatest hero in Achaean forces Vs King of kings, brother of Menelaus, who is the husband of Helen Division of war spoils Fragility of the honor-based economy Achilles withdraws from the fighting

16 Achilles & Hector Greatest hero of each side Achilles fights after Hector kills his friend Patroclus Prophecy that haunts Achilles Unleashes his rage on Hector Achilles must let go of his rage Meets with Priam & funeral games for Patroclus Themes: (1) Destruction that war brings, (2) Unsustainable heroic ethic of glory

17 Man of Constant Sorrow

18 THE HERO ODYSSEUS LECTURE OUTLINE 1. Social Structure of Archaic Greece 2. Heroic Values 3. A Different Kind of Hero

19 SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF ARCHAIC GREECE Class-based society Aristocrats & the multitude Organized in kin-based local networks Ruled by aristoi (the best) Aristocracy Hereditary inclusion in the ruling class Earn your place within it Anxiety about measuring up to one s father Drives Telemachus s story in Odyssey

20 First among equals Rule based on strength Agamemnon & Odysseus Achilles & the suitors are real systemic threats The multitude Defined by relationship to the aristocracy Thetes (unattached laborer) Importance of attachment in this world Better to be a slave? No value for freedom in the modern sense

21 HEROIC VALUES Hero is synonymous with warrior Respect for the diversity of warrior skills: Achilles, Philoktetes, & Ajax (Aias) Achieve honor through your prowess (skill) Avoid shame & blame Fame affirms this honor economy Honor does not have clear content of its own How do you resolve questions of honor?

22 Persuasion & Speech Uncomfortable place in the hierarchy of skills It s a skill that some possess & others don t It s necessary, but it s not an action Means through which honor is preserved Classical Greece: Plato s problem with persuasion is that it s not concerned with truth. No sense of that issue in Homer

23 ODYSSEUS, THE HERO Odysseus is nearly unrivaled as a hero Achilles is the best, then Odysseus always ranks (second to Philoktetes with the bow, etc) Games at Phaeacia (Bk 8) Sports contests as peaceful war Odysseus responds to an insult as a hero must ( ) Stringing of the bow ( )

24 ODYSSEUS, THE GREAT TACTICIAN Epithet is for military tactics & his speech Odysseus has the skill of persuasive speech Antenor on Odysseus (Iliad ) Alcinous, Phaeacian king: You have told your story with all a singer s skill (Od )

25 [Antenor:] Straight to the point, my lady [Helen], very true. Once in the past he came our way, King Odysseus heading the embassy they sent for your release, together with Menelaus dear to Ares. I hosted them, treated them warmly in my halls and learned the ways of both, their strategies, their traits. Now, when they mingled with our Trojans in assembly, standing side-by-side, Menelaus shoulders mounted over his friend s in height and spread, when both were seated Odysseus looked the more lordly.

26 But when they spun their appeals before us all, Menelaus spoke out quickly his words racing, few but clear as a bell, nothing long-winded or off the mark, though in fact the man was younger. But when Odysseus sprang up, the famed tactician would just stand there, staring down, hard, his eyes fixed on the ground, never shifting his scepter back and forth, clutching it stiff and still like a mindless man. You d think him a sullen fellow or just plain fool. But when he let loose that great voice from his chest and the words came piling on like a driving winter blizzard then no man alive could rival Odysseus! Odysseus we no longer gazed in wonder at his looks.

27 CUNNING ODYSSEUS As weaver of intrigues Trickster archetype: he gave falsehoods all the ring of truth (19.235) Reputation among the Achaeans Warrior (spear-fight) vs Tactician (ambush) Force vs. Cunning Contest for Achilles s armor Ajax vs. Odysseus Judgment of Trojan POWs

28 WHY ODYSSEUS Hero of physical strength & mind Prudence & patience other heroes lack ( long enduring ) Survivor s skills Vs Achilles and Agamemnon Very different purpose of Achilles and Odysseus A complicated man

29 THE SAVAGE & THE CIVILIZED LECTURE OUTLINE 1. Fragility of Civilization 2. Social Organization 3. Hospitality

30 FRAGILE CIVILIZATION Civilization is in the polis Outside is barbaric of nature, like chaos Are you civilized? Ordered household (oikos) More than appearance Rituals of hospitality How do you deal with a stranger?

31 THE SAVAGE & BARBAROUS Cyclopes society Civilization exploits natural resources to the people s advantage Cyclopes fail to: nearby island, don t cultivate the ground Closeness to nature is savage Have no agora (public space) or laws No community, no craftsmen Each a law to himself (9.127) They don t worship the gods!

32 Sign Cyclopes won t follow customs Polyphemous inverted hospitality! Odysseus s deception as Nobody Takes advantage of their isolation Nobody s trying to kill me by fraud not force! Wordplay: ou tis (nobody) and mê tis (not anybody), and metis (craft, cunning)

33 CIVILIZED SOCIETY & UTOPIA Phaeacia s aristocratic utopia at peace Planned community Secure, defined political organization Unrivaled craftsmen & seafaring Honor the gods Treasure the arts (bard, Demodocus) Excel at sporting games They exceed the expectations of hospitality

34 APPEARING TO BE CIVILIZED Cannibalism, the perverse feast Polyphemous & Laestrygonians Forgetful of your home Lotus-eaters, a life without care Circe s house Forgetting drug & they become animals Then, her good hospitality makes Odysseus forget home Can you be too hospitable?

35 RISK OF THE STRANGER Who are you? Friend? Enemy? A god? Hospitality presents a risk Must act before you know Fear & distrust of the stranger-guest Fugitives & pirates No way to verify their story! Fear & distrust of the host

36 OPPORTUNITY OF HOSPITALITY Opportunity to establish a guest-friendship Moves strangers from threat to friend Extends your safe-network beyond kinship Carries through generations Prevents hostility Shifts power out of the economy of force into the gift economy Glaucus & Diomedes (Iliad )

37 RITUALS OF HOSPITALITY How do you receive a stranger? Telemachus & Mentes (Athena) (Bk1) Welcome in stranger, feed & bathe him Importance of sharing a meal Then, you can ask the stranger who he is Establish the relationship you re in Provide a place to sleep Then send them on with a gift

38 THE GIFT ECONOMY Vs. Market economy Gift economy Linked to customs of hospitality Affirms guest-friendship Begins an ongoing relationship with expectations of reciprocity

39 How does the gift economy work? Material representation of the relationship Compulsory custom Affective dimension of the giving is up to the giver Signals gift-giver s power Telemachus s goals in traveling Find information about Odysseus To establish himself & affirm his father s guestfriendships

40 SUMMARY OF HOSPITALITY Measure is essential to hospitality Prudence, balance, limits Hospitality is a limited commitment Arriving & sending Begins an open-ended relationship Complex set of customs Deals with the real risks of the society Tests whether you are civilized or savage

41 Alfred Lord Tennyson, Ulysses

42 Ocean Vuong, Telemachus

43 THE OIKOS & RESTORATION LECTURE OUTLINE 1. The oikos & kingship 2. Families after the war 3. Laertes 4. After the war

44 THE OIKOS Oikos private household, composed of kin & dependents Composition of the oikos Family Patriarchal structure, wife runs the house (including craft-work like weaving) Includes grown children & their families Servants & slaves Retainers Non-kin aristocrats attached to the house Guest-friends when present

45 PRINCIPLE OF RULE Basileus Translated as king, perhaps ruler or prince is closer to the reality You rule your oikos (private) & local kingship (public)

46 KINGSHIP IN ITHACA The situation ( ) Telemachus oikos problem (private) Wealth being consumed Penelope s remarriage & role in the house Telemachus is ready to assert his rule over oikos Ithaca s kingship problem (public) Penelope and the selection of the next king?

47 What Telemachus needs from the assembly Goal: Resolve the private problem Needs support or sympathy from the people Mentor & Halitherses Telemachus travels to Pylos & Sparta Friends outfit the ship Contacts his father s old allies Suitors feel threatened & plot to murder Telemachus

48 Does Odysseus s return solve the problems? Yes, but only through force Oikos reclaimed by killing the suitors But it starts a blood-feud (war) Questions Odysseus s legitimacy as king ( ) Peace is made. Ithaca & the house of Odysseus are restored

49 FAMILIES AFTER THE WAR Problem: Kings are gone for years What happens when the ruler of house and kingdom leaves for so long? What happens when he returns? Agamemnon in Mycenae Betrayal, murder, & revenge Telemachus compared to Orestes

50 Menelaus & Helen Restored House of Sparta Double wedding Sadness in the court Fixation on the Trojan War Helen s drug & self-vindicating story Menelaus s response Restoration without the feelings What will the fate of Odysseus s house be?

51 RESTORATION OF LAERTES Marginalizes himself from house & civilization Lost to depression & grief over his son & wife Worry about Telemachus pushes him farther ( ) Penelope s hope for Laertes ( ) He too weaved plans once He was the king before, what happened?

52 REUNION OF FATHER & SON Long-enduring Odysseus sees his father & weeps Reproached Laertes with questions To bring him out of isolation & grief, reclaim his dignity Whose slave are you? Whose orchard are you tending? (284) Odysseus s lie draws out Laertes by building his hope

53 Odysseus drops disguise (352-64) Laertes asks for proof Odysseus is his son Laertes revived & restored to civilization Regains memory of himself (417-8) Three generations on the battlefield together! Laertes s spear Peace is made

54 AFTER THE WAR Siren s song lures Odysseus ( ) They understand as others at home won t What the veteran carries home Guilt that others didn t make it Dread about what waits for you at home Menelaus s retirement dream ( )

55 MENELAUS, BROKEN On Pharos, marooned & broken ( ) Eidothea asks, do you like your pain? Told of his brother s fate I d no desire / to go on living and see the rising light of day (606-7) Proteus asks, How long must you weep? I felt my heart glow once more in my chest (617-8) Yet unhappy in Sparta ( )

56 ODYSSEUS BROKEN Weeps daily at Calypso s Shipwreck nearly breaks his spirit (Bk5) Weeps while Demodocus sings of the war ( )

57 ODYSSEUS RESTORED Odysseus finds war waiting for him at home Confronts his enemies Restores his marriage with Penelope Restores his household & again prepares for war Athena calls on him to have restraint ( hold back now ) Stop the great leveler, War He obeyed her, glad at heart Peace comes to the man of pain at last