"God be with him" referred to Zeus, which was strange. The idea of those gods being gods, those who created and care for you, is unsettling. I mentioned that when I talked about the gods in the introduction. I wouldn't want Zeus to be with me. Besides, if I met someone I didn't know--also known as a stranger--he'd probably protect them! What would be the use of that?
Your MOM: Antinous is making mother insults! He says Penelope "played it fast and loose," which does not sound very nice (2.97). However, although apparently Telemachus is a family man, he seems to pass over these insults. I know Knox said he had some mother issues, but I feel like his sense of honor should have responded to Antinous' rude speech on her merits.
The translation says 'scot-free' quite a bit (2.159, 2.169, and others). Have you ever translated the epic? Does it actually translate like that?
What was that air-fight bit about? I'm certain I would have had to dissect this sign had I been in class with Miss Pfaff. I didn't really want to think about it, so I let Halitherses have his turn, and I'm going to pass over it. I guess I just don't understand how eagles fighting in the air means what it meant.
Halitherses, I am told, outperforms all men of his time (2.177). He also predicted the exact story of The Odyssey, which is pretty convenient: you'd think people would have remembered that. I guess this is the sort of poetic license that writers can get away with in 'the classics.' Nowadays, it would never fly.
2.211: codger.
I wrote about Mentor in a paper sophomore year. He was an excellent chap, but Athena is a poser. She's always dressing herself up as other people, and her disguise as Mentor even causes confusion later on. I don't know that this is necessarily a good thing. It's dishonest. Perhaps it disguises the shock factor of Athena being, well, a goddess, but don't you think that Telemachus having a goddess on his side--and not just any goddess, but Athena--would make the suitors listen? Hiding herself under Mentor's familiar face didn't make them pay attention. Athena could solve many problems for Telemachus if she showed up, kicked some tail (like so much Donkey Kong), and then helped him find Odysseus. This is like Glinda knowing all along that tapping her heels would make Dorothy go back to Kansas. How unfair was that, really? A prime example of this confusion lies in book two, lines 434-439:
Then bright-eyed Pallas thought of one last thing.
Back she went to King Odysseus' halls and there
she showered sweet oblivion over the suitors,
dazing them as they drank, knocking cups from hands.
No more loitering now, their eyes weighed down with sleep,
they rose and groped through town to find their beds.
Back she went to King Odysseus' halls and there
she showered sweet oblivion over the suitors,
dazing them as they drank, knocking cups from hands.
No more loitering now, their eyes weighed down with sleep,
they rose and groped through town to find their beds.
To quote my notes, "If Athena can knock the retards unconscious, why's she's only doing it now?"
There's an adorable little housemarm! There is in every story. How brilliant. We should concoct a list of things that are vital to good stories.
Previously, I thought that the epics rhymed and had precise meter and what-not. They do... in Greek. Now, as I read it in English, it's just a story in a different format. I never really thought about it until I started reading it. However, you do notice how Homer reuses phrases, because of the case and syllables and such.
Previously, I thought that the epics rhymed and had precise meter and what-not. They do... in Greek. Now, as I read it in English, it's just a story in a different format. I never really thought about it until I started reading it. However, you do notice how Homer reuses phrases, because of the case and syllables and such.
yus.
ReplyDeletea) the dactylic hexameter was in greek. not english. sorry.
b) have you started to notice the repeated phrases now? again and again? how often does dawn, with her rosy fingers, show up? Here's why: it's a refrain, that fits into the meter, so it was an easy thing to repeat and come back to while you're telling the whole thing out loud. When Homer is saying this thing, and he starts talking about dawn, he knows he's got like... 8 seconds to think of the next line while he finishes telling about the rosy fingers. It aids memory, because every time dawn is mentioned, dawn has rosy fingers.
ALSO: the repetition helps the hearers remember things too. You know something about dawn right now, don't you? Rosy? yeah. you do.
c) GODS: their gods are... different. more like "really powerful humans" than ours. that means: fallible. They don't obey the rules any more than they have to, and since they're powerful... they don't have to.
if those greek gods embody what it means to be "good" ....what do the greeks think is "good?" Yes, of course it's wrong, but ... what is it? how would they explain it? honor. glory. (famous reputation!) clever. powerful. brilliant. ABLE TO DO MORE STUFF THAN YOU.
mostly, it seems to me like they're saying that the most powerful make the rules. do we see people doing that today? cos they can get away with it?
d) ...so why doesn't Athena just teleport Odysseus home? She could. BUT, that would contradict the two things that are more powerful than Athena: other gods, and the fates. 1) Hera and Poseidon are kinda pissed at all the greeks. So they don't want the teleportation to happen. 2) the fates think it'd be a better story for Odysseus to wander around. Remember them? They're the boss around here for most things.
ReplyDeleteWhat would life be like if you were only fated to do things, and had no say in the matter? Or if your say in anything was already fated to happen anyway? #oedipus #fate #predestination
a/b) i know, man. i did notice the repetition... and i knew why it was like that, because of the introduction.
ReplyDeletec) so they're powerful, and that's it? and that's why people praise them and stuff? i suppose if the gods can do stuff that affects their lives, then it matters, but if they're just really powerful... i don't see why that makes them so great.
yes they do. like dictators. because who is going to stop them, really? but we can often tell their dictators, and we don't like them, but it seems like the greeks are pretty much okay with the gods sucking at life.
d) so what makes the FATES so great?
okay, that would be lame. (just like #tweeting things.) free will is nice. original sin isn't, but the free will part is. what would be the point of being all fate-y? it just sounds boring and weird. I CAN'T WRAP MY MIND AROUND IT. ALSO I TAKE LIKE 45 MINUTES TO PROCESS THINGS. i might be back with other thoughts.