Ithaca at Last

Alcinous and Arete are really nice. I like her name, now that I know what it means. It sounds fitting for her, because she's pretty great. It seems like the Phaeacians are pretty spectacular.

Now that you explained a lot of stuff, and I'm trying to keep a cap on my obvious Christianity > Greek stuff thoughts, I don't have much to say.

Zeus tells Poseidon to "do what he likes" in 13.158-180. That is lame. Also it is to be expected with the gods, who are lame and do whatever they want. It's annoying that Poseidon is punishing the Phaeacians for being NICE, although of course they would have a prophecy about it.

Odysseus sleeps on the shore like a beached whale, plus treasure. Athena arrives and he lies to her about his heritage, because she looks like a shepherd boy or something. I wonder why he does it--it seems like a protective mechanism, because his life sucks, and he doesn't want anyone else to hate on him or try to eat him or anything. That's confusing, too, because everyone loves him. He's all wily and strong... what's not to like? But Athena just laughs at him, which is funny, and then she gets all flirty. And helps him by revealing Ithaca and the life stories of his family. Yus.

Sorry my word choices suck. Just like Odysseus' life. He wakes up on Ithaca, and his immediate thoughts are, "Those damn Phaeacians screwed me over!" And he actually does swear about them. But this thought makes sense, because really, his past has been absolute rubbish. Bummer.

The Cattle of the Sun (or Odysseus' Style is Cramped)

Circe just knows everything. Like Tiresias. Warnings are good, but they also give away the story. Foreshadowing... Is Scylla like a hydra? My knowledge of these creatures are pretty limited. Pretty much to video game references. ... lame.

12.134-136: "No, row for your lives, invoke Brute Force, I tell you, Scylla's mother--she spawned her to scourge mankind, she can stop the monster's next attack!" Does this mean that Scylla can be killed? Her mother can kill her? This is pretty interesting.

I also find it interesting that the Sungod, Helios, isn't more important. Ra was pretty important, and it seems like the sun should be... important. At least we get some cool words from Helios' name.

12.167-180: It's nice of Odysseus to actually tell his crew what's going on. I had some notes on how it seemed like he didn't communicate that well, which might have been the cause of the random mutinies... but here he does, and they STILL end up mutinying.

It's surprising that the Sirens don't have a bigger role in the story. They seem rather famous--I'm sure they're in other things than just The Odyssey, but this book is what I think of when I think about them. And they don't even have a whole page! There are also some Christian parallels with those guys. Girls. Sin sounds really great, and fun, and beautiful, like the sirens. FALSE. Odysseus really wants to listen to them, and go to them, but his crew has beeswax in their ears... so I guess we just have to use Bible beeswax and ignore it.

This book is good, I suppose, because it's really annoying me that Odysseus' men are being so stupid. It reminds me of those times when you read something embarrassing, and you feel flustered and you almost don't want to find out what happens next, which is an example of some of the criteria I use to determine whether or not something is 'good' (not morally speaking). I hope that makes sense. ANYWAY, the crew is really frustrating. Good going, you idiots, now you're all dead. How many times were you told to ignore the cattle of the sun?

Then Odysseus is done with the story! And it's shorter than I thought! But he's still in the middle, like so many Frankensteins, so we've got time.

Best quote fragment of the entire book: "cramping my style" (12.246).

The Kingdom of the Dead

11:25-52 involves a creepy ritual situation. The Bartimaeus trilogy was creepy, too, and I just remembered this Wiccan that came into Michaels one time. Also creepy. Anyway, in my notes I got all heaven-is-better (duh) but Odysseus' circumstances are pretty weird, and he's summoning all these people and they're drinking blood and it's strange.

I don't like Greek death. There's no hope in it, and it's super tormented and terrible. I'm glad of our own hope in salvation and heaven and Jesus. That pretty much covers most of what I wrote about this book. "I JUST CAN'T GET OVER THE GREEK AFTERLIFE."

Also, literary license is great. Really, Tiresias? He just knows all this stuff to make Odysseus' life easier (11.100-157)? That's so convenient. Foreshadowing alert.

It's pretty sad that Odysseus didn't even know his mother died (11.173-256). I suppose with the vague, shadowy afterlife business, he can talk to her one more time. As long as she drinks blood. bummer. Also, because he's telling a story, I think I might have made him skip the dead women part. When I read it, I was confused and bored, because I didn't understand the lineage business and how important it was. Now I do, so it's nice to know that these women are proclaiming the kleos of their uteri.

11.439... onward. It is also sad that all these great men come over and talk to Odysseus, because they were friends, and they all died. It's probably good that he has closure with them, but they'll all just get to hang out and be miserable together once Odysseus dies. That's why... Christianity is better. Duh.

11.693: lithe, alluring ankles. get some.

The Bewitching Queen of Aeaea

First of all, Aeaea. haha.

10.6-8: so much Greek incest. gross.

10.39-50: Why do you think Odysseus' crew decides to be mutinous? They're all with him during the Cyclops bit, but then they get all foul-tempered later. It's probably because they're sick of all this nonsense, but how else are they going to get home? And, besides, if he's so great, why can't they just trust him? Everyone else he meets absolutely loves him (except Polyphemous). Anyway, because of them, Odysseus (and his crew) gets screwed over again. And because of them, when they go back to Aeolus, he says the gods hate them and so does he. Good going, guys.

171-179: How James Potter really died.

255: It's a trap!

10. 305-334: CRITICISM: If Hermes looks like a young boy with his first beard, how does Odysseus know it's the god? This is a first person story.

352: aswirl with evil.

So there was all this adultery and I wrote about it, but whatever, we know it's wrong but it's different there. BUT if you think your spouse died, and then you go and get remarried, and then your spouse comes back ALIVE, what is the deal? Are you really married to that other person? Are you still married to the first one? Are you married to ANYONE?

Then I was confused about Circe's motivation. She changes them back from pigs and OP invites them to stay for a year. So does she hate people, or like to serve them?

Homer is so funny: "Once I'd had my fill of tears and writhing there..." (549).

HERE. Before you said anything, I wrote that it was good that Homer began the story with Athena and Telemachus and Penelope, or else I'd be confused and annoyed. Frankenstein does this, too. He starts kind of at the end and then you meet the 'hero' (who is lame) and then you wrap around the beginning and back to where you started.

613-617: a warning to not ever get drunk on a roof.

I also noted poor communication skills going on from about 600-622.

The crew says, "Let's go home!"

Odysseus answers, "Okay! brb let me talk to Circe." He does. "Let's leave now."

"Yay!"

"Psych! We're going to the Underworld."

Tears ensue.

In The One-Eyed Giant's Cave

In 9.21-22, it seems like little Odysseus is boasting up a storm, except I read in the introduction (thanks, Bernard) that he's just stating truths and not trying to be prideful. However, I also read that he was proud of his societal position, much like Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who is annoying. I can't tell if Odysseus is proud or not, or if he is, then if it's a good thing or a bad thing. -- okay I wrote that before we talked about kleos and arete and that nonsense. SO I GOT IT NOW. but those were my thoughts beforehand.

Also, does he plunder, like a pirate? In 44-47, it definitely sounded like that. I don't know much (any) of the history behind this, so perhaps they were enemies and this is REGULAR but it's just making Odysseus sound like a jerk. A proud jerk.

So one time, Mom had to read part of The Odyssey for her class. She read me a quote one time from the introduction that resounded with one of the things that I read in MY introduction (again, thanks, Bernard), which was that Homer was not strictly geographically faccurate. Which is kind of funny.

9.93-115: The Lotus Eaters. Haha. For real.

The men in lines 9:252-253 are after my own heart: "From the start my comrades pressed me, pleading hard, 'Let's make away with the cheeses, then come back..."

There is the custom of a guest-gift, but to me it still seems rude to just assume that you will receive one and to inquire after it (9:300-302). Perhaps it's just that foreign of an idea, and it would be rude not to give one. That's probably the case. However, now it's polite to bring a gift when you visit people. I know people who do that almost every time they come over. And even though the host/guest relationship was very important, it just doesn't seem polite.

Gross. Cyclops is just eating people left and right. It gets pretty graphic, like so many movies about Scottish freedom. Also gross: they hide the stake under a pile of dung, and then they stick it into his eye. DUNG EYE. What a great idea. Odysseus is pretty brilliant.

Is it okay to deceive evil people in the face of your mortality?

430-444: ew.

575: Cyclops says he'll give him a guest gift to speed him home. Was he being deceive-y? Does he respect Odysseus enough to help him out like that, or is he trying to trick him again? I can't even figure it out.

OH NO. In 585-595, Cyclops, who is the son of Poseidon and is shouting out in pleading prayer to his father, pretty much screws over Odysseus and his crew. OOPS. But in 618-619, it says that Zeus was intent on destroying the crew... so I don't know how Cyclops' prayer really translated. I guess they were all in it together or something.

A Day for Songs and Conquests

"Sunrise lands" is good terminology for the east (8.32).

I love the names of the men competing in the games--Riptide, Bowsprit, Broadsea, etc... they're very fitting, because these characters obviously don't seem to have much to do with The Odyssey as a whole, so they can be titled however Homer wanted them to be (8.130-134).

ALSO, THE OLYMPICS. THIS IS AWESOME. (One time, I decided I was going to adopt a Belorussian [Belarussian?] baby and name her Winter Olympics.) There is a race, wrestling, jumping, and discus, which is really exciting because I competed in the discus once, and it's really difficult (8.140-150). Men back then were probably stronger, because they didn't have machines to do everything for them. You want to go on a boat trip? Row yourself there. You want to walk to Rome, four hundred miles away? Walk there. You want to build a wall out of boulders? Lift them. It's pretty awesome. Forklifts are for wimps.

Then there's some conflict. Broadsea challenges Odysseus (8.182-189). So our hero responds much like Sean/Dark Smoke Puncher: alright, yo, check it. Conveniently, there is a large discus nearby, and he flings it really far (190-220). Then he boasts about it, which is less cool (8.252). It's interesting how this plays out exactly like it would if they were in fourth grade.

That was the contest part, and now there is the song portion of the day. Demodocus, who is a blind bard, sings about Area and Aphrodite, and that's pretty much gross. Hephaestus traps them right in the middle of their Immoral Party. Apparently, Aphrodite doesn't like him because he is crippled. But how did a god become crippled? Shouldn't he be whole and untarnished? And in 8.362, he calls her names. Soon everyone comes out to look, except "modesty kept each goddess in her mansion" (8.367). Of course, now they are modest. Hermes openly says that he is jealous of Ares in lines 381-384, and another wholesome quote is found in 8.371: "A bad day for adultery!"

It's pretty shocking to read this, but I suppose that this sort of story shows up in entertainment all over the world. And That's also pretty shocking.

In other news, I liked how the Phaeacians treat Odysseus. The host/guest relationship (you can read about it in the introduction) is pretty neat, actually. I like the royal family: Nausicaa is respectful, they are kind and wise and Alcinous made Broadsea apologize, and they do things like clean their own laundry in the river. I hope Odysseus' family is like that, too. My only qualm is the incest, but I've mentioned that before.

And suddenly in my notes, I stumble across "oh yeah, Willy Wonka," which makes absolutely no sense.

So in 8.516, Nausicaa is totally crushing on Odysseus, but he deals with it very gently (8.521-526). Even though the introduction MENTIONED THAT SCENE, how it came about was a little unexpected. He just said no, but he did say he would pray to her as a deathless goddess. Can people pray to mortals (I mean, did the Greeks think they could)? She was part god, which I believe is mentioned in her family history (7.61-79), but by now she's mostly human. Would the gods get angry?

8.501: Odysseus mentions Circe, and I wrote down that I predicted a story-time with the Phaeacians. IT TURNS OUT I WAS RIGHT.

Phaeacia's Halls and Gardens

I suppose this first thought could have been a continuation of my last post, but oh well. Now that I know Athena is scared of Poseidon, her posery makes a little more sense. It's lovely that she's helping out everyone as best she can, instead of being a disguisey little wenis.

Greeks are gross. Alcinous and Arete are related--uncle and niece (7.61-81). I'm pretty sure this happened in the Bible, which is also gross. I'm glad this sort of incest has been stopped, except maybe in West Virginia or something.

It seems like Phaeacia is Atlantis.

Perhaps Arete is the merciful one here, but it seems as though Odysseus should approach the king, as opposed to his wife, when he asks for help (7.167-181). It reminds me of a small child asking his mother for something after his father said no, only minus the father part.

Possibly the best quote in the entire book is found in 7.250: "But despite my misery, let me finish dinner."

The order of this story was really confusing. I think I've figured it out now, but I was expecting a chronological story. My notes, although I've discovered more since then, say, "I thought Calypso and the Phaeacians were the second part, and actually I'm pretty sure they are, because the INTRODUCTION gave it all away. So I'm excited for the literary devices that will turn this story AROUND." Yeah literary devices.

Queen Arete is really keen, in the observant sense: likes 7.269-271 describe how she recognizes the clothes on Odysseus' body, and know that they belong to her household. If that isn't a motherlike tendency, I don't know what is. Alcinous is rather kind, too, and they sound like a decent family (remember, I like Nausicaa, too), as long as you don't think about the incest.

The Princess and the Stranger

I like the title of this book. It's good and mysterious sounding.

Set the stage with Athena being a poser again. Is it really so hard for her to be herself? Does she have bad self-esteem? Why can't she show her goddess-ness? It seems to me that that would be a good omen, and she would be able to help Odysseus more efficiently. I suppose the familiarity of her pretend people makes sense, though.

6.70: Lusty bachelors. Yikes.

6.140-142: Odysseus is naked. When I read that, I had to go back and find out when he took off all his clothes (when he was swimming), because I was really confused. It was also really gross because he slept in leaves, and there are always slugs in leaves. Can you imagine sleeping in slugs when you're naked? Gross. Anyway, the interesting bit was that he was embarrassed to be naked, like so many Adams, or really just the one. I thought Greeks were more okay with naked bodies, though. I wonder if I think that because of all those naked Greek statues. Were they okay with it? Although it makes sense that someone wouldn't want their first impression to be a scary, leaf-and-slug-covered naked stranger.

Nausicaa is really nice. She seems like she isn't a wench, and she's bold but rather humble and very kind. She may be my favorite character up to this point.

Oh, my beginning question has been slightly explained, although it's still a little strange. Athena probably dresses upout of fear from Poseidon, because he's part of the Triple Entente or something (6.361-365).

Odysseus--Nymph and Shipwreck

Here's what I don't understand: why Hermes can't just save Odysseus, if he knows exactly where he is and, you know, is a god and all that. "I'm good, but not that good!" Similarly, why does Zeus decree that Odysseus needs to use a raft to float to Scheria (5-37-38)? This is all Zeus, the king of gods, can do? If they can turn ships to stone, can't they turn stone to ships? It's a little disappointing, really.

In 5.121, Homer writes that [Odysseus and his crew] outraged Athena. I thought she liked them, but this is her fault entirely? I just thought of that Mood Rings song by Relient K.

In 5.151, Calypso mentions how she offered to make Odysseus ageless and immortal. In the introduction, it mentioned this part, the offer of being ageless. Bernard Knox said how cool that was, because one time, this goddess made her lover immortal, but NOT ageless, and he ended up get older and older and all crippled and decrepit in her bed. That's pretty gross. It's a good thing Calypso is thinking this stuff through.

Odysseus really hard problems are described in 5.170-171: "In the nights, true, he'd sleep with her in the arching cave--he had no choice..." But here's what I'm wondering: does that mean that she raped him every night or something? how else would you not have a choice? I'm sure there was some kind of choice involved. Is it just because she's a goddess? Either way, I think it's wrong, no matter what the Greek mode of thinking was.

5.176-199: Odysseus' distrust in these lines kind of make sense, then, if Calypso was keeping him on as a ravaged victim all this time (he had no choice). This is the only bit that makes sense, but it seems as though his character is slightly inconsistent. One minute he knows when the game is afoot, and other times he has no idea what's going on. I think we need a little character development or something. Where is his tragic flaw?

OF COURSE, she's not really being that nice. "Hardly right, is it, for mortal woman to rival immortal goddess?" Calypso asks Odysseus (5.234-235). What a wench. The distressing part is that we don't know if Odysseus is telling the truth when he responds that Penelope is uglier than the goddess. At least he says he loves her, basically, but Calypso wouldn't understand that. In asking him about the beauty of the two women, it shows she doesn't get real love, which is more of a real God thing anyway. To the Greeks, it's more of a lust deal. In 2.251, "long in each other's arms they lost themselves in love," I'm sure the Greek poem uses 'eros' for love. Not agape or phileo or storge or anything. LAME. Also, can they please refrain? The sun sets, and they have to do it? SERIOUSLY. You have a WIFE. Have some dignity. This is a baby orchestra.

Wait, what's Poseidon's deal again? I don't remember Odysseus doing anything to enrage him.

5.344: "A hero's funeral, then, my glory spread by comrades," means that to them, death can be good or bad. It's a good thing I have K. Wiet to remind me that death is unnatural, but we go to heaven. Those poor Greeks.

Update: Odysseus falls into the sea and it's pretty depressing. 5.470-471 say they he would have died if Pallas Athena would not have inspired him. Whenever something good happens, he's inspired by a god or goddess. This reminds me of Sean's Baptist friend John, who said that if a vase falls on your head, it was the devil. Devil = gravity. Bummer.

By the way, I named my computer Calypso. I might change it, but I don't know yet.