Metablogicon: Ithaca at Last

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

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.

1 comment:

teacon7November 23, 2011 at 2:38 PM
lying to the shepherd boy)

Odysseus lies to protect himself. Remember what happened to Agamemnon when he got home? His wife killed him. Odysseus doesn't know what kind of welcome he's going to get when he comes home, so he lies to protect himself from possible death until he can sort things out.

Phaeacians) things are rough when you tick off the gods. Homer advises against that. I dunno why Odysseus curses them. I guess if he arrived home poorly, it'd seem like the Phaeacians were stingy with their guest-gift-of-a-trip-home.

Introductions) Notice how Odysseus/Athena introduce themselves. False names, sure, but they still give a Name, Heritage, and Homeland. The same will be true in the following chapters with the loyal shepherd. Eventually, Odysseus proves who he is with his ACTIONS, which match the kleos about him.

Question: what makes a man who he is in the greek world: awesome actions, or awesome reputation?
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Hello and welcome. We would love to have you comment and join in our little conversation, so long as you order your discussion alongside ours. So please... no solicitation, no trolling, keep it civil, rational, and vaguely on topic. Check your lolcats at the door. Thank you!

What's going on here?

We are, however humbly, parochially, and hampered by other pursuits, attempting to converse about ideas. We have in mind the enduring ideas from the “great conversation" of the heritage given to us by thinkers from the West. It is incomplete, imperfect, and poor. If you were looking for wisdom, I suggest turning to the authors themselves. The artifice here merely attempts to discipline ourselves into reading consistently, and thinking logically, and expressing any insights gained in a clear arrangement.

What remains posted here comes from many sources. A group of us read through Homer's Odyssey and commented on it. We also set up a discussion group over the Heritage 101 video course from Hillsdale College. Each has been suspended in favor of more pressing concerns from daily vocation, but the tools remain for another discussion in the future.