Weekday Greek

 Catherine Project, Spring 2024, Homer -- Od. 21-24 For my final reflection I hope you’ll indulge this pretty narcissistic question that may very well say more about me than it does about the text we’re reading together. Plus, I’ve already voiced many of these thoughts in our earlier conversations. But to put them down in one place, some dislikes: The Odyssey divides up the human world into good guys and bad guys (the divine world is more complicated, I think, like Calypso, Circe, and Athena), and many of the most powerful emotional scenes arise from good things happening to the good guys and bad things happening to the bad guys: like the Telemachus & Odysseus reunion (15), or the slaughter of the suitors (22). I especially dislike the righteous anger and joy I feel over the death of the suitors (the “yeah die die kill kill” inside of me). Feels like the Odyssey is appealing to a particularly nasty and brutish part of me that delights in anger and revenge. The Iliad’s most powe...

 Catherine Project, Spring 2024, Homer -- Od. 17-20 To my eyes Odysseus’ household and estates are surprisingly well-run in his absence. Eumaeus and the oxherd Philoetius continue to serve Odysseus and make his flocks prosper (20.211f); Odysseus’ slaves continue the brutal, knee-breaking work of grinding grain (20.106f); Eurycleia continues to serve as the chief female slave, issuing orders to the other slaves (20.149). Overall the picture is of relatively well-run prosperity, almost like the vision Odysseus sketches of the good king and his bountiful estate (19.114). So what has gone wrong? Basically, it’s just the suitors. Characters point to three basic problems the suitors are causing (16.107-111 for all three): The suitors’ consumption of the house’s food and wine (17.535, 20.315, etc.) Mistreatment of guests (19.313-5, 20.317-9), manifested in the times the suitors throw things at beggar Odysseus, the fight between Iros and Odysseus (criticized by Penelope at 18.221-4), and t...

 Catherine Project, Spring 2024, Homer -- Od. 13-16 When Odysseus finally arrives back at Ithaca, Athena reveals herself to him: “yet you never recognized / Pallas Athene, daughter of Zeus, the one who is always / standing beside (paristamai) you and guarding you in every endeavor” (13.299-301). Other characters in both the Odyssey and Iliad attest to Athena “standing beside” Odysseus at Troy:  earlier in the Odyssey Nestor claimed that he never saw another god so openly stand beside a mortal (3.218f; cf. 3.379).  in the Iliad Ajax claims that Athena always stands besides Odysseus like a mother (Il. 23.783) In the Iliad Odysseus himself prays to Athena, saying himself (!) that she always stands beside him in every struggle (Il. 10.278; language very close to Od. 13.301, en pantessi ponoisi paristasai vs. en pantessi ponoisi paristamai) Plus Athena does regularly talk to, help and protect Odysseus in the Iliad (2.172, 10.245, 11.437, 23.769f; cf. 10.245), including liter...

 Catherine Project, Spring 2024, Homer -- Response 8,  Od. 5-8 When Calypso tells Odysseus he may go home now if he wishes, she repeats her offer (apparently offered many times before) that Odysseus could instead stay with her, be lord of the household, and be immortal (Od. 5.208-210; cf. 5.135-6, 7.255-7, 23.333-8); Calypso thinks that Odysseus wants to see his wife, even though Calypso is more beautiful. Odysseus readily admits that Calypso, as an immortal goddess, is more beautiful, but even so he wants to see his home and his day of homecoming.  Putting aside what Calypso gets out of the deal (epic’s male perspective assumes Calypso would of course want Odysseus), I personally have always found it hard to understand Odysseus’ response and choice here. Immortality with a beautiful, loving goddess on an island paradise (5.63-76) would seem pretty close to the ideal human condition, even by the Od.’s standards. What Calypso offers sounds a lot like what is promised t...

 Catherine Project, Spring 2024, Homer -- Response 7,  Od. 1-4 How does the Odyssey compare to the Iliad? Does the Odyssey want us to compare it to the Iliad? Whenever I read the Odyssey, I find myself constantly comparing it to the Iliad. Obviously the two epics are closely related. But Is this world exactly the same world? Are these exactly the same characters, the exact same details of plot, the same themes? Like, on this read I noticed some small details (putting aside the old chestnuts like Hermes as the gods’ messenger instead of Iris): Nestor’s “nine settlements” (Od. 3.7) do match the number of named cities in the Catalogue of the Ships (Il. 2.591). Telemachus’s claim of Nestor “they say he has been lord over three generations / of men” (3.245-6) is similar to the Iliad’s “In his time two generations of mortal men had perished… and he was king in the third age” (1.250-2), and perhaps is a direct allusion to that Iliad passage (“they say” -> the Iliad says?). But her...

Catherine Project, Spring 2024, Homer -- Response 6, Il. 21-24 Should we learn anything from the Iliad? If so, what? It is very difficult to know what the Iliad thinks its audience should do with it. The narrator very rarely directly addresses the audience, and for that matter reveals very little about himself. The Iliad draws no explicit lessons from its story and provides no morals – it simply tells a story, and when it reaches the end of that story it falls silent. While it is hard for me to believe that it was intended simply for entertainment (where we might be foolish to take it too seriously, like an ancient Game of Thrones), there is little in the text to disprove such a hypothesis. But stories in the Iliad similar to the Iliad are told with a purpose, to change behavior. The Iliad has no professional singers of stories (though 2.595, 18.604, 24.720-1); stories in the Iliad (unlike the Od.) are not entertainment, but are deadly serious. Phoenix tells the story of Meleager to tr...

 Catherine Project, Spring 2024, Homer -- Response 5, Il. 17-20 Why does Achilles exhibit such profound grief over Patroclus’ death? Achilles’ reaction to Patroclus’ death seems vastly disproportionate to the admittedly terrible news. In the immediate wake of the news, he responds with intense grief and disregard for his own life: Antilochus holds Achilles’ hands fearing that Achilles will kill himself (18.33-4), and he responds to his mother that his death is worth it for Hector’s (18.98-9). Later in our reading for this week, he alienates himself from his own humanity: he refuses to eat and drink (19.209-214) and refuses Tros’ supplication (20.463-7). Nobody else exhibits such profound grief in the Iliad, and Odysseus gently tries to discourage Achilles in his particular case: “we must harden our hearts and bury the man who / dies, when we have wept over him on the day” (19.228-9). So why does Patroclus’ death hit Achilles so hard? Perhaps there’s something special about the ...

 Catherine Project, Spring 2024, Homer -- Response 4, Il. 13-6 QUESTION: How does the Iliad characterize and judge lies and deceit? Some thoughts on lies and guile in the Iliad: The Iliad acknowledges the existence of lies and deceit. Odysseus is repeatedly characterized as a master of deceit (dolos), sometimes positively (3.202, 11.430) and sometimes as a reproach (4.339); similarly the Iliad occasionally alludes to the possibility of men waiting in ambush (lokhos) (8.522, 13.276-87), and stories of the past sometimes include ambushes (4.392, 6.189). But so far in the battle we haven’t seen any ambushes or attempted ambushes, and direct lies are very rare. Despite his reputation, and despite his direct lie to Dolon at 10.383 not to worry about death, Odysseus has been pretty straightforward with people (rounding up the troops in 2, responding to Ag. at 4.350, his appearance in battle at 11.396-488, his response to Ag. at 14.83f). The lie to Dolon is the only lie I can think of by ...

 Catherine Project, Spring 2024, Homer -- Response 3, Il. 9-12 QUESTION: Why does Achilles reject the embassy in book 9? In the initial quarrel Athena promised threefold gifts later if he didn’t fight Agamemnon (1.213), and Achilles asked his mother to help the Trojans pin the Greeks against the ships and make Agamemnon regret that he dishonored Achilles (1.407-412). Now Agamemnon is offering to make amends with ample rewards, including Briseis herself (9.273-4). Why doesn’t Achilles take it? Isn’t this what he wanted? A few thoughts as to why Achilles rejects the embassy: Agamemnon’s offer is heavy on gifts and light on any remorse. Odysseus tactfully omits Agamemnon’s demand that Achilles recognize him as superior (9.158-61, not repeated at 300f). But even so the omission of any regret or admission of wrongdoing probably rubs Achilles the wrong way. “Hearts in younger men are frivolous” (3.108). In the Iliad Achilles is a young man. He is destined to live a short life (1.352, 416...

 Catherine Project, Spring 2024, Homer -- Response 2, Il. 5-8 Every telling of a myth is different from other tellings of that story, and the Iliad is no exception. Many myths are different in the Iliad than in other Greek sources, in large and small ways. One example in our reading this week is Aphrodite’s parentage: whereas in another early Greek text Aphrodite is born from Cronus’ testicles floating in sea form (Hesiod Theogony 188f), in our reading Aphrodite is the child of Zeus (5.428) and a goddess Dione (5.370). Sometimes it’s possible to see trends in these deviations which potentially explain why the Iliad might present myths differently than other texts. For example, the Iliad sometimes omits or downplays monsters, magic and the supernatural (in contrast to the Odyssey). In our reading this week, for example, it leaves out Bellerophon’s famous winged horse Pegasus from its telling of the story of Bellerophon (6.200, contrast the Theogony; though do note the monster Chim...

 Catherine Project, Spring 2024, Homer -- Response 1, Il. 1-4 When should one quit? Give up and literally go home? The idea of quitting is a prominent one in Iliad 1 and 2. While nobody actually quits in these books, the different reasons for quitting and persisting offer some thoughts to a contemporary audience. Among his threats in Il. 1 Achilles threatens once to go home: “Now I will go to Phthia… I do not think that I will be dishonored here and draw up money and wealth for you” (1.169-171). In Achilles’ telling, the Greeks have been successful at raiding Trojan towns and acquiring Trojan wealth to be distributed among the Greeks. Achilles has already been angry that his share of the proceeds has been less than he deserves; Agamemnon’s threat to reclaim another pushes him to threaten in response to leave. If he doesn’t receive what he thinks is appropriate compensation – or worse if the army’s leadership claws back what it has already given – he will leave, or at least consid...

1. When Zeus makes love to Hera in Il. 14 on Mt. Gargaron, they do so on a bed of plants: He clasped his wife in his arms And beneath them the earth grew newly flourishing grass And dewy lotus and crocus and hyacinth (λωτόν θ᾽ ἑρσήεντα ἰδὲ κρόκον ἠδ᾽ ὑάκινθον, 14.348) Thick and soft which kept them above the ground. Fox claims that Gargaron is the modern Koca Kaya and crocus is a feature distinctive to the site. He even has a picture: Pretty dubious evidence (why would an ancient audience know this bit of botanical trivia), but pretty fun