Scholar Quotes

Hauser - “Stock epiphets.. stock scenes.. helped bard remember what they were saying”

Hall - “Each time he [a bard] does a rap, it’ll be slightly different”

Hauser - ‘all of Odysseys’s actions are driven by the desire for nostos”

Jones - “[odysseus is] an eternal warrior, fired with a passion for knowledge and experience”

Hauser - “Odysseus’s return to Penelope driving the plot”

Rosenfelder - “Odysseus’ fame depends on his homecoming”

Hauser - “Athene sets the poem in motion”

Lattimore “Athene merely accepts the sufferings of Odysseus out of respect for Poseidon”

Hauser - “lack of reciprocity leads Odysseus to try and get revenge on them [The suitors]”

Pratt - “Odysseus’ identity is wrapped up in regaining his kingdom and restoring the balance in Ithaca”

Hauser - “[Odysseus is the] object of his fate”

Sowerby - “Homers polytropic hero”

Hauser - “Penelope, the faithful wife… is exactly what you want in a woman”

Morrison - “Remarkable figures .. Arete”

Hauser - “[women are to be] silenced by male characters”

Knox - “Almost everywhere in this peaceful world .. women .. have important roles”

Hauser - “Penelope is just as cunning as Odysseus is”

Finley - “Women were held to be naturally inferior and therefore limited in their function”

Hauser - “A gradual convergence between lies and the truth”

Jones - “[Odysseus] employs disguise and deceit often to gain the most disreputable ends”

Hauser - “Odysseus [is the] architect of his own story”

Morrison - “Athene is quite intent on helping Odysseys return home”

“Oikos [includes] possessions [such as] slaves”

“Eumaeus demonstrates that good hospitality does not depend on wealth”

Hauser - “Odysseus is shown proper hospitality by the Phaeacians”

Walcot - “Their [ Phaeacians] hospitality has limitations”

Hauser - “[Polyphemus’s] anger t this violation [of xenia] that leads him to lay the curse on him through Poseidon”

Morrison - “Odysseus achieves flory .. by stealth”