all critical quotations

Homer’s literary skill; ‘The sign of a great poet is

the master of metaphors’ - Aristotle

Homer’s literary skill; ‘no one in his senses can deny that

the poem is a marvellous accomplishment’ - Kirk

Homer’s literary skill; ‘the tale of Agamemnon is

explicitly a model for Odysseus’ - Griffin

Homer’s literary skill; ‘Homeric similes deepen our understanding of characters

physical motion and emotional disturbance.’ - Eleanor Rambo

Homer’s literary skill; ‘that reverse normal male and female roles and experiences, are of a special thematic importance in a poem that seems to value others’ viewpoints and

that is concerned with analogies between the heroism of Odysseus and that of Penelope and with the powerful role of Penelope and women generally’ - Seth Schein

Homer’s literary skill; ‘Homer’s supreme

gifts of irony’- Bonifazi

Homer’s literary skill; ‘The exchange between Eumaeus and Odysseus has been described

as both ‘idle’ and ‘masterful’ because of its length’ - Bonifazi

Homer’s literary skill; ‘Dramatises the shared

human condition of suffering’ - Nicholson

Homer’s literary skill; ‘Despite the realities of violence

love is a possibility’ - Nicholson

Homer’s literary skill; ‘With the detail of

a close-up photograph’ - Sally Knight

Homer’s literary skill; ‘E.V. Rieu… intended [his translation] as ‘easy reading for those who are unfamiliar

with the Greek world’ … the prose is swift and plain’ - Henry Overton

the story; ‘the Odyssey is intriguing because

it is not told in chronological order.’ - Goldhill

the story; ‘the adventures (of Odysseus) themselves

are timeless and placeless’ - Griffin

the story; ‘The actions of the Odyssey are motivated

by the idea of a return to the ‘inner space’’ - Ahuvia Kahane

the story; ‘the men of Odysseus are

a ‘colourless crew’’- Rieu

the story; ‘loyalty has a major meaning

in the world of Odysseus’ tale’- Lower

Book 1/ Revenge and Justice; ‘the function of the Proem is primarily moral:

it relieves Odysseus of responsibility for his companions’ deaths’ - Peter Jones

Book 9; ‘When Odysseus describes the Cyclops’ island (Book 9, 131-6), he speaks with the discerning eye of the colonist. Odysseus the mythical explorer is related to the real-life Greeks

who in the archaic age sailed into unknown waters across the Mediterranean and Black Sea.’ - Edith Hall

Book 14; ‘surely the least satisfactory, poetically

dramatically, of any in either poem’- Kirk

Book 14; it shows ‘a preoccupation

with trivialities’- Kirk

Odysseus’ character/ heroism; Odysseus is ‘the original

tricky bastard’ - Simon Goldhill

Odysseus’ character/ heroism; ‘the Odyssey has only one

proper hero, Odysseus himself’ - Finley

Odysseus’ character/ heroism; ‘lord of

the liars” - Karen McCarthy Woolf

Odysseus’ character/ heroism; ‘There have been three common responses to the hero of the Odyssey. First, he is the loyal hero-husband, whose eyes are fixed on one goal only: return home...Second, he is the eternal wanderer, fired with a passion for knowledge and experience.

Third, he is an anti-hero, a mean, selfish time-server who employs disguise and deceit often to gain the most disreputable ends (classical Greeks and Romans frequently saw him in this light).’ - Peter Jones

Odysseus’ character/ heroism; ‘Odysseus is a ‘polymechanos’

‘a man who has a fix for everything’ - Davids

Odysseus’ character/ heroism; ‘A trickster and a liar

… morally ambiguous’ - Michaels

Michaels on what doesn’t contribute to Odysseus’ success

‘Odysseus’s strength rarely helps him achieve in the long term’

Odysseus’ character/ heroism; ‘By turns a comic character, a tragic hero, a stoic sage, and a villain,

Odysseus could never, and cannot yet, be pinned down.’ - Barbara Graziosi

Odysseus’ character/ heroism; ‘Two characteristics of Odysseus stand out: first, his capacity to endure and second his ability to think for himself under pressure –

to weigh, balance, consider and come up with an intelligent solution’ - Peter Jones

Sheila Murnagha on what Odysseus’ success is threatened by

‘the hero's success is threatened by his need to depend on his wife’

York Notes on Odysseus’ dealings with the Phaeacians

‘his tact in dealing with the Phaeacian is politic but also decent’ - York Notes

Odysseus’ character/ heroism; ‘Odysseus moves below and beyond the glamour of heroism to a more fundamental level

of the human condition, where the hero succeeds only by accepting the inevitability of his lowliness’ - Michael Clarke

Odysseus’ character/ heroism; ‘Odysseus gives the impression of

a man who has learned to rely on himself’

Peter Jones on the subject matter of the Odyssey

‘respect, devotion, loyalty, hospitality, retribution – personal relations between people of all types and social status – remain the basic subject matter of the Odyssey and reinforce our sense of the values of the social world’

Adam Nicholson on what Odysseus’ name reveals

‘Odysseus’ name embeds odysato ‘to be hated’’

Penelope and Odysseus; ‘Epic archetype of

marital excellence’ - Marilyn Skinner

Penelope and Odysseus and Women; ‘Odysseus wanted to return home to Penelope not only because he loves her and she is his wife but

also because she is a possession of his’ - Jenkyns

Penelope and Odysseus; ‘Penelope is a model

of fidelity’ - Griffin

Penelope and Odysseus; ‘two important facts emerge about Penelope: first, her high intelligence and her Odyssean cunning. These newly-revealed qualities increase;

our expectations of Penelope and prepare the ground for richer exchanges between her, Telemachus, the suitors, and Odysseus’ - Peter Jones

Penelope and Odysseus; ‘Penelope has only one choice, and it is defined exclusively by her marital status:

she can wait for Odysseus, or marry someone else- and even this very limited choice is not open forever’’ - Mary Wilson

Mary Beard on what the Odyssey contains

‘the first recorded example of a man telling a woman to shut up’

Penelope and Odysseus; ‘remarkably close to enacting

the role of a besieged warrior’ - Helen Foley

Penelope and Odysseus; ‘Penelope is a woman in conflict: with

herself- should she stay or remarry?’- Peter Jones

Penelope and Odysseus; ‘He [Odysseus] knows Penelope’s worth is

far greater than even divine beauty’ - Peter Jones

Penelope and Odysseus; ‘Penelope is actually the equal of Odysseus’

her ‘endurance the equal of her husband’s’- Peter Jones

Burkeley on Penelope and the attention of the Suitors

‘Perhaps she [Penelope] unconsciously enjoys the attention of the suitors and does not want Odysseus to come back’

Telemachus; ‘Homer makes the growing up of Telemachus

an issue of the epic’ - Rieu

fate; ‘the poems fate is absolute

and stands above the gods’ - James Duffy

fate; fate is ‘an independent

power in itself’ - James Duffy

fate; ‘there is no passage in the poem which unequivocally

states the gods are subordinated to fate’ - James Duffy

fate; it is ‘about the choices people make when

faced with the deepest challenges of their lives’ - Nicholson (free will)

unknown scholar on the nature of the journey towards fate

‘the nature of the journey towards fate depends on the actions of gods and men’

Emily Wilson on female oppression

‘the silencing of female voices are central problems in the Odyssey’

women; ‘Odysseus meets a complete

range of female types’ - Jasper Griffin

women; ‘The Greeks at least attributed to women

a capacity for understanding’ - Mary R. Leftkowicz

women; ‘two worlds, each entailing separate

responsibilities, skills and demands’ - Peter Jones

women; ‘Homer… a

feminist pioneer’ - Peter Jones

women; ‘Arete means ‘she who is prayer to or for’. ‘Women hold the key to

his salvation in these early books’ - Peter Jones

women and slaves and servants; ‘gruesome inhumanity

and pathos’ - Emily Wilson on death of serving girls

women; ‘not enough emphasis is placed on the

Odyssey's female characters’ - Samuel Butler

gods; ‘the interventions of Athena mainly serve the purpose

to assert the moral principles of the rule of Zeus’ - Wolfgang Kullman

gods; ‘the gods are

sublime frivolity’ - Griffin

gods; ‘Athene’s constant presence, guiding and protecting, is among the

chief reasons why the poem’s tone, as a whole, is that of a comedy’ - Richard Jenkyns

gods; Calypso reminds us ‘there are ways in which humans and immortals

can co-exist- but also ways in which they cannot’ - Peter Jones

‘gods; they are the mighty power which rule the universe

and largely control the destiny of men’ - G.M.A Grube

gods; ‘the divine support for Odysseus’... is because of his...

‘intelligence in his dealings with mortals, and piety’ - Barbara Graziosi

gods; ‘this reminder of man’s feebleness and insecurity implies a warning not only

against idleness and greed but also against complacency in the face of the gods’ - Michael Clarke (Book 18 when Odysseus (as the beggar) rebukes the Suitors’ behaviour

gods; ‘Athene is the power

behind the plot in the Odyssey’ - Sally Knights

revenge and justice; ‘There can be no doubt that they are wholly ruthless

and will deserve the death they finally get’ - Peter Jones

revenge and justice; ‘Few of Homer’s modern readers would condone

revenge killing… but ‘the Odyssey’ does’ - Michael Silk

revenge and justice; ‘desire for revenge is not only

natural, but admirable’ - Aristotle

revenge and justice; There is a thin line in Greek society between justice and revenge evidenced by

the word ‘timoria’ which means both ‘vengeance’ and ‘the punishment decided by the court’

revenge and justice; the mutilation of Melanthius as a ‘significant exception’

to Homeric practice (the punishment being overly harsh/excessive)

revenge and justice; ‘above all arousal of envy and obtaining of

revenge were esteemed most highly’ - Littman

revenge and justice; ‘to harm your enemies

is a golden rule for Greeks’ - Dover

nostos and family and parental relationships; the “true story” of the Odyssey is that of Odysseus and Telemachus

‘Books 5-12 could be surgically removed and the story would remain the same’ - Davids

nostos and family; ‘desire to re-establish

himself in his household’ - Lillian Doherty

nostos and family; ‘There are many problems

in the position of Telemachus’ - Edwards

nostos and family; ‘Odysseus’ choice of his own Ithaca over such glamorous alternatives

represents a clear affirmation of moral purpose’' - Fowler

nostos and family; ‘Ancient Greeks placed an absolute value

on a man’s loyalty to his household’ - Peter Jones

nostos and family; ‘the integrity of the oikos is the central

and dominating issue of the Odyssey’ - Griffin

identity and recognition; ‘The real mystery of this book is not whether this man will get home

but whether we will find out who he really is’ - Simon Armitage

identity and recognition; ‘the text presents all sorts of hints that

Eumaeus recognises his master’ - Roisman

identity and recognition; ‘Telemachus leaves Ithaca in order to establish his identity

Odysseus must return there to do so’ - Peter Jones

xenia; ‘Xenia creates a bond between

the ‘self’ and the ‘other’’ - Selby

xenia; xenia is a ‘cause for concern’ as

most incidents of xenia have some kind of negative reciprocation - Selby

xenia; ‘This [xenia] appears to be done through

fear, not generosity’- Roisman

xenia; ‘Odysseus’ story has what we may term a ‘paradigmatic’

quality in as much as it teaches… the laws of hospitality’ - Peter Walcot

Morrison on the Suitors disregard for xenia

‘the Suitors are terrible guests and clearly violate the code of xenia’

xenia; ‘by the end of the epic good xenia has been rewarded and

bad xenia punished’ - Hall

patriarchy; ‘Ancient Greeks placed an absolute value on a man’s loyalty to his own household. A man who had an affair with an alien or a slave

(as opposed to a married woman from another household) was not thought to compromise that primary bond.’ - Jones

slaves and servants; ‘Eumaeus is an example of the perfect slave in

the Homeric world’ - Thalmann

slaves and servants; ‘Eumaeus is a representative for the lower classes who

may have listened to a recital of the poem’ - Louden

slaves and servants; ‘Slaves were notorious for

changing allegiance’- Roisman

slaves and servants; ‘The servant class...teach us that heroism is having

integrity...when no one is looking’- Howell

Davids on trust in familial relationships

‘Since Telemachus was his son, that was a good enough reason to trust him’

lies; ‘unscrupulous

liar’ - Peter Walcot

Peter Walcot on Odysseus’ deception

‘Odysseus does so purposely and by design’

lies; ‘Perjury is more heinous

a crime than deception’ - Peter Walcot

lies; ‘Life is thought to be a struggle against nature and

a struggle against other human beings’ - Peter Walcot