Odyssey quotes and critics

Aristotle on Homer's literary skill

'The sign of a great poet is the master of metaphors'

Kirk on Homer's literary skill

"no one in his senses can deny that the poem is a marvelous accomplishment"

Griffin on Homer's literary skill

'the tale of Agamemnon is explicitly a model for Odysseus'

Eleanor Rambo on Homeric similes

Homeric similes deepen our understanding of characters' physical motion and emotional disturbance.

Seth Schein on gendered similes

"Reverse similes 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."

Bonifazi on irony

'Homer's supreme gifts of irony'

Bonifazi on Eumaeus and Odysseus' exchange

The exchange between Eumaeus and Odysseus has been described as both 'idle' and 'masterful' because of its length

Nicholson on human suffering

'Dramatises the shared human condition of suffering'

Nicholson on love and violence

'Despite the realities of violence, love is a possibility'

Sally Knight on imagery

'With the detail of a close-up photograph'

Henry Overton on Rieu's translation

'E.V. Rieu... intended [his translation] as "easy reading for those who are unfamiliar with the Greek world"... the prose is swift and plain'

Goldhill on narrative structure

The Odyssey is intriguing because it is not told in chronological order.

Jasper Griffin on Homeric artistry

"The epics were not produced by singers obsessed with merely getting their verses to scan; many forms of artistry are unmistakably visible... We are meant to judge, but not be bullied into judgement by the poet; his people, more human than the Muse, help us do it."

Griffin on Odysseus' adventures

'the adventures (of Odysseus) themselves are timeless and placeless'

Ahuvia Kahane on motivation

"The actions of the Odyssey are motivated by the idea of a return to the 'inner space'"

Rieu on Odysseus' men

Rieu calls the men of Odysseus a 'colourless crew'

Lower on loyalty

'loyalty has a major meaning in the world of Odysseus' tale'

Peter Jones on the Proem

'The function of the Proem is primarily moral: it relieves Odysseus of responsibility for his companions' deaths'

Mary Beard on gender

'First recorded example of a man telling a woman to shut up'

Edith Hall on colonialism

"When Odysseus describes the Cyclops' island (Book 9, 131-6), he speaks with the discerning eye of the colonist... related to real-life Greeks who... sailed into unknown waters."

Kirk on Book 14

'surely the least satisfactory, poetically, dramatically, of any in either poem'

Kirk on trivialities in Book 14

it shows 'a preoccupation with trivialities'

Simon Goldhill on Odysseus' character

Odysseus is "the original tricky bastard"

Finley on heroism

'the Odyssey has only one proper hero, Odysseus himself'

Karen McCarthy Woolf on Odysseus

"Lord of the liars"

Peter Jones on interpretations of Odysseus

"There have been three common responses to the hero of the Odyssey... loyal hero-husband... eternal wanderer... anti-hero."

Davids on Odysseus' nature

Odysseus is a 'polymechanos' - 'a man who has a fix for everything'

Sadler on loyalty

'Loyalty towards his allies'

Michaels on moral ambiguity

'A trickster and a liar ... morally ambiguous'

Michaels on strength

'Odysseus' strength rarely helps him achieve in the long term'

Datta on parallels

'Parallels between Odysseus and Hephaestus'

Sheila Murnaghan on dependence

'The hero's success is threatened by his need to depend on his wife'

York Notes on diplomacy

'his tact in dealing with the Phaeacians is politic but also decent'

Barbara Graziosi on Odysseus' complexity

"The Odyssey... elicits a vast range of responses... Odysseus could never, and cannot yet, be pinned down."

Michael Clarke on heroism

'Odysseus moves below and beyond the glamour of heroism to a more fundamental level of the human condition...'

Peter Jones on Odysseus' qualities

'Two characteristics of Odysseus stand out: first, his capacity to endure and second his ability to think for himself under pressure'

Peter Jones on self-reliance

'Odysseus gives the impression of a man who has learned to rely on himself'

Peter Jones on social values

'Respect, devotion, loyalty, hospitality, retribution... remain the basic subject matter of the Odyssey'

Adam Nicholson on Odysseus' name

'Odysseus' name embeds odysato "to be hated"'

Sheila Murnaghan on Odysseus and Penelope

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

Marilyn Skinner on Penelope '

Epic archetype of marital excellence'

Jenkyns on Odysseus and Penelope

Odysseus wanted to return to Penelope not only for love but because she is his possession.

Griffin on Penelope

'Penelope is a model of fidelity'

Mary Wilson on Penelope's limited agency

'Penelope has only one choice... defined exclusively by her marital status...'

Mary Beard on Telemachus and Penelope

'First recorded example of a man telling a woman to shut up'

Helen Foley on Penelope

'(Penelope is) remarkably close to enacting the role of a besieged warrior'

Peter Jones on Penelope's conflict

'Penelope is a woman in conflict: with herself—should she stay or remarry?'

Peter Jones on Penelope's worth

"He [Odysseus] knows Penelope's worth is far greater than even divine beauty"

Peter Jones on equality

"Penelope is actually the equal of Odysseus" / her "endurance the equal of her husband's"

Burkeley on Penelope's motives

"Perhaps she unconsciously enjoys the attention of the suitors and does not want Odysseus to come back"

Rieu on Telemachus' coming of age

'Homer makes the growing up of Telemachus an issue of the epic'

James Duffy on fate

'the poems fate is absolute and stands above the gods'

James Duffy on fate's power

fate is 'an independent power in itself'

James Duffy on gods and fate

'there is no passage in the poem which unequivocally states the gods are subordinated to fate'

Walter Otto on fate and religion

'the fates are a holdover from a primordial religious belief preceding the Olympians'

Nicholson on free will

it is 'about the choices people make when faced with the deepest challenges of their lives'

Unknown scholar on gods and fate

'The nature of the journey towards fate depends on the actions of gods and men'

Wolfgang Kullman on Athena

'The interventions of Athena mainly serve the purpose to assert the moral principles of the rule of Zeus'

Griffin on the gods

'the gods are sublime frivolity'

Richard Jenkyns on Athena's role

'Athene's constant presence... is among the chief reasons why the poem's tone... is that of a comedy'

Peter Jones on Calypso and humanity Calypso reminds us

'there are ways in which humans and immortals can co-exist—but also ways in which they cannot'

G.M.A. Grube on divine power

'They are the mighty power which rule the universe and largely control the destiny of men'

Barbara Graziosi on divine support

'the divine support for Odysseus... is because of his intelligence... and piety'

Michael Clarke on divine warning

'This reminder of man's feebleness... implies a warning... against complacency in the face of the gods'

Sally Knights on Athena

'Athene is the power behind the plot in the Odyssey'

Emily Wilson on divine femininity

'Empowered femininity conveyed in the world of the gods'

Datta on divine parallels

'Parallels between Odysseus and Hephaestus, and Penelope and Aphrodite'

Peter Jones on morality and revenge

'The function of the Odysseus's proem is primarily moral: it relieves Odysseus of responsibility for his companions' death'

Peter Jones on the suitors

'There can be no doubt that they are wholly ruthless, and will deserve the death they finally get'

Michael Silk on revenge

'Few of Homer's modern readers would condone revenge killing... but "the Odyssey" does'

Aristotle on revenge

Believed that desire for revenge is not only natural, but admirable

Charles Segal on punishment classes the mutilation of Melanthius as a

'significant exception' to Homeric practice

Davids on Telemachus

'Homer makes the growing up of Telemachus an issue of the epic'

Fowler on Odysseus' moral purpose

'Odysseus' choice of his own Ithaca over such glamorous alternatives represents a clear affirmation of moral purpose'

Peter Jones on loyalty and oikos

"Ancient Greeks placed an absolute value on a man's loyalty to his household"

Griffin on the oikos

'the integrity of the oikos is the central and dominating issue of the Odyssey'

Simon Armitage on identity

"The real mystery of this book is not whether this man will get home but whether we will find out who he really is"

Roisman on recognition

"the text presents all sorts of hints that Eumaeus recognises his master"

Peter Jones on identity

'Telemachus leaves Ithaca in order to establish his identity, Odysseus must return there to do so'

Lilian Balensiefen on monsters

"Odyssean monsters... speak of a terrifying and distant past, which is reassuringly framed within an orderly architectural plan."

Selby on xenia

'Xenia creates a bond between the "self" and the "other"'

Roisman on false hospitality

'This [xenia] appears to be done through fear, not generosity'

Peter Jones on patriarchy

'Ancient Greeks placed an absolute value on a man's loyalty to his own household... a man who had an affair with a slave... was not thought to compromise that bond.'

Peter Jones on Penelope's intelligence

'Two important facts emerge about Penelope: first, her high intelligence and her Odyssean cunning.'

Emily Wilson on female voices

'The Silencing of female voices are central problems in the Odyssey'

Mary Beard on women

'First recorded example of a man telling a woman to shut up'

Emily Wilson on the serving girls

'Gruesome inhumanity and pathos'

Jasper Griffin on women

"Odysseus meets a complete range of female types"

Thalmann on Eumaeus

Eumaeus is an example of the perfect slave in the Homeric world

Louden on Eumaeus

Eumaeus is a representative for the lower classes who may have listened to the poem

Roisman on slaves

'Slaves were notorious for changing allegiance'

Newton on Melanthius

'Melanthius is an expression of the ignobility of the serving class'

Howell on servants

'The servant class... teach us that heroism is having integrity... when no one is looking'

Davids on Telemachus and Odysseus

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

Peter Walcot on lying

"Unscrupulous liar"

Peter Walcot on deception

"If Achilles deceives it is not deliberate, whereas Odysseus does so purposely and by design"

Peter Walcot on truth and skill

"What is significant is the skill with which he concocts his lies, and this is a measure of his ability and not of his moral failings"

Peter Walcot on lying as life

"To tell lies, then, is a way of life"

Peter Walcot on Athene and Odysseus

"Odysseus and Athene are alike in disposition... both torment and tease"

Thucydides on Themistocles and Odysseus

"Themistocles was a man who showed an unmistakable natural genius"