Classics: The Odyssey - Scholarship

Odysseus as a "complicated man"

Emily Wilson

Three interpretations of Odysseus: "eternal wanderer, loyal husband, deceitful anti-hero"

Peter Jones

The Odyssey is an ethical epic

Makrinos

"oikos" is Homer's model for civilised Greek life

Wohl

The Odyssey is an example of Greek colonisation

Emily Wilson and Edith Hall

The Odyssey is "a vision of empowered femininity"

Emily Wilson

Homer lays out a "model of an androcentric society"

Mary Beard

Similarities between epic poetry and rap

Edith Hall

Epithets reveal the "innate qualities" of the characters

Peter Jones

Odysseus' disguise "wouldn't have worked" without Athene

McMurnagh

Athene "sanctions" the death of the suitors

Stanton

Odysseus' relationship with the gods is "particularly entertaining"

Jenkyns

"Odysseus' most heroic quality is his cunning"

Silk

Xenia was "an essential functioning of ancient society"

Goldhill

"Dreams can also be waking visions"

Segal

Odysseus and Penelope "Share their ingenuity"

Nancy Felson

The immortals "serve as a mirror of women and men"

Brad Hastings

Fate is a destructive force which even immortals "cannot avoid"

Brad Hastings

Homer is "urgently concerned with the preservation of the family unit"

Kelly Franklin

The marriage bed is a "symbol of solidity" in Odysseus and Penelope's relationship.

Griffin

Odysseus being "much enduring" adds to his "heroism and likeability"

Morrison

The episode with the cyclops is "at the centre of the epic" and best displays Odysseus' metis.

Peter Jones

"The omnipotence of Zeus amounts almost to a dogma in Homer."

Duffy

"Supernatural powers are at work everywhere and always in the Homeric poems"

Camps

"Phaeacia is like a fantasy realm"- mortal people but magical properties, e.g. relationships with gods, crops grow year round.

Segal

"Ghosts, wraiths and phantoms play important parts in the plot"

Gregory

Fantasy and reality are "effortlessly blended", Ithaca is presented as "vividly realistic" while there are elements of fantasy.

Peter Jones

"The rich interaction of past and present is one of the great glories of the Odyssey."

Peter Jones

Penelope's trick to discover if the beggar is Odysseus is "worthy of Odysseus himself"

Peter Jones

The suitors' actions are a "gross perversion" of xenia.

Peter Jones

Eurycleia and Eumaeus "represent what the palace used to be like - and will be again, when its master is restored."

Peter Jones

The depiction of the Cyclops as lawless is "meant to stand in contrast with Odysseus' way of doing things."

Peter Jones

In Homer, "the gods only help those who are worthy of it"

Peter Jones

"Athene's patronage does not diminish but enhances Odysseus' status as a hero."

Peter Jones

"The Odyssey lays out an ethical programme which is fulfilled with the death of the suitors."

Peter Jones

"Odysseus shows expertise and ease for deception."

Peter Jones

"There are costs for revealing your name"

Morrison

"No Greek would have disagreed" that Odysseus and the suitors' justice was deserved.

Peter Jones

"The masculine voice is always portrayed over the feminine voice"

Johnson

"Penelope has one decision and it's defined by her marital status."

Emily Wilson

Odysseus' use of deception is a means to a heroic end

Peter Jones

Stories allow Odysseus to "show off his heroism"

Peter Jones

By the end of the epic, "Bad xenia is punished and good xenia is rewarded."

Edith Hall

The suitors are "terrible guests", who violate xenia

Morrison

Failing his nostos is a bigger threat to Odysseus than dying in battle

Morrison