Odyssey Scholarship

Scholarship for the Odyssey innit mate

What does Peter Jones say About the Oikos (household)

The Odyssey makes the household… rather than the battlefield, the centre of its world.’

What does E.V. Rieu say about Eumeaus and Eurycleia and their place in the household?

“Eumeaus and Eurycleia are, as Norman Austin says ‘Stalwart Paradigms of Order’ in a palace dominated by disorderly suitors. They represent what the palace used to be like - and will be again when its master is restored.’

What does James Morrison say about the story of the centaurs at the wedding and the irony that Antinous is the one saying it?

“Although these details are not stated by Antinous, the idea of untuly guests at a ‘wedding’ who must be subdued by force indirectly looks ahead to what is coming with those guests who have madly pursued Odysseus’ ‘Bride’”

What does Richard Jenkyns say about the Equality of the Odyssey

“The Odyssey, however, gives prominence even to slaves and beggars. Among those honoured to greet Odysseus in a scene of recognition are not only his wife, son and father, but Eumaeus, and the herdsman Philoetius, a slave woman and even a dog… a whole society, in all its ranks welcomes Odysseus home, and even a hound has its place in this fellowship."

What does James Morrison say bout the failures that Odysseus makes when revealing himself

“There are costs to revealing your name, choosing to conceal it might have its benefits.”

How does Peter Jones Describe Odysseus?

“1. Loyal hero-husband who just wants to return home; 2. Eternal wanderer with a passion for new experiences; 3. Anti-hero - mean, selfish, using deceit to achieve immoral ends.”

What does Peter Jones say about Odysseus and Athena’s relationship?

“Their relationship is unique in Homer for the closeness of the relationship it depicts between god and mortal.”

What does C.M. Bowra have to say about Odysseus’ adventures

“His need for cunning is enforced by his own recklessness”

What does James Morrison say about how reliant Odysseus is upon the gods?

“Odysseus is no puppet. he needs the advice and favour of the gods if he is to return to Ithaca, but he clearly contemplates his actions and makes independent decisions.”

What does Seth Schein say about the meeting of Penelope and Odysseus and her Heroism.

“The ‘reverse simile’ where Penelope seeing her husband like a shipwreck survivor seeing the shore both reverses the male and female roles and is a way for Homer to value Penelope’s heroism alongside Odysseus’”

What does Griffin say about the contrast between Penelope and her cousin Clytaemnestra?

“The fidelity of Odysseus’ wife is crucial to the story, and the contrast between he and the disloyal wife of Agamemnon is repeatedly emphasised'“

What does Griffin say about Penelope and Odysseus’ like-mindedness (Homophrosyne)

“By her self-command and guile, Penelope shows herself to be like him; the true wife for the hero of the Odyssey”

What does Griffin say about the Marriage bed as a symbol?

“The marriage bed is an unmistakeable symbol of the solidarity of their relationship - it cannot be moved.”

What does Griffin say about the Maturation of Telemachus?

“The Odyssey can show us the young man in the process of achieving adult status, asserting himself for the first time with both the Suitors and with his mother.”

What does Peter Jones say about the two-facedness of the suitors?

“They constantly think one thing then say the other. Such duplicity is untypical of Homeric characters… This is why Odysseus and Telemachus must scheme as they do.”

What does Peter Jones say about the Justice of Odysseus’ revenge?

“Whatever one may think of the severity of Odysseus’ revenge, no Greek would have argued that he did not have a right to take it.”

What does C.M. Bowra say about the lack of heroism of the suitors?

“The suitors are at the other extreme from the true nobility of the heroic ideal… they are a ‘degenerate corruption of heroes’.”

What does John Halverson say about the status of the Suitors?

“The suitors are the cream of the populace. They are several times referred to as aristoi (the best).”

What does James Morrison suggest about the intelligence of the suitors?

“[Penelope’s] trick does not say much for the mental quickness of the suitors.”

What does James Morrison say about the Suitor’s Xenia?

“The suitors are terrible guests and clearly violate the code of Xenia.”

What does Peter Jones say about the similarities between the suitors and the men that Odysseus leads?

“this sacrifice and gluttonous slaughter of the cattle (Cattle of the Sun God Tale) should remind us of the loathsome suitors, and it is this connection that leads us to have minimal sympathy for them overall.”

What does Adrian Kelly say about the status of Zeus in the Odyssey?

“That Zeus guarantees her (Athene’s) interventions at several points in the poem, reveals, as in the Iliad, his eventual responsibility for everything that happens on earth.”

What does Peter Jones say about the involvements of the gods in the Odyssey?

“It is tempting to say that Athene’s continuing presence diminishes the stature of Odysseus. But it is important to emphasize that in Homer the gods help only those who are worthy of it.”

What does Peter Jones comment about the banter and relationship between Odysseus and Athene?

“This scene of teasing and playful banter is one of the most remarkable scenes of intimacy between a man and a god in all Greek literature, and allows us to admire Odysseus’ supremacy as a hero, whilst also emphasising his resourcefulness as being his true strength, through constant focus on it in these scenes.”

What does Edith Hall say about Odysseus as a versatile Hero?

“Odysseus was a truly versatile hero, who was adored by the Greeks due to their living a largely frontier life as farmers warriors and sailors. because of this, they needed a vast variety of skills - skill which Odysseus possesses. He is a fantastic carpenter, has brilliant navigational skills and is a good sailor, a very good livestock keeper and a very good gardener from when ‘he was just a boy’. He also has all the proper aristocratic skills - an incredible warrior, superlative skill as an archer, a proper athlete (as he throws the discus farther than any other, he is an incredible orator, with no form of speech which he has not mastered.”