odyssey secondary scholar qu

The Odyssey is a tale of survival and pleasure.

Graziosi

Adventures fall into 3 categories of peril: irresponsibility, sex, violence.

Clarke

Odysseus didnt leave places quickly as he wanted to spread his name around and gain gifts.

Clarke

The Odyssey is about nostos.

Jenkyns

Key theme of the Odyssey is nostos and homecoming

Hall

We need to see everything in the odyssey within the moral framework of Xenia

Hauser

The story of Telemachus is no fit subject for heroic song: there is nothing heroic about it

Knox

On Ithaca life has been in limbo for 20 years

Griffin

His wandering symbolise the human quest for knowledge

Powell

The phaeacians serve as a transition between the fantasy world of tales and the human world of Ithaca

Griffin

Odysseus was not a successful leader

Felson

On the wanderings they needed to keep Odysseus in our minds as a hero of great deeds

Griffin

Athene is almost the heroine of the poem

Thorpe

(Athene) her favour means success

Griffin

Calypso longs to hide and possess him, Athens enables Odysseus to construct his own schemes out of the materials she provides

Wilson

Athene leads Odysseus and Telemachus step by step

Finley

Athene’s patronage does not diminish but enhances Odysseus’ stature

Jones

In the Odyssey only 3 gods play important roles

Powell

The gods help only those who are worthy of it

Jones

Telemachus has all the attributes of his father: his looks stature and way with words

Jones

The fidelity of Penelope is crucial to the story

Griffin

The terms of Homeric epic are masculine and heroic, but the rhythm of the plot tells of withdrawal and return

Clarke

The poems time as a whole is that of a comedy

Jenkyns

Odysseus has the talent necessary for the deceiver: he is a persuasive speaker

Knox

Polyphemus, who sinned so grievously against the odyssey’s prime virtue of hospitality, deserved the punishment he got from Odysseus

Clarke

Apart from Odysseus the more remarkable characters are mostly women

Jenkyns

The greatest threat is Penelope

Graziosi

Everything depends on what Penelope does and what kind of wife she turns out to be

Silk

Penelope is just as cunning as Odysseus

Hauser

Odysseus rejects the male fantasy of sharing a bed with a goddess

Felson

Men have free will and are responsible for their actions

Griffin

Odysseus’ task is to restore order

Segal

The whole poem is held together by a very explicit theory of justice and divine behaviour

Griffin

The end of the odyssey is not very satisfactory, there are moral questions in the killing of the suitors

Graziosi

(Suitors) Such fools, devoid of Metis, deserve to die

Powell

The odyssey has only one proper hero, Odysseus himself

Finley

The Homeric warrior is driven to action by the need for social valediction

Clarke

The central theme of the odyssey is moral, that the evil pay for their deeds

Powell