Homers’ Odyssey scholar Flashcards

Homer asks us to apply the code of hospitality to the various characters in the epic in order to distinguish good from bad

Morrison

Many of the remarkable figures in Homer’s Odyssey are female characters, both mortal and divine

Morrison

They continuously fail to behave in the manner we expect. They steal, commit adultery, quarrel and spend their time drinking and laughing

Graziosi

Calypso is an invention to give Telemachus time to grow up

Jones

‘Surrogate wives’, women who in one way or another try to take the place of Penelope

Morrison

The use of Zeus allows the plot to be arbitrary without seeming to be

Tracy

Penelope symbolises the goal for which Odysseus constantly strives

Murray

Penelope is the equal focus and hero of the poem

Murray

Women were not as segregated but their place was still firmly in the home

Hayward

Penelope in order to be praised and prove herself worthy, must be true to Odysseus

Morrison

Throughout Odysseus’ wanderings it is Penelope who remains firmly at the centre of the epic, and it is she who symbolizes the goal for which Odysseus constantly strives his homecoming

Murray

For all the dangerous girls, women, goddesses and monsters that Odysseus meets on his way home, it is Penelope herself who constitutes the greatest peril for him

Graziosi

Penelope is the greatest peril, because Odysseus will lose everything without her

Graziosi

When the heroes sailed to Troy, they had no problems in leaving their wives to manage their kingdoms

Pomeroy

Odysseus transcended gender by weeping like a woman, so Penelope weeps like male sailors whose experience mirrors her husbands

Callen King

Eurymachus is a more subtle character than Antinous, with a more attractive exterior masking hidden cunning

Sowerby

Antinous is straightforwardly a nasty piece of work

Jones

They have invaded the house in a gross perversion of xenia and their collective wickedness is seen through Homer's moral messages

Jones

Homer’s polytropic hero and polytropic plot reflect each other perfectly. Odysseus’ character unfolds naturally with the action

Sowerby

Odysseus achieves glory in part by underhandedness, by stealth and by deception [...] Homer offers his audience something of a paradox: a tricky hero

Morrison

Portrays the character of his heroes by presenting them to us in action, so that we see what they do and hear what they say, thus allowing us to make up our own minds about them

Thorpe

One of the main agents driving the Odyssey's plot is Odysseus’ patron, the goddess Athena

Kahane

There are 3 types of figure with which Nausicaa might be compared [...] a rape victim, a helper or she could be a temptress/monster

Kelly

Quite intent on helping Odysseus return home

Morrison

Trickery - not always associated with heroism - is one of Odysseus’ great strengths

Morrison

His vengeance can be seen as the heroic race asserting supremacy over later and lesser men

Michael Clarke

When he slaughters the suitors, the act of vengeance brings his heroic self to the fore once again

Michael Clarke

There were many versions of ‘Homer’ in circulation at the time

Peter Jones

The Iliad and the odyssey were performances to be heard, not books to be read

J.Morrison

The loss of the excitement of personal reminiscence and the significance of the hero’s self evaluation” (if books in chronological order)

P.Jones

Those who can, or have the wit and intelligence to cope with tricky situations survive

A.Bowie

We find stories connected with identity and the process of discovering who you really are

K.Mheallaigh

He portrays his heroes by presenting them to us in action, allowing us to make up our own minds about them

M.Thorpe

Men have free will and are responsible for their own actions

J.Griffin

Few of Homer's modern readers would condone revenge killing…let alone acclaim it, but the odyssey does - or does it?

Michael Silk

Homer presents the return to Ithaca as a return from fantasy to reality

Murray

Storytelling is intimately connected with the theme of identity in the poem

Mheallaigh

If someone is in your cave, you offer them food, you don’t eat them.That is the ultimate violation of Xenia

Edith Hall

In Homer's patriarchal, macho world, women can more easily mirror the tricky heroism Odysseus demonstrates”

Morrison

Homer expects his readers to recognise appropriate behaviour in accordance with the code of hospitality

Morrison

Women, human and divine, have important roles

Bernard Knox

The sirens form a chain of women, nymphs and goddesses who, with their power to charm and seduce, threaten the hero’s all important homecoming

Rosenfelder

Nausicaa goes into a full Xenia sequence, offering this filthy nude a bath on a beach, to be followed by food and some beautifully disguised questions

Peter Jones

Their place was still firmly in the home to rear children, prepare food, spin and weave

Haward

Men insist that their wives remain utterly faithful… There’s no problem if a male god sleeps with a mortal woman

Morrison

Nausicca fulfils the dual role of female helper and hindrance

Blunder

Penelope in particular shows how endurance and craftiness leads to success - she is no less heroic than her husband

Morrison

Penelope, a woman who is every bit his match

Murray

Reckless disregard for the bond of Xenia are enough to justify their deaths

Peter Jones

The major example… is the suitors’ consumption of Odysseus’ livelihood which is contravening this idea of Xenia

Emily Hauser

Odysseus’ fame depends on his homecoming. If Odysseus were to yield to the temptation of the siren's song, he would perish on their island. There would be no homecoming, no singing of his tale, and so no Odyssey

H.Rosenfelder

It is difficult to know what to make of him or even his identity” “by turns a comic character, a tragic hero, a stoic sage and a villain

Barbara Graziosi

Characterised in fairly simple terms; his two dominant qualities, resource and endurance, were evidently given in the tradition and are necessarily illustrated with persistence in the story

William A.Camps

The qualities of endurance, guile, and restraint that ensure his survival in the great wanderings are also those that ensure victory at home

Katherine Callen King

Identity is wrapped up in regaining his kingdom and restoring balance in Ithaca

Pratt

He is the real hero husband,whose eyes are fixed on one goal only:returning home

Peter Jones

He is the eternal wanderer, fired with passion for knowledge and experience

Peter Jones

He is an anti hero, a mean,selfish time server who employs disguise and deceit to gain the most disreputable aims

Peter Jones

Trickery - not always associated with heroism - is one of Odysseus’ great strengths

Morrison

Athene merely acquiesces in the sufferings of Odysseus out of respect for Poseidon

Lattimore

We learn a great deal about Eumaeus as he welcomes Odysseus to his homestead and demonstrates that good hospitality does not depend on wealth

M.West