Odyssey Scholars

W.A. CAMPS - on oikos and nostos

The Odyssey shows sadness about the Trojan War, shown by survivors like Nestor and Menelaus who are always thinking of their fallen friends.

W.A CAMPS - on suitors & women

“The Odyssey includes all sorts of characters — from princes to beggars, giants, witches, villains, loyal servants, and odd old men.” - broad cast to explore key themes

James Morrison - On invocation of the muse

Greek singers needed divine inspiration to perform — Homer likely calls on Calliope, the Muse of epic poetry.

James Morrison - on Penelope, Telemachus & identity

“The Agamemnon story offers role models — will Penelope be better than Clytemnestra, and Telemachus as noble as Orestes?”

JASPER GRIFFIN - On Odysseus & Recognition

“Homer uses a different style for characters’ speech, helping us judge them by how they speak and act.” E.g. the way Odysseus speaks to diff characters like when he’s a beggar vs how he speaks to Polyphemus

GRIFFIN (Two Types of Heroism)

The plot of The Odyssey created a tension between two types of heroism: the dashing fighter like Achilles… and the clever Odysseus who employs cunning strategies against a variety of opponents.

GRIFFIN (Justice)

Justice, in the Odyssey, is both done and seen to be done

C.M. BOWRA : On Odysseus, Women & Monsters:

the play is a fairy-tale as and Odysseus is unheroic in the sense that he is not faced not by his equals but by his inferiors or by monsters.

SCODEL : On Oral Poetry & Oikos:

“Heroic stories were a valuable cultural resource; they provided entertainment and a method of ethical thought

DAVENPORT : On Identity & Odysseus’ Heroism

the Odyssey is a poem about the triumph of the mind over force.”

 E.V. RIEU : On Nostos, Identity & Character:

The Odyssey with its well-knit plot, and interplay of character, is the true ancestor of a long line of novels that have followed it