Lecture 20 - Odysseus to Aeneas

Agamemnon

  • goes home like all those who were not yet dead, goes back with Cassandra

  • HAD 4 children (Orestes, Electra, Chrysothemis and Iphegenia who he sacrificed before the Trojan War)

  • His wife, Clytemnestra had committed adultery while Agamemnon was gone with a guy Aegisthus (maybe she just needed a male partner to solidify her position as ruler without Agamemnon there?)

  • Orestes and Electra do not fare well with their father’s return. Electra stays with her mother but Orestes (maybe?) goes off into exile and eventually returns to avenge his father

  • 3 tragedians relayed the story: Sophacles (Electra), Aeschylus (Oresteia: Agamemnon, Libation Bearers, & Eumenides) and Euripides (Electra)

  • In all three, Electra and Orestes have no moral ambiguity about killing Aegisthus (Aegisthus and Clytemnestra killed Agamemnon)

  • What is worse? To kill your mother or to avenge your father (who was killed by your mom). One person, Athena, makes the final vote in Orestes’ favour, that it is better of him to avenge Agamemnon’s death than it was bad for him to kill his mother

Books 1-4, Telemacheia

  • Athena sends off Telemachus to find out where Odysseus is at, he goes to Pylos and speaks with Nestor, and then goes to Sparta and speaks with Menelaus + Helen to get info on Odysseus

  • While he is gone, his mother’s suitors contrive a plan to get Telemachus but Athena helps him survive

Shift to Odysseus, Odysseus and Nausicaa

  • Capture by Calypso for 7 (?) years, gods order Odysseus’ release (book 5)

  • in book 6, lands on Scherie, the island of the Phaecians and meets Nausicaa

Odysseus and Polyphemus

  • Odysseus is retelling the story to the Phaecians at this point

  • Polyphemus is a Cyclopes (1 eyed giant), Odysseus and his crew come across Polyphemus

  • All the wealth on Polyphemus’ land, his crew members wanted to steal and get away, Odysseus said no, like we should talk to him cause yk guest host relationship

  • Polyphemus the host lives in a cave blocked by a giant rock that only he can really lift. He lets them in and then puts the rock back, they cannot leave

  • Things seem fine but take a turn, ripped them limb from limb and ate some of them!

  • Odysseus tells Polyphemus his name is Nobody

  • Get Polyphemus really really drunk until eventually he passes out

  • While he is drunk and pass out Odysseus and remaining men blind him

  • Hide on the underside of Polyphemus’ rams/sheep to escape, Odysseus hides under Polyphemus’ favourite sheep

  • Someone screamed back at him lol? I’m confused now DO

  • Idk Odysseus escapes and Polyphemus throws rock, curses them?

  • Sail away, end up in the land of the winds, Aeolus (keeper of the winds), gives Odysseus a bag with winds inside, Odysseus does not tell his men what is inside

  • Sail, cover a good distance for 9 days and 9 nights. Came within sight of the shores of Ithaca (home), but his curious/stupid crew open the bag of wind, all the winds pour out and push them all the way back to where they started (with Aeolus? Idk or back at Troy?)

  • They then run into the Lastrygonians who sink some ships

Palace of Circe

  • Circe is a sorceress, daughter of Helios, Island of Aeaea

  • Men are transformed into swine

  • Hermes shows up to help Odysseus, when you go before Circe to get your men back, eat this plant called moly, like nullifies her powers (the stuff in the drink she offered him)

  • Circe tries to transform him but it does not work, he attacks her

  • Circe is awe, realizes who they are, then hook up and he stays with Circe for a year, has his child (Telegonus)

  • Circe advises Odysseus to find Tiresias (dead seer, will give Odysseus advice on how to get home)

Odysseus and the Sirens

  • sails to end of the earth? Book of the dead (book 11), covered earlier in the term, then goes back to see Circe one last time

  • She gives him all sorts of advice on how to survive a number of challenges (importantly the Sirens and their song, Planctae-wandering rocks, Charybdis, Scylla)

  • Sirens: plug ur ears so Sirens don’t drag you into the water, Odysseus got his men to bind him to the mast so he could here, the rest of the men plugged their ears with wax

  • Make it through the sirens, then go by Scylla and Charybdis (In straits of Messina, they need to pass through)

  • Scylla- six headed monster, Charybdis- whirlpool

  • Circe advises them to go closer to the whirlpool, lose some men but they survive, find themselves on the island of Thrinacia (where Helios’ cattle are)

  • Odysseus tries to dissuade his men from eating the cattle, one guy goes we should just eat blah blah blah, starvation is worse than anything else, I’ll build a temple to Helios if we survive! They eat the cattle, sail away, Helios kills all the men who ate the cattle (everyone except Odysseus)

  • Odysseus is still with Phaecians telling his story (Poseidon later punishes the Phaecians for helping Odysseus)

  • Odysseus returns to Ithaca, books 13-17 take place in Ithaca

Ithaca

  • Many suitors after Penelope

  • Penelope tells suitors “ill make the decision on suitor when my burial shroud im making on the loom is done”- Penelope keeps undoing it lol so she does not have to

  • Athena made him taller younger looking and handsomer or smth, changes his clothes. Odysseus reveals himself to his sone Telemachus, which Telemachus eventually accepts. Eumaeus (friend of Odysseus) and Telemachus recognize Odysseus.

  • Devise a plan to re-take the palace

  • O enters palace dressed as a beggar, treated poorly by one of the suitors (melanthius)

  • Reunion with his dog Argus, who recognizes Odysseus and then died :(

  • Odysseus makes it into the palace

Books 19-24

  • Odysseus claims he saw Odysseus when talking to Penelope lol? Agrees to give Odysseus-not odysseus a place to stay and clean up

  • Eurycleia washes Odysseus’ feet (he has a noticeable scar??) and recognizes him, Eurycleia is one of the faithful servants (not sided with suitors)

  • Odysseus is angry and ready, things are falling into place, Penelope comes up with the idea to decide her suitor by who can string Odysseus’ bow and do some impressive shooting through holes in axes

  • Odysseus poses as a suitor, takes the bow and examines it carefully, with ease strung the bow (so skillfully that the suitors paired, Zeus made thunder sounds for dramatic effect lol). Odysseus shot through each axe head, and won contest

  • Signals to Telemachus, Odysseus rips off his rags and goes “playtime is over” lmao, takes out all the suitors (aims at Antinous first?), revenge of Odysseus and Telemachus

  • Penelope decides to play one last little trick (shows she is as smart and wiley as Odysseus), tests Odysseus by seeing if he remembers that their bed is in the tree, she realizes it is fr him, she cries and runs to him

  • 1 small problem- they’ve just killed tons of men in Ithaca

  • Fighting outside of the palace, they flee and make it to Laertes, prepare to make a last stand

  • At the very end, Athena steps in as they are about to bring death and destruction, Athena tells the Ithacans to stop their war against Odysseus and family, reunited and everything is a-ok

Post Odyssey

  • Odysseus does die at some point later, killed by Telegonus (his son with Circe)

Odysseus: Myth’s worst leader

  • lotus eaters, lost of men lol

  • Rash when he came across Polyphemus, he violated guest-host relationship, hes trying to take stuff idk? many of his crew die

  • Trouble keeping some men in line like with Aeolus and the bag of wind

  • Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis