Friend, Foe, or Other? Monsters and Identity on the Odyssean Sea Notes

Theoretical Approaches to Homeric Myth

• Irad Malkin's work: Uses post-colonial theories to understand the cultural dynamics of the society that produced the epic and its subsequent influence.

  • Suggests ethnographic myth informs and is informed by the historical record.
  • Epic myth reflects experiences from the society that produced it and actively influences cultural perceptions.

• Malkin's Analysis of Homeric Myth:

  • Myth helps conceptualize cultural identity and understand cultural difference.
  • Argues that Greek ethnic identity formed in response to interactions within a network of cultural connections.
  • Homeric epics mediate intercultural exchanges of the Archaic Age, helping Greeks understand the world and reinforce their cultural identity.

• Mediterranean Network & Middle Ground:

  • The Odyssey's chaotic sea embodies cultural ambiguity and hybridity.
  • Middle Ground: A multi-ethnic network of societies engaged in mutual literary and cultural exchange, as well as economic trade.
  • Middle Ground: Shared use of coastlines and trade routes led to familiarity between societies, including Greeks, Phoenicians, Egyptians, and Etruscans.
  • Prolonged contact resulted in a de facto shared culture with understood rules for navigating cultural networks, directed by the necessity for communication.

• Middle Ground - Richard White Theoretical construct to understand the dynamic between European settlers and indigenous tribes in North America.

• The Odyssey and Protocolonization:

  • journeys of Odysseus speak to a time before colonization.
  • Odysseus is a traveler who prefigures the settlers of other return stories, marked by wandering in uncharted seas and first contact with terrifying natives.
  • Odysseus' tales reflect the ambivalence inherent in exploration and protocolonization.

Boundaries and Ethnic Identity

• Frederick Barth's Theories: Explain why Odysseus adopts a fluid identity at sea and how he reassumes his cultural identity.

  • Ethnic identity implies constraints on roles an individual can play.
  • People will adopt alternative identities that allow them to succeed when their ethnic identity leads to failure.
  • Parameters of the original identity remain unchanged, allowing for re-adoption when conditions are favorable.

• Ethnic Identity: cannot only survive contact with members of another group, but actually needs such contact to exist in the first place.

• Boundaries: Persist despite mobility and contact, creating opportunities for change.

• Barth's Congruence of Codes & Values: When agents of different cultures interact with one another, a third, mutually intelligible culture will be formed with a reduction of difference.

• Intercultural Exchange: The establishment of a boundary invites new ways to interact.

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