Themes from the Odyssey
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Does anyone want to talk about themes from Homer's Odyssey?
As a complete novice I have not yet completed the whole thing, not seen any films about it, do not read Greek and so on. I am reading the Ian Johnston translation (which I understand is one of the easiest to read in English). I would be interested to compare translations if anyone has access to another.
One theme I have been thinking about is this issue of autonomy and compulsion. Athena in particular seems portrayed as suggesting actions rather than compelling, in contrast to other gods and characters who draw people to their doom.
As a complete novice I have not yet completed the whole thing, not seen any films about it, do not read Greek and so on. I am reading the Ian Johnston translation (which I understand is one of the easiest to read in English). I would be interested to compare translations if anyone has access to another.
One theme I have been thinking about is this issue of autonomy and compulsion. Athena in particular seems portrayed as suggesting actions rather than compelling, in contrast to other gods and characters who draw people to their doom.
Comments
Another theme is of Penelope's virtue being rewarded, and without any divine help, even as her husband commits adultery repeatedly and lingers for years with Calypso. He is not one to admire, clever but not much of a leader; he lost all his ships and men.
We also see some realpolitik, as Telemachus travels to Sparta to ask for help and is denied.
In two of the films made from this, we see a man trying to control his own fate, rejecting the aid or malice of the gods, and he fails. Offend the gods at your peril.
I don't think the male infidelity / female faithfulness thing is at all unusual for the culture, though. I gather (via Lewis) that there was a shift in the way Odysseus was perceived--something about his usual title being "Odysseus the crafty" in the beginning, but eventually it became "Odysseus the unfortunate"--which is understandable in view of what happens to him in the Odyssey.
I find the gods kind of fascinating. They are (or so it seems to me) mainly there to trip up the human characters, to create challenges and frustrations for them to (hopefully) overcome. It reminds me a bit of the ancient gods and goddesses of Ur in Anhedduana's poetry. Not beings to be reverenced; more problems to work around with great care.
Can you say something more about the perception change? Do you mean a change of read by people in different era?
Odysseus is clearly the hero of the original poem - even if he does some fairly awful things by modern standards of morality. (I think it takes Christianity (or Judaism or Islam or Buddhism) for people to think that just raiding another community to take their goods is maybe not an automatically admirable thing to do.) By the time of the classical tragedians he's an example of the successful politician who dishonestly uses his facility with words to get the better of the honester and more brawny manly warriors like Ajax.
When does Lewis think that the readings of Odysseus as unfortunate start to be prominent?
(The schema doesn't include Dante's take on Ulysses as a Promethean explorer who goes where he shouldn't, from where Tennyson's poem derives.)
What's interesting is that the Odyssey makes it clear that Odysseus is being coerced into a sexual relationship with Calypso. (The balance of power with Circe is a bit more in Odysseus' favour. *) The Nolan-Damon film, and modern adaptations generally, rather softens that - the idea of a man being coerced is something that depictions of masculine heroism are uncomfortable with. The Nolan-Damon film has been criticised for generally reducing the depictions of female power in the text. Even Penelope seems a bit less self-possessed in the film than she is in the book.
The Odyssey is by no means by modern standards a feminist text (most obviously the notorious scene where Odysseus kills the maids who've been collaborating with the suitors), but by ancient standards it has a lot of well-drawn female characters who exercise as much agency as they have.
A classical blogger has described the difference between ancient polytheistic religions and modern post-axial religions as this. Polytheistic religion doesn't regard the gods as primarily sources of moral instruction. Rather it's as if your community is a small country surrounded by larger neighbours with more powerful militaries. You hear that the larger neighbour thinks it's polite for ambassadors to kowtow, and then wiggle their ears three times, and that wine is welcomed but beer is rude, so you make damn sure that your ambassadors kowtow, wiggle their ears three times, and offer wine and never ever offer beer. And hey, you haven't been invaded yet while your neighbours who only wiggled their ears twice have, so you know you're doing something right.
* In Emily Wilson's translation at least, which aims not to soften sexual violence in the text, Mercury tells Odysseus that Circe will ask him to sleep with her and he mustn't hold out against her, Circe being a goddess. Odysseus seems all too aware that the upper hand he has with his sword out is going to vanish as soon as he puts the sword away, and he needs to get Circe's good will.