Book 5

Book 5

Rhetoric, effective manipulation of language, especially in public speeches.
1. Athena's plea to Zeus in the divine assembly on Olympus.
  1. Rhetoric is quite sophisticated.
  2. Athena uses irony to make her point
    1. Zeus and the other gods never again allow a mortal king to be a kind or just since Odysseus' fate has established that those characteristics are not rewarded.
Odysseus
1. A series of apparent contradictions
  1. Much more complex character than you would normally find in any stereotypical epic hero
  2. Odysseus is first shown alone weeping, apparently defeated, on Calypso's beach.
2. First appearance is disappointing
  1. helpless
  2. trapped
  3. resentful
  4. mistrustful
3. Leaves Ogygia with much joy
4. Ability to endue
5. Ability to think for himself under pressure and weigh all the options to consider and come up with his own intelligent solution.
6. Unaware of the divine help he is receiving.
Double Standard in morality.
1. Penelope's fidelity is expected where as Odysseus has numerous affairs
  1. Homer's audience have no difficulty in reconciling these differences.
  2. Does not occur to Odysseus or Homer that he has one code of behaviour for himself and another for Odysseus.
2. Calypso rants about the double-standard.
  1. "unrivalled lords of jealousy"
    1. Gods think nothing of relations with mortal women but condemn female gods having affairs with mortal men.
Calypso's Plea
1. Promises to save him from having to face future woes and grant him importality
  1. Quality no other human in the Odyssey has.
  2. Odysseus isn't interested
    1. Just wants to return home to his wife
2. Embodies the tension in Odysseus' journey
  1. He wants to return home but he is also tempted by Calypso's offer
3. Rhetorically asks him one last time to stay and Odysseus refuses
  1. Suggests that she knows how tempting the offer is
  2. The fact that Odysseus can refuse it and embrace the "pains" she for-tells shows how compelling his homecoming is.
4. Commentators are split in the interpretation of Calypso's extraordinary plea to the Gods
  1. Realistic, unflinching account in the ways in which things worked in the Patriarchal culture of Ancient Greece
    1. Men of both the mortal and divine world get away with promiscuous behaviour.
    2. Society expects females to be faithful at all times
  2. Calypso reacting to this reality
    1. Sympathetic to Calypso who is making a passionate critique of social norms that are genuinely hypocritical
  3. When considering the relationship between Penelope and Odysseus, the poet presents Odysseus' affair without rebuke whilst looking with askance at Penelope's indulgence of the suitors although her fidelity to Odysseus never wavers
  4. Calypso's speech is taken as a criticism of patriarchal norms.
    1. The text portrays to contrary attitudes towards sexual behaviour.
    2. Condemns the unfair double standard that Homer deploys upon Penelope
The opening scene on Olympus is a change in location from the real world of contemporary Ithaca to the more fabulous world of Odysseus's travels.
1. Homer effortlessly blends the transition.
  1. Represents the idea that the immortal and mortal worlds were an every day aspect of Greek life.
    1. 184-6, Earth...immortals
      1. Invokes the whole cosmos, therefore enhancing its meaning and giving it more weight.
2. The prologue may have been used to introduce a version of the Odyssey without the Telemachy
  1. Flexibility of the oral poets art.
  2. Is the Telamachy a latter addition?
  3. Could just be a summary of past events to keep the audience up to date.
3. By representing the divine council, Homer re-emphasises the extent of divine concern for Odysseus and his family.
  1. Reinforces the idea that Odysseus' and Telemachos' fates are intertwined.
Ancient Greeks placed absolute value in a man's loyalty to his household.
1. A man who had an affair with a goddess or slave as opposed to a woman of a married household wan not thought to have compromised this primary bond.
Calypso
1. Derived from 'kalupto'
  1. I cover/ conceal
2. Her primary purpose is to keep Odysseus on Ogygia long enough for Telemachos to grow up.
  1. Likely Homer invented her for this purpose.
3. The Daughter of Atlas.
  1. Obviously resents divine interference and she does not give up easily.
4. Readjusts the truth with exquisite delicacy in the face of divine will
  1. Justifies her behaviour with elegant half truths.
Homeric Hero
1. Only considered a hero in the eyes of his peers who witnessed his heroic deeds.
  1. 38, bestowed bronze and gold
    1. Greek heroes were judged by their standing in others eyes. Wealth was an important index of standing, especially wealth won in war.
2. Odysseus is aware that he must prove his identity over again in circumstances that are very different to those of the Trojan War.
3. Telemachos is seeking to find his own identity
328-488
1. Illiadic techniques that is rare in the Odyssey.
  1. Cluster of similes around an exciting scene which develop on the back of one another.
    1. They are all to do with wind
  2. The Odyssey has a less charged atmosphere due to there being less death scenes.
Ino and her husband were driven mad by Hero
1. Her husband had killed her first born son and threatened to kill their second
  1. Ino jumped into the sea with her son
    1. Homer uses the myth effectively here as she is a goddess who is sympathetic to the mortals in a trouble at sea.

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