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English 223, Greek and Roman
Literature
Wendy Furman-Adams
The Odyssey, IX-XII: Odysseus' Story |
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A Journey to inward peace and
wholeness through trouble inflicted and trouble
endured.
"But first my name" (XIII, 145-46): guile vs.
hearth--skill in all ways of contending vs. the
warmth and trust of home.
Odysseus's "detachment" brings him through, but
finally he must learn the opposite lesson of
attachment (see XIII, 239-41).
Three sets of temptations toward hamartia--"missing
the mark" (and, poignantly, the "mark" here is
home):
I. "Human", "common" temptations:
A. Ismaros (IX, 146 - 47)
a temptation to simple sloth and greed.
B. Aeolian bag (X, 165 - 67)
missing the mark = missing the point: greed but
also materialism and irreverence.
C. Helios' cattle (XI, 188; XII, 213; 218 - 25)
greed, irreverence, insensitivity, violence--but
notice the circumstances: the strange
interaction of human nature, human choice, and
human fate.
II. Temptations of the "feminine" psyche
(soul/mind)--sometimes called "concupiscent"
temptations:
A. Lotus eaters (IX, 147 - 48)
the temptation to forgetfulness (family
connection and heroic action are both all about
remembrance).
B. Circe (X, 169-82; XII, 209 - 13)
the dangers of the flesh: bestiality, weakness,
loss of identity, self-hood,
man-hood, humanity (and at the least
forgetfulness--e.g. Elpênor [182]).
Nonetheless Circe has something Odysseus needs:
deep intuitive wisdom.
C. Sirens (XII, 210 - 11; 214 - 16)
the temptation to forbidden, infinite
knowledge--and thus to despair and death
(thanatos).
D. Scylla and Charybdis (XII, 211 - 13; 216 - 18)
the classic embodiment of dilemma: whirlpool and
monster of implacable, totally
irrational and
arbitrary evil, chaos itself (not herself,
although embodied in feminine
terms here).
Finally, the "feminine" threat is the threat of
sinking into passivity in the face of infinite
but formless knowledge--a knowledge that is
nonetheless necessary, and only helpful (i.e.
perfectly harmless and "flawless") if mediated
by wisdom.
III. Temptations of the "masculine" psyche
(soul/mind)--the "irascible" temptations.
A. Laistrygonians
(X, 168 - 69).
the threat of total, ignorant barbarism,
thoughtlessness, gratuitous violence,
incivility--
1 the very opposite of both
civilization and home.
B. Polyphêmos the Cyclops (XI, 148 - 62).
one-eyed--total barbarian thoughtless violence;
total disregard for both for the gods and
their
all-important value of hospitality ("strangers
and beggars are from Zeus";
cannibalism the
exact opposite of hospitality!)
Notice that Polyphêmos has a name, but Odysseus
only calls him "Cyclops."
Finally, the "masculine" threat is a threat of
ignorant, mindless, gratuitous aggression and
power (whether physical or intellectual); yet,
like intuition and knowledge, force ("skill in
contending") is necessary to survival--and can
purify and renew, if tempered with wisdom.
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