UGFH 1000 In Dialogue with Humanity

Lecture 1

Homer & the epic poem The Odyssey

Damian Cheng
January 2014

text

The Odyssey
context
connection between parts

memory in ancient Greek oral culture &

its manifestations in the Odyssey
2

Homer and his Greece

3

The Odyssey: plot, structure

and characteristics

1
memory in
ancient Greek oral culture

[Odysseus to his mother Anticleia]

Mother, why do you slip away when I try
To embrace you?
11:211

[Anticleia to Odysseus]
This is the way with mortals.
When we die, the sinews no longer hold
Flesh and bones together. The fire destroys these
As soon as the spirit leaves the white bones,
And the ghost flutters off and is gone like a dream.
Hurry now to the light, and remember these things,
So that later you may tell them all to your wife.
11:220

Speak,

Memory

Of the cunning hero,

The wanderer blown off course time and again
After he plundered Troys sacred heights
1:1-3

Immortal One

Speak,
,
And tell the tale once more in our time.
1:11-12

the art of memory

Now:
literacy ability to read, write &
think with
printed materials
+ digital literacy

Homers Greece:
orality ability to remember
with sound and
express ideas verbally
oral poetry:
oral in composition,
communication &
performance,
transmission

singeroftales
(bards)

Lyre player
470 B.C.E.
Louvre

quick question:

What is the name of

the bard in Book 1,
whose singing drives
Penelope to tears?
hint: line 165

Phemius

They were sitting hushed in silence, listening

To the great harper as he sang the tale
Of the hard journeys home that Pallas Athena
Ordained for the Greeks on their way back from Troy.
Odyssey 1: 342-5

singer
oftales
inthe
Odyssey

Odysseus weeps at the singing of Demodocos

John Flaxman, 1805, Tate Gallery

[Odysseus]
Herald, take this cut of meat to Demodocus
For him to eat. And I will greet him
Despite my grief. Bards are revered
By all men upon earth, for the Muse
Loves them well and has taught them the songways.
Odyssey 8:514-8

[Alcinous]
Summon the godlike singer of tales [...]
Odyssey 8:45

poetry within poetry

stories within stories
woven together

rememberingandreciting
over12,000linesofpoetry
???

The poet who has no writing materials to aid

him can make his poetry only out of fixed
phrases, verses, and passages which have
come down to him from the past, and which
are gradual work of generations of countless
poets.
Milman Parry, 1934
(in Adam Parry,
1971: 392)

American scholar of epic poetry;

went to Yugoslavia to study folk poems;
identified Homeric formula

The Odyssey
a composition of
Dactylic Hexameter

Dactylic Hexameter is a
form of meter: 6 feet
Dactyl = uu
Spondee =
First 4 feet can either
be dactyl or spondee
The fifth foot is
frequently a dactyl, the
sixth is always a
spondee
regular units of
syllables stitched
together by a
performer who
performs in
composition

Reading The Odyssey in Greek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sziqXD
ExY_g
http://prosoidia.com/odyssey-i-1-21/

isnotlinear;
Theoral
epic startsinthemiddle ofstoriesoraction;
issungasthesingerrememberstheway
othersdid:
Songistheremembranceofsongssung.
(B.Peabody,1975:216);
thepoetusesepisodicstructure (eg.flashbacks)to
handlelengthynarrative
(WalterJ.Ong,1982:144)
oralculturesarebasedonmnemonic thoughtand
expressions
(Ong,1982:36)

Examplesofstylisticfeaturesas
memorydevices
1Homericepithets

Athena glared at him with her

owl-grey eyes. (1:49)
And Athena, the owl-eyed
goddess, replied. (1:87)
Athenas seagrey eyes glinted
as she said. (1:192)
The Grey-eyed One (1:336)
Athena, her eyes grey as
saltwater (1:331)
Pallas Athena (1:134)
Athena
copy from 1st BCE of
4th BCE Greek version
Louvre

Telemachus
takinginadeepbreath
hiswordshadwings
clearheaded
coolheaded

Telemachus and Penelope,

Attic red figure skyphos
450 BCE,
Museo Civico, Chiusi

Penelope
WisedaughterofIcarius

Penelope brooding over the loom

Max Klinger, 1895

Odysseus
thegodlikesurvivor

Odysseus blinding the Cyclops

520 BC
British Museum

cunning
NomancouldmatchOdysseusforcunning.Yourfatherwasthemaster
ofallstrategies...[NestortoTelemachus]
Odysseus,themastertactician
godlike
hismindteeming

2Narrativestyle
RepeatedandmodifiedFormulas(phrases,lines,groups
oflines)
Whoareyouandwhereareyoufrom?
Dawnspalerosefingers
Dawnspreadherroselightoverthesky

quick question:

what is Homers
epithet for
Telemachus?

clear-headed
cool-headed

2
Homer and his Greece

Homer(725B.C.E.)
oneauthor?
manyauthors?
male?
female?
literate?
notliterate?
atradition?
manytraditions?

regardedasrecorderof
HeroicAge(ca.1200800BCE)

Louis Saint-Gaudens (1854-1913), Library of Congress, USA

GreekswerenotGreek
E.H.Gombrich,ALittleHistoryoftheWorld

notunified
tribesofseafarers,evenraiders
Greecenotakingdom,butasmallclusterof
smallfortifiedcitieswiththeirownkingsand
palacesfromvarioustribes.
Polis Homercallsthe

GreeksAchaeans

Homers
Ithaca

Homers
birthplace [?]

TheGreeksancestors
Minoancivilization Mycenaeancivilization

27001450BCE 16001100BCE
The Minoan palace sites
were occupied by the
Myceneans around 1420 BC

islandofCrete
Trojan War 11941184 BC

firstexcavatedby
Britisharchaeologist
ArthurEvans (18511941)
in1899ontheislandofCrete

dolphinfresco,
QueensQuartersin
PalaceofMinos
1450BCE.

bullleapingfresco,
PalaceofMinos
1500BCE.

HeinrichSchliemann (18221890)
Germanarcheologicalexcavator

helpedtofoundthefieldof
archaeology

Minoancivilization and
Mycenaencivilization:
BronzeAgeofGreece(33001200BCE)
inheritedsystemofwritingLinearBfrom
Minoans(earlyformofGreek)

Funerary mask of
Agamemnon
[King of Mycenae]
1500- B.C.
National Archeological Museum
Athens, Greece

TombofClytemnestra,Agamemnonswife,inMycenae

LionGate,CitadelatMycenae
15001300BCE

Linear B: Greeces third

script

DiscoveryincludedsiteofTroy
byfollowingtopographical
detailsgiveninIlliad
showedevidenceofdestruction,
burning,hastyabandonment

Troy
maincentreofBronzeAgetrade
provokedfrequentattacks
builtandfoundedmanytimes
10Troysinall;Homersthe7th,
inhabitedbythreetribes
Trojans,Ilians,andDardanians

Troy:thehistorical
context forthe
Odyssey
alsothemain
subjectofIlliad

Excavation site of Troy

Portion of the legendary walls of Troy (VII),

identified as the
site of the Trojan War (1200 BCE)

GreekDarkAges

socalledDorianinvasionfrom
(?) theNorth
(1100800BCE)
declineofmaterialconditions
destructionofPylos(ca.1200)&
Mycenae(1125)
Migrationofpeople(Islandsof
theAegeanandthecoastofAsia
Minor)
systemofwritingfelloutofuse
butthiswaswhenHomersIliadand
Odysseybeganbeingtransmitted...

WritingDownof
Poetry

AttheendofDarkAgeand
BeginningofArchaicperiod
(750BC480BC):
Growthinpopulation
Awaveofcolonization:Black
Sea,Sicily,southernItaly,
southernFrance
MorecontactsamongGreek
communities
Greekslearntanewsystemof
writing( RomanAlphabet)
Writingdownofpoetry (such as
Iliad and Odyssey)

mixingHistory
withMythsandLegends...

thegoldenappleofdiscord(),
thelegendaryTrojanWar(),
Helen,and
TheOdyssey

weddingofPeleusandThetis

Thetis beautifulsea
nymph(fatedtohavepowerfulson
whocanoverthrowZeus Achilles)

Peleus amortal,a
hero

Wedding of Peleus and Thetis

A. Bloemaert
(1564-1651)

Hera
(thequeenandwifeofZeus)
organizesspectacularwedding...
everyonewasinvitedEXCEPT...

Hera
500 - 475 BC
Museum of Art,
Rhode Island School of Design

Eris
(goddessofchaos,
strifeanddiscord)

Winged Eris [Goddess of Discord]

Athenian black-figure kylix
6th B.C. ,Antikensammlung, Berlin

EristhrowstheAppleofDiscordthatinscribedto
thefairest()
Hera(Marriage,Season)
Athena(War,Strategy,Wisdom)
Aphrodite(Love,Beauty)

Zeusassigns

Paris

theshepherdtodecide
whetherHera,Athena,or
Aphroditeisthefairest

The Judgement of Paris

Peter Paul Rubens
1636
National Gallery, London

Judgement of Paris
Athena:

Hera:

Aphrodite:

Helen,wifeof
Menelaus(KingofSparta),
Agamemnonsbrother

Helen of Troy
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
1863
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg

eventuallywentto

Troy,hence
arosetheTrojanWar

Jacques Louis David

Paris and Helen

1788
Louvre

thelegendaryTrojanHorseintheTrojanWar

The Golden Apple

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h88glU1WgBs

3
The Odyssey: plot, structure and
characteristics

Plotsummary
Book14Telemachus venturesoutto
seainsearchofhisfatherOdysseus;
motherPenelopeathometokeep
suitorsaway.
Book5 Odysseus leavesCalypso,the
immortalnymph
Book68OdysseusreachesAlcinous
kingdom;winsNausicaaandher
parentshelp
Books912Odysseustales:Cyclops,
Circe,theDead,ScyllaandCharybdis
Books1314OdysseusarrivesinIthaca
indisguise;gathersnewsfrom
swineherd

Books1516Telemachus returnsfrom
PylosandSparta;reuniteswithOdysseus
Books1718Odysseusmeetsthesuitors
indisguise
Book19Penelope receivesthe
beggarasguest
Books2022Odysseusplotsto
killthesuitorswithTelemachus
Book23Odysseus passes
Penelopestest
Book24Odysseusmeetshis
fatherLaertesandmakes
peacewithsurvivorsofthe
suitors

Odysseus' Journey From Troy to Ithica

 Dactylic Hexameter
Epithets
Repetition (phrases, lines, groups of
lines)
Repeated actions ( Gift Cyclops offered
Odysseus Ctessipus the suitor
offered Odysseus)
starts in the middle of stories or action
episodic structure (eg. flashbacks)
Type-scene
Smiles

Openingandclosinglinesofselectedbooks
waiting:dayin,dayout...
Book1SpeakMemory......Ponderingthe
journeythatAthenahadshownhim
Book2Dawnspalerosefingersbrushed
acrossthesky......Theshipborethroughthe
nightandintothedawn.
Book5Dawnreluctantly/LeftTithonusin
herroseshadowedbed......Andsheclosedhis
eyelids.

Anticipation of Action
Blinding of Cyclop (Polyphemus)
killing of suitors

But listen now to a dream I had/And tell me what it

means. In my dream/I have twenty geese at home. I
love to watch them/ Come out of the water and eat
grains of wheat./ But a huge eagle with a hooked
break comes/ Down from the mountain and breaks
their necks,/ Killing them all/Then the eagle
comes back and perches upon/ A jutting roofbeam
and speaks to me/ In a human voice, telling me not
to cry:/ Take heart, daughter of famed Icarius./ This
is no dream, but a true vision/ That you can trust.
The geese are the suitors,/ And I, who was once an
eagle. Am now/ Your husband come back, and I will
deal out doom,/ A grisly death for all of the suitors.
(19:585-604)

 CombinationofelementsfromBronzeAgeand
DarkAge
Integratematerialsfromawiderangeofsources
andtraditions:legend,folklore(e.g.thestoryof
Cyclops)

CulturalMemoriesandEpicTradition

 Public Honor
Calypso (Kaluptein, to hide)
Our lives are short. A hard-hearted man/ Is
cursed while he lives and reviled in death./
But a good- hearted man has his fame
spread/Far and wide by the guests he has
honored./ And men speak well of him all
over the earth. (19:363-367)

Hospitality
Role of Immortals and Greek concept of
fate.

Earth nurtures nothing feebler than man.

While the gods favors him and his step is quick,
He thinks he will never have to suffer in life.
Then when the blessed ones bring evil his way,
He bears it in sorrow with an enduring heart.

I, too, once got used to prosperity,

And I did many foolish things in my pride,
Trusting my father and brothers would save me.
So I know a man should never be an outlaw,
But keep in peace the gifts heaven gives him.
(18:139-150)

Influences
Journey and Transformation

Homecoming

Odysseus and Penelope reunited A Konchalovsky, 1997

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7fC90AvUWQ

Thank you for listening