The Odyssey is such the quintessential adventure tale that the term ‘odyssey’ in English is used for any long and wandering journey, not just that of Odysseus. Yet his story differs in many ways from other heroes’ tales; one difference that strikes me is that Odysseus makes his return empty-handed: no Gorgon’s head, no Golden Fleece, just himself.
Perhaps Odysseus just isn’t that kind of hero. Most of the Achaeans at Troy, for all their pillaging in the tenth year, don’t even make it home with the spoils. And the war itself was not supposed to be this grand quest to attain some glorious object (I, at least, don’t think Homer’s Helen is all that glorious). But Odysseus’s quest does not take place in the world of his Achaean comrades. It more resembles the world of the “heroes of old”: of Jason, with a visit to the Phaeacians; of Hercules, with a trip to the underworld; and no shortage of mythical creatures (Scylla and Charybdis, the Sirens, a Cyclops).
I think Homer has set his tale in such a world in order to paint a portrait of a new kind of hero, in contrast with the old. Those old tales aren’t good enough for a modern (read 8th century BC) audience. So what kind of hero is Odysseus? What are his qualities? His flaws? What is the ‘boon’ he carries home to Ithaca? How is his story an improvement on an old formula? Or does it not live up to the standard? These are some of the questions I hope we will be able to answer by the semester’s end.
Outstanding questions and observations!! Let’s discuss this in more detail in class.