So I’ve been doing more research, and I found something that kinda builds upon my last post (about Odysseus giving up his immortality, the heroic paradox, etc.) In Nancy Sultan’s Exile and the Poetics of Loss in Greek Tradition, the wife of a hero is extremely important, as her mourning perpetuates his glory after his […]
Archive for the 'Odysseus' Category
Odysseus the hero, continued
Published by Erin November 21st, 2006 in Homeric World and Odysseus. 2 CommentsFor my senior seminar paper, I’m writing about the influences of classical Greek literature in Southern Renaissance literature. Basically, it is stemming from a novel we read about the Civil War which is loosely structured after the Iliad. Consequently, I’ve been reading a lot about Greek epics and heroes. One of the books I’ve read […]
The underworld, and a few other things
Published by Erin October 2nd, 2006 in Odysseus and Themes in Book 11. 2 CommentsReading Books 11 and 12 really intrigued me. Book 11’s portrayal of the afterlife was very interesting, and I was amazed by the number of people he encountered. I guess the typical person in Homer’s time would know the stories behind the names, but I did not know of most of them. I’ve been looking […]
Smidges of Irrationality In Odysseus
Published by Midori September 24th, 2006 in Odysseus and Themes in ODYSSEY. 1 Comment
From our English readings of Book I to X and our Greek translations of portions of Book X and XI, I think it is safe to say that Odysseus is the epitome of what human rationality should aspire to, at least by ancient Greek/Homeric standards. While his men cower in ignorance, he tends to them […]
Odysseus and Nausicaa
Published by Sophie September 13th, 2006 in Uncategorized and Odysseus. 0 CommentsOur discussion of Odysseus and Nausicaa reminded me of this poem by Derek Walcott. It’s about the only thing of his I’ve read, but I am told he often deals with classical themes from his perspective, growing up and living in the (colonized-by-Europeans) Caribbean.
I thought the use of Nausicaa to represent the lure of Odysseus’s […]
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 […]
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