Lecture 12

Question 1

Sirens

Answer 1

• half bird, half woman, lure men to their deaths by singing
• Odysseus gets past them by covering his sailors’ ears and ties himself to the mast of the ship
• he wants to understand the song

Question 2

Scylla

Answer 2

• part woman, part dogs, part snakes

- grabs people and eats them

Question 3

Charybdis:

Answer 3

-massive whirlpool

Question 4

Circe’s aid

Answer 4

• helps Odysseus get past all the obstacles

- positive female influence that helps him pass the female trials

Question 5

Feminist viewpoint

Answer 5

-women are powerful and can be either positive or negative

Question 6

Jungian viewpoint

Answer 6

• animus/anima
• the female monsters are way unbalanced and throw off men around them
• When Odysseus is near these monsters he is in grave danger because of the imbalance
• Circe seems to be out of balance when she turns his men into pigs and wants to unman him but now seems more balanced as she helps him

Question 7

Island of Helios

Answer 7

-crew eats cattle despite the warnings from Tiresias and Circe

Question 8

Odysseus’ Nostros

Answer 8

• sent home and has to deal with his wife’s suitors
• kills them all
• disguises himself as beggar with Athena’s help
• doesn’t just burst in because of Agamemnon’s warning and he has to find out who’s with him and who’s against him.

Question 9

Penelope on Odysseus’ Nostros

Answer 9

• makes him prove himself to make sure he is who he says he is.
• first has to string and shoot his bow, a feat only he can acomplish
• then he has to reveal the secret about his marriage bed, that it’s made out of a live olive tree

Question 10

Penelope as a match

Answer 10

• wise and thoughtful and can match Odysseus’ schemes and wit
• animus and anima in balance and are proper balances for each other
• penelope seems to be in just as much control as Odysseus
• depicted as an ideal marriage
• Penelope is so far above other women and is a hero in her own right.