Odyssey modern scholarship Flashcards
Scholars on Odysseus: (5)
- Griffin
- Jones
- Schein
- Bowra
- Clayton
Scholars on Penelope: (3)
- Griffin
- Jones
- Wilson
Who says that Telemachus is “asserting himself for the first time…
… both with the suitors and with his mother”?
- J. Griffin
Who says that Odysseus tries to avoid death so that he can win glory by telling his achievements?
J. Griffin
Who says that Penelope “shows herself to be like him;…
… the true wife for the hero of the Odyssey”
- J. Griffin
Why does Jones say Penelope wishes for Odysseus to come home?
To solve her conflicts
Penelope’s veil is “a sign of modesty and/or chastity”?
P. Jones
Odysseus’ disguises and deceptions are “a means to a justifiable and suitably heroic end”?
P. Jones
P. Jones on Athene/Odysseus?
Their relationship stands out from other god/mortal relations because of their intimacy - shown in book 13
P. Jones on war in the Odyssey?
The Odyssey makes
“the household… rather than the battlefield, the centre of the world”
Odysseus “could never… be pinned down”?
S. Schein
S. Schein on women in the Odyssey?
Homer ranks Penelope’s heroism and power as equal to Odysseus’
Who says the Odyssey is the “final and definitive statement about the theme of a heroic homecoming”?
G. Nagy
How does E. Wilson describe Penelope?
“strong-willed”
“loyal”
“competent, mostly single mother”
Who makes the point that women are described with bird metaphors?
E. Wilson
Who says the purpose of revenge in the Odyssey is to restore honour and maintain social order, not just to express personal anger?
J. Stanton
Who says that modern and ancient audiences will see the deaths of the suitors differently?
J. Stanton
Who compares revenge to xenia due to it’s reciprocal nature?
A. Loney
C.M. Bowra on the suitors?
“a degenerate corruption of heroes”.
They are the opposite of the heroic idea;
J. Morrison on the suitors?
Victory over the suitors is a necessary victory of good over evil, sanctioned by the gods
Doherty on women and metis?
“Penelope and Athena, while sharing Odysseus’ characteristic metis, also represent extremes of ignorance and knowledge, vulnerability and control”
“Odysseus compensates for his lack of physical impressiveness by means of verbal skills”
B. Clayton
“his need for cunning is enforced by his own recklessness”
C.M Bowra
Who thinks the episode with Polyphemus is Odysseus’ greatest achievement because it shows his metis?
P. Jones
Who thinks that Odysseus needs the gods favour and advice, but still makes his own decisions?
J. Morrison
Scodel on the context of Homeric stories?
Scodel says they “provided entertainment, historical continuity and a method of ethical thought”
E. Hall on the context of the Odyssey?
Odysseus sailing around Greece is related to the Greek history of naval exploration, according to E. Hall
W. A Camps on our version of the Odyssey? and how it compares to the Aeneid?
It has been passed down orally for 350 years and altered and distorted by many people. Therefore the Aeneid may be the more perfected epic.
Who says 2000/12,000 lines of the Odyssey appear more than once?
W.A. Camps
W.A. Camps on war?
“the Odyssey looks back with grief and regret to the war at Troy”
“the Odyssey traces deep male fears about women”
E. Wilson
