Structural Study - the Odyssey Flashcards
What does myth show us?
The fundamental ideas and ideals shared by a group of people (the basic belief system)
Why should be study all versions of a myth?
Without all versions, the message is incomplete (so the more versions, the more truth within it)
Despite variations, the patterns or themes should be timeless
Variations show us that the story is important (repetition = reinforcement)
Why do we study myth in a structuralist way?
The human mind needs order and combination
What are the two main features of a myth?
Oppositions (i.e. antitheses, contrasts, balances, contradictions, extremes, etc.)
Mediations - the reconciliation, resolution, or balance between the extremes (the middle ground)
What are some examples of oppositions in myths?
Good/evil, life/death, mortal/immortal, male/female, nature/culture, night/day
What are some examples of mediations?
Deathlike sleep, hunting, vampires, the undead, the fame of heroes, androgynes, monsters that are human+animal
What happens when mediation is not found within a myth?
The story becomes a tragedy
Who is Odysseus?
King of Ithaca
Fights in the Trojan War and must leave his wife Penelope and son Telemachus behind
His return home is continuously delayed
What is the order of events in Odysseus’ wanderings (who does he encounter)?
Cicones, Lotus-eaters, Cyclopes, Aeolus, Laestrygonians, Circe, Tiresias (the Underworld), Circe (again), the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, Thrinacia (the island of Helios’ flocks), Calypso
Who are the Cicones and where do they live? What do they eat?
What does Odysseus do when he encounters them?
Allies of the Trojans that live in Ismarus
Odysseus raids/plunders the town for its livestock and wine (they eat normal human food)
He retreats once the Cicones get reinforcement
Who are the Lotophagi? What do they eat?
What happens to Odysseus’ crew when he encounters them?
The Lotus-eaters: zombie-like people who feed on the narcotic lotus fruit, spending their time in indulgence
Once eaten, you forget your family and want to stay on the island
Odysseus has to drag his men back to the boat and lock them up
What do the Cyclopes eat?
Sheep, milk, cheese, and humans
No experience with alcohol/wine
Who is Polyphemus? What does he do and what happens to him?
A Cyclopes and son of Poseidon
He eats part of Odysseus’ crew and imprisons the rest
Odysseus gets him drunk on wine and stabs him in the eye with a sharpened wooden staff
How does Odysseus keep the other Cyclopes from coming to Polyphemus’ aid?
He tells Polyphemus that his name is Nobody (or Noman), so that when he screams for help, he says “Nobody is killing me!”
What hubris does Odysseus commit after his encounter with Polyphemus? What consequences does this have?
Once they escape on the underbellies of the grazing sheep, Odysseus taunts Polyphemus and reveals his true identity (he takes pride in the thing he has done)
This angers Poseidon, leading to his punishment and further delay in his journey
Who is Aeolus? What is strange about his eating habits/hospitality?
The keeper/God of the winds
He and his family feast on divine food all the time (don’t know exactly what), but do not offer any to Odysseus
Instead, Aeolus gives him a bag of wind and guides them to Ithaca
What happens to Aeolus’ bag of wind?
Odysseus’ crew opens it just as they are in sight of Ithaca, thinking that its gold
They are blown back to Aeolus, who refuses to help them again
Who are the Laestrygonians? What do they eat?
What do they do to Odysseus’ crew?
Man-eating giants (technically cannibals since they’re human-like and live in a city)
They hunt Odysseus’ crew with spears (chase them like fish) and pelt their ships with boulders, sinking all but one
Who is Circe? Where does she live? What animals are seen here?
A minor Goddess, daughter of Helios, with witch-like powers of transformation and seduction
Lives on the island of Aeaea, with extremely tame and domesticated wolves and lions
What does Circe do? How are the animals in this scene important?
She poisons Odysseus’ scouts and turns them into pigs
Reversal of expectations: domesticated wild animals + domesticated animals are that actually transformed humans
How does Odysseus overpower Circe? What happens after that?
Hermes gives him the herb moly, which protects him from Circe’s powers
They come to an agreement that Circe will free Odysseus’ crew if he agrees to stay and sleep with her
Who is Elpenor? What happens to him?
A crew member of Odysseus
He gets drunk and sleeps on the roof of Circe’s palace
He falls and breaks his neck, but is not given a proper burial by Odysseus
Where does Odysseus go after staying with Circe for a year?
To the underworld at the edge of the Earth to speak to the prophet Tiresias
What is strange about the eating habits of the dead souls?
They drink the blood of a sheep that Odysseus sacrifices
They need it to restore their power of human speech
What does Tiresias tell Odysseus?
That Poseidon is punishing him for blinding his son Polyphemus
Warns him not to harm the flocks of Helios or else his crew will die and his return home will be further delayed
Who does Odysseus speak to in the underworld (besides Tiresias)? Who does he see?
- Elpenor, who asks to be given a proper burial
- His mother, Anticleia, who died of grief after Odysseus did not return home
- Various Heroes such as Agamemnon, Heracles, Ajax, and Achilles
- Sees Tantalus and Sisyphus
Where does Odysseus go after the underworld?
Back to Aeaea, where he buries Elpenor and Circe advises him about the coming struggles with the sea monsters
What are the Sirens? What do they eat?
How does Odysseus survive them?
Winged creatures that seduce and lure sailors to their deaths by singing, after which they eat them
The crew plugs their ears with wax and Odysseus is tied to the mast of the ship
What is Scylla? Charybdis?
How does Odysseus survive them?
Monsters that live on opposite sides of a narrow strait (Scylla in a cliff cave, Charybdis in the water)
Scylla: has 6 dog heads that eat one sailor each
Charybdis: a whirlpool that threatens to swallow the whole ship, but Odysseus manages to navigate around her
Where does Odysseus go after encountering Scylla and Charybdis?
The island of Thrinacia, home of Helios’ flock, which Odysseus wants to avoid entirely because of Tiresias’ prophecy
What happens with Odysseus’ crew and Helios’ flock?
A storm beaches them on Thrinacia for a month, during which their provisions run low
The crew disobey Odysseus and kill the cattle (the meat of which begins to crawl)
Once they leave the island, the ship is caught in a storm and struck by Zeus, killing all the crew besides Odysseus
How does Odysseus survive Charybdis for the second time?
He hangs on the branch of a wild fig tree, then floats on the wreckage of the ship to Ogygia, home of Calypso (whom he spends 7 years with)
In the stories of Odysseus, what are the recurring references?
What are the oppositions and mediations?
References to food, weather, and sexuality
Oppositions between Odysseus’ crew and their human expectations about food/hospitality and the creatures/people that they encounter on the journey (who eat irregular things or have strange habits)
A mediation is rarely arrived at between these things and those that do are illogical
How does the story of Odysseus reflect real life?
Mirrors encounters between colonizers and native peoples, whom they often did not see as human because of their different cultures and customs
A compromise (or mediation) is rarely come to between these things, as the colonizers either kill or force conversion
