What could possibly be better than hearing a singer tell stories?
Book 9 begins with a kind of apologia from the poet. “What could possibly be more beautiful / Than hearing a storyteller sing?” (9.2-3)1. Homer’s art of storytelling is also lauded by Odysseus. Odysseus encounters Polyphemus in Book 9 and the Cyclops eats him. In the second book, Book 19, Odysseus is in disguise as an old man beggar who meets his wife Penelope. The episodes are designed to challenge and stretch the hero, whether physically, mentally or emotionally.
Odysseus, as the main character of the poem, is a driving force. Odysseus serves as a centre of action and speech for all those that Homer chooses. Penelope’s suffering, Telemachus’ journey, and Suitors’ appearance all result from the struggles of one single character. It’s not surprising to find that sometimes there’s only a vague distinction between ‘characteristics’ and ‘themes’. This is true for metis, which is intelligence / cunning. Only physical prowess can qualify a person as a ‘hero.’ Odysseus demonstrates the importance of balancing strength with mental dexterity.
They call me Noman My mother, my father and all of my friends too! Noman, they call me. They also call my mother, father, and friends.
Odysseus’ plan involves physical force, but he would have never been able escape from the Cyclops’ dwelling without his cleverness. Sheila Murnaghan notes that the Greek word for ‘no man’ is metis. This irony is unfortunately lost in translation. Odysseus’ words aren’t hollow. In the Odyssey, he repeatedly proves to be the most intelligent warrior.
Odysseus uses epithets to tell his story, and this self-label is a good example. The poet often uses the term polumetis, which means’metis abundant’, to describe the hero. Books 9 and 19, for example, show the use of many epithets. The multifarious Odysseus’ portrait is constructed in layers, almost like paint on canvas. Homer uses repetitions of syntactic elements. It is easy to see that repeated phrases and epithets are used as bricks in the narrative, which punctuate and move the story forward. This formulaic nature highlights the oral tradition that the Odyssey is derived from. Improvisational singers such as Demodocus used repetition as a way to structure their songs and to allow them to plan ahead.
Odysseus, however, is not alone in being associated with metis. Penelope, according to Antinous, is “the woman with the most tricks alive” (2.96). She would have been very proud of her deception in weaving and then unweaving Laertes’ shroud of death, a trick to keep the Suitors off for almost 4 years. Penelope recounts these wiles’ (lines 154-177) in Book 19. It is important to note that this is a second account of an episode from the Odyssey. Penelope’s description is almost identical to Antinous’ account in Book 2(lines 101-120), except that she has switched from the third person perspective. It is still important to note this change in perspective. Antinous says the following to Telemachus:
It’s Not the Suitors
What is your mother’s fault? (2.94-95)
Penelope, however, has a very different response.
I was caught by the men who barged into my room.
A howl erupted. I was then forced to finish it.
I’m stuck in a marriage. I’m a mess. (19.168-170)
The language here is one that speaks of coercion. This retelling is not a simple narrative repetition. The testimony in Book 2 is being retold, but it places the blame on the Suitors instead of Penelope. The Odyssey is full of antithesis, and this one is an example of how the viewpoints are constantly changing. Modernist novelists Joyce & Woolf use a technique called’streams of consciousness’ to describe the same thing. This technique is particularly evident in the presentation of Agamemnon’s murder by Zeus, Menelaus and Agamemnon’s shade in Books 4 and 11. Homer gives the perspectives of the divine, human and dead.
The Odyssey has many shifts in perspective, but also shifts in time. In Book 9, Odysseus relates his misfortunes as a result of the Greeks’ triumph over Troy in the comforts of the Phaecian royal palace. There have been many comments on the complicated, and perhaps convoluted, structure, but the fact that it allows the juxtaposition of situations and characters enhances certain themes. Book 9 contrasts the Phaeacians’ and Cyclopes’ conventions of civility and hospitality. Odysseus praises the singing, dancing and feasting of Alcinous’s court in Book 9 (9.12). The story then goes back a decade to recount his encounters with Cicones and the Lotus Eaters. Steve Reece makes the observation that this last one is far from welcoming.
In lieu of serving them, he eats them […]. Steve Reece in A Stranger’s welcome University of Michigan Press 1992, page 134)
Cyclops’ inversion on the relationship between guest and friend is a startling one. Reece claims that this scene is a continuation of the hospitality of the Phaeacians, Nestor, and Menelaus, but the conventions have been reversed. The guest was interrogated prior to the meal rather than afterwards, and both gifts (Odysseus’ wine and Polyphemus’ sardonic pledge) were intended for destruction. Finally, the host cursed his guest rather than blessing him as he left. Odysseus, his men, and the Phaeacians are not blameless. They enter his cave uninvited and feast on its stocks. Then they blind him and take his flock.
Polyphemus savagely distorted the concept of a guest-friendship, which resonated with the transgressions committed by the Suitors later on, who devoured their host’s wealth and were aggressive towards anyone whom they deemed to be begging. In Book 19, the tension between civilisations and barbarisms, the welcoming and inhospitable, is seen once again, as Eurycleia, who is tender, contrasts with Melantho whose roughness threatens Odysseus in disguise, by striking it with a torch (19.72-75) Reece argues that there is an inversion of this, because the torch represents warmth, light and protection.
Odysseus recalls his wound from the boar’s tusk while visiting Autolycus on Parnassus. Odysseus remembering his wound from a tusk he received while visiting Autolycus at Parnassus takes the reader to the childhood of the hero:
Odysseus rushed him,
He thrusts with his spear held high.
The boar ran too fast. (19.488-490)
Odysseus, as a young boy, was impulsive. His patience and restraint are contrasted with his impatience during the conversation he has with Penelope. “His eyes were as steady […] like they were made from horn or iron” (19.27-28). Odysseus as a microcosm is shown here: a learner who uses his past experiences to avoid repeating mistakes. The refusal by the blood smeared Hero to “gloat” over the dead in Book 22 (436) is a sign that he had learned from his encounters with Polyphemus. His gibes, boasts, and departures aroused Poseidon’s anger. The reader can see the hero grow throughout the poem. It is both a journey of self-discovery and a return home. Odysseus as a young man is often compared to Telemachus. Telemachus is also an important character in the epic.
Interpolating between the past and present is therefore a very important narrative device. This highlights many central themes in the Odyssey. The story is told in a way that combines the past with the present, creating a picture of a world irreparably altered by war. Odysseus, at the beginning Book 9, acknowledges that retrospectives have always been accompanied with displays of grief.
You have the ability to make me think.
Bring back my pain and sadness. (9.13-14)
The poet uses these words to describe the struggles of a former war veteran in trying to comprehend and contain the painful past. Both Books 9 and 19, which end with “grieving”, have characters who weep for their fallen comrades. Odysseus and his men lament their loss (9.556-557) and Penelope weeps herself to bed (19.664). In Book 19, the simile is perhaps most effective in conveying the image of grief:
West Winds deposited snow on the high mountains
Slowly melts beneath the East Wind.
As the ice melts, the rivers begin to rise. (19.221-223)
Penelope’s teardrops are likened in an extremely positive way to snow melting on mountaintops. Warmth and kindness dispel the cold and wild, as Odysseus’ return will do for the Suitors’ wildness and his wife’s frozen state. The simile turns Penelope’s grief into a sign of heroism. The poet sets us up for the story’s climax by combining her auspicious dreams in which an eagle breaks down the necks the geese. Homer’s Odyssey uses similes as a way to draw attention to certain aspects and nuances. In Book 9, Polyphemus resembles a mountain lion (9.285). Odysseus describes his men as being like puppies (9.282). Homer uses similes to bring out the contrasts of strength and fragility, or savagery. The poet sometimes uses this technique to combine with another irony. This is most evident in the simile that Odysseus becomes the widow in Book 8 (l.565). Images of the warrior and the widow are juxtaposed, and then unified.
Dramatic irony also plays a role in the meeting that takes place between Odysseus, disguised, and Penelope at Book 19. Penelope knows that her husband is the one she is questioning. We as readers or audience know this. Irony is a common theme in the poem. Self-suppression and self-preservation are two ways to preserve oneself. Odysseus, like Noman in the story, becomes a withered begging beggar just to defeat his Suitor. Odysseus’ chameleon personality is similar to that of his guardian Athene. He uses it to his advantage to both survive as well as to test. This is why, as a King, he’s willing to live like a pauper, and, as an hero, accept anonymity. He is testing Penelope for loyalty and love to see if the Cyclops will offer him hospitality (9.220). Thornton points out that the Odyssey is full of themes about testing people.7 Odysseus test Laertes in book 24 and Eumaeus at Book 15. He is then tested himself by his father in both books (24.336-338), and by his wife twice (19.232, 23.181-186). Odysseus has a permanent reminder in the form of a scar caused by a tusk from a wild boar. He is just as exact in his preparation as he was in his action.
The morality of the test found in Book 19 is a matter for debate. Odysseus, in spite of Agamemnon’s warning not to be too gentle with his wife (11.458), seems cruel to refuse to reveal to Penelope who he is. He still keeps his disguise, even though she tears up in front him. Her tears are a sure sign that she loves him. He is unmoved by the fact that he does not see Calypso for 20 years. It is equally questionable that he blinded Polyphemus in such a gruesome way. Odysseus himself, as I stated earlier, is not the best of guests. Even more disturbing is his conduct in Book 9 at Ismaros.
‘I pillaged and murdered the town.
Women and Treasure that we have taken out
I did my best to be fair […]’ (9.42-44)
Odysseus acts here seem even more ruthless, not only because they were unprovoked but also because he has shown no remorse. M. I. Finley argues these acts can be justified in a warrior’s culture. I find this argument to be valid to a point. He considers the Cyclops to be a savage who has no sense of morality (9.206), however, the paradox is the fact that both wrong and right are ambiguous. Justice and injustice are two antitheses that exist in the Odyssey’s world. Like the weeping women of Book 8, there is often a blurred line between the two.
The Odyssey has a very complex structure, and it is not a black-and-white poem. The Odyssey is a complex poem, both thematically and structurally: it makes no black-and-white distinctions. Irony, viewpoints and epithets are used to enhance a wide range of themes, from hospitality to loyalty and morality. Odysseus’s Journey is epic. Not only because it has a wide range of themes and perspectives, but also due to the genre. Homer weaves together a tapestry that is rich in human emotion and thought. It raises more questions than answers.
Bibliography
The line numbers are based on the verse translation by Stanley Lombardo of Homer Odyssey (introduced Sheila Murnaghan Hackett, 2000), and not the Greek original text.
M. I. Finley The World of Odysseus Chatto &Windus 1977, Chapter 5. 5
Helene Foley: ‘Penelope, Moral Agent’. Christine Mitchell Havelock: ‘The intimate act of footwashing in Odyssey 19’, The Distaff Side. Cohen (1995) investigates the relationship between Oxford University Press and Beth in her work published by the former.
Peter Jones: Homer’s Odyssey, a companion to Richard Lattimore’s English translation. Bristol Classical Press 1988. 77-89, 172-185
Steve Reece. Oral Theory & the Aesthetics of Homeric Hospitality Scene. University of Michegan Press. 6 & 8
Agathe Thronton, People and Themes from Homer’s Odyssey. Methuen. 47-57, 79-108
1 Homer, Odyssey, trans. Stanley Lombardo, Hackett 2000 (see bibliography)
Introduction to Lombardo. Page xvii
There are three references to Odysseus ‘teeming minds’ in Book. 19: line 43, 76, 115, 178, 237, 285, 368, 416, 546
Steve Reece. “A Stranger’s welcome: Oral Theory and Aesthetics of Homeric Hospitality Scene”, University of Michigan Press. 1993.
5 Agathe T. Thornton, Themes and People in Homer’s Odyssey. Methuen 1970.
It is a matter of fierce debate. Even if Penelope is aware of Odysseus’s presence, the irony increases. Peter Jones has a concise discussion of this debate in Homer’s Odyssey. A Companion of Richard Lattimore’s English Translation. Bristol Classical Press. 1988. 172-174
Agathe Thonton, People & Themes, Methuen 1971, p.50
8 M. I. Finley, The World of Odysseus, Chatto & Windus 1977, p.113
