Homecoming
nostos (plural = nostoi)
Greatest homecoming story
is that of Odysseus, told in Homer’s
Odyssey
The Odyssey of Homer
Many more folktale patterns than in the Iliad.
• Ends happily, tragic elements, but more of a good wins out
in the end story (The Iliad = tragic).
The plot begins after
Odysseus has been away from his home on the
island of Ithaca for 20 years.
Note Odysseus’ absence in Books 1-4, why?
tell audience that is presence is missed
Calypso
She = a threat to his nostos.
• She has offered him immortality, but he refuses it, saying he would
rather grow old and die with his actual wife Penelope (cf. Gilgamesh
with Ishtar).
• Calypso’s name = “Concealer”, his life of ease with a goddess has
caused him to disappear from the world of mortals, his identity is being
forgotten.
In the court of the Phaeacians
is an old blind singer named
Demodocus, who, many have thought, is a doublet of Homer.
• He sings three songs:
• 1) Tells of the quarrel of the Best of the Achaeans: but now Odysseus &
Achilles quarrel (not Ach. and Ag.)
• 2) Tells of Hephaestus catching Ares with Aphrodite.
• 3) Tells the story of the Trojan Horse, which causes Odysseus to weep
over his misfortunes.
Odysseus finally reveals his name and story to the Phaeacians.
• Books 9-12 are presented as his own narration of his adventures before he came to
Phaeacia.
These stories by Odysseus are called the Apologoi, speeches of self defense.
Focus on Cyclopeia
Cyclopes, great
one-eyed giants, and they begin to explore.
• Cyclops = singular; Cyclopes = plural
His name is Polyphemus
The Phaeacians think his story is fantastic, they offer him passage back to Ithaca
with lots and lots of treasure, which he hides in a cave.
But the Phaeacians are cut off from future interaction with outsiders by
Poseidon, who is jealous of their ability to cross his domain with ease.
• cf. Utnapishtim and his wife, and Urshanabi.
• Athena meets with Odysseus on the shores of Ithaca, and they plan the death of
the suitors; she makes his skin wrinkled and his appearance a beggar’s.
His old dog
Argus recognizes him at first sight, but then
immediately dies of a heart attack.
Penelope revealed to be as clever and as slippery as Odysseus (in a
good way).
The trick of her pretending to weave a burial shroud for Odysseus’
father Laertes in order to delay the suitors.
Hence Penelope proves her worth as the true wife of Odysseus because
she is the only
one in the whole poem who causes Odysseus to reveal something he does not intend
to reveal.
• She is herself a trickster and a match for her equally clever husband.
homophrosyne
thinking alike
Penelope and Clytemnestra
The wives of Odysseus, Agamemnon, and Menelaus are central to the stories
of their homecomings.
• Heroes return to find their house in serious disorder (Ag. and Od.).
• Clytemnestra has yielded to desire and so subverts the home; Agamemnon is
destroyed.
• Penelope shares the virtues of her husband: smarts, patience, honor.
• Penelope thus provides the means for Odysseus to restore himself to his
household.
timê
honor, value, worth
geras
a special prize of honor, usually given in
recognition of a warrior’s outstanding contribution (e.g.,
Briseis was given to Achilles by the troops in recognition
of his value in fighting)
kleos
fame, glory
homophrosyne
like-mindedness, thinking alike; what
only Odysseus and Penelope share in the Odyssey
