Reading

  • Two worlds presented
    • Cyclops island is shown as bountiful and plentiful (122-125, 129-137, 143-149)
      • Cyclops don’t even need to farm; the land gives everything to them
      • Polyphemus is an intelligent cyclops who, unlike others, can herd sheep and farm well
    • Odysseus describes Cyclops as extremely unintelligent and uncivilized (118-121, 125-126, 138-141)
      • Essentially calls Cyclops “animals”
      • Cyclops are extremely gigantic and massive
        • Odysseus uses nature to describe his size (210-214, 266-274)
    • Odysseus’s journey is filled with peril and is an uphill battle to defeat gods
  • Odysseus invades Polyphemus’s world; eats his sheep, drinks his wine, etc.
  • Polyphemus responds by killing his men and laughing, saying that he does not fear the gods
    • Both characters show ego; Polyphemus does not fear Odysseus and his men, Odysseus says his name and makes sound while leaving
    • Both characters pay for their ego; Polyphemus loses his eye, Odysseus is cursed by Poseidon

Lecture

  • Contextualizing Odyssey 9
    • In the first four books, Odysseus is the storyteller and tells his story to the Pharacians in hopes that they give him gifts and thank them for their hospitality
    • It’s a biased perspective; he wants to boast about himself
    • Odyssey 9 is part of the first four books
    • Odyssey is Odysseus trying to convince the Pharacians that he is famous and important
  • Xenia: “guest-friendship” or “ritualized friendship”
    • Protected by Zeus as a tradition, comes from word xenios, or stranger/guest
    • 5 steps that the host must follow
      1. Invite guest in
      2. Offer them a meal
      3. Ask for their name
      4. Exchange gifts
      5. Offer them a safe escort home
  • Polyphemus breaks xenia
    • Asks for name first (264) before offering a meal
    • Didn’t provide a meal (324-329)
    • Promised a gift but it was ironic (413-414)
    • Doesn’t provie a safe escort home (585-593)
  • Odysseus punishes Polyphemus by blinding him with his club
    • Uses Polyphemus’s belongings (the club) and forming it into a weapon (the mast of a ship)
    • Uses an olive tree which is representative of Athena
    • “Now at last I thrust…breathed enormous”
    • “Hoisting high the olive stake…blazed and hissed”
    • Justifies it by asking for help from the gods
    • Punishment is delivered by mulitple people in an organized and cooperative way
    • Drives stake into the eye in a circular motion (Cyclops = circular eye)
    • Destroying vision = removing the intellectual sense (sight = intelligence)
  • Much imagery of “the last shall be first” in Odysseus’s escape (482-486, 495-504)
    • Can be interpreted as “Polyphemus is stupid”
    • Odysseus wants to also show his greatness as a leader; “I let my men leave before I left”
  • Odysseus goes by three names in the text: Outis (Nobody), Metis (Nobody), and Odysseus
    • Metis also means nobody, but can also mean wisdom and represents Athena’s mother
  • Discussing the lands and people
  • Constructing the character of the cyclops
  • Constructing the character of Odysseus