#fagleschallenge

This one doesn't do much for me, so I'll likely cut it.

Athena intervenes some more, putting it in Telemachus's head in a dream he needs to go home.  He does, but not before Menelaus gives him a two-handled bowl forged by Hesphestus and Helen gives him a dress for his future wife.  Dang, nice xenia.

Odysseus "tests" Eumaeus some more.  This is where I miss Fitzgerald's repeated epithets, "O my swineherd!"  They at least made this book kind of funny.  We do get a good side narrative about where Eumaeus came from:  He was kidnapped by his nurse and some sailors.  Artemis punished them, and he was adrift until he landed on Ithaca.  Laertes bought him as a slave, but he was raised by Arete with Odysseus's sister, essentially.  He was then given the hut and charge of the herd.  

This side narrative does two things:  establishes Odysseus' family has good people, establishes Eumaeus as totally loyal to the family.  

Telemachus heads home and has two bird-sign omens interpreted by Helen and a fugitive-murderer-prophet (okay?):  Odysseus is coming home and some suitors's gonna die. 

Sorry for the delay!

Book 13 finally sees Odysseus back home on Ithaca.  Two notable parts:

The Phaicians are punished by Poseidon for helping Odysseus as the prophecy said.  As a result, they will no longer help people.  That, kinda sucks, gods.  Damn. 

Odysseus and left on the island asleep, and Athena casts a fog over the island.  He doesn't know where he is when Athena in disguise speaks to him.  He makes up a cover story and she transforms herself, calling him out.  This is remarkable because she is essentially saying he's as good as her with his cunning, crafty ways.  She send him on to Eumaeus, disguised as an old mad.

Book 14 is a massive display of gracious xenia. 

Eumaeus is the loyal swineherd who has been keeping watch over the flock even though he thinks Odysseus is dead. Throughout this book, it's nice to see someone of another--namely, lower--rank speak so highly of Odysseus, reinforcing what a good king he was.  Furthermore, the courtesy he shows Odysseus is 10x more than the suitors would ever do.  He first feeds him a scrawny pig, but later gives him a fat one.  He cannot offer him more clothes, but tells him he'll see that Telemachus takes care of him, then gives him a comfortable bed by the fire. 

Throughout Book 14, Odysseus is testing his loyalty.  Eumaeus isn't swayed by the beggars tale--which greatly parallels Odysseus' actual wanderings--that allude to word of his master.  He's been burned before, but that doesn't stop him from being a good host. 

hithertokt and I teach “The Odyssey” to freshmen in high school.  We’ve challenged ourselves to read a book a day of the Robert Fagles translation (the one we now [both!] teach) in order to prepare for the next school year.  Feel free to join us!

WE ARE HALFWAY DONE!

Okay, so I like this book because it shows Odysseus being a man of word while also making The Tough Decisions.

He returns to Circe's island buries Elpenor as promised.  YAY.

Circe advises him on his next travels:  Don't listen to the Sirens.  Don't go by these one mountains because you'll crash; go by these other mountains.  However, going by these other peaks means going by these two beasties:  Skylla and Charybdis.  Go by Skylla; lose 6 men instead of the whole ship.  Avoid the island of Helios and his cows.  Go home.

(Plot problem:  Why go to Tiresias to learn about the cows if Circe was going to repeat the same thing?  That only makes hearing about the sacrifice he has to do to Poseidon worth that whole trip.  Oh well.)   

Odysseus tries to reason his way out of losing any men and Circe tells him it's impossible.  He decides to go the Skylla route--BUT DOESN'T TELL THE MEN.  This is pretty brilliant because with his mean's track record, they don't listen well.  I'm surprised they even made it past the sirens. 

He lets himself be talked into staying on Helios's island for JUST ONE NIGHT, GUYS.  And that turns into a whole month because they don't have the wind they need. The run out of food, Odysseus falls asleep (see: Bag of Winds probs), and the men eat the cows. 

YOU HAD ONE JOB, CREW.  ONE JOB.

Helios is so mad he threatens not to shine.  HE MAKES THE MEAT COME ALIVE ON THE SPITS.  ZOMBIE STEAK.  IT EVEN MOOS.

Hands down, that's my favorite passage. 

"Miraculously," a southern wind appears and they are purposefully sunk by Zeus, and everything Odysseus was told was true:  He'd lose all his men and barely escape if they ate the cows.

And that's how he washed up on Calypso's island, thus wrapping up his narration to Alcinous. 

hithertokt and I teach “The Odyssey” to freshmen in high school.  We’ve challenged ourselves to read a book a day of the Robert Fagles translation (the one we now [both!] teach) in order to prepare for the next school year.  Feel free to join us!

And we continue with Odysseus' tale of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them!

I like book 10.  This book emulates the theme of giving into temptation and dealing with consequences.

Aeolus gives Odysseus a bag of winds as a gift upon leaving his island (after dining for a month, no less).  While sleeping (SPOILER:  Odysseus should just never sleep.  Bad things happen.), his men think he has been given gold, and they open the bag, releasing the winds.  Blown back to King Aeolus in shame, Odysseus asks for help.  The king refuses, claiming they are shamed.

This action results in them being put in the path of the Laestrygonians, a cannibal people who eat his men and take out his ships, leaving only Odysseus's to survive.

The men then land on Circe's island.  A group of scouts find her palace and expect a warm welcome (a la xenia), but instead are wined, dined, and turned into swine.

(I've been waiting to make that joke, so you better like it.)

We see a new god step forward to help Odysseus--Hermes.  The god gives him a magic herb, moly, that will prevent Circe from bewitching him.  Basically, it's a huge metaphor:

The men are PIGS (get it), but Odysseys has to overpower the witch, threaten her with machismo and a sword, and sleep with her. Because men are stronger than women.

Ah, patriarchy.  I can't quit you.

Hermes' instructions work, and the men are freed and then they stay....FOR A YEAR.  And again, we have another example of temptation:  Odysseus was living easy (and sleeping with a goddess) for a year before his men said, "this is madness!"  (really, it's in the translation they say that.)

Circe agrees to release them, but has a truthbomb:  They can't leave yet.  They have to go to the Underworld.  And she gives explicit instructions on how to talk to Tiresias.

hithertokt and I teach “The Odyssey” to freshmen in high school.  We’ve challenged ourselves to read a book a day of the Robert Fagles translation (the one we now [both!] teach) in order to prepare for the next school year.  Feel free to join us!

Book 9 - 12 of the Odyssey are the "Fantastic Beasts and Where to the Find Them" of Greek Mythology.  So hold on to your hats.

Book 9 begins with Odysseus narrating where he went after Troy.  They plunder the Cicones, make a huge mistake in not cutting in running, and are run out of island by the Cicones and punished by Zeus with a storm.

They then go to the Lotos Eaters' island.  For such a famous image to come out of the epic, it takes up one page:  the land, they explore, some dudes eat the flower, don't want to leave, and Odysseus has to make his men leave.  This is two islands in a row he has to make his men leave.

Next they go to the island of the Cyclops, a land in which each monster/brute lives on his own or with his little family unit.  It's an island of isolated, farming beasties. 

This is where Odysseus and his men test the bounds of xenia. They land, eat well, decide to go exploring, find the cave and HELP THEMSELVES TO THE CYCLOP'S FOOD.  When Polyphemus comes back, obviously ticked there are men in his cave, Odysseus claims xenia:  "you're our host, and the gods don't like it when you break the code of a host, so give us gifts." 

Polyphemus was like, "Uh, screw the gods OM NOM NOM"  and eats his men.

Let's all jump ahead to the part when he's blinded and talk about Homeric similes.  These bad boys are everywhere.  An epic or Homeric simile stretches over the course of multiple lines, this scene has some of the best:

I drove my weight on it from above and bored it home like a shipwright bores his beam with a shipwright's drill that men below, whipping the strap back and forth, whirl and the drill keeps twisting, never stopping – So we seized our stake with it fiery tip and bored it round and round in the giant's eye... its crackling roots blazed and hissed – as a blacksmith plunges a glowing ax or adze in an ice-cold bath and the metal screeches steam and its temper hardens – that's the iron's strength – so the eye of Cyclops sizzled round that stake. That's some good stuff. Upon leaving, Odysseus falls victim to the old classic: hubris. After brilliantly telling the monster his name is "Nobody," as he is escaping he takes credit for the attack: "I am Odysseus!" He brings about his own curse! Polyphemus then prays to his dad, Poseidon, who then gives Odysseus a hard time up to Ogygia.

What's more humorous to  me is the book started with two scenes of the men not listening to Odysseus and then ends with HIM not listening to THEM.  The men tell him to shut up and no egg on the cyclops.

hithertokt and I teach “The Odyssey” to freshmen in high school.  We’ve challenged ourselves to read a book a day of the Robert Fagles translation (the one we now [both!] teach) in order to prepare for the next school year.  Feel free to join us!

Let's take a brief moment and appreciate Homer's epithets.  While I'm enjoying the overall readability of Fagles, I gotta say I liked my epithets better in Fitzgerald.  Maybe they were so much like the kennings in Beowulf?  "grey eyed Athena"  "rosy fingered Dawn" "master mariner Odysseus" and "clear headed Telemachus" just seemed to flow better from him.

Still, the first three lines give us a good triple whammy of this use of keeping meter true and remembering characters (and their characteristics):

"When young Dawn with her rose-red fingers shone once more/ royal Alcinous, hallowed island king, rose from bed/ and great Odysseus, raider of cities, rose too."

Fitzgerald tended to put his epithets before a name, whereas Fagels seems to put them after.  And look at this complete list of Fitzgerlad's epithets! Holy Moly!

Anyway.

The interesting fact to keep in mind in this whole scene in which Odysseus is lavished with gifts, entertained with song and dance, challenged with games, and led to tears by the bars song is no one knows who he is. 

It isn't until after Alcinous see Odysseus cry a second time after hearing a song about the feats of Troy does he stop and go, "Hey there big guy.  Hey buddy?  Who are ya?  Ya know someone who died at Troy?"  Throughout the epic, it's almost like an extreme side of xenia (hospitality) is to not even pry into who people are:  treat them great, and send them off.  With Odysseus, showing up like a god in the fog, Alcinous is especially kind and gentle with him.

The scene of sports and games resulting in Odysseus lashing out is good because he's so angry he begs for a bow and arrow to show the boys whats up.  He's really. friggin. good. with a bow and arrow.  This is FORESHADOWING.  He even says, "As for spears, I can fling a spear as far as the next man wings and arrow!"  Remember this.