PART I
FROM ITHACA TO WONDERLAND
CHAPTER 1
TELEMACHUSâ JOURNEY (OD. 1â4)
BOOK 1
The Odyssey of Homer (seventh-century B.C.E.) is a long oral narrative poem of 12,109 lines that emerges out of the Iliadâs warrior society (patriarchal, polytheistic, monarchical, and slaveholding), in which losing oneâs honor is tantamount to losing oneâs worth as a warrior. Once its hero, Odysseus, leaves Troy, however, he enters a different world with different moral values.
The epic begins with a unit of four books usually referred to as the Telemachia, or the books of Telamachus, Odysseusâ son. In these books, the young prince matures and learns the lessons of kingship in order to aid his father upon his return to regain his kingdom from his motherâs suitors. The poem, like the Iliad, opens with an invocation (the proem) in which the poet seeks inspiration from the Muse, a goddess,1 to assist him in reciting his tale, but it is not narrated chronologically. It begins with Telemachus in Ithaca at the same time that Odysseus prepares to leave Calypsoâs island (in Od. 5; his eleventh of twelve adventures), where he spends seven years. From Calypso, he sails to his twelfth adventure on Scheria (Od. 6â8), where he recites his earlier adventures (Od. 9â12), and from there is conveyed to Ithaca after an absence of twenty years (Od. 13â24). Thus, Homer begins his narrative in Ithaca (Od. 1â4) and ends it in Ithaca (Od. 13â24), using this geographically real locale to frame a mythic one (Od. 5â12).
Od. 1 covers the first day of the Odyssey narrative (de Jong, Narratological, 588), which for the present reading is divided as follows:2
I. Introduction (21%)3
A. Proem
B. Odysseusâ aborted homecoming
C. Council of the gods
II. Ithaca (79%)
A. Athena visits Telemachus in Ithaca
B. Telemachus with the suitors
I. Introduction
I.A. Proem, 1â10. By invoking the Muse to tell the story through him, Homer alerts his audience that he cannot recite his tale uninspired. The oral tradition from which the Odyssey emerged concretizes the abstract (inspiration/Muse). The author becomes an intermediary between the goddess and the audience, a special individual through whom the tale is told. The epicâs first word, andra (man), highlights the epicâs overall theme,4 the story of a warrior returning home after a twenty-year absence. Homer does not say, âTell me, Muse, of Odysseus,â but rather, âTell me, Muse, of the man,â implying a more inclusive journey of man in general, one who through endurance, courage, and an agile mind weathers lifeâs storms to reach his destination. Odysseus is such a man, âthe man of many waysâ (polytropos), a term that stresses the heroâs ability to change with the changing times, and one who considers all options before choosing the best one. Versatility (polytropia) enables him to return home, whereas his companions and other returning veterans who lack it perish.
Homer first inquires how Odysseusâ homecoming was detained after he sacked Troyâs sacred citadel (1.1â2).5 In other words, Odysseus is punished for plundering a godâs temple. The killings he committed in Troy during the ten-year-long siege are not mentioned, nor are his affairs with Circe and Calypso. Like Jehovah, who does not tolerate disobedience in the Old Testament, the Homeric gods punish those who trespass against them, but Odysseusâ trespass is not as heinous as that of his companions, who devoured the oxen of Helius.6 The heroâs suffering then lasts until his debt to the gods is paid, whereas his companions die for their greater crime. Thus, it is not Odysseusâ fault that he returns without his companions to Ithaca; rather, his companionsâ fate is the result of their own âwild recklessnessâ (1.7). Odysseus tries to prevent their deadly action but cannot, although he tries, and thus Zeus takes away their day of homecoming. It is at this point that Homerâs Muse begins the tale of Odysseusâ nostos (1.9â10).
One wonders why Homer refers only to the companions who devoured the sunâs oxen, since most of Odysseusâ men are lost in the Laestrygonian episode (eleven of his twelve ships; see Od. 10); another seventy-two men die in the Cicones episode (Od. 9), and six men are devoured by the Cyclops (Od. 9). By the time Odysseus reaches Thrinacia, the sunâs island (Od. 12), only one ship remains. Perhaps Homer isolates that adventure in the proem because Odysseus finally finds himself completely alone to make his way to Calypsoâs island, from where his homecoming is assured, as tradition requires. Further, the Thrinacia adventure stresses death to those who transgress against the gods, whereas Odysseusâ other mythic adventures do not.
I.B. Odysseusâ Aborted Homecoming, 11â26. The invocation over, three questions are posed:
1. Where is Odysseus?
2. Why was his homecoming aborted?
3. How is his homecoming to be achieved?
First, Odysseus is the last warrior to reach his destination alive and is detained by Calypso, who wants to make him her husband. Second, his aborted homecoming is due to his archenemy, Poseidon (the sea), who refuses to give him the necessary weather. Third, Poseidon, away visiting the Ethiopians, gives the other Olympians the opportunity to force him to abort his anger; alone and against the will of all the gods, Poseidon cannot utterly destroy Odysseus.
In his absence, the Olympians meet at the insistence of Athena. But why is Odysseus to be released now? Why did the goddess not ask for his release earlier? There are two possible answers. First, Athenaâs wrath against the Greek warriors has only now run its course. Homer never quite explains what caused Athenaâs anger other than to suggest that Hermes made it clear to Calypso that, on their voyage home, the Greeks offended her, and she let loose an evil tempest against them (5.108â109). Her anger finally abated, Athena requests Odysseusâ release from captivity. Second, her request coincides with the visit by Odysseusâ archenemy, Poseidon, to the Ethiopians, an opportune moment to end the heroâs wanderings, which, out of respect for her uncle, the sea, who hampers Odysseusâ return, she was unable to achieve earlier.
I.C. Council of the Gods, 27â95. At the council, Zeus questions why mortals blame the gods for their ills when it is their own recklessness that is responsible for the evils they suffer (1.32â34). The gods, then, are not completely responsible for mortalsâ actions. Mortals are not mere puppets; fate alone is not responsible for their actions, but rather their âown recklessnessâ earns them sorrow beyond what fate grants. As illustration, Zeus turns to the House of Atreus.7 In Homerâs version, Aegisthus marries the wife of his first cousin Agamemnon once he leaves for Troy and then has Agamemnon and his men killed at a banquet honoring their return. Although Aegisthus is warned not to kill him or court his wife (1.39), he ignores the godsâ warning, and Orestes, Agamemnonâs son, later kills him in turn. This myth, referenced in six of the epicâs twenty-four books (Od. 1, 3, 4, 11, 13, and 24),8 serves as an example to those who fail to heed the godsâ advice. Although the gods point out the right path, ultimately the decision rests with the individual. Second, the myth sets up parallels between Odysseusâ family (Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus) and Agamemnonâs (Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, and Orestes). In Homerâs view, agreement and like-mindedness (homophrosunÄ) between husband and wife lead to prosperity and unity, whereas disagreement between a couple leads to disaster, not only for the couple but for the entire nuclear family. Clytemnestraâs infidelity, which leads to her husbandâs murder, also affects their son Orestes, who, according to custom, is required to avenge his fatherâs death. The Atreus myth not only contrasts positive and negative family units but serves as a warning for Penelope and Telemachus, whose situation could lead to disaster for Odysseus. Will Penelope remain faithful to her husband and resist pressure to marry one of the suitors? Will Telemachus assist his father upon his return and, like Orestes, avenge him should his mother falter?
Athena agrees that Aegisthusâ death was merited; anyone acting as he did should suffer the same fate. But she feels sorry for Odysseus because he is still languishing at Calypsoâs, who is using her feminine charms to hold him against his will (although he shares her bed for seven years). Calypso is identified as the daughter of Atlas, the âmalignantâ (oloĆphron) who, tradition says, led the Titans (rulers of the universe before the Olympians) in a rebellion against Zeus. OloĆphron is used for two other characters in the epic: Aietes (10.137), Medeaâs father and Circeâs brother, and Minos (11.322), a Cretan king and Zeusâs son who judges the dead in the underworld. Perhaps the association of oloĆphron with three dangerous characters with ties to Circe and Calypso underscores the quandary Odysseus finds himself in, which requires divine intervention.
Athena queries Zeus (1.62) concerning Odysseusâ delayed homecoming, which surprises the father of the gods, since he admires both Odysseusâ intelligence and his devotion to the gods (1.65â67). He points to Poseidon as the cause of his delayed homecoming, citing his grudge against Odysseus for blinding the Cyclops, his son (a brief digression intervenes again to identify the Cyclopsâ father and mother and the circumstances of his birth [1.70â73]). However, Odysseus was pursued by Poseidon even before the Cyclopsâ blinding (9.67â69, 80â81). It would seem Homer prefers to blame Poseidon rather than Athenaâs wrath for the delayed homecoming. The choice of Poseidon, the sea, not only is a more realistic one but also negates a lengthy explanation for Athenaâs change of heart. Nevertheless, the godsâ council (1.27â95) clarifies four points:
1. Odysseus is held captive, and his relationship with Calypso is forced.
2. Zeusâs fondness for Odysseus is due to his intellect and his respect for the gods (emphasizing mÄtis [mind] over biÄ [strength]).
3. Odysseusâ homecoming is deterred because he plundered Troyâs citadel and incurred the godsâ anger.
4. Odysseusâ nostos is due to Olympian unity, which overrides Poseidonâs single objection.
Once Odysseusâ release is enabled, Athena turns to Telemachus. She will go to Ithaca to bring about his journey to seek news of his father, which will give him the confidence he lacks as a prince and enable hi...