Analysis of Homer's poem "The Odyssey"
Homer (8th
century BC) is the name given to the ancient Greek poet who was traditionally
credited with the authorship of the main Greek epic poems — the Iliad and the
Odyssey —. Since the Hellenistic period it has been questioned whether the
author of both works was the same person .
The Odyssey is an epic poem that recounts the adventures of Odysseus, also known as Odysseus, on his journey back to his homeland, Ithaca, from the moment the Trojan War ends, recounted in the Iliad , until the moment he he finally returns home, many years later. The authorship of this work, written in ancient Greek, is attributed to Homer, a poet who lived in the region of Ionia, present-day Turkey, during the 8th century BC.
As far as we know, The Odyssey , as well as the Iliad , were part of the ancient oral tradition, and were sung from town to town by the rhapsodes, until the 6th century BC. C., Peisistratus, governor of Athens, decided to collect the Homeric poems, from which time they are fixed in the written word.
The oldest known version of The Odyssey is that of Aristarchus of Samothrace, dating from the 2nd century BC.
summary
Odysseus' son tries to resolve the situation that has occurred in the surroundings of the palace, where a massive group of men seek to claim his mother, Penelope. Then, the young man gathers the people in an assembly to expel Penelope's suitors. After this fact, Telemachus goes to Pilus on the trail of his father.
Once Telemachus arrives at Pylos, Nestor tells him that he has no news about his father. He knows of the return of other heroes to their homes from Troy. Also, Nestor proposes to Telemachus to travel to Sparta so that he asks Menelaus, who has just completed different trips. Then Odysseus' son arrives in Sparta. There, Menelaus confirms that his father has been kidnapped by Calypso and has been held on his island for years.
Zeus orders Calypso to let Odysseus go during an assembly of the gods.However, when undertaking the journey, Odysseus runs into the fury of Poseidon, god of the sea, who is angry with Odysseus, because he blinded Polyphemus, a monstrous giant, who is his favorite son.
Odysseus finds help in Nausicaa, daughter of Alcinous, to whom Odysseus will relate his adventures since he left Troy, on his way to his homeland Ithaca, almost ten years ago.
Odysseus is led before King Alcinous. Then, he recounts what happened with the cyclones and the lotus eaters, he tells her about his impasse with Polyphemus, whom he left blind to escape alive from his cave, with the misfortune of having to bear his curse and the wrath of Poseidon; he tells her about his meeting with Circe and his trip to the Averno, the episode with the song of the sirens on the high seas, among many other adventures.
Alcinous, who has listened to the entire tale of Odysseus with great attention, learning of all this, promises to help him on his return home.
analysis of the odyssey
In The Odyssey there are two types of narrators: an omniscient one that
covers the entire part of the Telemachus and the narration of Odysseus'
departure from the island of Calypso until his arrival on the island of the
Phaeacians; the story of the adventures of Odysseus, by his own mouth, is a
protagonist narrator. The final events of the poem are narrated again by an
omniscient narrator who explains and describes all the events that occurred
before Odysseus' reintegration into his kingdom of Ithaca.
Having been composed orally, The Odyssey, like The Iliad, contains elements peculiar to that form of composition, which differs substantially from the written creation to which the current reader is accustomed. These items include: formulas that are used repeatedly, such as, for example, those used to announce a speech: "... And he said these winged words...", "... the procedure of the banquet...", "they reached for the food...", as well as all kinds of everyday behavior.
Forms of anticipation such as signs, dreams, predictions, visions,
omens. The epithets referring to characters, animals or objects take on great
importance, as they are repeated as a “leit-motiv” with each one of them
throughout the poem, in addition to automatically resulting in verse (“… the
patient Odysseus…” , "... the cunning Odysseus...", "... the
prudent Penelope...", "... the Aurora of the rosy fingers...", "dark
vinous sea...", "... spear of elongated shadow...", "...
death that knocks down the long one…”, “…bronze sky…”) and they give body to
the characters and the places. Figures of style such as metaphor, hyperbole and
very especially the simile are also used profusely ("... he killed me like
an ox in the stable", "... how that old man speaks like an old
forge..." ).
Presence of the supernatural, or the marvelous, which is a kind of
magical dimension that permeates the entire work and because of which things
happen outside the scope of everyday events. An important part of this
dimension are the gods who, in Homer, intervene in the affairs of humans, mix
with them, appear to them adopting a human figure (epiphanies) and take
pleasure in advising, inspiring, encouraging their favorites, such as Athena
with Odysseus and Telemachus; but they can also be vengeful like Poseidon,
whose anger against Odysseus serves as the driving force for part of the play.
However, the gods in The Odyssey act with a more evident ethical orientation
than in The Iliad. Zeus himself clarifies it: “O gods! How mortals blame the
numens! They say that bad things come from us, and it is they who attract each
other with their crazy misfortunes not decreed by destiny.” Both the gods among
themselves, as men are respectful; when, when the suitors die, Eurycleia
intends to burst into jubilation, Odysseus rebukes her: «Old woman, rejoice in
your heart, but be content and do not utter exclamations of joy, for it is not
merciful to rejoice at the death of these men! The Grim Reaper of the gods and
their perverse deeds put them to death, since they did not respect any man of
the earth, bad or good, who came to them; for this cause, with their iniquities
they have brought upon themselves a deplorable death.” Odysseus rebukes her: “Old
woman, rejoice in your heart, but be content and do not utter exclamations of
joy, for it is not merciful to rejoice at the death of these men! The Grim
Reaper of the gods and their perverse deeds put them to death, since they did
not respect any man of the earth, bad or good, who came to them; for this
cause, with their iniquities they have brought upon themselves a deplorable
death.” Odysseus rebukes her: “Old woman, rejoice in your heart, but be content
and do not utter exclamations of joy, for it is not merciful to rejoice at the
death of these men! The Grim Reaper of the gods and their perverse deeds put
them to death, since they did not respect any man of the earth, bad or good,
who came to them; for this cause, with their iniquities they have brought upon
themselves a deplorable death.”
The action of The Odyssey is divided between various geographical locations that appear in it: the island of Ithaca, the Peloponnese, the island of the nymph Calypso, the places where Odysseus experienced his previous adventures. This makes it a structurally more sophisticated poem than The Iliad. The different key moments of the poem are evidenced in them: the assembly of the gods that decides to free Odysseus, the crisis that occurs in Ithaca, the return of Telemachus and his meeting with his father, Odysseus disguised in the palace, plan and realization of revenge and recognition (anagnorisis) by Penelope. All these actions are concentrated in a period of only 40 days. The Homeric landscape is flooded with the clearest sunlight. This is the dominant feature in all Homeric poetry, no matter how terrible and sad it is what is related. This comes not only from the magnificence of the description, from the lively life of the similes, but from the genius of the poet. Who set out to transport his listeners to a beautiful, pure, open space. Descriptive thoroughness is thus the distinctive feature of Homeric poetry.
This epic in relation to the Iliad , could not be
considered as a model of the way of life of the ancient Greek aristocracy. It
also departs from the epic character and tends to be a novel (songs of return
to the homeland. Epics, like epic poems, generally describe great historical
moments and fix their attention on the heroic behavior of the characters who
act in it. For this reason, the Homeric poems contain many of the values of this Bronze Age
Greek society and give evidence of a deep understanding of the cosmic and
tragic dimensions of the human dilemma. The heroes of the Homeric world were
governed, as already mentioned, . They had to cultivate and display courage, strength,
warrior skills, ability, eloquence and a certain wisdom, among others. The hero
Odysseus demonstrates these qualities as a character in The Iliad and as the
protagonist of The Odyssey, since he must reveal other attributes as well,
according to the different obstacles he has to face. As the work takes place in
times of peace, qualities such as patience, prudence, sagacity, intelligence,
ingenuity, are what will allow him success in his difficult undertaking.
Odysseus is outlined, in this epic, as the hero of intelligence and experience.
It is for this reason that his character is not static, but evolves throughout
the poem, and you can see how he learns from his mistakes and masters his
impulses (“hybris”). Only a hero who has managed to conquer spiritual serenity,
the hesychastic measure, the " sophrosyne " (the maximum degree of sanity), with that combination
of qualities, is capable of surviving everything that destiny has in store for
him, splendor or nefarious. In The Odyssey, the conduct of the fighting heroes
is rarely narrated. The hero is shown returning to his homeland after the war,
his travels, adventures, and his family and domestic life, with his family and
friends. It is clear that the descriptions of him do not belong to the
tradition of the old heroic songs, but rest on the direct and realistic
observation of contemporary things. The nobility of The Odyssey is a closed
class, with a strong awareness of their privileges, their domain and their fine
customs and ways of living. The figures have a more human format, they all have
something friendly, generalized to the people and the beggars. The best represented by Odysseus' eagerness to
fulfill his duty (return to Ithaca). In this poem, the educational aspect or
"paideia" is present from the beginning, when Telemachus pays
attention to the warnings of the goddesses, hidden in the figure of Mentor. In
the following songs the goddess Athena appears present in the figure of another
friend of Odysseus who accompanies Telemachus on his trips to Pylos and Sparta.
This is how the presence of the custom is seen in which the young people of the
nobility were accompanied on their trips by a tutor or butler. By embodying
these ideals, Homer unintentionally became the educator of Ancient Greece.
Through his work, he promoted two complementary aspects: one technical and one
ethical. Technically, the child was trained in the use of weapons, in sports,
in chivalric games, the complete art of music (playing an instrument, singing
and dancing), oratory, etiquette, natural wisdom; but it is in the ethical where
the real educational importance of Homer and his poems rests: the true teaching
was learned by the children within the same moral climate in which their heroes
acted, whose support rested on the concept of aesthetics, that is, everything
beautiful is good because it is beautiful (ethics through aesthetics).