★★★★★
It does no good to utter empty words
I have been meaning to read this for a very long time, and now that I have, I wish I’d read it sooner. It was such an enjoyable read, and far easier to consume than I anticipated. I wish I had read it sooner, so that I could have known the entire story sooner, and engaged with this sources and its myths sooner. Before I get into my many thoughts, let’s have a look at the long history which encompasses the Odyssey. The Odyssey is a form of epic poetry which was written down in the 8th century BCE, however its history would date earlier than that, since its roots are in the oral tradition of Ancient Greece. This story would have initially been spoken orally before finally being written down. The story has been attributed to Homer, but is placed closer to the end of his life, since the style of it is a bit different than that of the Iliad, but it still contains classic Homeric features such as the repetition of epithets, phrases, and descriptors throughout the story. At it’s core, the Odyssey still retains its inherent Homeric-ness.
What is the Odyssey all about?
In summary, the Odyssey recounts the arduous, ten year voyage of Odysseus from Troy after the Trojan War, to his home in Ithaca. Overall, Odysseus was away for 20 years; 10 years at war and 10 years to get home. His voyage is full of adventures, mishaps and truly horrible events, and the 12,000 line poem recounts his journey, as well as the situation at home with his son Telemachus and wife Penelope. As Odysseus (our hero of the story), meets sorceresses who turn his men into pigs, travels to the underworld to talk to the ghosts of his friends, meets bloodthirsty cyclops and gets trapped on an enchanted island for 7 years (among other adventures), his wife Penelope is at home keeping many suitors at bay who wish to marry her under the assumption that Odysseus is not coming home. The men are eating Penelope and Telemachus out of house and home, and after 3 years, Telemachus goes to Pylos and Sparta to learn of any news Menelaus and Nestor may know of his father. When Odysseus returns to Ithaca, he is disguised as an old man by Athena, and pretends to be someone else until he gets the chance to kill the suitors and show himself to his patient wife.
There is a time for long tales, and there is a time for sleep
11.379
My Chaotic Thoughts
Right from the get go, I found this to be an easier read than the Iliad, although I thought that the first four books focussing solely on Telemachus (known as the Telemachy) was a bit boring. It definitely helped that I was prepared for Odysseus’ story to start after the first four books, though, so here’s your warning that it takes a bit to really get into the juicy bits. I found it so interesting that the story starts not at the beginning of Odysseus’ journey, but close to the end of it, and we learn about his misadventures as he tells his story to Alcinous of the Phaeacians. I loved the books detailing Odysseus’ journey, they were thrilling and somewhat disastrous, and I enjoyed it so much! His men though, were SO frustrating 😂 Here’s a run down of one of their adventures:
Odysseus: don’t eat the cows, they’re sacred.
His Men: okay …
Odysseus: wtf where’d this meat come from?
His Men: we ate some cows
Odysseus: *face palm*
Like, I couldn’t deal with them 😂😂 The section with Polyphemus was brutal and bloodthirsty, but Odysseus really was a smart cookie. The whole ‘nobody’ ruse (which I already knew from Percy Jackson, so thanks for that Rick), was clever and such a genius way out of a difficult situation! I was sort of expecting more in the section where Odysseus gets tied to his ship so he can listen to the sirens, so that was a bit anti climactic, but the rest was action packed and very enjoyable. I also thought, despite it being a prose translation, the whole thing still had such a poetic rhythm to it. Very well done in the translation department I think! I was also so surprised how much of the Odyssey was inspiration for the Percy Jackson books. I almost think that I enjoyed this story more, knowing how it’s been used as inspiration more than 2,000 years after it was written down! Towards the ending, we get more of Penelope and I loved it. I thought she was a bright, clever and perceptive woman who was strong, and kept her home and her son safe as best as she could. I thoroughly understand why she was seen as this ‘ideal woman’ in Ancient Greece, although definitely not for the same reasons they thought.
What a lamentable thing it is that men should blame the gods and regard us as the source of their troubles, when it is their own transgressions which bring them suffering that was not their destiny.
1. 33-34
This quote, from the VERY beginning of the epic really stuck with me throughout the reading of it. So many times did Odysseus and others blame their misfortunes on the gods, rather than their own choices and actions. For example here’s this quote '‘Father Zeus, you are the cruellest of gods. You have no compunction about dealing out misfortunes, misery and suffering to us men; yet it was you who caused up to be born’ (20.201-203). I mean, they blame everything on the gods, as if they have no free will, and of course they have the Fates, who they believed controlled the destinies of men, but still. It's so interesting to read their complete disbelief that the gods would treat them so badly, or cause such misfortune as if they forced every choice and action! The whole fate vs free-will concept in this epic is truly fascinating, and when I re-read it, it is definitely something I want to keep at the forefront of my mind.
Of course, I couldn’t help but comment on the way that women were talked about, referred to and treated in this story. One of the most hypocritical comments came from Agamemnon (what a shock… not!) who doesn’t hold back when talking about his wife and his death. When Agamemnon returned from Troy, he learnt that his wife had taken a lover, Aegisthus, and upon his arrival at Mycenae, he was killed by his wife, as was his concubine Cassandra. So, naturally, when Odysseus went to Hades, Agamemnon took the chance to whine to him about Clytemnestra the ‘treacherous schemer.’ Agamemnon states that ‘there is nothing more degraded or shameful than a woman who can contemplate and carry out deeds like the hideous crime of murdering the husband of her youth’ (11.428-430) and ‘in the depth of her villainy, she has branded with infamy not herself alone but the whole of her sex, even the virtuous ones, for all time to come’ (11.433-435). Not to mention that because of ‘women’s crooked ways’ (11.438) they are no longer to be trusted! So, let’s keep in mind that all of this, is coming from the man who literally KILLED THEIR DAUGHTER on the way to Troy, because HE had insulted Artemis (and also literally brought BACK a concubine from the war). Honestly, these men are such hypocrites and boy does it bug me 😂 Don’t even get me started on the way Telemachus speaks to his mother and the way Odysseus treats the maids and women who work for his household. The translation also uses the word ‘bitch’ as a descriptive of women quite a lot in this book, and I would be interested to know what the original word in Greek was. It seems like quite a violent word, and it was really jarring every time it was used, which was often thrown directly towards the woman in question. If anyone knows the Greek word used please let me know!!! One last point here, is at the very end, prior to killing the twelve women that Odysseus believes were disloyal to him and his home in the TWENTY years he was gone, he tells them to clean up the corpses of the suitors with the knowledge that they were about to die. That whole scene was barbaric and horrible and honestly, by the end of this story, I did not see Odysseus as a true hero, but definitely more morally grey than initially anticipated.
However, it is important to remember that we are reading these ancient epics from a completely different time than when they were composed, and it’s impossible to read these without bias, simply because there’s been over 2,000 years worth of change and development in the world since they were composed. BUT, this doesn’t mean you can’t have ISSUES with these stories, I mean really, you should have issues with them! They are working in an intrinsically misogynistic time which can be seen from the language and treatment used towards the women alone.
This is by no means all my thoughts, but they are the most prevalent ones that I wanted to write down! I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this epic! Did you enjoy it? Did you like it more than the Iliad? Lemme know in the comments or come find me on Instagram @kell_read!