Odysseus represents more than just the intelligent hero in the Western literary tradition. There is also a desire for experiencing all things, a need for adventure and discovery of everything that there is to know. A representation of this drive can be found on the cover of our edition of The Odyssey. The scene of Odysseus listening to the irresistible song of the Sirens while tied to a ship mast, his crew's ears stopped with wax so as not to be tempted by the Sirens' deadly song, is reproduced there because a great painter found enough inspiration in this story to concentrate his talents upon re-creating this scene. Study it closely. What can you learn from this physical interpretation of Homer's words? I think this is an important point to remember when thinking about the character of Odysseus and why The Odyssey is an important story. In fact, the goddess Circe even exclaims about this core quality of Odysseus:
Book XII, Lines 116-117
" . . . Can't you curb
your zeal for torments, wars, ordeals - and yield
even to the immortal gods? . . ."
No, Odysseus can't. Nor can the human spirit.
Mr. Matluck
Even Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom and advocate of Odysseus, remarks upon his driven intelligence.
ReplyDeleteBook XIII, Lines 292 - 300
"No one-not even if he were a god-
could hope to dodge the plots that you concoct,
unless he had consummate cunning, craft.
Tenacious, shameless, driven to deceive,
even in your own land you cannot leave
behind the tales and traps, the lies you love.
But come, enough of this. We're connoisseurs
of cunning: when it comes to words and wiles,
no mortal matches you; . . . "
Mr. Matluck
Kelly is sleeping over. We would like to say that we do not remember any of these quotes, although you seem to. Hmmm....We feel rather stupid. Inadequate. Yes. That's us.
ReplyDelete~Your two favorite students in the entire world, Fran and Kelly. :P
Can we draw up a plotline?
ReplyDeleteA plotline is on its way. Two excellent students currently enrolled at SFHS in pre-IB and veterans of this blog last year are working on it right now. Thanks for your request.
ReplyDeleteMr. Matluck
Alright thanks! I haven't visited the page lately, was on vacation and we don't have a laptop.
ReplyDelete