Notes From Class

Notes From Class

[Differences Between the Odyssey and the Hebrew Bible]

Odyssey
-Sensual environment
-Feasts: eating meat, drinking wine
-A people defined by what they love: (feasting, drinking, hospitality, sex, sleeping, fertility, courage)
-Upper-class
-The way to understand Greek universe
-Not a sacred book, but sometimes used like one
-A value system is derived
-Not a moral universe
-They are sad when they lose their friends – but there is no retribution from gods - the gods don't seem to care
-Aesthetic universe - They play games

Bible
-Domestic lives (more understandable)
-Considered a Holy book
-Moral universe - When Jacob's brothers kill the rapists, this is not something the Bible likes - they get the last word but are not counted as heroes

[Similarities]

Odyssey/ Bible

1. Curiosity:
-Odysseus is curious about the sirens and wants to be the first man to hear their song and not be consumed by them
-Bible - Adam and Eve are curious


[Differences of morality in two books]
[Different representations of the hero]

Differences between Joseph and Odysseus

Bible:
-Joseph changes and is unrecognizable by his brothers
-He forgives brothers (although they are doubtful and afraid, they soon are convinced and change)
-Physical strength is not especially valued in Old Testament
-We don't know if Joseph is strong or weak
-It's not the physical strength that will get him by; it's his mind and the ability he has to interpret dreams

Odyssey:
-Odysseus and all the characters remain the same throughout - no development
-Physical abilities: strong, fast, athletic, warrior
-Corporeal universe

Similarities between Joseph and Odysseus

-Clever and good with words
-Intellectual
-Good with strategies and plots

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Western movies with shoot outs in the end - that's the Odyssey (See: No Country For Old Men)



1. Why do you think Athena has such a crush on Odysseus?

-They are very similar
-There's one point when Odysseus doesn't even trust Athena
-Athena is Odysseus - in a way

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-No suspense in Odyssey - Athena will take care of everything

-Deus ex Machina - Latin, literally meaning "a god out of a machine"
(OED definition: A power, event, person, or thing that comes in the nick of time to solve a difficulty; providential interposition, esp. in a novel or play)

-In Media Res - Latin for "in the middle of things"
-The Odyssey starts from the middle of the story
-Virtue of the flashback
-Storytelling is strong in Odyssey

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2. Why does Poseidon hate Odysseus?

-Odysseus kills his son (the Cyclops)

____

-The gods take sides
-A god cannot undo anything done by another god
-A god can compensate but not override another god's decision

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3. What do you think is Penelope's finest moment?
-The unraveling of the yarn
-The testing of the bed (she really is the right one for him)

4. And what is Odysseus' finest moment?

-Shooting arrows at the end