fate c Flashcards
(16 cards)
Zeus book 1 - Fate vs Free will
(about Aegisthus, Clytemnestra and Agamamnon story)
“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.”
while gods are powerful, they leave humans space to exercise free will and thus control their own destiny. = we see odysseus exercising his own agency.
distinguishes between suffering caused by human error and predetermined by destiny
Hermes urges Calypso to let Odysseus go - the gods can spur fate on
‘He is destined to see his friend and come to his high roofed house and his native land once more.’
Teiresias’ prophecy - does fate ruin the plot?
‘You will find trouble too in your house - insolent men eating up your livelihood, courting your royal wife and offering wedding gifts. It is true you will take revenge on these men… But when you have killed the suitors in your palace’
Amphinomus (the kinder suitor) - fate isn’t always fair - and is them all dying due to fate or divine judgement?
‘Not that it saved him from his fate. For Athene had already marked him out to fall to a spear from Telemachus’ hand’
Penelope’s dream about the flock of geese being killed by the eagle - fate can be interpreted from omens
‘This is not a dream but a happy reality which you will see fulfilled. The geese were your suitors and that eagle was your husband, home again and ready to inflict a gruesome fate on every man among them.’
When Odysseus had killed the suitors in book 22 he says…
‘These men were victims to the will of the gods…they paid respect to no one on earth… their own transgressions have brough them to this ignominious death’
bk 5
“nearing Phaecia’s shores where he’s fated to escape his noose of pain that’s held him until now. Still my hopes ride high - i’ll give that man his swamping fill of trouble!”
= since some gods support ody and some dont, shows the results of ody’s journey are not predetermined
cattle bk 10
bk 10
“it was their own transgression that brought them to their doom, for in their folly, the devoured the oxen of hyperion”
divine retribution can be a form of inescapable doom orchestrated by the gods. implies agency in human choices
bk 1 council of the gods, athene plea and uses aeg to show ody as good
“Consider Aegisthus: it was not his destiny to steal… Aegisthus’ end is just what he deserved. May all who act as he did share his fate!”
Aegisthus’ destiny was not preordained but a consequence of his actions, yet athene reframes his pubishment as fate, blurring lines between consequence and predestination.
bk 1 athene telling telemachus to reassure him
“Your father will not be exiled much longer from the land he loves so well, not even if he’s kept in iron chains. He will think of a way to return – he is endlessly resourceful.”
athene reassured ody’s destined return to telemachus, fate provides the ultimate outcome but ody’s inherent cunning allows him to navigate the path and overcome obstacles.
book 2 halitherses in ithaca (a soothsayer)
“Odysseus is not going to be parted from his friends much longer. he is sowing the seeds of a bloody doom for the suitors one and all”
halitherses’ prophecy frames the suitors’ imminent destruction as an inevitable adn violent doom beyond their control
book 3 athene speech to telemachus
“all the gods themselves cannot rescue even one they love, when death that stretches all men out lays it dread hand upon him”
asserts the universallisability and inevitability of death, emphasising divine lack of agency
fate metaphor by alcinous bk 7
“he must suffer whatever destiny and the relentless fate spun for him”
alcinous articulates that fate is predetermined and ody’s harships were inscribed into his life’s fabric
fate - teiresias’ prophecy
“when he takes you, you will die peacefully of old age, surrounded by a prosperous people”
bk 11 Teiresias’ prophecy, explicitely saying he will return
“he will think of a way to return - he is endlessly resourceful” Athene to telemachus in book 1
not merely a passive destiny but a product of his determined will and resourcefulness.
athene quote sentencing the suitors
‘athene had already marked him out’
‘i can already see them staining your broad floors with their blood and brains’
