Odyssey modern scholarship

Question 1

Scholars on Odysseus: (5)

Answer 1

• Griffin
• Jones
• Schein
• Bowra
• Clayton

Question 2

Scholars on Penelope: (3)

Answer 2

• Griffin
• Jones
• Wilson

Question 3

Who says that Telemachus is “asserting himself for the first time…

Answer 3

… both with the suitors and with his mother”?
- J. Griffin

Question 4

Who says that Odysseus tries to avoid death so that he can win glory by telling his achievements?

Answer 4

J. Griffin

Question 5

Who says that Penelope “shows herself to be like him;…

Answer 5

… the true wife for the hero of the Odyssey”
- J. Griffin

Question 6

Why does Jones say Penelope wishes for Odysseus to come home?

Answer 6

To solve her conflicts

Question 7

Penelope’s veil is “a sign of modesty and/or chastity”?

Answer 7

P. Jones

Question 8

Odysseus’ disguises and deceptions are “a means to a justifiable and suitably heroic end”?

Answer 8

P. Jones

Question 9

P. Jones on Athene/Odysseus?

Answer 9

Their relationship stands out from other god/mortal relations because of their intimacy - shown in book 13

Question 10

P. Jones on war in the Odyssey?

Answer 10

The Odyssey makes
“the household… rather than the battlefield, the centre of the world”

Question 11

Odysseus “could never… be pinned down”?

Answer 11

S. Schein

Question 12

S. Schein on women in the Odyssey?

Answer 12

Homer ranks Penelope’s heroism and power as equal to Odysseus’

Question 13

Who says the Odyssey is the “final and definitive statement about the theme of a heroic homecoming”?

Answer 13

G. Nagy

Question 14

How does E. Wilson describe Penelope?

Answer 14

“strong-willed”
“loyal”
“competent, mostly single mother”

Question 15

Who makes the point that women are described with bird metaphors?

Answer 15

E. Wilson

Question 16

Who says the purpose of revenge in the Odyssey is to restore honour and maintain social order, not just to express personal anger?

Answer 16

J. Stanton

Question 17

Who says that modern and ancient audiences will see the deaths of the suitors differently?

Answer 17

J. Stanton

Question 18

Who compares revenge to xenia due to it’s reciprocal nature?

Answer 18

A. Loney

Question 19

C.M. Bowra on the suitors?

Answer 19

“a degenerate corruption of heroes”.
They are the opposite of the heroic idea;

Question 20

J. Morrison on the suitors?

Answer 20

Victory over the suitors is a necessary victory of good over evil, sanctioned by the gods

Question 21

Doherty on women and metis?

Answer 21

“Penelope and Athena, while sharing Odysseus’ characteristic metis, also represent extremes of ignorance and knowledge, vulnerability and control”

Question 22

“Odysseus compensates for his lack of physical impressiveness by means of verbal skills”

Answer 22

B. Clayton

Question 23

“his need for cunning is enforced by his own recklessness”

Answer 23

C.M Bowra

Question 24

Who thinks the episode with Polyphemus is Odysseus’ greatest achievement because it shows his metis?

Answer 24

P. Jones

Question 25

Who thinks that Odysseus needs the gods favour and advice, but still makes his own decisions?

Answer 25

J. Morrison

Question 26

Scodel on the context of Homeric stories?

Answer 26

Scodel says they “provided entertainment, historical continuity and a method of ethical thought”

Question 27

E. Hall on the context of the Odyssey?

Answer 27

Odysseus sailing around Greece is related to the Greek history of naval exploration, according to E. Hall

Question 28

W. A Camps on our version of the Odyssey? and how it compares to the Aeneid?

Answer 28

It has been passed down orally for 350 years and altered and distorted by many people. Therefore the Aeneid may be the more perfected epic.

Question 29

Who says 2000/12,000 lines of the Odyssey appear more than once?

Answer 29

W.A. Camps

Question 30

W.A. Camps on war?

Answer 30

“the Odyssey looks back with grief and regret to the war at Troy”

Question 31

“the Odyssey traces deep male fears about women”

Answer 31

E. Wilson