scholarship - final

Question 1

hauser - women

Answer 1

whilst men and women had different roles in society, in Homeric epic we see women demonstrating their own agency. They act as foils to men but are also interesting characters in their own right.

Question 2

graziosi - women

Answer 2

all women and female monsters pose a threat to Odysseus’ nostos, most importantly his own wife Penelope.

Question 3

jones - women

Answer 3

penelope is by no means helpless

Question 4

goldhill - xenia

Answer 4

Xenia is a way of judging the different societies in the odyssey incl how civilised they are. eg ody appears as a disguised guest in his own house to test them

Question 5

hall - xenia

Answer 5

breaking xenia is the suitors’ fundamental crime so their punishment is just

Question 6

west - xenia

Answer 6

xenia is an obligation that is felt through generations and was integral to society (keeps ody safe and allows tele access to nestor and agamemnon)

Question 7

nagy - nostos

Answer 7

the odyssey is not only a nostos; it is a nostos end to all other nostoi = odyssey is final and definitive statement about theme of heroic homecoming and closure of the heroic age. ody a hero as he gets home whereas achilles agamemnon are underworld

Question 8

kahane - nostos

Answer 8

the most prominent return is odysseus’ reunion with penelope

Question 9

hauser - kleos and nostos

Answer 9

odysseus is not driven by kleos but by his desire to return home.

Question 10

graziosi - nostos

Answer 10

homer wants us to realise above all interests, Odysseus’ desire is to get home

Question 11

hall - nostos

Answer 11

nostos is what ody craves throughout the epic

Question 12

graziosi - odysseus/homeric hero

Answer 12

“man of many turns” = comic character, tragic hero, stoic sage, and a villain = odysseus could never and cannot yet be pinned down

Question 13

silk - odysseus/homeric hero

Answer 13

odysseus’ most heroic quality is his cunning
odysseus is polutropos (ingenious, man of many turns, cunning) which helps him survive

Question 14

hall - odysseus/ homeric hero

Answer 14

odysseus stands out as not only a physically strong hero but also an intellectual with varied skills which are relatable to 8th century greeks

Question 15

adkins - odysseus/homeric hero kinda moreso honour

Answer 15

you must be wealthy and have time to be a good man - morality and status are closely linked

Question 16

clayton - odysseus/homeric hero

Answer 16

odysseus compensates for his lack of physical impressiveness by means of verbal skill

Question 17

jenkyns - ody/ homeric hero

Answer 17

odysseus is both an iliadic warrior and a folk tale trickster

Question 18

Murnaghan - disguise and rec

Answer 18

the odyssey is a narrative characterised by events moving towards a conclusion as part of a strategy or design, it is coloured by the premise that odysseus is always in control

Question 19

Hauser - disguise and rec ->

Answer 19

disguise is used to drive the plot forward and tension is created through near recognitions.

Question 20

Murnaghan - disguise and rec di

Answer 20

ody’s disguise allows the audience the insight of dramatic irony and allows the pleasure of the foretold reunion.

Question 21

jenkyns- literary techique/structure

Answer 21

the odyssey is complex due to the flashback narrative with narration in 1st person which is absent in many epics

Question 22

stanton - justice and revenge rj m/a

Answer 22

justice in homer may not be the same for modern readers, but the revenge in killing the suitors and disloyal servants shows a “developing concept of retributive justice”

Question 23

stanton - justice and revenge pv a

Answer 23

the suitors’ deaths are sanctioned by zeus, and athene even helps odysseus to kill them = this is not jsut a personal vendetta

Question 24

silk - justice and revenge

Answer 24

few of homer’s modern readers would condone revenge killing in such a context, but to odyssey does - or does it?

Question 25

loney - justice and revenge

Answer 25

the odyssey is full of vengeance and that is a vengeance which is reciprocal (tisis) like xenia

Question 26

thalmann - slaves

Answer 26

the odyssey first presents us with a society polarised between high and low, the aristoi holding wealth and power, and below were the others. but is a simplified representation whereby society is viewed from the perspective of the elite.

Question 27

thalmann - slaves g v b

Answer 27

slaves are categorised into good and bad. thus the slave lacking autonomy is corruptible and dangerous in oikos. or as capable because of an innate nobility which means they can decide to remain loyal to an absent master

Question 28

lawson - fate

Answer 28

there is an ambiguous blur between fate and the gods, especially with zeus. fate and the gods intersect and intertwine.

Question 29

hastings - fate

Answer 29

even the greek gods are subject to fate and cannot avoid it, they serve as a mirror of men and women

Question 30

nilsson - fate

Answer 30

sometimes conceived as determined by gods and zeus. zeus feels able to correct fate and refrains from doing so upon the exhortation of Hera

Question 31

franklin - family alive

Answer 31

although the odyssey is about nostos, it has lots to say about the cost of homewrecking. odysseus must make it back alive or else his house will fall.

Question 32

Franklin - family stab br

Answer 32

Homer is urgently concerned wiht preserving the stability of the family unit, and working out hte frightening social and political consequence of familial breakdown

Question 33

Kalpakgian - family civ w context

Answer 33

**odyssey portrays family as central to civilisation**. ody's reunion with penelope, tele and laertes. reflects Homer’s context, where emerging Greek city-states valued social cohesion and household stability to rebuild after the Mycenaean collapse.

Question 34

Kalpakgian - pen and family

Answer 34

Penelope’s heroic fidelity in the face of the suitors’ siege and temptation to remarry prevents the disintegration of the family and the lapse into barbarism.

Question 35

mandzuka - fate and suitors and ody blame

Answer 35

'homer removes odysseus of any responsibility over the deaths of his comrades and the executions (of suitors) because they all had to die for reasons of fate'

Question 36

kelly - gods' free will v fate

Answer 36

'within the boundaries of fate, Poseidon can pursue his feud against Odysseus as he wished'

Question 37

Hauser - honour and wealth

Answer 37

gifts and possessions = honour -> the suitors are taking away his honour so must be punished

Question 38

Graziosi on Odysseus - Negative

Answer 38

Odysseus gets home not because of his own cleverness but because of random events which he has no control over

Question 39

Jones on Gods and mortals

Answer 39

Men are at the whims of Gods

Question 40

Jenkyns on Odysseus and Athene relt

Answer 40

Relationship is like banter between a Olympian goddess and a mortal man

Question 41

Walcot on Xenia - bk 8 9

Answer 41

Book 8 is how to entertain a stranger, Book 9 is how to not entertain a stranger

Question 42

Atwood on Penelope - Negative

Answer 42

Penelope was sleeping with the suitors and had the maids killed so Odysseus wouldn't find out

Question 43

Schein on Polyphemus - Negative barb

Answer 43

The savagery is exaggerated by the way he eats his victims raw - barbaric

Question 44

what does Bowra say about odysseus stupidity paving the way for resourcefulness

Answer 44

his need for cunning is enforced by his own recklessness

Question 45

what does griffin say about the maturation of telemachus

Answer 45

the young man in the process of achieving adult status, asserting himself for the first time both with the suitors and with his mother

Question 46

what does peter jones say about odysseus men compared to the suitors

Answer 46

the gluttonous slaughter of the cattle should remind us of the loathsome suitors, and it is this connection that leads us to have minimal sympathy for them

Question 47

what does jones say about how gods helping mortals is a positive?

Answer 47

it is tempting to say that Athene's continuing presence diminishes the stature of Odysseus. But it is important to emphasise that in homer, the gods help onlv those who are worthy of it

Question 48

what does Doherty say about the duality of Athenes gender identity

Answer 48

Athene presides over two spheres that are otherwise strictly confined to opposite genders: weaving and warfare

Question 49

Murnaghan (Penelope intelligence)

Answer 49

"Penelope’s intelligence rivals Odysseus’, though hers is exercised in different ways." – Challenges the idea of female passivity; Penelope is an active figure in the story.

Question 50

Jones (Divine Intervention)

Answer 50

"The gods are not distant – they are involved in every level of human experience." – Explains the integral role of divine influence in shaping mortal lives and outcomes.