The heroic world: characterisation and themes

Question 1

Concept, values and behaviour of a hero

Answer 1

Timē (honour)

Kleos – related to a Greek verb that means hear, this is a hero’s fame
and reputation, ie what people have heard about him

Question 2

Odysseus’ as a hero - interpretations

Answer 2

Jasper Griffin - In the Odyssey “the old heroism is disappearing over the horizon

In Odysseus the Greeks had a glamorous hero and expert navigator: even on a humble raft, he can steer his route by the constellations. But Odysseus is a hero who also symbolises Greek intellectual prowess in other ways. He is inherently curious about the world and investigates interesting phenomenon simply because he encounters them. - Edith Hall

three common responses to the hero of the Odyssey. First, he is the loyal hero-husband, whose eyes are fixed on one goal only: return home….Second, he is the eternal wanderer, fired with a passion for knowledge and experience. Third, he is an anti-hero, a mean, selfish time-server who employs disguise and deceit often to gain the most disreputable ends (classical Greeks and Romans saw him like this) - Peter Jones

Question 3

Societies in the Odyssey - Ithaca

Answer 3

It has a name by no means inglorious. It is known to thousands, to all the peoples who live in the direction of dawn and sunrise and all who live in the opposite direction, towards the twilight West.
True, it is rugged and unfit for driving horses, and though not extensive it is very far from poor. Corn grows well and there is wine too. Rain and fresh dew are never lacking; and it has excellent pasture for goats and cattle, timber of all kinds, and watering-places that never fail

Question 4

Societies in the Odyssey - Cyclopes

Answer 4

“When Odysseus described the Cyclops’ island and their way of living he speaks with the discerning eye of the colonist. Odysseus the mythical explorer is related to the real-life Greeks who in the archaic age sailed into unknown waters across the Mediterranean and Black Sea.” Edith Hall

Question 5

Societies in the Odyssey - Phaeacians

Answer 5

The Phaeacians are transitional characters and location between mythical fantasy worlds and the mortal realm of Ithaca - Jasper Griffin

Question 6

Societies in the Odyssey - Cicones

Answer 6

There was plenty of wine, plenty of livestock; and they kept on drinking and butchering sheep and shambling crooked-horned cattle by the shore.
Meanwhile the Cicones raised a cry for help among other Cicones, their inland neighbours, who were more numerous and better men, trained in fighting from the chariot and on foot as well, when the occasion requires.

The Cicones lets the audience see the reasons why the crew would not be able to survive the whole journey –while Odysseus wanted to do the rational thing and leave while they were still ahead, his crew decided to stay until the Cicones were able to regroup and caused 6 of the Achaeans to die in a needless battle

It also gives a look at another society which is fairly important as it fleshes out Odysseus travels into more than just a stop-by-stop adventure and adds some stakes to it. However, it is just shallow enough to not cause massive political drama but just enough to add some action into the retelling

Question 7

Societies in the Odyssey - the Lotus Eaters

Question 8

Societies in the Odyssey - Laestrygonians

Question 9

Nostos (homecoming)

Question 10

Disguise

Question 11

Recognition

Question 12

Fantasy and Supernatural