Use the comment button below to post your favorite line (or lines) from the poem, and give a brief explanation of why you made your choice. Indicate the speaker, the book, and the line numbers.
I'll start:
"Let me hear no smooth talk
of death from you, Odysseus, light of councils.
Better, I say, to break sod as a farm hand
for some poor country man, on iron rations,
than lord it over all the exhausted dead." (Achilles, Book XI, lines 542-546
Achilles, who traded glory for death, is humbled; he speaks a message of life that all mortals can relate to. Furthermore, he cuts right through Odysseus's clumsy attempt to honor him in death. One of the few moments someone is an equal match to Odysseus's rhetorical skills.
'Kyklops,
ReplyDeleteyou ask my noble name? Remember
the gift you promised me, and I shall tell you.
My name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends,
everybody calls me Nohbdy.'
Odysseus tricks the Cyclops into thinking his name is Nohbdy, or Nobody. This was a smart move upon Odysseus' part for two reasons: 1. if he had've told his real name, the cyclops would have eaten him then and there because he had a prophecy made to him that a man named Odysseus would blind him, and 2. later when Odysseus blinded the cyclops the false name confused the other cyclops so they did not bother to hunt him down. ('Nohbdy, Nohbdy's tricked me, Nohbdy's ruined me!') I like this section because it is oddly similar to a modern day prank call.
"You yellow dogs, you thought I'd never make it
ReplyDeletehome from the land of Troy. You took my house to plunder, twisted my maids to serve your beds. You dared bid for my wife while I was still alive. Contempt as all you had for the gods who rule wide heaven, contempt for what men say of you hereafter. Your last hour has come. You die in blood." (Odysseus, Book XXII, lines 34-40)
I believe this is the point at which the story climaxes. Odysseus is finally allowed and able to claim back what is rightfully his. The end result of 20 years of trials and tribulations converge on this one point in the poem.
"Would even you have guessed
ReplyDeletethat I am Pallas Athena, daughter of Zeus,
I that am always with you in times of trial,
a shield to you in battle, I who made
the Phaiakians befriend you, to a man?"
(Athena, Book XIII, Lines 354-358)
I don't think Odysseus even realized he had someone watching/guiding him on his way back home. I feel like Odysseus is giving up his journey back to Ithaka, then Athena tells him that she has been with him the entire time and that he has now reached Ithaka. Odysseus had to break down before Athena could tell him that she was looking out for him and that she wasn't going to let anything happen to him. Athena is helping someone below her, a mortal, a mere man, even though he cannot even compare to herself.
"My word, how mortals take the gods to task! All their afflictions come from us, we hear. And what of their own failings? Freed and folly double the suffering in the lot of man."
ReplyDeleteIt is like the gods say they are in control of our lives. Things happen in our life that they want or "let" happen to us. When they give us a warning and command it is up to us to follow or if not we as mortals we have to suffer the consequences. When things do go wrong that cause harm or even death then they say now we should have listen.
Telemakhos
ReplyDelete"my distinguished father is lost,
who ruled among you once, mild as a feather,
and there is now this greater evil still:
my hime and all I have are being ruined.
Mother wanted no suitors, but like a pack
they came-sons of the beast men here among them"
(Book II line, 48-53_
Odysseus' son, Telemakhos, finally stands up and is mad at how the suitors have come. Stabbing their past leader in the back, trying to take his place. He spaeks of how his father, Odysseus, did them no wrong yet they come running to replace him as soon as they find out that he has gone missing. Though his wife is not wanting to re-marry, she has no say in what goes on. Just to choose.
Father of gods, will the bright immortals ever
ReplyDeletepay me respect again, if mortals do not?-
Phaiakians, too my own blood kin? (Poseidon Book XIII lines 146-148)
Poseidon, god of earthquake is upset , so he goes to Zeus and complains that Odysseus has been returned home without a sacrifice to him. Zeus tells him to do as he thinks appropriate and when the ship nears the bay of Skheria. Poseidon turned the ship and the sailors into stone.
"My word, how mortals take the gods to task! All their afflictions come from us, we hear. And what of their failings? Greed and folly double the suffering in the lot of man."
ReplyDelete(Book I Lines 45-48)
I think this quote is very interesting because it shows what the gods think of the humans. Traditionally, I would think that whatever happens in someone's life is because "God" or "the gods" wills it. However, I think that this quote makes the gods almost sound weak. They blame all of man's problems on man himself. It shows that there are some things that the gods cannot control, such as greed or folly.
“My word, how mortals take the gods to task! All their afflictions come from us, we hear. And what of their own failings?” Zeus: Book 1: 45-47
ReplyDeleteI went back to the beggining for my quote because I like how Zeus states that the mortals think that its always the gods fault for their lives being the way they are. “All their afflictions come from us, we hear.” Zeus states here that all of their afflictions, their pain, comes from us, the gods. “And what of their own failings?” Zeus questions why the mortals don’t point out their own faults, intstead of pointing out what the gods have done, point out what they themselves have done. When really the gods havent done anything that the people didn’t provoke, yet the gods were harsh in their punishments Zeus states that the people always ask why the gods have done this and that when really the mortals have provoked them in some way to do what has happened. This is not only important in the Odessy but it also is important in present day. Most people want to blame everyone else instead of taking the responsibility for what has happened in their lives.
"don't stay too long away from home, leaving
ReplyDeleteyour treasure there, and brazen suitors near;
they'll squander all you have or take it from you..." (book 3, line 336-339)
I like these lines because they are so real and so very true. It is realistic to think that somneone will take your precious things if you leave what you have behind. Never take anything you have for granted and hold all your precious things dear to you. I like these lines a lot because they have meaning to me and I can relate to keeping my precious things dear to me.
"Friend, let me put it in the plainest way. My Mother says I am his son: I know not surely. Who has known his own engendering? I wish at least I have some happy man as father, growing old in his own house- but unknown death and silence are the fate of him that, since you ask, they call my father." He is saying he wishes he had a father figure in his life and I can imagine because I never had a father figure in my life either so I can relate to this quote.
ReplyDelete"O Majesty, O Father of us all,
ReplyDeleteif it now please the blissful gods
that wise Odysseus reach his home again,
let the Wayfinder, Hermes, cross the sea
to the island of Ogygia; let him tell
our fixed intent to the nymph with pretty braids,
and let the steadfast amn depart for home.
For my part, I shall visit Ithaka."
(Book 1 Lines 104-110)
I really like this quote because at this point in the story Athena isn't just a regular goddess but a kind goddess. She uses her power to plead Odysseu's case in returning home and unlike the other Gods, she risks herself to show him the way.
“’Not for the whole treasure of your fathers,
ReplyDeleteall you enjoy, lands, flocks, or any gold
put up by others, would I hold my hand.
There will be killing till the score is paid.
You forced yourselves upon this house.
Fight your way out,
or run for it, if you think you’ll escape
death…’”(Odysseus, Book XXII, lines 61-66).
This is the speech the Odysseus gives to all the suitors at his house. He is promising bloodshed and violence to all those who have forced themselves upon his house without permission. As soon as Odysseus gives this speech, Telemachus runs to the armory to grab the weapons that he stored away earlier. This is the beginning to the ending that, I personally, have been waiting for.
“Goddess to god, you greet me, questioning me?
ReplyDeleteWell, here is truth for you in courtesy,
Zeus made me com, and not my inclination;
Who cares to cross that tract of desolation,
the bitter sea, all mortal towns behind
where gods have beef and honors from mankind?
But it is not to be thoughtof—and no use—
For any god to elude the will of Zeus.” (Hermes, Book V, lines 103-110)
Hermes, the messesnger god, is defending the message he is delivering to Kalypso, a sea goddess, by invoking Zeus, the king of gods and men. No god or goddess can refuse the will of Zeus.
“…Calypso’s island, home of the dangerous nymph with glossy braids, and the goddess took me in all her kindness, welcomed me warmly, cherished me, even vowed to make me immortal, ageless, all my days—but she never won the heart inside me, never. Seven endless years I remained there, always drenching with my tears the immortal clothes Calypso gave me. “ This passage shows me how much strength actually lies within the human heart. Not so much as physical strength, but spiritual. Odysseus had to search within himself and find what was more important to him. Easily he could have said that he wanted to stay with Calypso where there was no worries. He could have forgotten about home and the pain getting there just by accepting Calypso’s offer. She gave him the chance to live an eternal life with her. However, his values were not set on Calypso’s desires. He wanted to accomplish what he wanted to do, which was find his way home. I feel as if Zeus felt sorry for Odysseus. Odysseus knew deep down on the inside that he wanted to go home, and he stuck to his desires. Zeus had mercy on Odysseus and sent word to Calypso to let him go. After all, it IS Odysseus fate to make it home, no matter the hard trials or circumstances.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite parts of the book is in Book 8 when Laodamas challenges Odysseus’s skills as an athlete.
ReplyDeleteOdysseus answered, "Laodamas, why do you taunt me in this way? my mind is set rather on cares than contests; I have been through infinite trouble, and am come among you now as a suppliant, praying your king and people to further me on my return home."
Here Odysseus has been at sea then tossed around in the water fortunate enough to make it onto land, then after eating is more or less has to defend his own and his country’s honor in sporting events because he is challenged by someone much younger than himself.
Of all that breathes and crawls across the earth,
ReplyDeleteour mother earth breeds nothing feebler than a man.
So long as the gods grant him power, spring in his knees,
he thinks he will never suffer affliction down the years.
But then, when the happy gods bring on the long hard times,
bear them he must, against his will, and steel his heart. (Odysseus, book XVIII, lines 150-157)
I enjoy this quote simply because Odysseus, speaking to a man who wants to take over his kingdom and take his wife, is implying that he will suffer greatly because of Karma inflicted by the Gods.
"My lords, hear me:
ReplyDeletesuitors indeed, you commandeered this house
to feast and drink in, day and night, my husband
being long gone, long out of mind. You found
no justification for yourselves--none
except your lust to marry me. Stand up then:
we now declare a contest for that prize.
Here is my lord Odysseus' hunting bow.
Bend and string it if you can. Who sends an arrow
through iron axe-helve sockets, twelve in line?
I join my life with his, and leave this place, my home,
my rich and beautiful bridal house, forever
to be remembered, through I dream it only."
Book 21, Lines 67-79
I like this quote because it makes Penelope seem like she has given up to see the man she has been waiting so long for. She knows that no man is strong enough to string that bow except Odysseus. She plans to remain a single woman until Odysseus arrives home or she dies.
“Go feasting elsewhere,
ReplyDeleteConsume your own stores. Turn and turn about,
Use one another’s houses. If you choose
Slaughter one man’s livestock and pay nothing,
This is rapine: and by the eternal gods
I beg Zeus you shall get what you deserve:
A slaughter here, and nothing paid for it!”
Book 1 Lines 413-419
Telemakhos is angry with the suitors of his mother. He’s expressing his anger by shouting out to them telling them basically that they are being freeloaders. They eat, sleep, drink for free in his father’s house and try to lay up with his father’s wife and no one pays anything! He wants them to leave but he can’t make them leave by himself. So it’s almost as if he curses them when he says he wants Zeus to give them what they deserve! I like these lines and this part of the book because we see Telemakhos for who he really is! He’s fed up and he goes off to do something about it, and that is to find his father!
“My lady goddess, here is no cause for anger.
ReplyDeleteMy quiet Penelope—how well I know—
Would seem a shade before your majesty,
Death and old age being unknown to you,
While she must die. Yet, it is true, each day
I long for home, long for the sight of home.
If any god has marked me out again
for shipwreck, my tough heart can undergo it.
What hardship have I not long since endured
At sea, in battle! Let the trial come.”
(Odysseus, Book V, lines 224-233)
Here Odysseus is responding to Kalypso by talking about how he misses his home. She is trying to keep him on her island, but his longing to be home once again prevails and he leaves. I can sympathize for Odysseus here as a reader since I can truly see his heart still rests at home with his kingdom and family. The several years he has been away from home has only strengthened the longing to return one day. I can’t help but to think of the idiom “home is where the heart is” when reading this quote. Even a man of great strengths and wits can somewhat have a sensitive side as seen in Odysseus missing his wife and home.
"A poor show, that--hitting this famished tramp-- bad business, if he happened to be a god. You know they go in foreign guise, the gods do, looking like strangers, turning up in towns and settlements to keep an eye on manners, good or bad." (Someone from the crowd, Book XVII lines 562-567)
ReplyDeleteI like the irony. The tramp is not a god but is Odysseus in disguise by the help of a god.
This is a re-post to correct the spelling of the word “messenger” in my earlier post.
ReplyDeleteSidney
“Goddess to god, you greet me, questioning me?
Well, here is truth for you in courtesy,
Zeus made me com, and not my inclination;
who cares to cross that tract of desolation,
the bitter sea, all mortal towns behind
where gods have beef and honors from mankind?
But it is not to be thought of—and no use—
for any god to elude the will of Zeus.” (Hermes, Book V, lines 103-110)
Hermes, the messenger god, is defending the message he is delivering to Kalypso, a sea goddess, by invoking Zeus, the king of gods and men. No god or goddess can refuse the will of Zeus.
"Of these adventures, Muse, daughter of Zeus,
ReplyDeletetell us in our time, lift the great song again.
Begin when all the rest who left behind them headlong death in battle or at sea
had long ago returned, while he alone still hungered
for home and wife."
I like this quote simply because it is a good introduction that caught my interest. Talk of a man having to overcome hardships to return home had me looking forward to reading the story.
‘Kyklops,
ReplyDeleteyou ask my honorable name? Remember
the gift you promised me, and I shall tell you.
My name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends,
everyone calls me Nohbdy.’
P: 327 Book: IX Lines: 380-384
I did not get this when I first read it. I assumed I was pronouncing the name wrong. This is a perfect example of how cunning Odysseus is. When Odysseus and his men blinded the Kyklops he cried out in agony. The neighboring Kyklops heard his grief and went over to find out what was causing his pain. When they asked why he cried out in the night, he replied that Nohbdy had tricked him. The Kyklops then told him that they could do nothing of pain caused by Zeus that he should pray to Poseidon, his father. Odysseus had tricked him into telling the other Kyklops that nobody had tricked him. He was able to escape from the cave by hiding under the sheep as they went out to graze. I thought it was hilarious how the Kyklops was tricked. I think he got what he deserved.
“No God. Why take me for a God? No. No.
ReplyDeleteI am the father whom your boyhood lacked and suffered pain for the lack of. I am he." (Homer pg 421 lines 199-201)
These are the words spoken by Odysseus to Telemakhos when Athena changed him from the beggar man to himself. Telemakhos exclaims disbelieve at the transformation before him and believes the man to be a God. Once hearing these words of Odysseus identity, he still believes this is the work of meddling spirits.
This is one of my favorite parts; Homer takes a complex human side of the poem and acknowledges a lifetime of absence into a small handful of very few simple words to Telemakhos. I also like the idea of presentation forms of this passage at different times in history. For instance during the Dark Age of Greece, oral presentation could be dramatically displayed with actors playing out the emotions of Telemakhos’ childhood pain, Odysseus’ regret to his young prince, and the proclamation of “I am he” with a great fury of oral levels. Another time and culture could simply present the words themselves and let dramatic effect take place without a lot of hoopla.
My spin: this passage relates to our current time, “I am he” is an unfortunate fanatsy. Isn’t this the words every fatherless child longs to hear?
Book I: Telémakhos Lines 268-290
ReplyDelete“Friend now that you ask about these matters our house was always princely, a great house, as long as he of whom we speak remained here. But evil days the Gods have brought upon it, making him vanish, as they have, so strangely. Were his death known, I could not feel such pain---If he had died of wounds in Trojan country or in the arms of friends, after the war. They would have made a tomb for him, the Akhaians, and I should have all honor as his son. Instead the whirlwinds got him, and no glory. He’s gone, no sign, no word of him; and I inherit the gods have laid such other burdens on me. For now the lords of the islands, Doulíkhion and Samê, wooded ZakÝnthos and rocky Ithaka’s young lords as well, are here courting my mother; and they use our house as if it were a house to plunder. Spurn them she dare not, though she hates that marriage, nor can she bring herself to choosing them. Meanwhile they eat their way through all we have, and when they will, they can demolish me.
This quote is stating how Telémakhos is wishing how his father was around because the house has changed since his father has been gone. Being that the Gods have decided to bring up evil in the Trojan country to where it is holding Odysseus captive and would not allow him to return home to Ithaka. The lord of the islands has taken advantage of Odysseus absence by having relations with his wife. In addition they’ve been using their house as if it was one of those houses with goods they can steal. However, the lord of the islands has been eating them out of house and home. Now with Odysseus gone there is no telling if the house will ever get back to normal. Neither for the reason that there has been not one sign of Odysseus returning home nor having heard a word from him. Leaving Telémakhos to believe if his father were dead he would have sensed the death of his father. Though, since there have been no signs of his father the Gods have weighted Telémakhos down with other burdens of life. Thus, leaving him to become the man of the house during the absence of his father Odysseus
“Stranger, you are no longer what you were just now! Your cloak is new; even your skin! You are one of the gods who rule the sweep of heaven! Be kind to us, we’ll make you fair oblation and gifts of hammered gold. Have mercy on us!”
ReplyDeleteTelemakhos - Book XVI - Line 192-197
In Telemakhos eyes saw his father changed from a beggar to Odysseus. He was frightened that he offended the gods , but he realized it was his father. That was a special moment in both of their lives.
“No need for anguish on that lad's account.
ReplyDeleteI sent him off myself, to make his name in foreign parts--no hardship in the bargain,
taking his eyes in Menelaos mansion lapped in gold.
Athena: Book XIII -line 490 to 495
The voice of a woman telling Odysseus the fact as she saw them.
A indicate of things to follow.
Knowing that the grey-eyed goddess Athena was a God of war!
But God who inherited wisdom from her mother.
Controling.
Just as I
ReplyDeletehave come from afar, creating pain for many—
men and women across the good green earth
so let his name be Odysseus . . .
the Son of Pain, a name he’ll earn in full.
This quote is about odysseus' name and how it represents pain. It says that he is going to be like his grandfather who also has the quality of pain.
posted by Perfesser on behalf of Chris B:
ReplyDeleteThe scene is after the pair of eagles sent by Zeus appear above the crowd of suitors in answer to Telemakhos supplication to Zeus to bring slaughter on the suitors. The pair of eagles "drop on the heads of the crowd - a deathly omen-" (The Odyssey, book 2, lines 159-160). Old Lord Halitherses stands up to read the birdflight.
"Hear me, Ithakans! Hear what I have to say,
and may I hope to open the suitors' eyes to the black wave towering over them. Odysseus will not be absent from his family long: he is already near, carrying in him a bloody doom for all these men, and sorrow for many more on our high seamark, Ithaka."
(The Odyssey, book 2, lines 168-74)
I appreciate the foreshadowing and prophecy that is very revealing early on in the story. We know that Odysseus will return home and hints are already being given to that extent. In this scenario Zeus sent the two eagles as a sign in response to a request by Telemakhos. It's interesting to note that the gods appear interested in justice and will side, in this case, with Odysseus son. I also appreciate the clear warning to the suitors that their doom could have been avoided had they listened to Halitherses. The suitors themselves had a forewarning that they spurned to their own destruction.