all men do is lie
Manipulation and complex mind games are a large part of the Odyssey. Personally, I've always been more of a sudoko kind of gal rather than a 'full blown, master plan that results in everyone dying in an "artfully cinematic" manner' master of manipulation, but I guess I can see the merit for story telling purposes. The Odyssey would be a boring book without Athena's scheming brain powering the entire story. We talked about this in class, and one thing that stood out to me in discussion and in the readings was how well Athena and Odysseus got along simply because they were both excellent liars. Athena is "human like" in that she uses simple lies and manipulation to help get what she wants in some cases rather than using her full power, and Odysseus is "godlike" in that he enjoys mind games.
I'm torn on how to feel about Odysseus's treatment of his family upon his return. The main part of me is irritated, having wanted a wholesome family reunion scene right away because I'm a softie and feel bad for Odysseus because I know I'd be going insane if I was forced apart from my family for twenty years. The other part wants to be a little more understanding and try to see things from his or Athena's perspective. Can we really be so quick to judge him for being cautious? He has been gone for twenty years, and the poem already tells us about how much has changed in his home. His testing of his family to see where their loyalties lie and if he can depend on them even after they've been separated for so long makes logical sense.
From an ancient Greek standpoint, even him testing Penelope is forgivable. The slaughtering of the slave girls in chapter 22 is the strongest example of how disloyalty, regardless of context or motivations, is the most unforgivable sin in that culture--though that scene will never sit well with me (I can only overlook Odysseus being a dick for so long before I want to wrap my hands around his splendor-covered neck choke the arrogance out of him). So, as much as I hate to say this because I personally hate the fact he feels the need to test his wife when he himself has been sleeping with various mystical women overseas, this sort of makes sense just because that's an important virtue to him? In a very twisted way?? Perhaps?? At least him testing Penelope gives Homer more chances to show off her clever character rather than just portray her as the woman who gets yelled at by her son a lot and cries in her room 24/7. I always liked scenes with Penelope the best when we read them.
However, the one instance where I can't justify Odysseus testing one of his family members is with his dad, and can I just say: b*tch what the f*ck. This scene really boils down to Odysseus lying his ass off once again and what does he gain? NOTHING. He only makes his dad cry before feeling bad and revealing his identity in true pathological liar fashion. Because there was no personal gain here, I feel like his deceit was more out of habit than anything else, but I still don't think it justifies his treatment of his grieving father.
I'm torn on how to feel about Odysseus's treatment of his family upon his return. The main part of me is irritated, having wanted a wholesome family reunion scene right away because I'm a softie and feel bad for Odysseus because I know I'd be going insane if I was forced apart from my family for twenty years. The other part wants to be a little more understanding and try to see things from his or Athena's perspective. Can we really be so quick to judge him for being cautious? He has been gone for twenty years, and the poem already tells us about how much has changed in his home. His testing of his family to see where their loyalties lie and if he can depend on them even after they've been separated for so long makes logical sense.
From an ancient Greek standpoint, even him testing Penelope is forgivable. The slaughtering of the slave girls in chapter 22 is the strongest example of how disloyalty, regardless of context or motivations, is the most unforgivable sin in that culture--though that scene will never sit well with me (I can only overlook Odysseus being a dick for so long before I want to wrap my hands around his splendor-covered neck choke the arrogance out of him). So, as much as I hate to say this because I personally hate the fact he feels the need to test his wife when he himself has been sleeping with various mystical women overseas, this sort of makes sense just because that's an important virtue to him? In a very twisted way?? Perhaps?? At least him testing Penelope gives Homer more chances to show off her clever character rather than just portray her as the woman who gets yelled at by her son a lot and cries in her room 24/7. I always liked scenes with Penelope the best when we read them.
However, the one instance where I can't justify Odysseus testing one of his family members is with his dad, and can I just say: b*tch what the f*ck. This scene really boils down to Odysseus lying his ass off once again and what does he gain? NOTHING. He only makes his dad cry before feeling bad and revealing his identity in true pathological liar fashion. Because there was no personal gain here, I feel like his deceit was more out of habit than anything else, but I still don't think it justifies his treatment of his grieving father.
My god. To say I agree with you would be an understatement. ESPECIALLY the dad thing. I reallllllllly don't know what Homer is doing with this. I kind of doubt that the reader is supposed to like it. Or, maybe the reader is supposed to be like, ya, fair, go ahead and test ur dad, but then when it becomes really obvious how loyal and sad he is the reader maybe is supposed to be like, awww, of course a father would never turn his back on his son. Maybe we're not supposed to be mad at Odysseus but rather this scene is supposed to make us like his dad. And perHAPS in a sideways way this scene vouches for fatherly love, thus making Odysseus seem like an even better person. Idk. Thanks for the thoughts.
ReplyDeleteWow yes I also agree with you! I remember reading the dad section and thinking why in the world would Odysseus do this. His father is obviously really sad. Even with a lot of other people in the story, I was disappointed in Odysseus for concealing his identity and kinda felt like he was being a coward in some ways. Being a coward in the sense of not barging in and fighting. I also really wanted a good reunion scene and felt kinda cheated.
ReplyDeleteWow, this is something I didn't think about before! I was so focused on how Odysseus is so full of himself literally all the time that I guess I kinda missed the fact that he's a bit of a dick too. When I was reading the sections where he tested his various family members, I just sort of went along with it. If fit with the culture we'd been reading about up to that point -- they really do value loyalty a lot (why else was Agamemnon's story drilled into our heads over and over?). But now that you point it out, Odysseus really was kind of a jerk to his family. I suppose he had to be extra careful, but his father is where I don't understand why he was doing this. Would a disloyal man really be this upset? And his mother even told him that his father is loyal. Well, I guess that Odysseus's motives remain mysterious.
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