The Odyssey Bks. 13-14 Xenia Lies and Deception Xenophobia The Importance of the Sea Tie-ins with 5...
-
Upload
willa-douglas -
Category
Documents
-
view
227 -
download
0
Transcript of The Odyssey Bks. 13-14 Xenia Lies and Deception Xenophobia The Importance of the Sea Tie-ins with 5...
The The OdysseyOdyssey Bks. 13-14 Bks. 13-14
Xenia
Lies and Deception
Xenophobia
The Importance of the Sea
Tie-ins with 5th Century Greece
XeniaXenia or “What Can Strangers or “What Can Strangers Do For You”Do For You”
Xenia – one of, if not the, most important rules of the Homeric world
Greeks expected to follow its rules
- wine and dine
- bath and clothes
- questions after dinner
Xenia in ActionXenia in Action
Alkinoos to Odysseus– “gold in various shaping of adornment…let
each man add his tripod” etc.
A Ship and Crew– Xenia had many physical forms
Xenia even when known to be wrong– Pg. 235: Alkinoos’ father predicted the
destruction of the ship, yet Odysseus taken in anyway
Xenia in Action IIXenia in Action II
Eumaios to Odysseus
- Proper manner of xenia? Does Odysseus act properly?
- “polutropos” again Zeus again, as guardian of all wayfarers,
strangers, and guests– Pg. 261 “Zeus grants us this and that, or else
refrains from granting, as he wills; all things are in his power”
Hesiod Works & Days 1-10Hesiod Works & Days 1-10
“Muses of Pieria who give glory through song, come hither, tell of Zeus your father and chant his praise. Through him all mortal men are famed or unfamed, sung or unsung alike, and easily he brings the strong man low; easily he humbles the proud and raises the obscure, and easily he straightens the crooked and blasts the proud, Zeus who thunders aloft and has his dwelling most high.”
Odysseus LiarusOdysseus Liarus
Fact: Odysseus lies– Is everyone else doing it?– If so, why?
Fact: Odysseus lies A LOT– “I’m from Krete.” (common motif) – Aeneas– “Nobody.”– “I’ve been to Egypt.”– “No, I didn’t eat the moly.”
Question: Is who you are really important? – Gods + disguises + feelings = xenia
Lies versus DeceptionLies versus Deception
Is there a difference between lying and deceiving?
Who Lies: Odysseus, Penelope, Athena
Who Deceives: Odysseus, Penelope, Athena, Eurykleia, Kirke
XenophobiaXenophobia
xenos = “stranger” + phobos = “fear” People Phaiakians represent turning point in
Greek thought no more Mr. Nice Guy (pg. 235) why does Zeus allow the destruction of
the Phaiakians’ ship?– Is the harmony of the gods more important
than xenia?
The Importance of the SeaThe Importance of the Sea
Almost all of Bk. 13 involves water
- Phaiakian ship w/ Odysseus
- Anger of Poseidon
- Telemachus is still across the sea
- the cove of Phorkys Greeks have a special relationship to the
sea CYA Summer 2005: class on Paros
The Importance of the Sea IIThe Importance of the Sea II
Mastery of the sea VERY important– Lack of winds gets Agamemnon killed– Sea god angry, you don’t get home–Menelaus to Egypt, Ajax on the rocks,
Aiolus totally blowsMastery of the sea STILL very
important to Athenians and modern Greeks
3,355 Greek-owned cargo ships
171,600,000 metric tons
18.3% of all world shipping
48% of all EU shipping
50,949 sq. miles (with 2000 islands)
roughly the size of Alabama
population of 10.6 million (or that of Michigan)
.002% of the world’s population
AS OF JUNE 2003
The Sea in the 5The Sea in the 5thth Century Century
Battle of Salamis– Greeks messed up them Persians real good
Athens gets an empire– Supreme fleet allows expansion, trade, and
political influence all over the Aegean Athens and Sparta bound to tie (at first)– Athens can’t blockade Sparta, Sparta can’t
blockade Athens Athens can go anywhere at any time– Thessaly, Sicily, Crete, Africa, Asia Minor
The Athenian Empire
The Major PlayersThe Major Players
The Battles (Quick View)The Battles (Quick View)
XeniaXenia in the 5 in the 5thth Century Century
-The unity of the Persian Wars is gone-Sparta has gone even more isolationist-Athens has a multi-national empire
- “might makes right” - Zeus’ answer to Poseidon (pg. 234):
“But if some mortal captain, overcome by his own pride of strength, cuts or defies you,are you not always free to take reprisal?Act as your wrath requires and as you will.”