1. Lecture 4: Odyssey : Background & Motifs Pt.1: Background; “Recap” of Bks i-viii; Odyssey motifs Pt. 2: Exposition of VIII. 495- IX 38 Odysseus, Source: http://www.mediaworkshop.org/humaniti es/block/task.html

2. Background, Book I-VIII Highlights Aftermath of The Iliad Brief highlights of Odyssey, Books i-viii.1- 494) –Invocation to the muse (I.1- 17) –Beginning in the middle (“In medias res”) –A son’s search for his father (1-IV) –The hero’s escape from a goddess’s love and a god’s wrath (Bk. V) –A restorative stay in Phaia´kia (Bks VI-VIII) Odysseus and Penelope Reunited, Source:http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/Odysseus.html

3. “Motifs” of The Odyssey (1) Definition of motif: “recurrent images, words, objects, phrases or actions which tend to unify a work” (Handbook of Literature, 6 th ed.) Motifs shared with the Iliad (and how they change) 1) Piety/Impiety 2) Hospitality/Inhospitality 3) Disguised Identity 4) Arête –An ethic of valor augmented by an ethic of “guile” (Stewart 187) –Hierarchal emphasis gives way to exaltation of humility Odysseus slays suitors having been disguised, Source:http://www.bulfinch.org/fables/bull30.html Source: http://www.irasov.com/Odysseus.htm

4. “Motifs” Cont. Motifs specific to The Odyssey 1)Illegitimate occupation and domestic usurpation 2)Telemakhos’s coming of age 3)Penelope’s “wily” fidelity 4)Hindrances to Homecoming 5)The “Agamemnon foil” –A foil is a secondary character in essentially similar status as a protagonist (major character). By comparing and contrasting this character’s decisions, circumstances, and fate with that of the protagonist’s, we gain a better perspective on that major character. 6)“Pitiless death” (Ix.17) Telemachus, Source:http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/odyssey.htm l Suitors being slayed by Odysseus Source: http://www.irasov.com/Odysseus.htm

5. Pt. 2: Exposition of viii.495-ix.38 (1) Demodokos as “stand-in” for Homer Demodokos’s “song of heroes” has a dramatic impact on Odysseus –It makes him weep (586-7 [Norton 8 th ]) –It prepares him to reveal his identity Why this is important –Spends the epic as a “disguised” guest (Stewart 188) –High drama when revealed –Disaster when prematurely revealed Epic singer Cretan geometric bronze figurine Iraklion Museum Source: http://www.oeaw.ac.at/kal/sh

6. Pt. 2: Exposition of viii.495-ix.38 Odysseus describes himself in two key phrases: “I am…”; “I am known... ” –“I am Laertes’son, Odysseus....Ithaca is my home.. “ Identity=parentage, place, More dear than immortality goddess’s love A “home body” or a “nobody” –“Known too the world for every kind of craft” Adventures as hindrance to homecoming (and “identity” recovery) I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, known to the world for every kind of craft—my fame has reached the skies. Sunny Ithaca is my home. Atop her stands our sea- mark... I know no sweeter sight on earth than a man’s own country,. True enough, Calypso, the lustrous goddess, tried to hold me back (ix. 21-23; 31-33 [Nor. 8 th ].