By Corey Wieczorek
In the beginning of the chapter Athena diguises herself as a young girl. Why do you think she does this? Why not just reveal herself to Odysseus? Why does Athena tell the story of Queen Arete's ancestory? How is that useful or relavent to Odysseus? It it strange that the king married his niece? What does that show about Ancient Greek culture? Why is it important for Homer/the storyteller to describe in detail the splendor of the palace? Was it strange for Odysseus to appeal specifically to the queen instead of the king? What does this show about the importance of the queen's approval in the palace? Why does Homer/the storyteller use Odysseus to recount what we read in previous chapters? What is the value in retelling what just happened? Feel free to answer any or all of these questions.
When Odysseus arrives at the palace, he is very impressed with its beauty and splendor. As a matter of fact, Homer rambles on for nearly a page about its wonders. Homer has used this technique many times to provide detail and "paint the picture" of the scene. However, this technique does much more. All the materials and stuff that the rich kings and queens have, makes the reader want them too. The beautiful paintings and delicious foods captivate the reader and makes them want to read even more.
ReplyDeleteI think Athena disguises herself as a young girl in the beginning of the chapter, to keep her identity and doesn’t want Odysseus knowing. I also think he won’t necessarily listen to her or understand why she is helping him if she is herself. He might not want any assistance in finding his father and would like to do it on his own. I thought it was definitely strange how the king married his niece because in our culture we wouldn’t necessarily do that. It says a lot about Greek culture and how it was more family oriented, close, and normal to marry someone who was in your family. On the other hand, its important for the author to describe the palace, giving the reader a good description of where he is and the similarity to paradise.
ReplyDeleteAthena has to disguise herself. All the gods do this when they interact with the mortals. I think it is important for her to do this because she needs to keep who she really is a secret. She doesn’t want Odysseus to know who she is because it would mean showing the mortals who she really is. I think the reason why Homer shows the splendor of the palace is because he wants the reader to have a good representation of the palace. Not only that, but he wants the reader to want these things. When someone has a possessions that you wish you had it makes the story so much more interesting.
ReplyDeleteMeeting the queen first is very different. The reader would think Odysseus would go to the king before meeting the queen. I think this is very important to show in this book. It shows the reader that many women did have power. This shows us more about the Greek culture and what role women played in it.
There is a certain benefit to disguising yourself if you are a goddess. Obviously, Athena would not want to create a commotion, but I thought it was interesting that she chose a child as her disguise. There is an unsuspecting innocence to a child, so Odysseus would be more inclined to trust a child rather than an adult. Also, it seemed as if the towns people were not very friendly. In fact, it even said, "They did not suffer strangers gladly."
ReplyDeleteI don't think that it is particularly strange that the King married his niece. Obviously that sort of behavior would be frowned upon and even illegal in modern society, but it was very common among royalty in ancient societies. It shows how royal families valued mingling only with people that shared your royal blood.
Odysseus recounted his entire journey in this book. At first, I was confused as to why this was happening. Upon thinking about it, I realized that we have only heard the story from a third person view, we have not heard it from Odysseus perspective. I assume that we will encounter more perspectives as the story goes on.
Athena disguises herself as a young girl so that Odysseus will be more likely to trust her. There is something very trustworthy about small children, and Athena, the goddess of wisdom, uses this to her advantage. She does not want to reveal herself to Odysseus because that is the way of the elusive gods. They need to be a divine and all powerful presence, not a little girl. Athena tells Odysseus of Queen Arete's ancestry so that he will know which ruler to give more praise to. Yes, it is a bit strange by our standards that the king married his niece. If anything, this shows the growing divide between our cultures. Whatever, though. Kings will do as kings will do.
ReplyDeleteIt is important for the bard to tell of the palace's splendor. This is because it supports the fact that this guy is king. If a man on a street says that he is a king, he had better have an epic palace to back that up. The same idea is here.
It is quite interesting that the Odyssey has told of this wise and powerful queen. This is the second wise female figure that we have encountered so far. If anything, this makes a statement about Ancient Greek culture. The men were the warriors, the women thinkers. For an ancient culture, the Greeks were quite promoting of equality between the sexes.
I agree with Maggie when she says that Athena has to disguise herself. So far every time that the gods have exposed themselves to mortals, they have disguised their true form. Even though most of the time people know that it was her who visited them, they are not positive. I think that it is important for Athena to keep her true identity a secret; she does not want everyone to know who she is.
ReplyDeleteThe reason the Homer shows the splendor of the palace is because I think he really wants the reader to know that wealthy people such as Kings and Queens often live in these splendid palaces that often rivals the gods. Also I think that he wants to show how material possessions were so important back in that age.
Athena disguises herself as a young girl because though she favors Odysseus, helping him on multiple occasions, revealing who she truly is might make him dependent on her. He might even question why she couldn’t just transport him home directly. In Greek mythology, gods only revealed their true selves on rare occasions.
ReplyDeleteHomer describes the palace in such vivid detail for two reasons. One: in a continuation of the sense of wealth and godliness that the Phaecians have, he needs to set the scene appropriately. Two: the audience finds it intriguing to hear of the wealth of others because it creates a sense of wanting. They want to told more of this beautiful paradise. I think Odysseus appeals to the queen and not the king not due to her power in the palace, but rather to appeal to her merciful side. I think Odysseus want to gain her pity—much like he gained her daughter’s—and this will be easier with the queen than the king.
After reading book seven, the amount of description Homer used as he was introducing the palace was intriguing. I agree with George on how Homer enjoys to take his time to make sure that he is able to "paint the picture" so that the reader can have a full grasp on what he wants them to imagine. When Athena decides to disguise herself as a young girl, it assures herself that she can continue to control Odysseus and how he makes his way back home. If she reveals her identity, people who pray to the gods, including Odysseus, will become too reliable on the gods to help them. I agree with James on how the innocence of the young girl differs from an adult, and how Odysseus is willingly to trust the young girl and follow her to the palace.
ReplyDeleteAthena disguises herself not for the sake of Odysseus, but so no one else recognizes her.
ReplyDeleteThe king marries his niece... that was most likely accepted in greek culture, but even if it widely was not, he's the king, to an extent he has a lot of power. Homer does a good job describing the palace and its beauty, maybe because it shows how powerful/wealthy the palace/king is. I think Odysseus appeals to the queen because the king has to do with power and the queen may be more empathetic.