The Odyssey Chats at Ancient Sites
Odyssey Chat Transcripts
Greek and Roman Mythology Pages from Ancient Sites by Tracy Marks
NOTE: Many Community members of "Athens" at Ancient Sites (which folded in 1999) participated in biweekly chats on the classics, including the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer. Later, several of us continued with the chats, studying The Metamorphoses by Ovid and other texts related to ancient Greek and Roman history. Many of these chats have been posted online by Tracy Marks (alias Torrey Philemon from Ancient Sites). Each participant maintains his/her own copyright; this material may not be reproduced.
CHAT FIVE: Odyssey, Books 17-20
11:47 Ioannis Nestor enters...
11:56 Theseus Artistides enters...
11:57 Theseus
Artistides: *whoosh!* Here I am!
11:58 Theseus
Artistides: Hello Ioannis.
11:58 Ioannis
Nestor: Hey Theseus, what's up?
11:58 Torrey Philemon enters...
11:59 Ioannis
Nestor: Hi Torrey!
11:59 Theseus
Artistides: Not much yet, apparently. Ah! There she is!
11:59 Torrey
Philemon: Hey folks. Two people here already?
12:00 Ioannis
Nestor: I guess Maia is in her way too...
12:00 Theseus
Artistides: Another threesome to start.
12:00 Torrey
Philemon: Just noticed she's on the comm panel. Hope she's coming.
12:01 Theseus
Artistides: I have an opening thought, whenever we're ready to go...
12:01 Aurora Inca enters...
12:01 Aurora
Inca: Hello! Happy Ides!
12:01 Theseus
Artistides: I dropped her a gram hint a couple of minutes ago.
12:01 Ioannis
Nestor: Hi Aurora...Theseus go ahead!
12:01 Torrey
Philemon: Welcome Aurora. And go ahead Theseus!
12:01 Theseus
Artistides: Hello Aurora!
12:02 Torrey
Philemon: (Ioannis, are you a clone?)
12:03 Theseus
Artistides: Well it struck me that the odyssey part of the Odyssey
only really accounts for about one-sixth of the book. It seems to
me this isn't about a fantastic, dangerous voyage really, as it is about
separation and home-coming.
12:03 Ioannis
Nestor: I guess so... :)
12:03 Ioannis
Nestor: Yep...The great NOSTOS thing...
12:04 Theseus
Artistides: "NOSTOS"?
12:04 Ioannis
Nestor: The feeling of missing home and wishing urgently to go back...
12:05 Torrey
Philemon: That's right, isn't it? I hadn't remembered that (from reading
it 20 years ago) that so much IS about homecoming....We tend to think more
of the "odyssey".
12:05 Theseus
Artistides: I mean it isn't about that as much as it is about this.
12:06 Torrey
Philemon: So much is about Odysseus' preparation to confront the suitors...
12:06 Ioannis
Nestor: But every adventure and "odyssey" is about that!
12:06 Theseus
Artistides: Well, that's the part that generally makes for more "exciting"
movies.
12:06 Ricardex Cornelius enters...
12:07 Torrey
Philemon: Gee, it might not have sounded so interesting if it was called
"The Beggar in Disguise" or "The Great Disguise" instead of the Odyssey.
12:07 Ioannis
Nestor: Hi Ricardex.
12:07 Ricardex
Cornelius: helo all, just a quick run in and a reminder, the balloting
for the new books to be read as a group is still open so......
12:08 Torrey
Philemon: Hello Ricardex. Hope you'll stay awhile, and "come home"
here rather than "odyssey"
12:08 Aurora
Inca: I voted! (I'm a good girl)
12:08 Ioannis
Nestor: I voted too...
12:08 Ricardex
Cornelius: Well I may be back the combination of three AS id's an d
real world demands today is pressing.
12:09 Torrey
Philemon: We're all the ones that are paying attention. I think FB
like all groups has a lot of inactive members.
12:09 Theseus
Artistides: I voted! But then, I'll bet anyone who read my posts
gathered that.
12:09 Ricardex
Cornelius: Yes, well speaking to the converted then....
12:10 Theseus
Artistides: Maia says she'll get here. Well, that's what she
meant.
12:10 Ricardex Cornelius exits...
12:10 Ioannis
Nestor: What's the reason of joining a group if you don't patrticipate
:(
12:10 Theseus
Artistides: "Preaching to the choir"
12:11 Torrey
Philemon: Ok folks. I posted about eight questions about books 17-20
late last night on our FB board, but before I bring any of them up, what
interests you?
12:11 Theseus
Artistides: Well, just to be kind, I imagine people think they'll have
more time to devote to something than it turns out they really do.
12:12 Ioannis
Nestor: I may be boring, but what about the archaeology and history
of it?
12:12 Aurora
Inca: I'm behind on my reading (as usual). Have you already discussed
the swineherd. I was wondering why Homer speaks to him directly. "And then
you, etc."
12:12 Torrey
Philemon: (Or would someone else like to have a chance at facilitating
today. Theseus, what if you did the next and last meeting next week?)
12:12 Theseus
Artistides: I didn't get to read your latest questions, Torrey, as
AOL wouldn't let me into AS this morning.
12:13 Aurora
Inca: Now, that would interest me Ioannis, as I am into archeology,
but I don't know much about that reagion/time period.
12:14 Torrey
Philemon: Didn't realize he did that, Aurora. He presents the swineherd
differently than the other characters? (It's certainly a new context for
pigs, not like Circe)
12:14 maia Nestor enters...
12:14 Ioannis
Nestor: Well, the time period should be the Dark Ages (10th-8th centuries
BC).
12:15 Ioannis
Nestor: Hey maia! :)
12:15 Theseus
Artistides: Hi Maia!
12:15 Torrey
Philemon: Welcome Maia
12:15 maia
Nestor: Hello, everyone.
12:16 Aurora
Inca: He sure does. Almost as if Eumaeus were in the room listening
to the tale.
12:16 Theseus
Artistides: He doesn't do anything different with the swineherd in
my version. Maybe it's translation specific.
12:17 Torrey
Philemon: It occurred to me last night. Eumaeus, Eurycleia. The good
people have names beginning eu, which means good, doesn't it?
12:17 Aurora
Inca: An example "And your answer, Eumaeus". It says things like that
in mine. My trans. is Lawrence.
12:17 Aurora
Inca: I think it actually means "true"
12:17 Torrey
Philemon: Some of the bad people like Antinous have names beginning
"anti"...
12:17 Ioannis
Nestor: I suggest you 2 very interesting papers. The first is "Gifts
in Homer" by J.T. Hooker and the other"Social diversity in Dark Age Greece"
by J. Whitley.
12:18 maia
Nestor: Eumaus, o my eumaeus, is obviously very special to Odysseus.
He's part of the Ithakan glue, I think...holds it together for O.
12:18 Theseus
Artistides: (The only reason I don't volunteer to lead the discussion
is because I can rarely guarantee a chunk of my Sunday, let alone three
hours. I would be happy to do it, but my wife and son...)
12:18 maia
Nestor: Hooker's Mycenaean Greece is also a wonderful book, Io.
12:19 Ioannis
Nestor: It's a MUST maia!
12:19 Torrey
Philemon: Aurora, can you give us a passage number where Odysseus is
speaking directly to Eumaeus.
12:20 maia
Nestor: Torrey, was it you who mentioned pigs? They were staples of
the economy; none of the modern, negative connotations.
12:20 Theseus
Artistides: Well, O speaks directly to Eumaeus all the time.
I think it's Homer who's the issue.
12:20 Aurora
Inca: I don't have numbers in my trans., but it's all through Book
14, at least. I haven't gotten much further than that.
12:20 Torrey
Philemon: I was just concentrating the pigs of Eumaeus with the pigs
of Circe...
12:21 Torrey
Philemon: contrasting, I mean.
12:21 maia
Nestor: OIC ...
12:23 Torrey
Philemon: Here's one of the questions I posted, folks. If Odysseus
is at war 10 years and journeying for 10 years, and Telemachus is now growing
his first beard, don't we have time discrepancy? OR (-: was puberty really
late in ancient times? He's got to be age 20-21 right?
12:24 Aurora
Inca: Maybe he was a late bloomer?
12:24 Ioannis
Nestor: This is a minor discrepancy I think...
12:24 Theseus
Artistides: This is not the first time I've gotten the impression Homer
is a bit free and easy with the time figuring.
12:24 Gorgo Cleomenes enters...
12:25 maia
Nestor: Well, some men grow beards at different times...I think it
was just a reference to his manhood coming into play.
12:25 maia
Nestor: Gorgo!
12:25 Torrey
Philemon: Yet there is a reference to Odysseus being on Calypso's isle
when the Telemachus story begins....So there may have been still a year
to go before the conclusion. But probably only a few months.
12:26 Gorgo
Cleomenes: Greetings!
12:27 Torrey
Philemon: Welcome Gorgo! Feel free to join in. Our focus is books 17-20,
but not exclusively.
12:27 Ioannis
Nestor: Hi Gorgo!
12:27 Gorgo
Cleomenes: Um, thanks Torrey. I've already been to a few FB discussions.
12:28 Theseus
Artistides: Now, isn't there evidence that the onset of puberty is
actually occurring earlier and earlier?
12:29 Ioannis Nestor enters...
12:29 Torrey
Philemon: At what age do men/boys grow beards now, Theseus? (got to
ask a male about this!)
12:30 Ioannis
Nestor: Sorry to interrupt guys but are you interested to see The Odyssey
written in LINEAR B?
12:30 Theseus
Artistides: By which I mean, maybe Telemachus didn't start growing
his beard until he was about twenty.
12:30 Aurora
Inca: Some of my high school sophomores actually have decent beards,
and they haven't been held back any grades.
12:31 Aurora
Inca: (but MOST of them don't)
12:31 maia
Nestor: Torrey, that's just too speculative. My brother was nearly
thirty, my husband 20. Some guys have facial hair at 13.
12:31 Theseus
Artistides: I've seen kids with facial hair at thirteen, but I wouldn't
say that's common.
12:31 Torrey
Philemon: Well given that Telemachus at one point says he's not sure
Odysseus is really his father, one begins to wonder (grin!), though I'm
sure that's not Homer's intent!
12:32 Ioannis
Nestor: http://www.dl.ac.uk/SRS/PEOPLE/PANTOS/Od_l_1-2LB.html
12:32 Aurora
Inca: I think in Telem.'s case it's figurative. I think he's kind of
late accepting his adult responsibilities.
12:32 maia
Nestor: I think we have to accept the bearded reference for a visualization
that he'd reached manhood.
12:32 Theseus
Artistides: (I hate those linear Bs! I think a B should have
a couple of nice curves!)
12:32 Torrey
Philemon: Ok. Enough said then. What else do you all want to address?
12:33 maia
Nestor: He doesn't say he's not sure, he says, does anyone really know
who his father is? My mother says so, but how do I know?
12:33 Gorgo
Cleomenes: Well, it's quite obvious from the earlier books that Telemachos
is moving into his adult stages. He learns proper etiquette when with Nestor.
12:33 Theseus
Artistides: Yes, his query is more philosophical than personal.
12:34 Torrey
Philemon: Ioannis, I opened your link in another window and got the
index for the Daresbury Synchrotron Light Source.
12:35 Ioannis Nestor enters...
12:35 Theseus
Artistides: (Ah-ha! I suspected Ioannis was one of those Synchrotronians!)
12:36 Ioannis
Nestor: http://www.dl.ac.uk/SRS/PEOPLE/PANTOS/Od_I_1-2LB.html
12:36 Torrey
Philemon: The Synchrotronians, huh? Must be another part of Odysseus'
journey!
12:37 Ioannis
Nestor: Try the above!
12:37 Theseus
Artistides: Okay, speaking of other parts, have we done with Telemachus's
beard?
12:37 Torrey
Philemon: It works, Ioannis!
12:38 Ioannis
Nestor: It's very interesting!!!
12:38 Torrey
Philemon: So next subject....?
12:39 Ioannis
Nestor: I'm off guys. See ya all later...
12:39 Theseus
Artistides: (Oh, I can't resist...! I wonder what the history
of literature would have been like if the Greeks had settled on some other
physical sign of a youth's maturation.)
12:39 Gorgo
Cleomenes: Bye Ioannis.
12:40 Aurora
Inca: Somehow saying a youth with down upon his chin sound more poetic
than "a youth whose voice cracks"
12:40 Torrey
Philemon: Glad you came by, Ioannis.
12:40 maia
Nestor: LOL Theseus!
12:40 maia
Nestor: Bye, Ioannis!
12:40 Torrey
Philemon: LOL Aurora (or wet dreams, even!)
12:42 Aurora
Inca: You mean "a youth with stains upon his chiton"? (sorry, had to
say it)
12:42 Theseus
Artistides: "Now the time had come when nightly did Telemachus moisten
his bedclothes..."
12:43 maia
Nestor: Torrey, as the host, I'm telling you, you can't lose control
like this...*g*
12:43 Aurora
Inca: *giggling uncontrollably*
12:43 Torrey
Philemon: LOL
12:43 Theseus
Artistides: Okay! I'm sorry I started it, I admit!
12:43 Aurora
Inca: *resumes a serious demeanor*
12:44 Theseus
Artistides: Quick Torrey, give us one of your questions!
12:44 maia
Nestor: *beaming at Aurora*
12:44 Torrey
Philemon: (Given how informal the chat was last week, maia, I thought
perhaps I should be a little looser! I was just debating whether or not
to restate Theseus comment as "Now the time...when nightly did Telemachus
come....SORRY, FOLKS!)
12:44 Aurora
Inca: TORREY!
12:45 maia
Nestor: Informal? My chat?
12:45 Theseus
Artistides: ROFLMAO!!!
12:45 Torrey
Philemon: Ok here's another question. Why do you think Penelope set
up the archery contest, instead of directly choosing one of the suitors...)
12:46 maia
Nestor: I think there could be any number of answers to that question...
12:46 Theseus
Artistides: Oh, that's easy... She thought they would all fail!
That archery stunt is incredibly difficult and she thought only O could
do it.
12:46 Gorgo
Cleomenes: Um, probably because she was cognizant of the power of the
bow and the fact it was somewhat divinely inspired.
12:46 Torrey
Philemon: You're on, Maia!
12:47 Aurora
Inca: That way she didn't have to accept responsibility for the choice.
It coud be in the hands of the gods or fate. Then if she was unhappy, she
wouldn't have to blame herself.
12:47 maia
Nestor: Firstly, and this seems to me to be the most obvious, the Mycenaeans
were very contest-driven. It would be the easiest solution in many ways...sort
of, hey, he won fair and square.
12:47 Torrey
Philemon: So it was another delaying tactic?...And if someone did meet
the challenge, it would be someone who at least had one similarity to Odysseus?
12:47 Gorgo
Cleomenes: And by this time, she is told--not by an excellent source--that
the suitors will meet death.
12:48 maia
Nestor: Next, I echo Gorgo, and Aurora. Also, it ocurred to me that
Athena put it into her mind. Athena had that agenda...
12:48 Torrey
Philemon: Good point, Aurora. She could choose without choosing!
12:48 Theseus
Artistides: Yes, Torrey. That's what I think exactly.
12:48 Gorgo
Cleomenes: Plus, one has to wonder if Penelope suspects the beggar
is Odysseus. You have a Mycenaean queen telling a very personal dream to
someone she barely knows. Hmmm
12:48 Aurora
Inca: Like "eeny meeny miny mo, catch a suitor by the toe"
12:49 Theseus
Artistides: Incidentally, I can't tell you how hard it was to stop
reading at the end of book 20.
12:49 Torrey
Philemon: My own impression is that Penelope has given up on Odysseus'
eventual return. She says that repeatedly...she just doesn't believe that
Odysseus is still alive, even when told so over and over again.
12:49 maia
Nestor: Yes, Gorgo....REAMS have been written on that, did Penelope
know?
12:50 maia
Nestor: I don't think it's that she doesn't believe, Torrey, or that
she doesn't want to believe...she desperately wants to believe...but she's
afraid to hope.
12:51 Gorgo
Cleomenes: My personal theory is that she keeps the knowledge to herself
so that she can protect her oikos.
12:51 Torrey
Philemon: Well said, Maia. It's too hard to have one's hopes repeatedly
disappointed. It's easier to give them up and just accept the despair.
12:51 Gorgo
Cleomenes: No, Penelope always had hope for the return of Odysseus.
12:52 Athenia Glaucon enters...
12:52 Athenia
Glaucon: Hello my friends!
12:52 Torrey
Philemon: Gorgo, but over and over again, she says, Odysseus is dead,
Odysseus won't return, or something like that, whenever she's told that
he will.
12:52 maia
Nestor: Well, maybe it wasn't that well said, Gorgo. Of course she
hoped, she just was afraid to allow herself such a luxury, you know? Like
being two brained...you want it so badly, you're afraid to trust it.
12:52 Theseus
Artistides: Athenia!!!
12:53 maia
Nestor: Auntie Athenia!
12:53 Torrey
Philemon: Hello Auntie Athenia!
12:53 Athenia
Glaucon: Yes, yes, I'm here to dispense advice, but not wisdom. ;-)
12:54 Gorgo
Cleomenes: She's realist. She's almost the double of Odysseus and she
has to maintain her oikos and the Ithacan line. She can't let herself be
taken by flights of fancy. Plus, characters aren't two-dimensional. They
say one thing, but think another.
12:54 Theseus
Artistides: Doesn't anyone want to ask why the axe-arrow trick is so
hard, or is everyone comfortable with the ballistics already?
12:54 Torrey
Philemon: So Athena/Athenia, don't you think Odysseus was quick to
trust you after you had supposedly abandoned him for so many years, because
of Poseidon?
12:55 Theseus
Artistides: <==Apparently a frustrated physics instructor.
12:56 Athenia
Glaucon: No, Torrey, I don't think Athena abandoned Odysseus. There's
a point where every teacher needs to let the student go out on their own,
make their own mistakes, then return for more training.
12:56 Gorgo
Cleomenes: Oh yes, Torrey I urge to look at 19.125. Her speech
there is quite enlightening.
12:56 Aurora
Inca: Having some hands-on experience with early weapons, I would just
trust Homer's word that it's hard, but if you want to share, go ahead....
12:56 Torrey
Philemon: Theseus, doesn't it appear that just stringing the bow was
the hardest part? Though Telemachus almost had it, when Odysseus restrained
him from succeeding (will look, Gorgo)
12:57 maia
Nestor: The axe scenario is still one of hot debate, Theseus. There
are any number of theories.
12:58 Athenia
Glaucon: Stringing the bow is about technique, shooting it is about
skill, they are related, but nont synonymous.
12:58 maia
Nestor: It's a composite bow, Torrey. There's a trick to it. You can't
just string it. You have to be seated, put it across your leg...the Odyssey
show on NBC got that part right, at least.
12:59 maia
Nestor: And of course there would be a trick to it....highlighting
the cleverness of O, the man of many turns.
12:59 Theseus
Artistides: Thank you, Aurora! Well, like any projectile an arrow
travels in an arc. (That's why you generally don't aim straight at
a target, but above it.) The task here is fit that arc through a
series of really very small openings all set in a line. To accomplish
this, the arrow would have to be launched with incredible velocity, requiring
a very powerful bow, and a very strong archer.
13:00 Torrey
Philemon: The suitors apparently aren't as strong as Telemachus. They've
been spending all their time eating and partying....
13:00 Athenia
Glaucon: The test thus test two different skills...power of mind and
then arm. None of the suitors would be able to do that.
13:00 Aurora
Inca: That explains why I always miss!
13:00 Theseus
Artistides: And the stringing it part is past book 20 - somebody's
cheating!
13:00 Torrey
Philemon: Patience. It requires a lot of patience and attention to
detail, which Odysseus has...
13:01 maia
Nestor: The book doesn't explain that, Theseus. About the stringing...that's
been posited by Homeric scholars ever since.
13:02 Athenia
Glaucon: Not just patience - technique. to do it effortlessly, as O.
does, takes practice, which takes patience.
13:02 Athenia
Glaucon: Heck, Maia, I have trouble stringing a regular 70lb. recurve.
13:03 maia
Nestor: A, I find it hard to believe you have trouble with anything!
13:04 Theseus
Artistides: Surely she is being modest.
13:05 Athenia
Glaucon: Nope - just honest. :-)
13:05 Athenia
Glaucon: Theseus, NO ONE has ever accused me of being modest.
13:06 Theseus
Artistides: Good! Personally, I think it's an ugly trait.
13:06 maia
Nestor: NEVER modest...but she can be a lil bit self-effacing. There's
always womb for improvement, as Auntie might say...
13:06 Theseus
Artistides: Anyway, next question! *grin*
13:07 Torrey
Philemon: Ok here's another question. Penelope's dream. I have trouble
with the interpretation of it, because it begins that Penelope dreams she
loved to watch the geese and then an eagle killed them. She loved to watch
the geese? But she didn't love to watch the suitors...
13:08 Athenia
Glaucon: So, why *did* Odysseus stop telemachus from becoming the man
of the house and string the bow?
13:09 Torrey
Philemon: (Odysseus wanted HIS own revenge...when the time was right,
and he had the situation set up to kill all the suitors...right?)
13:09 Theseus
Artistides: I didn't get the dream either, Torrey. And that's
what I meant about beyond book 20, Athenia. *grin* (I think it's
just so that he can get that weapon into his hands, but I haven't read
that far yet.)
13:10 maia
Nestor: I think it was part of Athena's plan, too. The slight was against
his house, he had to take the revenge. Show everyone that he was still
viable.
13:10 Myrrhine Solon enters...
13:10 Aurora
Inca: Dreams sometimes start like that. An ordinary scene, and then
the symbolism starts to kick in. Maybe it was an ordinary dream to begin
with, and then the omen-giving gods used it to get their message across.
13:11 Hetaira Lysias enters...
13:11 Theseus
Artistides: Or, forgive me for going out on a Freudian limb, maybe
Penelope's subconscious is betraying the idea that she might like all the
attention the birds have been giving her.
13:12 Torrey
Philemon: Welcome, Myrhhine...Well, it's puzzling. My first impression
of the dream is that the geese are something she treasures, and that the
eagle is the "bad guy". The interpretation given then reverses it
13:12 Hetaira
Lysias: Hey there folks. *groggy smile*
13:12 maia
Nestor: Hetaira!
13:12 Athenia
Glaucon: Welcome to the world of light, Hetaira. <g>
13:12 maia
Nestor: BTW, gang, Gorgo sends her regrets.
13:12 Torrey
Philemon: Heh heh Maia might dispute that, Theseus! (the old Is-Penelope-at-all-at-fault
issue)
13:12 Theseus
Artistides: Hetaira!!!
13:13 Aurora
Inca: Theseus - good point. Who isn't flattered by attention a little
bit, even if unwanted, if it isn't TOO annoying.
13:13 Hetaira
Lysias: Hey Athenia, Theseus, maia and anyone else I can't focus properly
on at the moment. :)
13:13 Athenia
Glaucon: Maybe, Torrey, she doesn't "enjoy" watching the geese as much
as she finds them amusing.
13:13 maia
Nestor: Now come on, Torrey, I never said she was without fault! She'd
be perfect then, and perfection is boring.
13:13 Theseus
Artistides: Now, how am I going to keep the goofy grin off my face?
13:13 maia
Nestor: Hetaira stayed up way too late last night partying with me.
My fault.
13:13 Torrey
Philemon: I'm partly teasing you, Maia!
13:13 Hetaira
Lysias: Why would that be Freudian Theseus? *curious look*
13:14 Theseus
Artistides: Whoa, the dream interp. thing was just an idle thought!
13:14 maia
Nestor: Just partly, Torrey? *grin*
13:15 Hetaira
Lysias: Dream interpretation by way of Freud is pretty limited, he
always took it back to the basics; penis-envy, id and unresolved childhood
issues.
13:16 Theseus
Artistides: Ah, then I am mistaken... The subconscious is hardly my
forte.
13:16 Torrey
Philemon: Fagles: I keep 20 geese in the house, from the water trough/
they come and peck their wheat - I love to watchm them. But down from a
mountain swooped this great hook-beaked eagle.
13:16 Hetaira
Lysias: Now a Jungian interpretation of the dream might uncover some
interesting archetypes. Birds in particular could be seen as freedom, flight
from responsibility, so on. :)
13:16 maia
Nestor: And the conscious, Theseus?
13:16 Theseus
Artistides: And Freud is even further down there on my list of specialties.
13:17 Theseus
Artistides: I'm certainly better with the conscious.
13:17 Hetaira
Lysias: I think he might have even said birds were higher thought processes.
*musing*
13:18 Torrey
Philemon: The eagle is so often an omen....divine intervention.
13:18 Athenia
Glaucon: And geese are certainly earthy birds, commonplace, where eagles
were more lofty, more "of the Gods."
13:18 maia
Nestor: As a rule, I always defer to oracles and hetairae.
13:19 Aurora
Inca: Domesticity vs. the Hunter. The stay-at-home suitors defeated
by the homecoming warrior?
13:19 Torrey
Philemon: I get hung up on the part about "she loved to watch" the
geese ( I'm a dream therapist and lead dream interpretation groups
in real life, so I can get carried away with this)
13:19 Hetaira
Lysias: Divine intervention in that time, the higher mind in this time?
There was no ego, super-ego or anima/animus in Homer's day. *grin*
13:19 Athenia
Glaucon: Hetairae first - they know everything.
13:19 Torrey
Philemon: Maia, that's a great "signature line"!
13:20 Athenia
Glaucon: But that might be Fagles's words, not Penelope's. Anyone else
got a different translation?
13:20 Hetaira
Lysias: Yeah actually, I just saw Aurora's comment, I like that.
13:21 maia
Nestor: And that's a good point, Hetaira...there were omens in Homer's
time, but certainly no consciousness of the subconscious.
13:21 Torrey
Philemon: Hetaira, I'd think it was all there, they just called it
by another name. Hubris for one..
13:21 Hetaira
Lysias: I have Fitzgerald's around here *searching*
13:22 Aurora
Inca: What book is the "loved to watch" in? I haven't read that far....
13:22 Theseus
Artistides: I'm thinking 19.
13:23 Torrey
Philemon: There's some theory isn't there Maia about the development
of the human brain since Homer's time. Like the right brain and left brain
were configured differently...and what was in the "unconscious" was once
projected onto gods/omens and actually heard as "voices". Forget the source,
there's some book on the subject...
13:23 Hetaira
Lysias: So Hubris in that day an age translates to what in common day?
Not being true to your higher mind?
13:23 Torrey
Philemon: In Fagles, it's 19:606...
13:24 Athenia
Glaucon: That's pretty much the way it is in most aboriginal cultures.
Folks who "see" or "hear" things are touched by the gods.
13:24 maia
Nestor: Hubris is just being insolent towards the gods. Well, Torrey,
I don't ascribe to that theory...human evolution works far more slowly
than that. It's just cultural differences...
13:24 maia
Nestor: Are you thinking of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes, Torrey?
13:24 Aurora
Inca: OK. Lawrence says "and I love wtaching them"
13:25 Torrey
Philemon: I brought up hubris in reference the comment about no conception
of EGO or the unconscious...
13:25 Athenia
Glaucon: My ancient translation says that the geese "gladden her eyes."
13:25 Aurora
Inca: I've read that, too, Torrey. Though I don't remember where. And
those that still hear them as voices, we treat with medication.
13:25 Torrey
Philemon: That may be the source, Maia.
13:25 maia
Nestor: In simpler times, things were simpler.
13:26 Theseus
Artistides: I agree with Maia on the cultural vs. evolution aspect.
(But apparently, I have nothing new to add.)
13:26 Athenia
Glaucon: Its by S.O. Andrew from the 1953 Everyman's library. My mom
or dad stole it from the public library. ;-)
13:26 maia
Nestor: Like Agamemnon, when he is trying, in the Iliad to say why
he acted in such a way, just shrugs his shoulders and says ATE....
13:27 maia
Nestor: They had a very simple heroic code, and that is how they lived.
None of this, my father left me, my mother was a tramp....they didn't THINK
in those terms.
13:27 Hetaira
Lysias: Yes, I know, and I was asking for clarification Torrey, you
threw hubris out there, quantify it for me in present day psychology so
that I know I'm getting the message correctly.
13:27 Hetaira
Lysias: Please. :)
13:28 Torrey
Philemon: My reference to hubris was just an aside. Just musing on
different conceptions of ego, in different ways, at different times...
13:29 Hetaira
Lysias: Okay, just checking. I thought you had something specific in
mind.
13:29 Theseus
Artistides: I thought hubris was overweaning arrogance, in particular
in relation to a mortal and the gods and/or fate.
13:30 maia
Nestor: Yes, just real insolence. Believing in yourself to the exclusion
of the gods.
13:30 Theseus
Artistides: Is it time for another question?
13:30 Hetaira
Lysias: I think we established that Theseus, I was actually thinking
about how hubris works in post depth-psychology minds. :)
13:30 Hetaira
Lysias: i.e. would hubris be someone with control issues? *grin*
13:31 Athenia
Glaucon: We'd probably call it sociopathy.
13:31 Torrey
Philemon: Anyone else want to put out a question? I always have a reservoir
of them, but let's see what you all have.
13:31 Theseus
Artistides: "post depth-psychology minds"?
13:31 Hetaira
Lysias: Meglomania Athenia?
13:31 Hetaira
Lysias: Yeah Theseus...post Freud/Jung.
13:31 Theseus
Artistides: Oh, I get it. Never mind.
13:32 Athenia
Glaucon: No, because that allows for other people, even if only as
tools. sociopathy is about "me."
13:32 Theseus
Artistides: I seem to be somewhat slow today.
13:33 Hetaira
Lysias: I'm with ya Theseus. *tired smile*
13:33 Theseus
Artistides: (Let me know when it's nap time.) *grin*
13:34 Athenia
Glaucon: Nap time! Followed by milk and cookies for the whole class!
13:34 Hetaira
Lysias: Oh, don't go there Theseus. *grin*
13:34 Theseus
Artistides: I think there are people (absolutely not me!) who would
say our entire modern culture suffers from hubris.
13:35 Athenia Glaucon enters...
13:35 Torrey
Philemon: You all are reaffirming my theory that 1 1/2 hours into an
"educational" chat people need a breather and want to regress!
13:35 Athenia
Glaucon: Not all of us, but there are quite a few who do.
13:35 Theseus
Artistides: Aw, and that's my favorite place, too! *faux pout*
13:35 Hetaira
Lysias: Nietsche (sp?) is to blame Theseus; God Is Dead. ;)
13:36 maia
Nestor: I have more of an observation than a question; it is clear
to me that out of all the characters Homer did, he truly loved Odysseus
the most. Seemed enthralled with the character.
13:36 Torrey
Philemon: Interesting point, Theseus.
13:36 Athenia
Glaucon: No, it was the age of "reason" that did it.
13:36 Hetaira
Lysias: Forgot a "z" somewhere along the line. *scratching head*
13:36 Theseus
Artistides: Yeah, I can usually take about two hours of chat like this
max.
13:37 Torrey
Philemon: Why do you say that, Maia? Because he presents Odysseus in
such a positive light?
13:37 Aurora
Inca: I think we regressed earlier with the "ways of describing entering
manhood" thing.
13:37 Athenia
Glaucon: I don't think he does present O. in a positive light, but
certainly a more real light.
13:38 Athenia
Glaucon: Oh, dear - I'm glad I missed that part, Aurora. :-)
13:38 Theseus
Artistides: Maybe we just need to run around the playground.
13:38 maia
Nestor: Well as a writer, you know you can fall in love with your character.
He made Odysseus the most rounded of all his, imo. A modern, thinking on
his feet human...it was clear he admired him enormously.
13:38 Hetaira
Lysias: O seems very human to me, meaty and substantial, like Homer
based him on someone he knew.
13:38 Aurora
Inca: *ring* RECESS!!!!
13:38 Aurora
Inca: joke
13:39 Hetaira
Lysias: I have dibs on the swings!
13:39 Theseus
Artistides: I'm also fascinated by the utter lack of moral stigma attached
to lying throughout this book.
13:39 maia
Nestor: Someone he knew, or someone he had learned to love; Homer was
using a tradition that was already there, right?
13:40 maia
Nestor: Ah Theseus...again, that's because a hero survived. A hero
did what he could to effect the survival. He was brave. Lying isn't seen
by them as cowardly.
13:40 Torrey
Philemon: Right, Theseus. There's even one point at which Odysseus
says he hates men who lie...they're the lowest of the low, or something
like that.
13:40 Athenia
Glaucon: I get the seesaw!
13:40 Hetaira
Lysias: This is true maia.
13:41 Athenia
Glaucon: Maia speaks from the same perspective as Homer - she also
loves O. :-)
13:41 Theseus
Artistides: (I always go for the monkey bars, myself. But if
Hetaira needs a push or a dozen, I'm happy to offer my services.)
13:41 Hetaira
Lysias: I would think truth/falsehoods were very much tied in with
honor in that time, so they were more open to interpretation....one lie
is not as bad as another type o' thing
13:42 Torrey
Philemon: Book 14: 184, Odysseus says, "I hate that man who like the
very Gates of Death who/ground down by poverty stoops to peddling lies...
13:42 Hetaira
Lysias: I'm so there Theseus, push away. :)
13:42 Theseus
Artistides: I don't think the dishonesty is mysterious, but the way
Homer revels in it at times is, for me, fascinating.
13:42 Torrey
Philemon: Now folks, it's my avatar who's sitting on a swing! (-:
13:43 maia
Nestor: Echoing what Achilles said? But Achilles meant it...
13:43 maia
Nestor: Yes, Athenia...you've nailed me right! I do love him...
13:44 Athenia
Glaucon: You know, H., of the significance of the swing, don't you?
13:44 Torrey
Philemon: Odysseus however isn't stooping to peddling lies. He's rising
to the occasion, supposedly for a higher purpose (like mass murder. Did
you read the contemporary news story interpretation of Odysseus as a mass
murderer?)
13:44 Theseus
Artistides: (I can do the hopping from one to the other, pushing both
of you. Hmmm, that's... oh, never mind!)
continue with chat
five
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