All those speeches in the "Odyssey"... Ever wonder why Telemachus and Penelope are able to get away with openly berating the suitors? In fact, everyone in the "Odyssey" airs their feelings, hostile or friendly, out in public. The world of the "Odyssey", even in the home, is a public world. At first I thought this was simply an literary, "larger than life" embellishment, then I learned that there are cultures that do work like this. In these cultures, it's good form to rebuke someone in public and the height if shame to rebuke them in private. Deals and gifts are done in public for all to see. This seems to be the cultural atmosphere of early Iron Age Greece. Special thanks on this one goes to Lasselanta. Literature, History, Intercultural Studies: they all intermingle and enhance our understanding of humanity. The Platypus has loads of thoughts on humanity. Being surrounded by humans day in and day out will do that.
Thoughts after reading the "Iliad" to prepare a Greece unit for my students: -Hector is a jerk until he's dead. He even advocates the exposure of Achaean corpses and then has the cheek to turn around and ask Achilles to spare his. He rudely ignores Polydamas' prophecies and fights outside the gate to save his pride knowing full well what it will cost his family and city. After he's dead, he becomes a martyr for the cause. -Agamemnon has several moments of true leadership to balance out his pettiness. In this way, he's a haunting foil to Achilles: the two men are more alike than they want to acknowledge. -We see that Achilles is the better man at the funeral games of Patroclos. His lordliness, tact, and generosity there give us a window into Achilles before his fight with Agamemnon and the death of Patroclos consumed him. -Nestor is a boring, rambling, old man who's better days are far behind him, and yet every Achaean treats him with the upmo...
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