Academic Platypus

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 Has anyone else noticed that the one time Odysseus tells the truth, that Odysseus will return in a month, that he isn't believed? He even uses Achilles' phase: I hate as the gates of Hades that man who says one thing and hides another in his heart. Always something new to notice. 

Comments

Andrew Johnston said…
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2:47 PM
Andrew Johnston said…
I believe that Athena in the guise of mentor says something parrallel about Odysseus coming Home which Telemachus and the suitors disbelieve for different reasons. The suitors because they are morons compounding their pains and Telemachus by way of crafting his interactions with Mentor and the suitors. Penelope seems to be on display as an Athena type who is doing things right; crafting her interactions with the beggar and the suitors. I think I can fit these interactions into an interpretive grid iconized by the olive tree with the wild and cultivated components interwoven that O-man shelters under on the shores of Phaeacia. Truth and falsehood must be interwoven to make it in the Homer's world of dueling cosmic principles. I hadn't noticed the irony of everyone's incredulity at the one thing that O tells the truth about! Thanks, Academic Platypus!
5:46 PM
James said…
That's got to be true. It's too important not to be a part of that larger matrix.
8:14 PM
James said…
Maybe it's part of not ending up like Agamemnon. Accepting pain and indignity is key to survival in a multipolar world.
8:17 PM
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