Academic Platypus

-

 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…
This comment has been removed by the author.
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
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Platypus Reads Part XXVII

-
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
Read more