Book 8

I commend you for taking to heart my exhortation to root your comments in the text. The past two days have included numerous references to the text and better discussions. You are even beginning to pry open the text and make connections and illuminate connotations. Eventually, you will make many attempts at any particular passage before moving on to the next one.

One moment in Book 8 that captured your interest was the story of Hephaestus, Ares, Aphrodite sung by Demodocus, the harper. We learn that Poseidon offers to pay Ares’ fine if the smith sets the war god free. Though among the other gods, “laughter broke” (8.386), Poseidon finds nothing amusing in the embarrassing display in which two gods are caught in a net by a third who humiliates himself by so brazenly displaying his jealousy. I was intrigued by your insight that Poseidon seems set against Hephaestus as “the cripple wins by craft.” Odysseus, too, is crafty. Poseidon is straightforward in his anger. You could take this association even further by analyzing the word, craft.

You also noted that the Phaeacians all had names connected to the sea and sailing, and reflecting their primary identification as a people and the economic activity that sustains their country. The prophecy remembered by Alcinous as he promises to give Odysseus safe passage home seems far more poignant when one considers how deep the Phaeacians’ association with the sea runs.

You also noted a very good epic simile describing Odysseus as he wept at the harper’s song about Troy: “Great Odysseus melted into tears...” (8.595). Homer compares Odysseus to a woman who watches her husband die and then dragged at spear point into a life in bondage. You did a very good job revealing the main thrust of this comparison: that Odysseus remembers seeing so many comrades die before being held captive by Calypso. You could, however, find even more interesting meaning by looking at the words Homer, and Fagles the translator, chose. Odysseus “melted.” The woman is “dragged” off. “Bondage” has interesting connotations for a female captive. I could go on.

Keep up the good work, but also keep pushing yourselves to examine words and phrases in greater detail.