The Odyssey, Book 1

How the Discussion Went: Book is long and offers much to talk about. For the most part, you did very well identifying important aspects of Book 1. You touched on the relationship Telemachus doesn’t have with his father, how Athena’s presence seems to have changed Telemachus, and the relationship between the humans and the gods in Ancient Greece. I think you could also have examined Penelope’s role in Book 1 and looked into the suitors a bit. You also gave up on teasing apart how Telemachus grows in Book 1, which is very important for the first four books of The Odyssey, which are known as The Telemachy.

You listened to each other well as well, though at times your rush to contribute lead to moments of confusion and chaos. Remember, it is all your collective responsibility to make sure that everyone speaks. If someone who has not said much is trying to get into the conversation, make room for her to speak. Also, rigorously and scrupulously refer to the text. When citing a passage, give page number and line number so your teacher and classmates may follow along. Speaking of your teacher, he will try to limit his involvement in the conversation to the role of facilitator and purveyor of background.

What You Said: You began by looking at how Telemachus reports his parentage. “Mother has always told me I’m [Odysseus’] son…” he tells Athena (1.249). You keenly noted that Telemachus confesses his lack of relationship with his father. He does not know his father. You also noted the implications of this lack of knowledge: Telemachus does not know what it means to be a man in his society and consequently weakly allows the suitors to take advantage of him. You impressively noticed that Homer connects Telemachus standing up to the suitors to him growing up. Athena tells him “You must not cling to boyhood” (340). Suddenly, Telemachus tells off the suitors and takes steps toward throwing off his boyhood.

Natalie also noted the not so nice connotations of Telemachus’ crack about his parentage, but the class did not give the insight its appropriate due. Women give birth, making their relationship to a child indisputable. Prior to DNA testing there was no way of a man being absolutely certain that he is the father of his children (one of the reasons female sexuality has been so rigorously policed over the centuries). Telemachus here suggests that someone other that Odysseus may have impregnated Penelope. Telemachus also must depend upon his mother to tell him how much he resembles Odysseus because he’s never seen his father.

The conflict between human self-determination and fate will resurface again and again in The Odyssey. As I have run out of time, I will address this conflict in a later blog. You can learn more about Agamemnon and his family at the Encyclopedia Mythica.