The Odyssey and the Trojan War

1. The Odyssey and the Trojan War Feraco English 9 27 January 2009

2. For the Fairest • The saga begins with jealousy and pointless anger • This proves, once again, that the gods are just as prone to failure as humans – the jealousy Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite feel over being named “the fairest” seems unworthy of divinities • Not only are such feelings shallow, but the consequences of their dispute are ruinous to men

3. Bad Choices • Paris ignores the fact that he’s already with someone (Oenone) and chooses Aphrodite’s temptation • This is short-sighted and selfish – he isn’t thinking through his actions • This sets the tone for the rest of the story – and even carries through to The Odyssey, to an extent

4. Selfishness • Helen was so beautiful that Tyndareus (her “mother’s husband” – she’s another one of Zeus’s offspring) had to force her suitors to make a pledge – that each would swear to support and defend whoever he had chosen for her hand • It’s a selfish choice – each man accepts because he hopes he’ll win Helen and doesn’t want to have to fight off the rest any more than Tyndareus wants to • When Paris makes his selfish choice, Helen ends up with him, and the clash of selfish desire leads to war

5. Nowhere to Hide • Two men – Odysseus and Achilles – try to avoid the war • Both attempt deception when they fear honesty won’t do the trick • Odysseus poisons his own land – salting the earth – as part of the deception • Achilles hides himself in women’s clothing • Both men are unmasked by fundamental desires – Odysseus to protect Telemachus, and Achilles’s interest in weapons • Interestingly, however, it’s Odysseus’s ability to hide that helps turn the war in favor of the Greeks

6. Sacrifice • Aulis/Aeolus leaves the Greek fleet unable to fight – the North Wind blows • The North Wind was Odysseus’s downfall as well – now, just as later, it’s punishing humans for an unnecessarily violent action (although Artemis is responsible here instead of Zeus) • In order to get around it, the Greeks have to appease Artemis, who’s been angered by the killing of a hare and her young – so they capture and kill Agamemnon’s own beloved daughter, Iphigenia • They trick her by convincing her that she’s about to be married, then kill her as she cries out for the very father who decided to allow her to die

7. Another Bad Choice • This satisfies Artemis, but it’s a heartless, inhuman choice – Agamemnon’s been ordered to fight by Menelaus, and his “ambition to conquer Troy” proves greater than his love for his family • Compare Agamemnon’s choice to Odysseus’s actions regarding his own family, and it looks even worse

8. Always About a Girl • The battle is evenly matched for nine years • Then Agamemnon makes a thoughtless choice – forgetting the wife at home (who will be responsible for his death later), he decides to keep Chryseis for his own after the Greeks carry her off • Chryseis is the daughter of Apollo’s priest, and this crime against the priest’s family angers Apollo so greatly that he rains sickness and death upon the Greeks • Achilles stands up, allows the soothsayer to tell everyone that Chryseis must be returned, and unites the men in support against Agamemnon

9. Consequences • An interesting parallel to Helen’s capture • Also odd that Agamemnon would steal someone else’s daughter so soon after allowing his own to be murdered • Even worse, Agamemnon decides to steal Achilles’s “prize of honor” – Briseis • Achilles lets the men know that he’ll make Agamemnon pay

10. Zeus’s Wandering Heart • This spurs his mother, Thetis, to go to Olympus to plead for the Trojans’ success • The gods are split, with Hera supporting the Greeks and Zeus preferring the Trojans (although he tried to stay neutral, he finds it hard to resist the sea nymph, which only angers Hera more) • Zeus convinces Agamemnon in a dream to attack, and he does so without Achilles’s help

11. It Was Almost Over… • The attack leads to a confrontation between Menelaus and Paris – Menelaus wins, and is about to kill Paris before Aphrodite interferes (thus prolonging the conflict) • The Trojans hated Paris, and are actually willing to let Menelaus kill him – but no one knew where Aphrodite had taken him • Then the Trojans prove willing to give Helen back, in the interest of fairness – but Hera is bent on ruining Troy out of jealousy (hating that Zeus is listening to Thetis), and sends Athena down to interfere • Athena convinces Pandarus to shoot Menelaus, who survives – and the conflict rages anew

12. It Wasn’t Meant to Be • The gods’ continued interference in the Trojan war raises the same kind of questions about fate and control that we pursued last week • It looks for all the world like the men are pawns in the gods’ bizarre games, and the divinities act without any thought to the consequences of their actions; they’re like children chasing candy • Aeneas is saved, Ares is wounded, Athena denies a righteous prayer – it’s all so arbitrary • Ultimately, that’s the most frustrating aspect of both the Trojan War and The Odyssey – both are tales of preventable mistakes

13. The Loss of a Friend • Achilles refuses to rejoin the battle – he’s still mad about Briseis • He eventually rejoins when Patrolochus is killed – he won’t fight on behalf of love of country, but he will fight for personal vengeance (another key aspect of the war) • Hector’s death is entirely dishonorable – Athena cheats, and an honorable fighter loses • Achilles defiles Hector’s body (remember, the body was important – Odysseus had to go back to Aeaea to bury Elpinor), but Priam – the father – appeals to Achilles to win his son’s body back • Achilles agrees, and the war ceases for nine days (remember nine years?) while the Trojans mourn the loss of their hero

14. The Death of Heroes • Paris, always the coward, shoots at Achilles – and Apollo guides the arrow into Achilles’ heel (the only spot Thetis had missed while dipping him in the River Styx to make him immortal), killing him • Soon thereafter, Ajax kills himself in shame over his own rage (having felt dishonored when Odysseus won Achilles’s armor) • The loss of two great heroes wounds the Greeks, but Odysseus captures a prophet who tells them that victory will meet them when they use Hercules’s bow and arrows • Philoctetes has them; he’s been abandoned on an island due to his wounds, but Odysseus and others bring him back to be healed

15. Betrayal? • Philoctetes shoots Paris, and he begs to be returned to Oenone • She had once told him she knew of a drug that could cure anything • When he returns to beg for her help, she refuses to forgive him, watches him die, and commits suicide • How different is this from Penelope and Odysseus?

16. Ooooh…a Horse! • The Greeks construct the horse, and Odysseus and others hide inside it • The Greeks hide behind the nearest island • Sinon leaves himself for capture, and his story (designed by Odysseus) convinces the Trojans that the Greeks are gone • Moreover, the horse is supposedly a gift to Athena, designed to turn the tides of war in the Greeks’ favor, and its immense size is supposed to dissuade the Trojans from taking it into the city

17. Not Quite That Wonderful • Odysseus and the Trojan Horse • The Trojans, of course, find this irresistible, and claim it as a gift left in surrender • Laocoon tries to warn them, but the gods interfere again and kill him • This is the final “convincer” – the Trojans, desiring Athena’s patronage, take the horse inside their walls • After that, it’s all over but the shouting – the sacrifices of Astaynax and Hecuba’s daughter end the war that essentially began with the sacrifice of Agamemnon’s daughter

18. Parallels • Parallels between the Trojan War and The Odyssey • Relationships between fathers and sons • Honor, faithfulness, and deceit • The arbitrary will of the gods • The justification of awful deeds • Ignorance of consequences • Sacrifice and suffering • The terrifying power of love