Something that struck me while reading book nine of the Odyssey was how horrible of a person Odysseus could be. There were multiple occasions in the one book where Odysseus did things that most heroes wouldn't have done. For example, when he ends up at the lands of the Cicones he sacks their city, kills their men, and enslaves the women as concubines. The book doesn't suggest that there is any military significance to this so it is just straight up piracy. However, what really seemed weird to me was that they were blown to that land by Zeus and since Odysseus himself said Zeus is on the side of guests, it would suggest that Zeus was trying to make Odysseus's crew guests there. This explains why Zeus was mad at them and why he gave them bad luck in their fight.
But beyond that, I think it shows something a little more important. It draws a connection between Odysseus, the hero of the story, and the suitors, some of the antagonists of the story. For one, both show up where they don't belong. Odysseus is trying to get to his home but instead ends up at the Cicones and the suitors should probably be at their houses but instead, they are all at Odysseus's house. For two, both commit acts of piracy or similar to piracy. Odysseus raids the town and takes all their wealth while the suitors are at his house taking all of his wealth. And lastly, both try to take the wives of the men who are gone. In Odysseus's case he succeeds and enslaves the women and we see the suitors still trying to convince Penelope to marry them and forget Odysseus. I think it is interesting that so many parallels are drawn especially considering the Telemachus has grown up hating the suitors while wondering who his dad is and it seems like he's going to find out his dad acts basically like the suitors.
Nice post. It's a very interesting double standard that you are depicting here. Homer largely glosses over it, suggesting that Odysseus has some kind of plot armor, or simply that Odysseus just isn't a "good" hero. I mean, Mr. Mitchell explicitly said that Odysseus does morally ambiguous stuff.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't noticed those parallels before, and I think it's because of the difference in scale. Odysseus randomly sacking cities that he shows up at is one person doing large-scale acts of piracy, while the suitors are multiple people focused on a single thing. I'll definitely consider this when Odysseus gets around to dealing with the suitors.
ReplyDeleteNice post! It's interesting that Odysseus is meant to be seen positively simply because he's Odysseus the hero who traveled all over and not a less famous suitor. Odysseus is also even more comparable to the suitors in the way he interacts with Polyphemus because he deliberately abuses xenia.
ReplyDeleteWooooaaaahh. I hadn't thought of it that way at all before. Haha, but I think of Odysseus is the biggest and baddest one and the suitors are just kind of sitting ducks wearing wolf clothing while Odysseus is the real wolf who is gonna eat em all. But what an interested parallel. Great post.
ReplyDeleteHuh, I never really thought of this comparison! Odysseus is in a foreign place, or at least a place that is not his own, and takes what isn't his, which is just like the suitors! Except for that Odysseus actually kills people and the most aggressive the suitors seem to get is when they kind of get pissed at Penelope for misleading them about the weaving. It's interesting how the framing of the story and the characters can make some actions seem way more severe and some actions seem way less severe just by basically telling us who to root for. Some great food for thought!
ReplyDeleteI never thought about it like this, but I won't be able to look at Odysseus the same way now that the idea has been planted in my head. Everything adds up, though. Odysseus seems to have the same disregard for other people's property/lives that the suitors have, but since he's the book's "hero" it's okay to overlook that? :/ That doesn't sit well with me.
ReplyDeleteI had never thought of it like this, but your points are really interesting. Odysseus arguably acts worse than the suitors do, since they never get violent or try to enslave anyone at Odysseus' house
ReplyDeleteI never thought of Odysseus as a suitor before but I totally get the comparison. His big problem with them is that they're abusing xenia, but we see him do that numerous times throughout his journey home. Definitely makes me question even more the morality of him killing them all.
ReplyDeleteThat is actually really weird. My only question is what side Cicone was on (since, after all, he did just get done fighting a war). I guess if Ciccone was on the other side, his actions sort of make sense, but even then, it is definitely a really reprehensible thing for a 'hero' to do - it definitely shows the time gap between this poem and the modern day.
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