I found the "Mapping Utopia" article to be very interesting. I never thought about the Odyssey like that; so I gained some perspective. If you didn't read the article, it's about how Homer wrote the epic intending to map out the best possible society for Odysseus to create upon his return to Ithaka. All of the adventures he goes on, the people and societies he encounters are supposed to be representative of all different possible ways a society could run. The last place he lands, the land of the Phaiacians, is the 'utopia' Homer wanted us to see, according to the author. I liked her interpretation of the Homer's Odyssey.

The Odyssey

I have read the Odyssey of Homer once before, and I find it to be so much more dynamic than the Iliad. The beginning starts a bit slow but the action picks up once we begin with Odysseus on his journey.  I find one of the best stories within the epic to be the mentioning of the ploy of Penelope to refrain from picking a new husband. She tells the suitors that she must first finish a tapestry which she weaves by day, and undoes by night. I think this is very clever and also shows her devotion to her husband and family. It would be easy for her to give up on Odysseus and find a new husband after 10 years. I think its rather romantic. (this has nothing to do with the picture but I just really enjoy that part of Odysseus's journey!)

When first picking up this book, I assumed it would be about the Trojan war, or at least the last year of it. However, now that I've read the whole thing through, the Iliad is really all about the wrath of Achilles. The poem starts out at the beginning of his anger, and then the poem ends with his fury finally subsiding. The fact that he allowed the Trojans eleven days to bury Hektor showed that his anger is finally at bay. Also, the scene between Achilles and Priam was touching; Achilles likens Priam to his own father Peleus, and we see Achilles' soft side. I would've thought the poem would end with the fall of Troy and the outcome of the war, but that's because I thought the poem was about the war. The fact that it's truly about Achilles' emotion of wrath makes me think the Greeks placed a lot of importance on emotion. I have also read Euripides' The Medea, and that takes Medea's wrath to be one of the main focuses too.

Good observation, Sarah.  Although the episode of Paris hitting Achilles in the foot, his only vulnerable spot, is never mentioned in the Iliad, this episode certainly seems to foreshadow it, and fits in with the typology of warriors in the poem-- the archers are less noble than the warriors who fight hand to hand with spears or swords.  Paris, who is clearly portrayed as a coward, has the bow as his weapon, as does Pandarus, who (albeit at Athena's instigation) breaks the truce by using his bow.  The bow seems to be a weapon associated with treachery (so it is notable that the bow is Odysseus' weapon in the Odyssey).

Check out the link to an excerpt from Sebastian Junger's War on Thetis Speaks. It may give you some ideas for Writing Assignment #2 (posted under Assignments the UBLearns, in case you have forgotten about it!).

Archaic Greek Archer (minus his bow)

I thought it was an interesting scene in Book 11 where Paris hits Diomedes in the foot with an arrow. "Now Diomedes was stripping the corselet of strong Agastrophos from about his chest, and the shining shield from his shoulders and the heavy helm, as the other pulled his bow at the handgrip and shot, and the arrow escaping his hand flew not vain but struck the flat of the right foot, and the shaft driven clean through stuck in the ground" (11.373-378).
I find this scene interesting because it foreshadows the event that occurs between Paris and Achilles later on in the story. Although it might not be in the book, in the movie, it's Paris who shoots Achilles in the foot/Achilles tendon.

 I thought that the  simile with Apollo and the sand castle that we talked about today was very interesting and I defiantly think it showed a lot about the power and almost carelessness of the gods.Why it stuck out me in particular though was because it reminded me of a scene in a tv episode I just watched recently. In this episode, the character keeps having a dream of a little boy kicking down a sandcastle on the beach. I can't tell if the allusion is intentional, but it defiantly stuck. I'm  bit inclined to think it was intentional though i'm not quite sure in what capacity yet, as the show has used mythological allison a few times before. An episode centered on  a man cursed with immortality was titled 'Tithonus',  a fertility clinic was named Zeus genetics,  and a doomed oil rig was 'The Orpheus'.

The Power of Thetis

I thought that the in depth analysis of Thetis and her power and role in the Iliad was extremely interesting. I had never really questioned Zeus having listened to her, though she is not a very powerful goddess, but it is all much clearer in his motivation to do so. What I thought was most striking was the details on Thetis potential to give birth to a son more powerful than its father, which could be the strongest god in existence. I wonder if I was Zeus or Poseidon if I would be able to not feud over a women I loved because she could be the destruction of everything. .... intersting stuff!

Good questions being raised, especially about the gods.  They are very difficult to get a grip on in the Iliad, because sometimes they seem to be acting just like irresponsible humans, but sometimes they have an awesome divinity about them, as Apollo has in Iliad 1 when he brings plague to the Achaians, and Zeus has when he brings out the scales of fate.  Even in classical Greece, people questioned whether the gods as portrayed in the Iliad deserved to be worshiped.  Some critics have thought of them as plot devices or as ways of conveying the psychological state of the humans in the poem.

Keep track as you read (it helps to keep a reading notebook) of when gods appear, whether they are interacting with humans or with one another, and whether they seem to have autonomous power or have to accede to fate/destiny.  Why do you think Homer structures the poem so that the divine action forms a counterpoint to the human action?  Are the gods essential to the poem?

Blog Entry #1

I think it's really interesting that the gods seem to play more of a role than the mortals in how the story plays out. Things could have gone much differently if the gods had just stepped back and allowed the people to settle their own disputes. However, since they all seem to have something in it for themselves, the gods manipulate and trick everyone into fighting against each other. It seems to me like the gods just love to be entertained, and don't really care too much about what the Trojans and Achaeans are going through. But hey, it is pretty entertaining, so the gods have a point.

Blog Response #1

So as far as the blog entries go I hope i'm doing the right type of response here, although I don't know for sure.

Well I figure I better start this off so...... I found a link to a site which has some pictures from one of the scenes that we discussed today in class, when Athena stops Achilles from killing Agamemnon. Here is one of the picture and also the link. ( http://www.philipresheph.com/demodokos/book1/wrath.htm )

I wonder why Hera sent Athena to stop him? Is it because she knows that without Agamemnon it will be hard for the Achaeans to beat the Trojans? Or maybe she just felt bad for being the one to spur the conflict by sending Achilles the dream? .....