The Odyssey, Books 21-24

         Odysseus’ bow represents who and what he was when he left to fight in the Trojan War and the qualities that made him a good man and a good leader to his men: powerful and immensely strong, and the fact that only he has the actual strength to string it shows that he was the strongest around. He was strong not only physically, but intellectually. None of the suitors can so much as bend his bow, and Eurymachus even says “What does grieve me is the thought that our failure with this bow proves us such weaklings compared with the godlike Odysseus. The disgrace will stick to our names forever”. None of them can bend the bow because they’re not good men like Odysseus, and even he had to go through a twenty year long journey to get back to a point where he could use his brain and move away from all the violence he experienced and perpetuated during the war. All the suitors stay in his palace wasting his food and wine, doing what they want and showing no regard for anything other than their own wants. They don’t know how to use their brains like Odysseus does, they don’t have the same virtues as him (or any other person). They’ve been shown as opposite to all the other places that Telemachus has visited on his search for his father, as well as the Phaecians, who are all upstanding citizens who treat their guests how they’re supposed to be treated and make sacrifices to the gods. The suitors do none of that.

            Odysseus’ bow and the suitors inability to string it at all underlines the fact that they weren’t these good, virtuous men who did right by others; they did what they wanted, and not even in their own homes. Odysseus can string his bow and use it because he has finally returned to the state of mind he was in before. He’s returned home a good man and regained whatever strength and skills he had lost in the war.

The Odyssey, Books 16-20

            I can see why Odysseus kept his true identity hidden from Eumaeus. Of course he would have wanted everyone he knew and loved to know that he was back to take his rightful place, but it would probably have added a lot of stress and more time to his journey if people—especially the suitors—knew he was back. It’s not as easy as sailing back into harbor and waltzing back into his house; Odysseus must make sure it’s safe for him. If Eumaeus knew from the beginning that it was Odysseus he was helping, there’s always a chance he could give the secret away, or be too overwhelmed after seeing both him and Telemachus return to really be a big help. It’s better to have Eumaeus in the dark about Odysseus’ identity because, first of all, Odysseus can better tell his true character by how well Eumaeus treats a stranger who comes to him asking for help, and second of all, the more secret Odysseus’ return is, the better he can figure out what really needs to be done to reinstall himself in his own home, by posing as a stranger so he can get the real news.

 Eumaeus obviously loves Odysseus and his family very much and is very loyal, and is simply a good person to boot, after we see him give Odysseus a place to stay and helps him out. When Telemachus returns and goes to speak with Eumaeus, he’s almost as happy to see Telemachus as Odysseus was: “Like a fond father welcoming back his son after nine years abroad, his only son…the admirable swineherd threw his arms around Telemachus…”. To see someone other than his father care about Telemachus like a son was important, because it shows that there are still some who are loyal to Telemachus and Odysseus, who would help out whenever they’re needed. 

The Odyssey, Books 11-15

                It’s necessary for Odysseus to go through all those trials before he gets back to Ithaca. He is obviously already one of the smartest men around, he knows how to use his head, but sometimes he still doesn’t listen, although he tries his hardest to do what is best for him and his men to be able to return home. Like we’ve mentioned before in class, Odysseus’ mindset needs to be different than it has been while he’s been away at war, and now finding his way back home. He has to know how to talk to people and interact with others instead of simply fighting and strategizing all the time, which is what he had done for ten years. He does still have to have a plan to get all the suitors out of his house, and by this time he knows what he has to do to survive and get what he wants: he should listen to advice given to him, because it’s generally going to point him in the right direction (especially if it’s from a god), and accept help from others. He’s changed so much over the last twenty or so years trying to get back home, wearing a disguise shows that no one will recognize him, obviously, but I don’t think he might have been recognized anyways. His demeanor will have changed and the way he acts; twenty years is a long time to be away.

            Eumaeus represents the good parts of Ithaca, not the godless, chaotic place where all the suitors are eating all Odysseus’ food and taking over everything. Eumaeus is thankful to the gods, and sends them offerings before they eat. He’s like the other kings that Telemachus met, treating guests kindly and the right way. Going to his hut certainly means a move away from uncertainty on the sea, and not knowing how to find their way home and being influenced by all sorts of different things, whether it be one of the gods or simply the weather out on the open sea. Being back on land, Odysseus knows what he has to do, and now he has a concrete plan, although we might not know what it is yet.

The Odyssey, Books 6-10

            In Book 9, The Cyclopes, Odysseus has to rely primarily on his own cunning and his own ideas to get them out of Polyphemus’ cave and back to their ship. He doesn’t really have any help from any of the gods to get him out of there; he’s left to his own devices and has to rely on himself and be a leader to the rest of his men. While he is continually loyal to his men and tries as hard as he can to get them home, he does need extra help sometimes. In Book 10, Circe, he meets Aeolus and gets a lot of help from him…which is then ruined and they end up right back at Aeolus’ island searching for a way home once again. I was so surprised and a little appalled that Odysseus would ask for that much help a second time—“’Put things right for me, my friends. You easily could.’ It was with these placatory words that I appealed to them”—when he had already received a ridiculously helpful and not to mention valuable gift. Instead of working out how to solve the problem himself, he appeals to Aeolus a second time kind of expecting the same thing to happen as before. The Laestrygonians straight up kill most of his men, and all Odysseus can do is run away. He thought it would be a good idea to not go into that little protected harbor; why didn’t he tell the rest of his squadron to moor their ships the same place he did?

            Odysseus shouldn’t expect hospitable hosts everywhere he goes, especially since it’s already taken him so long to get home already and Poseidon hates him after blinding Polyphemus. He has to rely on himself, like escaping from the Cyclops. He used his brain, like he did in Troy, and he wasn’t relying on luck from the gods or anything (at least not simply praying to them for a way out instead of trying to think of one himself). It’s a little like Odysseus has to prove himself in order to get home, and has to prove that he’s still a good man and a worthy one after being at war for ten years. 

The Odyssey, Books 1-5

         In Book 1, the humans—especially all the suitors—are shown to be a bit greedy, only thinking of what they want and not willing to cooperate. Telemachus is a different story, because he wants to fix the problem he’s facing and is trying to find a solution, but the only way he can get started is with help from the gods. Zeus and Athene, on the other hand, have a pretty calm discussion while Athene is attempting to get support for Telemachus to find his father without interference from anything, not the suitors or from Poseidon. The gods are very regal and respect each other, while the men wishing to marry Penelope are eating Telemachus out of house and home, they won’t leave; they don’t respect him. Telemachus only wants to find his father. He’s referred to as looking like a god, or having an authority like one; he needs to be different from the other men around him if he’s going to have a chance to be successful in finding his father, or at least finding out what happened to him.

            On that note, we hear his story first. Maybe it’s so we can appreciate and know what went on in Ithaca while Odysseus was away, and what his family was going through and how they, meaning Telemachus, were trying to figure out what had happened to him and if he was actually dead or not. It also lets Telemachus take the spotlight, and we hear all the time how much he is like his father, in looks and in stature and in the way he speaks, even. Having him go out and see part of the world and do things on his own lets him become even more like Odysseus, in a way, because he kind of has to lead and show that he can be a man.

Genesis, Ch. 37. 39-50

          Throughout my reading of the story I thought it was an interesting point that none of Joseph’s brothers ever admit to their father what they had done, even though Joseph (apparently) forgave them. That is such an outrageously awful thing to have done to anyone, selling Joseph to Egyptians because they were worried about a dream he had and didn’t want to bow down to him, and he was their brother! Understandably none of them would have wanted to defer to him with that reverence…but that’s exactly what ended up happening in the end, with Joseph being the one in charge of affairs and telling them what to do to survive. Jacob conveniently dies without ever having to know the real truth, but I guess at least he was happy and Joseph reconciled with his brothers, although it’s never explicitly mentioned that they all talk about how they sold their brother into slavery.

            I was also curious about Joseph’s life in Egypt and him eventually getting to run the household of the Pharaoh. Normally, one would expect Joseph to be really angry and bitter about being sold into slavery and probably try to get back at his brothers, or at least find a way to confront them about it and expose them. Joseph does none of that, and he doesn’t seem to have any malicious intent—except for a little bit, when he tells his brothers that to get more grain their youngest brother will have to come stay with him, which he knows will break Israel’s heart. But throughout it all, he never seeks revenge, even though he easily could have, being in charge of handing out food and keeping everything in order. All he wanted was to have his family be satisfied, and he got that and a reconciliation with his brothers.

Genesis, Ch. 25-28, 32-33

            Rebecca’s role in deceiving Isaac and Esau and what she says to Jacob afterwards really show, to me at least, that she knew what she was doing was wrong. Blatantly favoring one son over the other could only end badly, for her and for her sons, even though eventually their relationship is repaired. Jacob and Esau being twins is shown, from the beginning, as them being in contention with each other, fighting to be first or the best or to get recognition. Because they’re so close, there is even more competition, and Jacob eventually wins—which could make Esau hate him even more than if he was just another acquaintance. Esau being older, and not having as much of his mother’s love, he has to work harder to get noticed or rewarded, and his own father wouldn’t bless him until he begged. Jacob didn’t have to work for his mother’s love, and she gave no reason for loving him: “Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob”. Esau had more to lose.

            Jacob may very well have wrestled with God physically, but at the same time Jacob is also trying to figure out if what he is doing is the right thing, if his brother will forgive him, or if he is still planning on killing him. Jacob is obviously worried and feels a little guilty about what he did and is trying to make it right; who wouldn’t be wrestling with their past decisions that led to this point? 

Genesis, Ch. 12, 16-18, 21-23

          It is a little strange how Abraham reacts when he is told to go to Egypt, with having his wife pretend to be his sister for her sake when in reality it would have been perfectly okay all along. I guess this shows that Abraham does love her and doesn’t want anything to harm her, but on the other hand it also shows his complete and total devotion to God even though following God’s orders could (according to Abraham) result in people dying—he was even willing to kill his own son, no questions asked. Abraham could just be worried because of things he hears from others coming from Egypt and other secondhand sources, but we’ll never know. At least he takes them seriously, although he could have prevented Sarah being taken as a wife to the Pharoah if Abraham had just gone and talked to him in the first place. But Abraham simply listens to what God tells him to do, and he does it, like when he is told to sacrifice his son Isaac. He calmly goes with his son and is all ready to kill Isaac—“And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife.”—no questions or mourning for what he is about to do; it is God’s word, so he will do it, absolutely. It’s important to have faith, I think, or at least be dedicated to it and, obviously, have a good belief in it, but it’s a little different to have such a blind devotion that you would kill your own son because of something God told you.

            Sarah sending Hagar to bear a child for her ended up like I thought it would, or at least up to the point where jealously came in and Hagar was sent away. Sarah being the wife and higher up on the social ladder gave her the opportunity in the first place to offer her servant to her husband; Hagar didn’t really have a choice. And of course there was jealousy involved: Hagar was carrying Sarah’s husband’s child, a child that Sarah wanted for her own, but of course Hagar would want to keep her own baby. 

Genesis, Chapters 4, 6-9

          I could certainly see how Cain would feel the way he did—he made an offering to God, just the same as Abel did, but it was completely disregarded and put to the side and he wasn’t given any reason why. God even asks him why he is angry, like he has no idea. I’m not surprised Cain was as upset as he was. Especially since they were brothers; siblings are kind of more predisposed to be jealous of each other, so God’s disregard for Cain’s offering made him that much more angry. Getting no reason why his offering wasn’t liked would have just added fuel to that fire, would have made him want to know what he had done wrong to disappoint God, which was all he was trying to do. Justice will always be unfair for someone, because everyone wants to be in the right and have their actions be validated. When Cain says to God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”, he’s just showing more of his anger at the fact that his brother was chosen over him. But at the same time, God reminds him a little that he still has a responsibility for his brother no matter what, especially since he works with the soil and the ground.

            It’s a bit extreme that God was so ridiculously unhappy with what man was doing on earth that he decided to wipe out absolutely everything that lived to fix the problem. Maybe it would be a little easier to start over with everything to get rid of all the bad, but that doesn’t let anyone learn any lessons from their wrongdoing and attempt to try again and be better…because everyone is dead. In these chapters God is more angry and wanting the people to listen to him, but it’s not necessarily working as well as it had been in the past, so he just decides to get rid of everyone because everything is corrupted.