Eye to Eye with the Blind Bard

Some suggestions for writing about The Odyssey . . .

The reason Homer's Odyssey has endured as a classic for so many centuries is that people of many ages and cultures have found in it their deepest truths about themselves. There are surely as many "valid" interpretations of The Odyssey as there are intelligent, sensitive readers; in other words, The Odyssey is an inexhaustible source of meaning and all readers, to some extent, create their own Odysseys simply by shining the poem's light through the lenses of their own particular ways of thinking, their own lives.

This doesn't mean that anyone can say just anything about it, though! Remember that Homer (if that really was the name of the poet) was a product of his own time and his own culture, and certainly he had his own intentions in composing The Odyssey. We cannot know exactly what those intentions were, but we can apply the best of our own knowledge about history, about literature, and especially about human nature in our efforts to find the truths in the poem that are available to us.

Please note that this assignment calls for an attempt to say something "objectively" true about the poem -- that is, something that can be demonstrated as valid for all readers. This assignment is not an exercise in "subjective" reactions to the poem; you did that already in your journals. "Odysseus reminds me of my dad," or "The Odyssey made me feel all warm and runny inside" are not valid topics!

Here, then, are a few possible topics, or starting points, for essays about The Odyssey. I strongly recommend that you do at least a little library research to support your ideas.

Discuss how geographical facts about Greece and the Mediterranean Sea shaped the poem and the culture in which it was written. What does it mean that the Greeks were a seafaring, trading people, proud of their skills and their knowledge of the sea?

For many years scholars believed that there never was any city of Troy, that the story of the war there was entirely mythical. Earlier in this century, though, a German archeologist discovered the ruins of Troy and even found evidence of destruction by fire. How have recent historical discoveries influenced our understanding of Homer and The Odyssey?

What part do female characters, both mortal and immortal, play in The Odyssey? How does the way that Homer depicts females shed light on Homer himself, on his intended audience, and on ancient Greek culture? Does Homer have anything to teach modern readers about the women of today and their place in society?

Homer makes masterful use of such literary devices as extended metaphors, flashbacks, suspense, and dramatic irony. How does his use of such techniques shape our reading of The Odyssey?

Some scholars have suggested that The Odyssey is really a vast, extended metaphor, and that the various adventures in the poem reflect critical truths about human psychology; that is, the poem is not just about Odysseus, but about all human beings. How can The Odyssey be interpreted in this way?

The gods play a very different role in the world of The Odyssey than they do in the world of the Bible. The Greek gods are really very human, not at all like, say, the figure of God the Father found in the Old Testament. What was the Greek understanding of man's view of himself and his place in the world?

The Odyssey is full of killing, raping, and plundering, much of it presented in an entirely heroic light. Was Homer's morality different from ours?

Throughout The Odyssey, Homer gives us a strong sense of the very essential role that hospitality played in the culture of ancient Greece. What is the proper behavior for hosts and guests in the world of the poem? How important are breaches of hospitality, and how are they punished?

Berkeley, California

April 1993

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