The End(s) of the Odyssey Regarding the Odyssey’s three main narrative sequences, then, I have argued that Zeus provides a kind of blueprint for the Telemachia and Mnesterophonia with his Oresteia, and that he orchestrates the Nostos overtly. The latter sequence, as discussed in the previous chapter, comes under Zeus’ control in Book 5, when Athene appears unable to implement the plan she has formulated for Odysseus’… Read more
Ogygie to Ithake When Odysseus himself enters the main narrative of the Odyssey in Book 5, he is, as at the beginning, trapped on Kalypso’s island in the middle of the sea. This is the world of the hero’s divine antagonist Poseidon, from which he will escape in accordance with the plan that Athene puts forward in the first divine council scene in Book 1. As… Read more
Oresteia and Odyssey Throughout the Odyssey, the story of Agamemnon, Klytaimnestre, and Orestes is paradigmatic for that of Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachos. The Odyssean “Oresteia,” as the story will be referred to here, provides examples of the kinds of perils that could await Odysseus, and of the resources on which he can rely. A number of characters describe or refer to the death of Agamemnon, the treachery… Read more
Introduction The plan of Zeus In some ancient Greek epics, a Dios boulē ‘plan of Zeus’ helps to motivate and explain the plot. This theme is best known from its appearance at the beginning of the Iliad: μῆνιν ἄειδε θεά, Πηληιάδεω Ἀχιλῆος,οὐλομένην ἣ μυρί’ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε’ ἔθηκεν,πολλὰς δ’ ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς ᾌδι προίαψενἡρώων, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσινοἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι, Διὸς δ’ ἐτελείετο… Read more
Preface Western literature begins with the Iliad and Odyssey, the monumental epics that already in antiquity had given rise to an extensive body of analysis and interpretation, from word studies and line-by-line commentaries to textual and literary criticism. Byzantine scholars preserved the texts and a portion of the ancient critical tradition through the Middle Ages, and reintroduced them to Renaissance Europe; Enlightenment- and Romantic-era scholars transformed the… Read more
Bibliography AHS = Allen, T. W., W. R. Halliday and E. E. Sykes, eds. 1936. The Homeric Hymns. Oxford. Alberti, L. B. 1988. On the Art of Building. Translated by J. Rykwert, N. Leach, and R. Tavernor. Cambridge, Mass. Alexiou, M. 1974. The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition. Cambridge. Allen, D. C. 1970. Mysteriously… Read more
10. Female Fetish Urban Form [1] I. Introduction Female, fetish, and urban form are mutually fashioned in Aristophanes’ comedy Ecclesiazusae, in which the women of Athens, under the leadership of their new στρατηγός “general” Praxagora, disguise themselves as men in order to infiltrate the ἐκκλησία, the male-only “legislative assembly,” where they vote in a new order, one… Read more
9. Architecture Gender Philosophy [1] εἷς, δύο, τρεῖς· One, two, three. Timaeus 17a1 I broach the topic of architecture and gender and philosophy first because of an exchange that took place in the fall of 1987 in Chicago. During the meeting of the Associated Collegiate Schools… Read more
8. The (Re)Marriage of Penelope and Odysseus [1] In the (re)marriage of Odysseus and Penelope, the Odyssey initiates a dialogue with the Western traditions of architecture, gender, and philosophy. [2] Although defined conceptually by discourses “invented” as different from mythology, [3] these three modes function actively in Archaic Greek culture and thought. Read more
7. Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite: Tradition and Rhetoric, Praise and Blame [1] I. Introduction The Homeric hymn is a traditional form of praise poetry. Employing traditional diction, theme, and structure, the hymn presents an epiphany of the god and an aetiology of his or her powers. [2] The traditional rhetoric of the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite… Read more
