The Odyssey of Homer is generally considered to date from somewhere around 750 BCE and depicts events some 400 to 450 years earlier at the end of the Trojan War. It relates the story of Odysseus’ nostos (homecoming after the war) and eventual slaughter of the suitors who have abused his home.
In my view, the gods and their actions are central to the plot of this poem and they most definitely enhance the overall effect of they poem. The gods have significant influence on the actions of the central mortal characters, and the poem’s conclusion. Of course I’m making this assertion from the perspective of a twentieth century reader. It would be improper to assume the audience in 850 BCE would necessarily hold the same view as me. However, I believe that without the gods, this tale would be no more than a run of the mill, albeit well told, adventure yarn.
There are two key points that need to be appreciated; the Odyssey is a work of fiction and the Greek gods cannot be compared with the gods worshipped today.
The Odyssey is not a true story. It is a fantastical adventure story. It may have been based on some factual characters but its events are fictitious. None of us today would believe that Odysseus had blinded Polyphemus – the remains of a race of one-eyed cyclops has never been found. Nor would we believe that he was caught between the Scylla and Charybdis for broadly similar reasons.
It’s also important to put the Greek gods into some sort of perspective. They are not the same as the gods worshipped in developed societies today. Most modern religions have one god – invariably the embodiment of perfection, absolute wisdom and power. The ancient Greeks had a great number of gods and they were not universally so perfect. They frequently exhibited human frailties such as anger, jealousy, desire etc. But they had powers beyond that of mortals. In some ways they are the early equivalent of twentieth century super heroes – powerful and flawed. While Christians believe that God works in mysterious ways, ancient Greeks more closely linked the acts of their gods to the errors of humans.
There are four gods who are instrumental to the plot of the poem and others who play a lesser role. Poseidon causes Odysseus to be caught in a storm one more than one occasion – seeking revenge on Odysseus for blinding his son Polyphemus – and destroys Odysseus’ ship which leads to him being stranded on the island of Ogygia. Zeus also sends a thunderbolt which kills many of his colleagues, and it is Zeus whose decision signals the beginning of Odysseus’ return home. Kalypso imprisons Odysseus on the island for many years with the intention that he should become her husband. Pallas Athene is the god who plays the most active role in the poem. First (as Mentes), she counsels Telemachos to seek news of his father, and later she aids Odysseus by disguising him and, at various times, confusing his enemies and manipulating the perception of others. Of course she is also influential in persuading Zeus to allow Odysseus to leave Ogygia. Without the actions of the gods I have described here, the Odyssey would be quite the epic poem it is. It’s inconceivable to imagine how all of these events could have taken place without some immortal intervention.
Of course the very poem itself, though narrated by Homer, is told through him by a muse – ‘Tell me, Muse, of the man of many ways’. Muses are ‘goddesses upon whom poets – and later other artists, philosophers and intellectuals generally – depended for the ability to relate their works’. In this way, the complete poem is only capable of being told by the grace of a god.
We have established that the gods are important from the perspective of the development of the plot. But what other non-physical influences do they exert – for example over the behaviour and beliefs of the mortals in the tale? While we don’t know for certain that Greeks who lived during the ‘dark ages’ truly believed in these gods, we do know that the mortals characterised in the poem hold great store in the influence of the gods. They believe that everything that happens is in some way the will of the gods, and there is plenty of evidence of this scattered throughout the poem. For example when Telemachos tells Mentes (Athene) that it is the gods’ ‘evil intention’ that has caused his father’s absence. And when Menelaos relates the tale of his wanderings to Telemachos, he lays the blame for his inability to make a speedy return home squarely at the feet of the gods. They also believe that they require to pray to the gods to bring about the good fortune they need, such as when Odysseus prays to Athene to allow him to be ‘loved and pitied’ by the Phaiakians. And they make sacrifices (hecatombs) to please the gods. Interestingly, Penelope’s suitors make sacrifices and prayers – to bring misfortune and death to Telemachos and Odysseus – to the same gods who are helping the pair. Meanwhile Penelope and Telemachus don’t eject the suitors from Odysseus’ house partly for fear they may anger the gods because they will be seen as bad hosts.
All told, the relationship between mortals and gods is not a straightforward one. All mortals worship and revere gods. Some gods bear ill will towards some or all mortals while others, Zeus in particular, adopt a more balanced approach. Others still have favourites among mortals and Odysseus was clearly favoured by Athene, and Kalypso for that matter. But it is this very lack of universally predictable behaviour by the gods (they can blow hot and cold) which creates the dynamic, and dramatic, tension between gods and humans. Without this tension, without the inclusion of the gods, the story of Odysseus’ nostos would be a very different tale. It may have had similar themes – mans struggle against the forces of nature and other men – but would have lacked the fantastical qualities which give it greater depth. And, importantly, it would be much less than the astonishing tale which it is.
No comments:
Post a Comment