Mythology Blog Fall 2019

Elpenor - image from:  https://sites.google.com/site/theunderworldhades/matrix Notes based of  Homer’s “The Odyssey” - translated by A. S. Kline Link:  https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Greek/Odhome.php The reading for part B of The Odyssey is very different than from part A. In part A, we go to see some of the challenges faced by Odysseus’ men as they made their way back to Ithaca. In part B, the story begins with the crews departure from Circe’s island after Odysseus was told that he must go to some island where to rivers meet and perform a ritual in order to speak to the ghost of a sort of prophet? The prophet tells Odysseus what to do in order to return home and tells him of the troubles plaguing Odysseus’ wife and throne. After this part is when the story sort of changes. After Odysseus spoke with the prophet, he goes on to continue talking to several other ghost. The most notable of the ghost being his own mother who seemed to have passed...

A photo of Odysseus i got from wikipedia For my week 3 reading I chose to read Homer’s “The Odyssey” instead of “Cupid and Psyche.” I did this because I prefer action/adventure stories and I had read The Odyssey in middle school so I was familiar with it too. The Odyssey is a very interesting story and for these notes I want to write down how the plot plays out in their adventure and also incorporate some notes on Odysseus’ character. In the online reading their journey begins with their arrival at Polyphemus’ island. It was an accidental discovery and had they leave immediately they wouldn’t have lost any men. However, Odysseus, which to me seems to be a very vainful character, wants to meet the cyclops. They journey to the Cyclopes cave where they get trapped, six men get eaten, then they trick the Cyclopes and the survivors escape. While they’re escape can be attributed to Odysseus’ wit, they wouldn’t have gotten in that situation in the first place if Odysseus would have ju...