9 Matching Annotations
  1. May 2024
    1. Odysseus has traditionally been viewed as Achilles' antithesis in the Iliad:[35] while Achilles' anger is all-consuming and of a self-destructive nature, Odysseus is frequently viewed as a man of the mean, a voice of reason, renowned for his self-restraint and diplomatic skills.

      Odysseus as antithesis of Achilles.


      Perhaps, Odysseus represent more order, reason, thus logos? Whereas, Achilles is more impulsive, but very powerful, thus more Mythos?

    2. He is most famous for his nostos, or "homecoming", which took him ten eventful years after the decade-long Trojan War.
    3. husband of Penelope
    4. In Greek and Roman mythology, Odysseus (/əˈdɪsiəs/ ə-DISS-ee-əs;[1] Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς, translit. Odysseús.mw-parser-output .noitalic{font-style:normal}, Odyseús, .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}IPA: [o.dy(s).sěu̯s]), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses (/juːˈlɪsiːz/ yoo-LISS-eez, UK also /ˈjuːlɪsiːz/ YOO-liss-eez; Latin: Ulysses, Ulixes), is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in that same epic cycle.[2]
  2. Oct 2023
    1. Homer introduces him with the adjective polytropos—literally, “of many turns.” Previous translators have called him “shifty,” “cunning,” and a hundred other things. After grappling with the alternatives, Wilson chose “complicated,” hoping also to convey the sense of “problematic.” Her first sentence—“Tell me about a complicated man”—instantly makes him our familiar: that charismatic prince who’s too impossible to live with and too desirable to live without.
  3. Aug 2022
    1. Class discussion reflected onthe emphasis on “family values” in recent news coverageof politicians looking for issues near election time.Perhaps you were stimulated by what the pundits had tosay. Or maybe you were offended by the superficiality ofthe “soundbites” – after all, you had just read Odysseustelling Agamemnon in Book Eleven that “empty wordsare evil.”

      What a fantastic juxtaposition!

  4. Nov 2021
    1. long-suffering great Odysseus

      this epithet appears 19 times by my search/count

      It's use here underlines his situation as he contemplates his potential death in simply going to sleep after war and travels to return home.

      Was there a Greek idea for "complaining"? The bard here is impinging on complaining on behalf of Odysseus with the description of how hard he's got it, but seems to be glorifying it and Odysseus' grit at the same time. Feels almost akin to the modern idea of the "humble brag", but with "complaining" as the root, thus suggesting "humble complaint".

    2. For if I wait out the uncomfortable night by the river,I fear that the female dew and the evil frost togetherwill be too much for my damaged strength, I am so exhausted, and in themorning a chilly wind will blow from the river; 470 but if I go up the slopeand into the shadowy forest,and lie down to sleep among the dense bushes, even if the chill andweariness let me be, and a sweet sleep comes upon me,I fear I may become spoil and prey to the wild animals.’

      There's something about the description here that reminds me of the closing paragraph of Charles Darwin's On The Origin of the Species (p 489):

      It is interesting to contemplate an entangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, [...]

      Both authors are writing about riverbanks, life, and uncertainty.

  5. Mar 2021
    1. Muse

      Reminded of Chapter 11 in The Odyssey:

      I am likely going to retire this year and I find resonance in this as it appears that I will be accepting a "voluntary" buyout at the end of this fiscal year. My long sea journey, 25 years worth in teaching, will be officially over. Hence...the appeal to propitiate the gods, to let all the pain go, to ask forgiveness of the implacable Poseidon.