In the next few lines, Menelaos turns to his other guest, Peisistratos, and takes the opportunity to praise his brother Antilochos, killed in Troy, his father, Nestor, Peisistratos himself and their whole bloodline really. Is it just Homer reminding us that we are dealing with heroes, or was it the thing to do on these occasions? I think it must be the former, it would be too embarrassing for the guests. Or I'm out of touch with Mediterranean culture maybe. Or, as I suspected earlier in Book 3, it is part of social bonding, reinforcing ties, reminding each other that you are connected through all these people (cf. Menelaos' frequent allusions to the young men's fathers, although he isn't supposed to know first who they are). We know from the Iliad (and A Brief History of Ancient Greece, p. 55, second paragraph from the top) that guest-friendships were hereditary, which may be a good reason for Menelaos to mention the family tree. Oral cultures seem to be obsessed with genealogies, who is related to whom, and basically keeping in mind all your family members, dead or living. Also, where you come from is your identity in Homer's world, who your father is tells people who you are. If your father is Nestor, who is very wise, you must be wise too. Although I did not grow up in an oral culture as such, there were some stories in our family about great-great grandfathers. One such story was about my great-granny's dad, who was killed in the First World War, and therefore has no grave we can visit. None of us ever knew him, but we know about him, so on the Day of the Dead when everybody flocks to the cemeteries in Hungary, we light a candle for him at the memorial area designated for the "unknown soldier". There is no reason why we should do this, I suppose, we don't even have a photo of him. We know that his family disinherited him for marrying my great-great-grandmother, who was, apparently, very much below him socially. But that's about it, really. Now if it was the Homeric world, I might be able to track somebody down whose great-great grandfather was his guest-friend, and maybe we could meet up and swap stories. I've also read somewhere that even a hundred years ago in Hungary illiterate people in remote villages were able to name 100+ living people they were related to, a mind map of their social network really. But they were not heroes, so no epic poetry to have come down to us. What do you think of the "fair-haired" epithet in connection with Menelaos? I just wondered how common being far-haired was in Greece, and I'm thinking not very. Is it something that underlines their demi-god quality, compare "Aphrodite the golden" (l. 14)? The Greek word is xanthos, which means "yellow, frequently with a tinge of red" (so that's why in my Hungarian copy of the Iliad Menelaos' hair is sometimes referred to as blond and sometimes as red). Given its similarity to gold and the sun, fair hair probably had divine and heroic associations. Interesting side issue is the relationship of Menelaos and Helen. They seem to be living in peace and contentment. In ll. 220-226, we are told that Helen puts a magic (?) potion in their drinks, which makes them forget all their sorrows. There are a few things that occurred to me. (1) Helen does this surreptitiously, unbeknownst to her husband and guests - why? (Or does she? Please see comment below.) Is this something she does on a regular basis? I don't know about you, but Menelaos strikes me as a not particularly intelligent bloke - does it have anything to do with the long-term use of "heartsease"? (2) Helen seems to be the first in a series of somewhat sinister female figures featuring in the Odyssey who dabble in magic. Helen administering the magic potion which makes people forget the most important things in life foreshadows Circe, the sirens, even Kalypso. This was hinted at in Book 1, and the theme reappears here. Helen might even be doing this out of kindness, I don't know, although it's difficult not to notice that her situation after Troy fell was a precarious one and she had to have all her wits about her. Now we see her back in her old household, controlling everything from the background. Rather clever, I think, but not necessarily nice. (A very telling example of her success is the Trojan Horse story as recounted by Menelaos in ll. 271-289, also Helen as an accomplished flatterer in ll. 263-264.) (3) The effect of the potion. To my mind, it is, on the one hand, an old human fantasy about not feeling pain, but the way Homer describes it, it is also very sad and something that is certainly not normal. There is something dehumanising about it, which is another important theme in the Odyssey (along with forgetting your homeland, cannibalism, social disorder, which seem to be the main concerns). It is the perfect anaesthetic, which makes you forget the very stuff that makes you human. We learn a lot about the characters and their relationship, while the focus is always on the absent Odysseus. I think it is very cleverly done. Other interesting points:
"[...] divine Zeus sometimes / gives out good, or sometimes evil, he can do anything" (ll. 236-37). Another view of how the gods "work". Earlier we heard that humans always accuse the gods for their misfortune while in actual fact it is of their own making, we heard that gods can get angry if you insult them in some way, and gods can, for reasons of their own, favour a particular individual and do everything to further their interests. Helen as a storyteller. I especially liked the bit about her recognising the disguised Odysseus in Troy, and how he (says she) "told me all the purpose of the Achaians" (l. 256). How much can we believe? The poet, the teller of stories, puts his (her?) characters in his own role from time to time. Everybody's got a story to tell, but to what purpose? Words, big words. A story within a story within a story etc. The porch (aithousa) - this is where the guest beds are (l. 297). Apparently the guests sleep outside and not in the "inner room of the high house". The aithousa (which comes from the verb aithō, "blaze") is, "in the Homeric house, the 'corridor' open in front like a verandah, looking E or S to catch the sun, whence the name; the sleeping place of travellers" (Perseus).
6 Comments
10/10/2010 12:11:09 pm
Hey Olga
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Olga
10/11/2010 05:45:16 am
Hi Oliver,
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10/11/2010 08:31:25 am
I suppose Helen is a femme fatale. Ancient attitudes towards women is a very interesting subject and complex. I think it's important to avoid looking at it in terms of PC. Someone who revolutionised my thinking on all this is Camille Paglia. Have you read her? She's wonderful.
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Alan Carson
10/11/2010 01:10:44 pm
Oliver,
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Olga
10/12/2010 07:17:07 am
I think my view of Helen and Greek myth as a whole is somewhat influenced by Peter Meineck's lectures on Greek drama (I have the audiobook). One of the points made is how the playwrights built on or shall we say exploited men's fear of what women may be up to.
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10/12/2010 08:23:16 am
Hey Olga, I read the text again and I can see how it could be taken as sinister. "Not if his mother and father died.." could be heard as some kind of forewarning. I don't think it is though.
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AuthorHave studied A219 Exploring the Classical World and A275 Reading Classical Greek at the Open University. Currently studying for a Psychology degree. ImagesPlease click on any image to be taken to its source.
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