Ok, so tell me, would you rather make love to a hot godess for eternity or go home to your aging wife and die a king? You see, Odysseus, our antagonist, is pressed to make this decision twice, once with Circe, and once with Calypso. Each time, he decided to go on a journey he knew would be difficult to try and get back to Ithica and Penelope, his queen.
The thing that gets me is, he volluntaringly spent a year with Circe, and on the last night of his captivity with Calypso, voluntaringly had sex with her.
Meanwile, Phnelope is waitinf nearly 20 years without even looking at another man, when all the suitors show up (around year 16-17) and want to marry her. She does everything in her power to keep them away, but she promised her husband she'd remarry if he didn't return in 20 years.
So now, the big question. Odysseus, Devoted husband or the world's first pimp?
Both. He was in love, but when you're away from home for 20 years, you gotta gets yer rocks off somehow... maybe Rosie Palm just wasn't doin it for him anymore.
BTW, read that book and watched the movie in 10th grade English. 😉 Fun, huh?
Virility is a symbol of masculinity.
Chastity is a feminine virtue.
The idea is that Penelope's devotion is one of the character traits that makes her so attractive to Odysseus, while "spreading thine seed" is a basic greek concept for strong male character. His masculinity requires him to do it. But he still struggles to get home.
Or not; I'm tired.
I'm reading the book and watching the movie and 9th grade english. It IS fun! You should really try out this book if you haven't read it yet.
Excellent observation, Mikeron. To carry it further, duty and responsibility to one's dependants were admirable qualities in both a husband and a king. Ulysseus may have been less than faithful during his long absence but he did keep his promise and return to his wife and his kingdom.
Then again, his rejection of the goddess may have simply been ego driven. Being Calypso's consort meant always living in her shadow. Returning to Penelope meant being lord and master, literally. Some men just can not handle a dominant woman.
m.
Hmm, an interesting point. So Odysseus is just doing what is expected of him? I soppose that makes sense. But the Odyssek brings up the point of all the Gods constantly screwing ortal women and having childeren and killing off any man a godess falls in love with. And the whole Agamemnon story. I get a big anti-femenist vibe from the book.
I read a censored novel version back in third grade, then I bought the epic version of it in sixth grade, yeah, pretty cool, maybe that's why I'm so messed up.
We jsut watched it a month ago in 9th grade english, then we watched O Brother Where Art Thou? to compare the two. They were pretty good.
Originally posted by Dechipher
We jsut watched it a month ago in 9th grade english, then we watched O Brother Where Art Thou? to compare the two. They were pretty good.
You know, that's the same thing we're gonna do in my class. Do they use the same curriculm everywhere?
I say he is both devouted husband and the world's first pimp. He had a hard decision on his hands!
Originally posted by stormwatcheagle
You know, that's the same thing we're gonna do in my class. Do they use the same curriculm everywhere?
No... we did posters about the story. But then again, "Oh Brother Where Art Thou?" wasn't out when I was in the 10th grade. At least I don't remember it 😛
We watched it in 9th grade English, and we called Hermes a fairy, because he was like that in our version. Also, the teacher fast-forwarded through the commercials.
WOW! We saw the same movie! Hermes was gay looking.