Comments on Response 6 & Exam 1

Regarding the Exam:

Exam 1 will be a take home exam, given to you in class on Monday, July 13, and due the following Monday, July 20. This means you must be present in class to get the exam, unless you have made prior arrangements with me. We can discuss the exam in class next week, but I wanted to give everyone a heads-up.

Regarding Response 6:

Similar Names Not to be Confused:

Antinoos = "Leader" of the suitors along with Eurymachos

Alkinoos = King of the Phaiacians, where Odysseus tells the story of his 10 year journey home.

Odysseus = main character of the Odyssey, son of Laertes

Oedipus = main character of the play, Oedipus Rex. King of Thebes who accidentally and unknowingly kills his father, falls in love with his mother & marries her.

Sirens = half-women/half-bird, also sometimes portrayed as mermaids, who have the most beautiful voices. They sing to the sailors to lure them into crashing their boats on the rocky shoreline. Also known to have men so enchanted by their singing that they sit and listen until their flesh rots off of the bone.

Skylla = six-headed sea monster which dwells across from Charybdis, the whirlpool. Odysseus is told to steer towards Skylla so that he only loses 6 men instead of the entire ship and crew.

1. Also, many seemed to miss the purpose served by the story of Aphrodite and Ares' affair. Recall how much we've been discussing fidelity and that Aphrodite is the wife of Hephaistos (which you may not have known) and you can see how this might be another warning to Odysseus about blindly trusting his wife, Penelope. Generally, just another warning regarding infidelity and it's consequences.

2. In regards to King Alkinoos & Odysseus' identity... Many picked up on the "Exchange of Information" within the context of Xenia. However, most seemed to have forgotten the prophecy about the Phaiacians, which concerns Alkinoos. He is pretty sure, and worried, that Odysseus is the stranger whom the Phaiacians will convey and consequently incur the wrath of Poseidon upon them. This, of course, would be bad since the prophecy also mentions that Poseidon, in his wrath, would turn the ship to stone and cover the city with a mountain.

3. Most everyone mentioned that Odysseus sees Elpenor, his mother, various Queens and Princesses, Teiresias, Agamemnon, Achilles, and Ajax. It was great if you also mentioned people like Tityos, Tantalus, and Sisyphos, though I didn't take points off for that if you missed it. Most remembered to mention what Elpenor says, as well as Antikleia, Agamemnon, and Achilles. But a lot of you forgot to mention the instructions Teiresias gives to Odysseus regarding what to do after he has killed the suitors. Also, I was looking for a little more detail than "to travel to a primitive land and make a sacrifice to Poseidon" simply because the instructions are quite detailed. I also asked this question in hopes that you would think about the purpose this other voyage would serve in assuaging Poseidon's anger.