ENGL 217/LIT 231/LIT 230
Prof. G. Steinberg

Response Paper:  Odyssey, Books I-IV

As we read the Odyssey, I'd like us to focus on what we can learn about the culture that produced the poem.  What can we conclude about ancient Greek culture from reading this text?  What do the characters in the poem value?  What are their goals and aspirations?  How do the characters live and think?  Are their lives and their ways of thinking fundamentally different from our own?

Choose one of the following areas as the focus of your response paper:

1. The beginning of a text is usually very important.  It sets up what the text is about and solidifies our expectations about where the text is going to go.  So, focus on the beginning of the Odyssey.  What do the first 12-15 lines of the poem tell us about what the poem is going to be about?  What expectations do you have about the poem after reading the opening lines?  What expectations does the very first speech in the poem (by Zeus) raise about where this poem is going to go?  What themes and ideas is Homer introducing?  Does Homer give us any idea how we're supposed to think about those themes and ideas?
2. Focus on Telémakhos in Books I-III.  Telémakhos is clearly a good guy -- young, naive, infinitely promising.  So, if Telémakhos is a good guy, what is good about him?  Wherein lies his goodness?  What does he do that makes him a good guy?  How is he different from the bad guys (i.e., the suitors)?  What does his goodness tell us about what Homer and Homer's culture valued as good in people?  Telémakhos passes an important test in Book I with Athena, and the suitors fail the test.  How does Telémakhos's behavior with Athena differ from that of the suitors?  What does his behavior tell us about what Homer's culture valued most?
3. Focus on Helen and Meneláos in Book IV.  They seem good on the outside, but they're also kind of suspicious and strange.  What is wrong with their behavior?  How are they different from Telémakhos?