LIT 231/LIT 230
Prof. G. Steinberg

Response Paper:  Odyssey, Books XI-XIV

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

1. What is the point of the consultation with the dead?  What does Odysseus learn -- or fail to learn -- about death?  What does he learn from each character he meets (especially Elpenor, Agamemnon, and Achilles)?  Does he meet the challenge of Scylla and Charybdis, for example, with a proper understanding of death?  What does Circe advise him to do with Scylla and Charybdis?  Does Odysseus follow her advice?  Do you admire his attitude toward death?
2. What happens with the cattle of Helios?  At the beginning of Book I, the narrator says that Odysseus couldn’t save his men because of their recklessness in eating the cattle of the Sun.  Having read the story now, do you agree with this characterization of the events?  Did the men deserve their fate?  Were they reckless?  What about other events that influenced their fates (including the curse of Polyphemus)?  What standards did the ancient Greeks use to judge people’s actions?
3. What did you expect Odysseus to do when he got home?  Did things turn out the way you expected?  How so or how not?  Why does Odysseus behave as he does?  How does Athena respond to his behavior?
4. How well does Eumaeus fit the profile of a good man?  Why do we need Eumaeus?  What does his character reveal about ancient Greek values that wasn’t obvious from the characters of Odysseus and Telemachus?