CLAS 203 Lecture Notes - Preface, Neoptolemus, Thrinacia
11 Mar 2013
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Document Summary
Saw in iliad that the heroic ideal is exemplified by achilles. Odysseus or achilles: two different modes of agon (competition) Odysseus" attributes: odysseus" epithets point to his manyness . He will devise a stratagem (mechanos) to escape any snare. The man of many turns (tropos comprehends the full amphiboly of turns clever turns of mind, figures (tropes) of speech, and endless actual turns of the wanderer. Much-suffering, much-enduring: the repetition of the prefix polu- indicates the versatility, adaptability, and mutability, that equip odysseus for an unstable world. The structure of odysseus" apologoi (stories/tales): twin emphasis on the dangers of lingering beyond the time of one"s departure, and of being eaten alive (forgetting nostos returning home) To ensure the guest"s departure at their appointed time: explanation of the arrangement of odysseus" adventures. They confront him with the two extreme versions of bad hospitality, the ultimate perversion of xenia. Defines the proper duties of xenia through antipodal examples.
