CLASSIC 28 Lecture Notes - Thesprotia, Odysseus, Telemachus
Document Summary
Read myths as if they still matter because they do, how one can approach the odyssey in a few weeks: four groupings, one approach would lie in the interpretive possibilities of narrative. Folk tales v mythology: myth = culturally specific; folk tales = universal . Homer & greek authors in general were familiar with folk tales as well as myths in order to speak to the ethical concerns of the folktale. Competing for the hand of a queen is a recurring theme. Larger narrative (geographical) patterns: astronomy: in order to sail home, he has to go east, which technically makes no sense But its significance is that the east is associated with dawn and birth (west is opposite). When you go east, you"re going back toward a land of newness, birth, renewal. When he goes to the land of the dead, he has to go west. (thesprotia = westernmost part of greece)