The Odyssey

One could make the case that The Odyssey is the most important book in western fiction. Through this ancient greek epic, Homer provided modern culture with the appropiate fertile land in which new literary works could be created. With the arguments of intertextuality and a phenomenal story line, scholars can´t deny that there is magic in this epic that has lived for almost three thousand years. The Odyssey, represents the foundations of our actual literature, therefore we owe it reverence and respect.  Here lies a brief analysis of this work.

The Author

Is Homer really the actual author of this book? Or could there be various writers in The Odyssey? By reading the novel, one can deduce that there are several people involved in the writing process. First of all, Homer detaches himself from the creation of the story line by admitting that he is just an instrument to publish it. On the other hand, there are various styles of writing in the book that suggests that there are many people behind the literary work.

The Readers

The implicit readers of this book are definitely the Greeks; there was no room for anybody else. The mighty Greek culture, with their air of superiorness and bravado, could only design a book like this to be read solely by them. The horizon of expectations that Homer approached was one of teaching. Through The Odyssey, Homer believes that he can teach the Greeks lessons of divinity and cunningness, let´s not forget that The Odyssey is a book of religious nature that sought to pass on the actions of great heroes and gods.

Style

The book itself is a marvelous example of the use of flashbacks (analepsis). We know throughout the novel that Odysseus misses 20 years with his wife, Penelope. At the beginning, Odysseus is just around 27 days away from reaching home, nevertheless, by using a flashback he retells his tale that involved a 10 year delay from reaching Ithaca. So in fact the action that takes place in The Odyssey is a very small period of time in comparison to the other 10 years that Odysseus spent wandering in the midst of the Aegian Sea.

The Setting

There are many elements of Ancient Greece that can be found in the book, but we can mainly spot two different Greeces: The one before the Troyan war, and the one after it. Before the war Ithaca was a peaceful place, Aquiles was alive, Helena had not betrayed his Troyan husband, and the Greeks had yet not proved themselves as the best warriors. After the war, Ithaca is torn apart as well as families and because of this Odysseus strives for going back home.

The chief antagonist...Why Poseidon? He becomes the direct enemy of Odysseus when he blatantly cursed the sea in his name when he set sail from Troy. By doing this, our hero defied the holiness of the gods and so he received a punishment.

What is the importance of the city? In Greece, the city was everything: your homeland, your birthplace, the land in which you grew up and that you must eventually maintain and protect. Loosing your city is something deplorable because it means that you are not worthy of having one. On the other hand, the value of the individual is very underlined in the Odyssey. Being cunning and a good leader will help you achieve virtues that are of great value in Greece.

Themes

THE MAN, THE PONTO, THE HERO, INDIVIDUAL

Is it men against gods or gods and men? I believe it is gods and men, because gods come in firsthand. They take the important decisions and never pass an opportunity to demonstrate humans that the real power resides in them. Men are not against gods, actually I think it is some men with their gods against other men with their respective gods. Thanks to this dichotomy in the The Odyssey, we can acquire a great and complete view of the Helade.

The climax is a paradigm to be broken. True enough; the platonic idea of a book is to have a single climax. Regardless of this, the new conception of the novel is that it can contain more than one climatic point. I agree with this theory because I can think of several point in the story line that can accomplish themselves as climatic points. The equilibrium between these points is the key to a well structured argument. Separate the points, give the novel space to breath, make the novel an up and down voyage, play with the characters, enter plot twists, but don´t suffocate it.

We have talked about time but not about space. In the book, Odysseus takes his crew to a visit into the Hades (a.k.a Hell). Why did Homer include this episode? The opposition of two totally different worlds is the key to emphasize the characteristics of the real world. Also, Homer uses this opportunity to tie loose some ends from the Illiad. Another vital space for the Greek is the sea. It compromises the most important way of communication; a city without sea is not a complete one.  Space as homeland is the final attribute of space in Homer´s work. There is no nation without land and Odysseus firmly believes that he will finally be himself again in a complete manner when he rescues Ithaca from the suitors.

The beauty of The Odyssey is that it compromises the three pillars of literature: poetry, narrative, and theatre. It combines fantastic characters in a poetic language that can be represented in a play.

There is no epic book without epic characters. The importance of a goody-goody character like Odysseus is vital in this book because it provides a role model for the Greek civilization in terms of conduct, leadership, and honor. Odysseus is cunning and strong, he can fight and he can outwit his opponents. He has certain flaws, but after all he is human and not a god. The gods represent an entirely different aspect of characters. The gods are the puppeteers in The Odyssey, they decide and fight for their favorite humans. What the gods  say, that shall be done. 

Is the story line more centered towards the gods or men? I think it is all oriented towards the gods because they are the ones that ultimately decide. Men are fragile and also the creation of the gods, so somehow, the humans are subjugated to the arbitrary force of the gods.

Some aspects worthy to mention: intelligence and technology. What is their importance? Intelligence is the key to each and every small step that Odysseus makes in order to reach home. He is always wise when dealing with problems, specially when handling the situation with Polyphemus. Technology appears in different manners: navigation, boatcraft, sewing machines, weapons, etc...

In conclusion, The Odyssey functions as the standing ground of western literature. It is of enormous importance to literature due to the magnitude of influence and the repercussion it has had throughout the years. Trying to picture the world of books without Odysseus is impossible. I liked the book, it is entertaining and instructive, it has a fantastic plot that is well exploited and the narrative never gets into a gritty mood. It was all I expected  and much more.