The Odyssey Ch. 9-11

Words:

• viands (p.91) - an item of food, especially a delicacy.  
• pernicious (p. 95) - having a gradual adverse effect

Phrases:

• "...that you, like all, may know it" (his name) & "my renown reaches to heaven" (p. 80) - we did discuss in class that this was just a way of identifying himself, but it does seem rather prideful
• "gnawing our hearts"(p.81)  - good way to describe worry
• "the gift which is the stranger's due" (p.85) - Odysseus states to the Cyclops that it is his right as a visitor to receive certain things.  It's a good example of how hospitality has changed.  These days, we don't believe that we owe strangers anything.  Perhaps, like the Cyclops, we would be better off being kind and offering help instead of only thinking of ourselves.
• "my name...so deceived them" (p.87) - In English, Noman works well as a name and also "no man".  It's interesting to think of what the word was in Greek that could have been used both ways.
• "by night they sleep by their chaste wives" (p. 91) - It doesn't seem like an ideal situation to have a wife who is restraining herself from sex.  After looking the word "chaste" up, however, I found out that it means sexual behavior acceptable by society.  Which is also interesting because we're talking about brother/sister pairs and maybe that phrase is to note that that practice is socially acceptable.
• "no good came to them from their lamenting" ( p. 94) - it usually doesn't, but that rarely seems to matter when it comes to mourning
• "then I approached the beauteous bed of Circe." (p.97) - Cheater!  For some reason, I thought that Odysseus had returned to his wife a faithful man.
• "Why are you so in love with misery...?" (p.99) - Again, I think a lot of us are obsessed with the drama that misery brings and would rather have something bad to think about than nothing at all.
• "sad decay steals from the limbs the life" (p.105) - good metaphor
• "we judge you by your looks to be no cheat of thief" (p. 108) - This seems a strange way to judge people.  Maybe if he had been a cheat or thief, the gods would have seen to it that his physique matched his deeds.
• "she...brought shame upon herself and all of womankind who shall be born hereafter" (p.110) - Looks like Cassandra and Eve did a lot for our sex.

Other Thoughts:

• Odysseus's men are convinced, after eating Lotus fruit, that they don't want to leave the land of the Lotus-eaters.  For me, it's a metaphor for anything that sucks us in these days- drugs, alcohol, video games, TV, even a relationship.  It's so easy to become obsessed and addicted to things that are easy or offer simple happiness.  Once you've accepted being lazy, it takes a lot to get up and continue to search for truth.
• What is the symbol in Elpenor falling off of the roof and dying?  Certainly it isn't to warn of the dangers of drinking.
• Odysseus's telling of the people he met in the house of Hades remind me of holiday dinners when my grandma was alive.  My parents grew up in a small town, and the whole family could sit and talk for hours about the people they used to know, the children they had, and where certain ones were in life.  At both dinners, and while reading Odysseus's story, I'm unfamiliar with the names, but it's interesting to hear little details about people's lives.