#the odyssey
Submitted by anon
“Circe?”
“Yes Odysseus?”
“Where’s my crew?”
DA Poets
Honestly, any poetry is DA poetry if you can recite it from memory or sound intelligent while speaking of it.
• T. S. Elliot
Didn’t write much poetry, but what he did write is dense with meaning
• Wisława Szymborska
Any of her poems are instant winners, for a great collection I would recommend Map: Collected and Last Poems
• William Shakespeare
Classic, cannot go wrong with any of his works
• Anne Sexton
For bonus points, listen to the song “Mercy Street” by Peter Gabriel based on the poem “45 Mercy Street”
• John Milton
Paradise Lost is always recognizable by name
• Homer
Both The IliadandThe Odyssey are the best known works, bonus points if you are able to read them in their original Greek for the full effect
• Edgar Allen Poe
Although The Raven is his most notable work of poetry, his short stories are also enjoyable
• Robert Frost
An acquired taste compared to my other favourite poets, but my top four are definitely “The Road Not Taken”, “Mending Wall”, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, and “Acquainted With the Night”
• Mark Twain
Recognizable in name and work
• Lord Byron
An older poet, much of his language is obsolete in the modern era yet conveys meanings we could not hope to comprehend without it
• Sappho
An excellent romantic, “Slender Aphrodite has overcome me with longing for a girl” Bonus points if you read it in the original Greek for the full effect
• Walt Whitman
The modern-day version of a classical poet: free verse is his specialty!
• Edgar Allan Poe
The O.G. dark academic, the literature teacher’s favourite Halloween lesson. Nothing can beat the simple and unsettling Poetry of Poe!
• Oscar Wilde
Nothing will ever be as iconic as The Picture of Dorian Gray has become in the DA aesthetic! a definite must-read.
Αἰνείας (Aeneas)
αἰνός, a tale or story
αἰνός, grim, dire, awful
αἰνή, praise or fame
Ὀδυσσεύς (Odysseus)
ὀδύσσομαι, to feel wrath, to hate
Ἀχιλλεύς (Achilles)
ἄχος, pain + λαός, the people
ἄχος, pain + κύδος, immortal glory + κάλλος, beautiful
i think it would be really interesting to try to draw a map of odysseus’s voyages in the odyssey *without basing it on a map of the actual mediterranean.* i’m not talking hisarlik to ithaki with stops on corfu or sicily or wherever, i’m talking “okay so calypso is seven days from scheria and scheria is one night’s journey from ithaca, pylos is about a day east of ithaca, the underworld is by the cimmerians and that’s apparently far to the north, and odysseus goes there from circe’s island which is all the way on the east and it’s about a day’s sailing, but the laestrygonians are also really far north, far enough to have a midnight sun” and no i don’t care that you can’t sail straight north to the arctic circle from the eastern/central mediterranean. i’m talking a fantasy-world map.
update: calypso is at the west edge of the world, circe is at the east edge, the laestrygonians are at the northern limit, and the cimmerians are at the southern limit. presumably ithaca is the omphalos.
secret odyssey geography unlocked using only internal evidence from the text (except for the fact that troy is a ways east of ithaca and thrace is slightly west of troy)
Everyone on Ithaca to Penelope and Telemachus: IT’S BEEN 20 YEARS! HE’S NEVER COMING BACK! MOVE ON!!!
Odysseus to everyone on Ithaca after being gone for 20 YEARS due to war and Poseidon:
Odysseus when he hears about the sirens’ singing
A Trojan Horse virus nearly destroyed my computer. Thanks Odysseus. Damned hacker.
Odysseus’ crew when they saw Scylla get out of her lair :
Polyphemus to Odysseus : So, what’s your name?
Odysseus :
Odysseus is the BEST Greek Mythological character because his entire story is like “I just wanna see my wife again please gods let me see my wife and son” for ten fucking years after already being away for ten years at war. Like Odysseus and Penelope truly love each other and it’s rare to find a marriage in Greek Mythology that is as stable and loving as theirs. And yes I say that even with Odysseus’ trip to Calypso’s island and the fact that he immediately murders 108 men when he gets home, but they had it coming.
But let’s talk about their bed. Let’s talk about Odysseus and Penelope’s bed. When Odysseus finally gets home he disguises himself as a beggar(after meeting his son for like the first time) to spy on the court and Penelope. When he is assured that his wife has stayed faithful and isn’t in danger, he reveals himself to her. Penelope wants to make sure it’s Odysseus and not another suitor trying to trick her, so she’s all “oh my husband so happy to see you but before we get to making sweet homecoming love can you move our bed? I want it to be against the opposite wall.” Someone not Odysseus, who was not aware of their bed, would have been like “yeah whatever” but Odysseus is like “you know that’s impossible, our bed is a tree.” And it is. Where their bedroom is there was an olive tree growing, and they built around it, and carved out their bed from its boughs. The tree is still planted, still alive, and immovable. The bed is representative of their marriage: sturdy, stable, alive, unmoving, and a gift from the heavens(olive trees had special significance). In the very same scene after Penelope confirms it’s Odysseus he tells her that he and Telemachus(their son) need to kill the suitors that have been making a mess of the place, so he tells Penelope to get all of her servant girls and bring them into their bedroom and hide there, because no one would dare enter the bedroom of a noble lady. Thus the bedroom takes on more significance, as a place of security and safety. A place where no blood shall ever be spilled.
This SHOULD be the marriage that gets woobified, not Hades and Persephone. I know everyone loves that kind of dynamic but Persephone WAS NOT A WILLING PART OF THE MARRIAGE. Penelope stayed faithful to Odysseus for 20 YEARS because she never doubted that the love of her life was out there somewhere doing the same. Like I’m not trying to be trad or whatever the fuck, I’m just reading the Odyssey and getting emotional. Whoever made that post that was like “the best straight man characters are the ones that are just like ‘I really fucking love my wife’” hit it right on the nose, man. The Odyssey is a breath of fresh air after like, all the other myths.
i want what they (odysseus and penelope) have
Challenge:
Right now, yes I mean RIGHT NOW, fling yourself onto the nearest piece of furniture as a tribute to Oscar Wilde.
my name is Bard,
and wen i asked,
the Muses told
me of the past,
so listen up,
and i will tell -
the man who made
and ran from Hell.