I agree that to some extent, Odysseus is a complicated character, which can be seen through his naturally deceptive nature. However, by acknowledging the journey that he has undertaken, I find the majority of his decisions reasonable and justifiable. For example, after being sent off by the Phaeacians, Odysseus visits Eumaeus, but disguises himself and creates a story where he has come from Crete. Although Odysseus knows that he is back home in Ithaca, he chooses to lie. I believe that due to his struggle of making his way home, it would be difficult to trust anyone, even those who he knew before the battle of Troy. Perhaps, he believes that everyone and everything is against him, causing him to delay disclosing his true identity to anyone, even those who he used to know so well. Odysseus even questions Penelope’s loyalty and is worried that she might turn against him on his arrival. Odysseus connects this belief with the unfortunate situation that Agamemnon was put in when he arrived back home, where his wife, Clytemnestra took Aegisthus as her lover when he was away. However, when Odysseus reunites with Telemachus at the swineherd’s hurt, he immediately reveals his identity, which contradicts his other decisions where he has chosen to lie until he truly trusts the other person.
Monthly Archives: February 2020
3 Lines – The Odyssey
Reveals so much about the world of The Odyssey —the many turns, the echoing story, the ideas hidden inside it:
“This is absurd, that mortals blame the gods! They say we cause their suffering, but they themselves increase it by folly.” Page 106, Book 1: The Boy and the Goddess
It seems quite lovely —a beautiful expression, for whatever that’s worth:
“But when the brightest star that carries news about the coming Down rose up the sky, the seaborne ship neared land.” Page 319, Book 13: Two Tricksters
Is satisfying on a pure storytelling or image-making level:
“Another slave brought water for my hands, in a gold pitcher, and poured it over them, to a silver bowl.” Page 271, Book 10: The Winds and the Witch
Greek Poetry Discussion Thoughts
Ithaka Translated by Edmund Keeley
- Although the voice of the poem describes the journey as something joyful and hopeful, the ending is rather upsetting.
- “Ithaka gave you the marvellous journey. / Without her you wouldn’t have set out. / She has nothing left to give you now.”
- I think that through this stanza, the idea that going back home is not as significant as one might hope is quite evident as it clearly states that their home has nothing that it can give to them and that they need to prepare themselves with what they can in order to stay at home and make it feel like what it used to.
- The ending is also quite confusing, as it leaves the readers questioning what “Ithakas,” mean?
- An idea was that it could act as a symbol of home and a place of comfort and familiarity, but it could also represent the journeys that one has undertaken and the suffering that one has had to endure before coming back home. We can also question why one might be set on this specific journey and the significance of how that could impact others.
- For example, the journey that Odysseus has taken after the Battle of Troy, might have a reason behind it. Perhaps the Gods set him on this path in order to portray his son, Telemachus, a certain way.
- An idea was that it could act as a symbol of home and a place of comfort and familiarity, but it could also represent the journeys that one has undertaken and the suffering that one has had to endure before coming back home. We can also question why one might be set on this specific journey and the significance of how that could impact others.
Parable of the Hostages By Louise Glück
- I felt that there was a lot more going on in this poem, which is why I had to read it a couple of times in order to process it.
- Although I preferred the other poem, there was one line that I did really like.
- “what if war is just a male version of dressing up, a game devised to avoid profound spiritual questions?”
- Although there are many texts that have mentioned the connection of war to men, I have never thought of it like this. However, the concept of war and battling others is brought up many times in the Odyssey and plays a huge part in Odysseus’s journey.
- This line also implies that women dress up in order to avoid dealing with much more significant issues.
Moral Machine Decisions and Thoughts
In both cases, four people die so the number of people in the car and on the street was not a factor that played a role in my decision, neither was the type of person, for example an athlete over just a normal woman. I chose the option on the right because, first of all, the pedestrians were walking when there a green light so they are abiding by the law and therefore were not in the wrong place. Secondly, for the passengers, it makes sense to me that the car would do what it could to avoid killing other humans by crashing into them.
For this case, I chose the option on the right because firstly, the passengers were not abiding by the law, so they were in the wrong place. Secondly, the car was already going in that direction, it would not make sense to swerve towards a larger group of humans, who are in fact abiding by the law.
These cases both had the same number of people, so I made my decision to choose the option on the left based upon which pedestrians were in the wrong place. I did not think about the types of people, such as their occupation or social class.
For this scenario, I chose the option on the left because firstly, there was three people crossing rather than five, which was the other situation, and therefore less people would die.
Although the woman was not abiding by the law, I would find it difficult to directly crash into her when I believe it would be an instinct to swerve away from any human contact. In both situations, one person dies, and although the passenger is not at fault, I think it would be better to crash into the barrier. Additionally, even though there is a regular woman and a large woman, this did not factor into my decision, and I believe that I would have made the same decision if the women were swapped positions. As a result, I chose the option on the left.
I found this decision very difficult because I would find it challenging to crash into five animals. However, I believe that as a human, I would value human life over the lives of the animals. As a result, I chose the option on the left.
For this situation, I chose the option on the right because as I mentioned before, I personally think it is instinct to swerve away from crashing into humans directly. The fact that the pedestrians had an older woman did not play a role in my decision, however after looking at my final results, it said that I had a preference towards the elderly, which is not something I agree on.
My decision to choose the option on the right has the same explanation as the others. I did not realise until after that the passengers were solely men and the pedestrians were only women. My final results said that I had a preference towards women, which I guess makes sense since I am a girl myself. However, I am not sure that I agree with this because if the passengers were all women and the pedestrians were all men, I think I would have made the same decision.
I chose the option on the left, solely based on the fact that the woman was not abiding by the law, and it would not make sense to me, if the car were to swerve and kill and man crossing the street at a green.
Although I did mention before that I would value human life over animal life if I had to make the choice, I chose the option the right because again it would be instinct, if I saw something ahead of me on the street, to swerve into the barrier.
For this scenario, my reasoning is the same as the previous one, but also because this option would save three people rather than one, and so I chose the option on the left. In this case, there is also a pregnant woman which I do think influenced my decision, as for me it would count as two lives. The fact that I also saved the criminal is not that much of a factor as although this person does not abide by certain laws, I do not believe that they would then deserve to die by being crashed into on the street.
For this situation, I chose to swerve into the humans (option on the left), because firstly they are not abiding by the law. Secondly, the barrier is in the direct path of the car, and so I would swerve the car away from this threat.
For this last scenario, I chose the option the left, because again I find that it would be more of an instinct to swerve away from the humans, despite the fact that they are not abiding by the law, by crossing the street on a red.