Books 11 and 12 have been my favoutire books yet! Here are some of my notes:

Book 11

Pg.282-  “On seeing her, I wept in pity. But despite bitter grief, I would not let her near the blood till I talked to Tiresias.” 

• Odysseus just finds out his mother died at the land of the dead, but he decides to focus on his mission to get him and his men home first before talking to his mother. He doesn’t act irrationally or let his emotions sway his decision making. Very wise, indeed. 

Tiresias tells Odysseus and his men to not harm the sun god’s cattle, and what will happen if they listen and if they don’t. So do they really have free will or do the gods basically control everything?

When Odysseus talks to his mother and realizes all the pain his family has gone through, all his attention and power shifts to going home. That has always been his goal, but there have been times where he has lost focus. 

Odysseus’s talks with dead Agamemnon: Despite his talk with his mother, Agamemnon makes Odysseus suspicious of his family, especially his wife (now he believes he must be deceptive and secretive with them). 

• Agamemnon: “She has such an evil mind That she has poured down shame on her own head and on all other women, even good ones.”
  • If there was one bad man, they wouldn’t say that all men were bad, but for women….
• Agamemnon brings up his children and says he wants to know about his son
  • This probably reminds Odysseus of his own son whom he hasn’t even met yet.

Pg.295 (Achilles): “I would prefer to be a workman hired by a poor man on a peasant farm, than rule as king of all the dead”. After dying and having time to reflect and let go of his war-mentality, Achilles realizes that honour and glory aren’t everything! This is especially shocking because he was the greatest of warriors who cared so much about the glory of it all. Similarly, this is probably around when Odysseus is beginning to learn not to care as much about his honour.

Pg.291 “Odysseus the earth sustains all different kinds of people. Many are cheats and thieves, who fashion lies out of thin air. But when I look at you, I know you are not in that category.”

• This is quite ironic considering he is often called the ‘trickster’. Odysseus must feel bad because he does lie quite a lot, even if he has changed.

Book 12

Odysseus was very virtuous to keep his promise to Elpenor(to have a proper burial/honourable funeral). 

The Sirens (like the lotus-eaters) are a symbol of how humans are so easily tempted (it causes us to make irrational decisions).

• It could also symbolize the belief that women were seductive and irresistible, even deadly if anyone decided to stay with them(*the story of Agamemnon and Aegisthus)

“I am a stubborn man”(pg.302). I just appreciate that Odysseus is being honest. 

War mentality: 

Pg.304: For his journey home, Circe advises Odysseus to sail around the whirlpool Charybdis and row really fast past Scylla. She says that 6 men will likely die, but it is better than to risk getting sucked into the whirlpool. Circe tells them that there has only been one ship (Argo) that has managed to leave Sylla and Charybdis with no lives lost. Odysseus asks if he can instead escape Charybdis and fight Scylla.  He wants to have that glory and fame the men on the Argo ship have.

Pg.305: 

• “the goddess answered, ‘No, you fool! Your mind is still obsessed with deeds of war. But now you must surrender to the gods.” 
• “You cannot fight her. The best solution and the only way is flight”

At first, he is reluctant (pg.308) “Then I ignored Circe’s advice that I should not bear arms ; it was too hard for me”, but he ends up listening to her advice (he sails around the whirlpool and does not fight Scylla!) 

Six of his men were eaten by Scylla right in front of him on pg.309: “That was the most heartrending sight I saw in all the time I suffered on the sea”. 

Eurylochus and Odysseus

• It’s quite ironic that when they were with Circe, Eurylochus was sensible while Odysseus was adventurous and took a risk. Now on page 310, Eurylochus is foolish and kills the sun god’s cattle, even though Odysseus, sensible and wise, tell them not to kill them no matter what. 

Questions/other thoughts

• I just find it interesting that the action/adventure moves so quickly, whilst talking and eating do not.
• Why are most of the ‘monsters’ they come across women(Scylla, Charybdis, Sirens, Lotus-eaters)?