The Odyssey:  A Journey Of Identity

It’s been said that while The Iliad was clearly written for men, The Odyssey was likely written for women.  That may be a bit of a stretch, but even if that’s not entirely accurate, it seems safe to say that The Odyssey was at least written for men who must make their peace with living with women…or all of us who must, at some point, leave our adventures and take up our responsibilities.

Good stories become popular when they speak to the hopes, fears and desires of their time and place, but great literature is eternal;  it becomes timeless and survives long after the culture itself has died when it speaks to the universal human condition.  When we strip away the dead gods, superstitions, brutality and sexism of Bronze Age Greek culture, we find at the core of The Odyssey, and at the heart of Odysseus himself, a human being, and we (should) find something eternal and true about ourselves, and all of our lives, in all times and cultures – an examination not of what it means to be a Greek king, but of what it means to be a human being. 

Or at least a man – can women find themselves in Odysseus’ story as much, if not as easily, as men have for 2500 years?  Or can women find themselves in Penelope?

Obviously,  being the “master of disguises” provides a simple plot vehicle and pragmatic way for Odysseus to stay alive (especially in contrast to Agamemnon) – but how else might we read Odysseus’s disguised identity, and the entire story, in broader, more universal and emotional terms?  In other words, how might might we read Odysseus’s story as either a universal quest for identity – one that we all must make before returning to “the great rooted bed” – or perhaps a bit more specifically, as an examination of the long road home all soldiers must make? 

To answer this, consider the arc of the plot – where and with whom the story begins, travels and ends – and how Odysseus develops psychologically (or if he does develop psychologically?), and in his relationships to others, from where we first meet him (living with Calypso) to where we leave him (in the great rooted bed, with Penelope).  Along these lines, consider his reintegration into Ithacan society once he has landed, and how this gradual reintegration on the island mirrors his overall psychological development.

The Trojan Horse

Note a)  it’s Odysseus’ idea, b), it’s based on deception c) it’s essentially how he defeats the suitors, d) taken together, these represent how war disrupts our normal conventions concerning both honesty and identity.  Consider, in contrast, what happens to Agamemnon and Menalaus, in relation to Clytemnestra and Helen, and Aegisthus and Paris.

And ask yourself -- in what ways does this story, The Odyssey, tell my own story?