TFBT: Random Notes from 9.CB22.1x

I speak as it is borne in upon me from the sky, Odyssey 1:202

“She it was who now lighted Telemakhos to his room, and she loved him  better than any of the other women in the house did, for she had nursed him when he was a baby. He opened the door of his bed room and sat down upon the bed; as he took off his khiton he gave it to the good old woman, who folded it tidily up  and hung it for him over a peg by his bed side,” Odyssey 1.434-41  I just thought it was a moving scene.

“[Demodokos], setting his point of departure , started from the god.”  Odyssey 8.99 

Reference to two different therapon in two different books.  Is it plagarism, if you repeat yourself?

·        ”…the son of Capaneus (Sthenelus, charioteer of Diomedes)…gave them to Deïpylus his dear comrade, whom he honoured above all the companions of his youth, because he was like-minded with himself;” Iliad 5:318

·        ”…a herald attended him, a little older than he, and I will tell thee of him too, what manner of man he was. He was round-shouldered, dark of skin, and curly-haired, and his name was Eurybates; and Odysseus honored him above his other comrades, because he was like-minded with himself.” Odysseus 19:24

As for the other five ships, they were taken by winds and seas to Egypt, where Menelaos gathered much gold and substance among people of an alien speech. Meanwhile Aegisthus here at home plotted his evil deed. For seven years after he had killed Agamemnon he ruled in golden Mycenae, and the people were obedient under him, but in the eighth year Orestes came back from Athens to be his bane, and killed the murderer of his father. Then he celebrated the funeral   of his mother and of false unwarlike Aegisthus by a banquet to the people of Argos, and on that very day Menelaos of the great cry came home, with as much treasure as his ships could carry.  Odyssey 3:300-311  Talking about timing!

The tradition of Homeric poetry is a tradition of “civilised” people, “civilised” being they who are conscious about rationale or their reasoning powers when allowed to choose between options. They who listen to Homeric poetry actually choose to listen to the sufferings and sorrows of the Trojan war as if they’re listening to the Gods speaking, who are the ultimate civilised personas in the entire spectacle performed by the Homeric Poet. The Poet’s memnemai (total recall) is another pointer that the Gods are speaking and not humans; of course, the Poet’s having made contact(mental or otherwise) with the state of mind(sophoi defined as intellectually skilled, agathoi defined as morally qualified, and philoi defined as emotionally attuned)of Zeus, the Supreme among Gods, is something that heightens the power of the spectacle.  Thumri 9.22CB.1x

TFBT: Random Notes from 1CB22.1x and Jim Thorpe

As I am sure most of my readers know I just completed CB22x, The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours, an online course from Harvard through Edx.  Reviews talk about the course being a life-changing event.  I agree and that's in a good way!  So I am taking CB22.1x  These are my random notes from Hours 0 and 1. 

The Ancient Greek tragedy, "Oedipus at Colonus" by Sophocles reenacts the death of Oedipus, King of Thebes and slayer of the Sphinx.  Both Thebes and Athens wanted to be his burial site. Jim Thorpe seems to be in the same situation, with his sons and city battling for this body.  http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KVg_9JOPlv4

The Athenians hid the body, I wonder the people in Pennsylvania are as smart.

Achilles speaking of that Asian war; “I have no quarrel with them. They have not raided my cattle nor my horses, nor cut down my harvests on the rich plains of Phthia; for between me and them there is a great space, both mountain and sounding sea.”  Iliad 1:154.

“When (Iphidamas) reached the stage of adolescence, which brings luminous glory, ( Kissēs) wanted to keep him at home and to give him his own daughter in marriage,  but as soon as [ Iphidamas] had married, he left the bride chamber and went off seeking the kleos of the Achaeans  along with twelve curved ships that followed him."  Iliad XI 225-28  His story sure sounds like Protesilaus the first of the Achaeans to die.  “warlike Protesilaus, while yet he lived; howbeit ere now the black earth held him fast. His wife, her two cheeks torn in wailing, was left in Phylace and his house but half established” Iliad 2. 638

Iliad1:525 “See, I incline my head that you believe me. This is the most solemn act that I can give to any god. I never retract my word, or deceive, or fail to do what I say, when I have nodded my head.”

“The blessed gods laughed out a loud approval as they saw him bustling about the celestial dwellings. Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun they feasted, and all had their full share, so that everyone was satisfied. Apollo struck his lyre, and the Muses lifted up their sweet voices, calling out and making response to one another. But when the sun’s glorious light had faded, they went home to bed, each in his own abode, which lame Hephaestus with his consummate skill had fashioned for them. So Zeus, the Olympian Lord of Thunder, hastened to the bed in which he always slept; and when he had got on top of it he went to sleep, with Hera of the golden throne by his side.”  Iliad 1.599-610  I hope your life is just as sweet.

“Internalizing in this context may perhaps be compared to planting seeds in our subconscious. We are entering a new, (yet very old) dimension. We cannot expect to understand what is really happening on first contact. We must suspend "rational" judgment and allow the song to sing. Through slow reading we are opening the door; we are planting suggestions that will in time flower to allow us a deeper understanding of what Homer is really trying to tell us. It is indeed an epic journey. We are told that if we are patient, and if we can endure, we will be well rewarded.”  Fellow student “Flying Cloud” in CB22.1

TFBT: Week Zero CB22x

These are random notes from my readings for “Week Zero”  of Harvard’s CB22x on-line  “The Ancient Greek Hero” course in conjunction with EDX  https://www.edx.org/courses

Introduction to Homeric Poetry Nagy 0§31. “…Greeks, given such alternative Homeric names as Achaeans, Argives, Danaans, all three of which are used interchangeably.”  I’ve read several papers that said the names were not interchangeable.

Introduction to Homeric Poetry Nagy 0§46. “Homeric song oscillates from one emotion to another. Here is the way the rhapsode describes his audience: As I look down at them from the platform on high, I see them, each and every time, crying or looking terrified, filled with a sense of wonder at what is being retold. Plato Ion 535e “  Plato’s twenty thousand friendly faces fascinates me like the 100,000 waiting in the dark of Paris for Lindberg or the two or three weeping faces at the finale of my recital of Eddie Foye upon the stage of the Iroquois Theatre.  

Iliad 1:132 You shall not overreach…  The Titans are accused of this often.  I need to look up the Greek and better understand this word.

Iliad 1:283 Achilles, who in the day of battle is a tower of strength to the Achaeans."  I love Nagy’s translation of the phrase “tower of strength”

Iliad 1:343 Agamemnon is mad with rage and knows not how to look before and after

Iliad 1: 476 when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared they again set sail for the army of the Achaeans. Apollo sent them a fair wind,  so they raised their mast and hoisted their white sails aloft. As the sail bellied with the wind the ship flew through the deep blue water, and the foam hissed against her bows as she sped onward. When they reached the wide-stretching army of the Achaeans. Beautiful!  And ironically when I compared Nagy’s translation to the hardcopy of Lattimore, the previous owner of the book had highlighted the exact same phrase.

In his Intro to Homeric Poetry Professor Nagy compares Patroclus' death to the sacrifice of a cow at section 12. Interesting! I will look forward to that reading too. As I recall it takes a god and two mortals to bring him down. Plus I think by then he is disarmed and naked.

Iliad 1:424 refers to feasting on the banks of the great river Ocean. Isn't that how the Odyssey started too?

I am enjoying re-reading the Iliad. 1: 189 refers to Achilles’ shaggy chest. He usually is portrayed as a pretty boy and the youngest of the Greek heroes, hence Brad Pitt in the latest movie. I will read more closely this time for his physical description. Also, he could see Athena and no one else could. I will be interested in seeing if he always has the sight.