Cultural Foundation Final Paper
Odyssey: A Story of Vengeance
Gregory N. Tomy
Cultural Foundations I
Professor Marina Davies
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It takes the fall of the city of Troy as its starting point and constructs a narrative around the struggle of the Greek hero, Odysseys. It tells the story of his nostos, or homecoming, during the ten-year period after the Greek victory over the Trojans. Although the story is about his return to Ithaca, at the center of the Odyssey is a narrative articulated by the Greek concept of τίσις (tisis - roughly, vengeance). From the opening lines to the settlement of the suitors’ relative’s desire for vengeance at the close of the poem, vengeance occupies the central thematic and ethical ground in the Odyssey. Tisis (vengeance) in the Odyssey denotes the retaliatory action that an avenger performs – especially killing – that at the same time implies an entire sequence of events that makes the act of killing into “retribution” and not just “murder” or some other way of conceiving of killing. Moreover, vengeance in this sense has a particular moral importance, for it helps agents determine what is just and unjust, and who is good and bad. The authoritative voice of Zeus presents this version of vengeance, as the model by which to understand why humans suffer and the gods are just. In fact, he uses it to condemn Aigisthus, who perpetrated the crimes of adultery and murder; at the same time, he lauds Orestes, who successfully avenged Agamemnon (1.32-43). Therefore, vengeance has a far greater significance than almost all other sets of actions and moves the epic forward.
The tale of vengeance itself does not begin until half of the poem is over, and yet the whole poem aspires to the accomplishment of this vengeance. There exists three vital components of this motif: its agent, the absent Odysseus; its object, the suitors’ hubris; and its instrument, Telemachos and the tactics of
Gregory N. Tomy
Cultural Foundations I
Professor Marina Davies
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It takes the fall of the city of Troy as its starting point and constructs a narrative around the struggle of the Greek hero, Odysseys. It tells the story of his nostos, or homecoming, during the ten-year period after the Greek victory over the Trojans. Although the story is about his return to Ithaca, at the center of the Odyssey is a narrative articulated by the Greek concept of τίσις (tisis - roughly, vengeance). From the opening lines to the settlement of the suitors’ relative’s desire for vengeance at the close of the poem, vengeance occupies the central thematic and ethical ground in the Odyssey. Tisis (vengeance) in the Odyssey denotes the retaliatory action that an avenger performs – especially killing – that at the same time implies an entire sequence of events that makes the act of killing into “retribution” and not just “murder” or some other way of conceiving of killing. Moreover, vengeance in this sense has a particular moral importance, for it helps agents determine what is just and unjust, and who is good and bad. The authoritative voice of Zeus presents this version of vengeance, as the model by which to understand why humans suffer and the gods are just. In fact, he uses it to condemn Aigisthus, who perpetrated the crimes of adultery and murder; at the same time, he lauds Orestes, who successfully avenged Agamemnon (1.32-43). Therefore, vengeance has a far greater significance than almost all other sets of actions and moves the epic forward.
The tale of vengeance itself does not begin until half of the poem is over, and yet the whole poem aspires to the accomplishment of this vengeance. There exists three vital components of this motif: its agent, the absent Odysseus; its object, the suitors’ hubris; and its instrument, Telemachos and the tactics of