Social Structure in Homer's Odyssey
Talia Regan
05.29.13
Social Structure in Homer 's 'Odyssey '
Homer 's epic, 'The Odyssey ', is a lengthy poem that recounts the Trojan war hero, Odysseus ' arduous and protracted journey home to Ithaca. In it, Homer accentuates the somewhat feudal nature of his world, a societal structure that far more resembles his own than that which actually existed in Mycenaean Greece, less to supplement the story, but rather to serve as the primary focus. Despite the feudal qualities of the world that Homer relates, the poem is almost entirely devoid of class conscious thinking. Instead, the primary source of structure comes from the household. The 'Odyssey ' serves as something of a champion for the oixos (Ancient Greek for the household as an entity) mentality, particularly in the face of threats of dissolution.
By reading the poem in the context previously discussed, that is in the context of a people acting in the interest of a stable structure within the household rather than much concern for the political climate. This gives the characters in the story, Telemachus, Penelope, and the suiters, for instance, a clearly discernible purpose in the action. Each of them is vying to expand upon their household, in some capacity or another. Telemachus and Penelope are unable to defend or increase the providence of their household until they first restore its stability. Telemachus, though acquiring much wealth throughout the poem, has no use for it, and cannot have a use for it until the stability of the house of Odysseus is renewed and strengthened. The suiters however, coming from stable households, are free to seek to further their household in terms of wealth.
At the beginning of the poem, Odysseus ' son, Telemachus has one goal. That is to restore order and oixos by asserting himself and taking his father 's role. He is, however, ill equipped to take on this role, lacking the temerity. The now downtrodden Telemachus, has a story arc that somewhat parallels that
05.29.13
Social Structure in Homer 's 'Odyssey '
Homer 's epic, 'The Odyssey ', is a lengthy poem that recounts the Trojan war hero, Odysseus ' arduous and protracted journey home to Ithaca. In it, Homer accentuates the somewhat feudal nature of his world, a societal structure that far more resembles his own than that which actually existed in Mycenaean Greece, less to supplement the story, but rather to serve as the primary focus. Despite the feudal qualities of the world that Homer relates, the poem is almost entirely devoid of class conscious thinking. Instead, the primary source of structure comes from the household. The 'Odyssey ' serves as something of a champion for the oixos (Ancient Greek for the household as an entity) mentality, particularly in the face of threats of dissolution.
By reading the poem in the context previously discussed, that is in the context of a people acting in the interest of a stable structure within the household rather than much concern for the political climate. This gives the characters in the story, Telemachus, Penelope, and the suiters, for instance, a clearly discernible purpose in the action. Each of them is vying to expand upon their household, in some capacity or another. Telemachus and Penelope are unable to defend or increase the providence of their household until they first restore its stability. Telemachus, though acquiring much wealth throughout the poem, has no use for it, and cannot have a use for it until the stability of the house of Odysseus is renewed and strengthened. The suiters however, coming from stable households, are free to seek to further their household in terms of wealth.
At the beginning of the poem, Odysseus ' son, Telemachus has one goal. That is to restore order and oixos by asserting himself and taking his father 's role. He is, however, ill equipped to take on this role, lacking the temerity. The now downtrodden Telemachus, has a story arc that somewhat parallels that