So, today I have a lot of questions for my blog. There were a few my team didn't get to ask, and I was hoping to give my opinion on the answers, and maybe receive some other opinions. So here it goes
What is the difference between 'cunning' and 'bewitching'? This is something my team pondered on today. Why are all the good women in the Odyssey, usually, described as cunning but the bad women described as bewitching? What's the difference? Why can't a 'bad' women be cunning too? Is it because most of the women Odysseus meets are goddesses and therefore they must be bewitching?
For this question I really haven't figured out an answer. Any ideas here?
Second question, before Odysseus revealed himself, why were the suitors terrified that he might be able to string the bow? Let's think about this. Here is a rather large group of men, who clearly could kill the beggar man even if he did manage to accomplish the task. They had nothing to lose right? This man just wanted the chance to string the bow. Why would that terrify them? Why would they care? I believe its because they knew this old beggar was quite a strong fellow, after all they witnessed his strength when he pretty much demolished Arnaeus with one blow. Also, it could be that they know what is older is stronger and wiser. This beggar was clearly a strong fighter, maybe just maybe, this man could win the prized Penelope. Any other views into this?
Third question, can we learn from Odysseus? Let me narrow that question some more. Should we emulate or look up to Odysseus character? Is he a good hero, one that we want our children to be like? Should we imitate him at all? First of all, to address this question we have to realized that Odysseus is not your typical cookie cutter hero. He's no superman or batman, Odysseus is a real human. I think Odysseus does offer some valuable qualities, however I'm not sure I'd want to say, "I want to be just like Odysseus when I grow up." I like that Odysseus has wisdom, but I don't like his high levels of distrust, I like that Odysseus is adventurous, but I hate his carelessness with others' lives. I think we can definitely learn some life lessons from Odysseus' mistakes, but I'm not sure he would be my role model. What are your thoughts on this?
P.S. commented to jasmne's blog
I'm not sure that bewitching and cunning are exactly opposites. A bewitching person could be cunning as well. In fact, that person may have to be cunning. I've never seen a bewitching idiot.
ReplyDeleteAfter seeing the disguised Odysseus fight, the suitors had a good reason to be frightened. They also saw Odysseus actually string the bow - something the suitors were unable to do themselves. Zeus throwing in some lightning probably didn't bolster their spirits either. Perhaps what one young man had said before Odysseus took the bow made the situation seem more ominous. He said, "'How I wish his share of good fortune were of the same measure as is the degree of his power ever to get this bow strung.'" Odysseus then strung the bow, and the suitors quickly realized that they had underestimated the beggar. Would the good fortune of winning the competition follow? If it did, what would happen to them? The beggar had beaten Iros badly for his rudeness; would they receive similar treatment?
As for the third question, I agree we can learn some things from Odysseus. But, he is not a good role model. I'm glad you pointed out that he is HUMAN. Like all other humans, he is not perfect. We can't look to anyone as a perfect role model, but we can learn from them.