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Sunday, April 24, 2011

The Use of Alcohol in The Odyssey

Alcohol has been a topic frequently mentioned in The Odyssey. In The Odyssey, King Odysseus was held captive on an island, leaving his wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus, alone at his palace. It had been ten years since Odysseus has been home and many suitors fled the palace in order to have Penelope's hand in marriage. Telemachus wanted to flee in search of his father, so the goddess Athena used alcohol to help him escape. Homer wrote, "Then bright-eyed Pallas thought of one last thing. Back she went to King Odyesseus' halls and there she showered sweet oblivion over the suitors, dazing them as they drank, knocking cups from hands. No more loitering now, their eyes weighed down with sleep, they rose and groped through town to find their beds" (105). Athena used alcohol in this case to distract the many suitors and allow Telemachus to have a secret escape. Another example where alcohol is in strong use was when Helen (the daughter of Zeus) used it as liquid to slip drugs into. She used alcohol and drugs in order to bring everyone at ease from the pain they were rehashing about Odysseus. Homer wrote, "Then Zeus' daughter Helen thought of something else. Into the mixing-bowl from which they drank their wine she slipped a drug, hearts'-ease, dissolving anger, magic to make us all forget our pains...No one who drank it deeply, mulled in wine, could let a tear roll down his cheeks that day, not even if his mother should die, his father die, not even if right before his eyes some enemy brought down a brother or darling son with a sharp bronze blade" (131). Helen in this example drugs the men to make them invinsible to pain. She wants them to feel no sorrow on this night, which is also similar to how the suitors felt. A third example of alcohol use is seen with Calypso, the goddess-nymph. Calypso is the goddess keeping Odysseus captive and Hermes (son of Zeus) comes to deliver a threat from Zeus which said to release Odysseus. Before Hermes said anything, Calypso fired off a bunch of questions then gave Hermes a cup of wine. Homer said, "And the goddess drew a table up beside hiim, heaped with ambrosia, mixed him deep-red nectar. Hermes the guide and giant-killer ate and drank" (155). In this example, Calypso offerred a drink as a possible symbol of hospitality. She might have offered it to soften the god up also. Overall, these examples all connect in the way that females have been giving males alcohol. It is also used as a gift and tranquilizer. I'm sure that we will see other examples of alcohol in the future chapters of The Odyssey.

4 comments:

  1. I think it is a good observation to address the use and service of alcohol in the Odyssey and I think it matches well with the idea of women being in servitude to the men of the Odyssey. Another really interesting point about the wine is that there is very little mention of drinking water. When Telemachus sets out on his journey he brings wine not water. He tells the old nurse who keeps the storeroom, "draw me off some wine... pour me barley in well stitched leather bags... I'm sailing off to Sparta" (104:385,390,397). This is interesting because of wines intoxicating affect. Telemachus and his men are, in a sense "drinking and driving" well, sailing. I would imagine that at sea when one is thirsty they would prefer to reach for water to stay sober and quench their thirst. This emphasizes the pure necessity for wine in the Odyssey.

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  2. I agree with Lena. Another example of the Greeks' value of wine is when Odysseus recounts his story to the Phaecians; when the reach the island of Polyphemus, the Cyclops, Odysseus brings a skin of extremely strong wine, which he uses to distract Polyphemus long enough to gouge his eye out with a hot stake. That pretty much emphasizes the value of wine for the Greeks.

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  3. Elanna was certainly correct when she said that we “will see other examples of alcohol in later chapters of The Odyssey.” In Book 10, Odysseus and his crew land on the island of Aeaea, home of Circe. From the moment they get there, Circe is already mixing a potion of cheese, barley, and pale honey, mulled in Pramnian wine. Into that she added wicked drugs that wiped any thoughts of home from their memories. As Elanna also pointed out, it is once again a female giving males alcohol (and drugs). I don’t know which result is worse: being blinded after drinking wine, or being turned into a pig from drinking wine. However, I disagree with Elanna’s contention that women are shown as being in servitude to men in The Odyssey. There are many cases of women having power over men: such as when Calypso holds Odysseus captive for seven years. Even though you can argue that Zeus (a god) told Calypso to let Odysseus go, why didn’t Odysseus leave her, himself? Another example of women leading men is when Athena (a goddess) instructs and guides both Odysseus and his son, Telemachus, on their journey to be reunited.

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  4. Excellent conversation here. I think that there are valuable points on each side of this debate. How might the Greeks actually gain fresh water? Thus the need for wine but most often diluted. Fresh water was a precious commodity. I think women hold many positions of power and deference. Good work.

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