Seeing that my last blog post was about Odysseus, it's only fitting that I now talk about Ulysses.
From watching "O' Brother Where Art Thou," you can see that Ulysses is meant to be Odysseus. There are many similarities between Ulysses and Odysseus such as their scheming lies, (somewhat) lack of remorse, and clever planning. However, there are some key differences such as their portrayal to the audience.
Both Ulysses and Odysseus possess an innate ability to lie extremely well. Ulysses was able to make up stories about the treasure and the backstory of the Soggy Bottom Boys, just like how Odysseus was able to make up multiple backgrounds as he tested his family. Along similar lines, both characters are quite clever. Ulysses was able to make a (somewhat good) plan to save Tommy from the KKK and craft multiple methods of making money. It was also Ulysses who (presumably) thought of the plan to save Pete.
Other than their craftiness, Ulysses and Odysseus also aren't the most empathetic. Neither Ulysses or Odysseus show a huge amount of remorse at the loss of their friends. We already know that Odysseus wasn't too flustered when he lost his men, and Ulysses displays a similar disposition. When Pete gets turned into "a frog," Ulysses doesn't seem too depressed. At least, not as much as Delmar. It can be seen, however, that Ulysses shows some regret when he admits to his friends that he lied to them about the treasure. When he tells them the news, he looks quite remorseful (he was looking down, etc.). One can make the argument, however, that he wasn't sad for his sake rather than his friends' (didn't want to deal with the backlash).
There are obvious minor differences between Ulysses and Odysseus. Ulysses is obsessed with his hair. Ulysses is a southern American. Ulysses has seven daughters. There is, however, one significant difference between Ulysses and Odysseus is how they're portrayed in their respective stories. Throughout the Odyssey, we got the idea that Odysseus was amazing at everything. He was the fastest, smartest, and hottest. Ulysses, however, isn't all that. Ulysses starts the story as a runaway prisoner (for pretending to be a lawyer), not a lost king (which sounds and is a lot more impressive). Throughout the story, we're given a lot of proof of Ulysses's not-so-great skills. When Ulysses and co. were trapped in the barn by the sheriff, he did nothing besides repeat "we're in a tight spot." He let Big Dan wack him across the head with a stick without any fight or realization of what was happening. It might've been for the best that Ulysses didn't fight, however, as when he tried, Vernon Waldrip handled him pretty easily.
It's clear that Ulysses possesses some vulnerabilities and isn't as great as Odysseus. I (and most other modern readers/viewers), however, probably find the imperfectness of Ulysses more attractive than a highly rated Odysseus.
Friday, February 15, 2019
Friday, February 1, 2019
Is Odysseus Overrated?
During the "Wanderings of Odysseus," we got to see if the descriptions of Odysseus (made by Menelaus, etc.) matched his actions.
In the books we've read so far, Odysseus has been portrayed as the "best at every kind of trick" (3. 123-124). Menelaus, Nestor, and many of others have described Odysseus as a perfect person who was extremely wise and skilled. He is credited with many successful battles and strategies such as the Trojan Horse. We get a vibe of Odysseus being perfect and the best at everything.
Does this description match up though?
First, let's talk about how Odysseus deserves to be respected and how the idea that he's amazing at everything is somewhat true.
After the Trojan War, Odysseus does many things that no other man has ever done. For example, he visited Hades, withstood the Sirens' song, and survived Scylla and Charybdis (Books 11-12). Along the way, he was able to endure many terrible events such as surviving Charybdis's whirlpool by gripping the trunk of a fig tree (12. 430-436). After being freed from Calypso's captivity, he was able to build a raft from scratch and outlast the wrath of Poseidon while at sea (with the aid of a few gods). While in the care of the Phaecians, he was able to defeat King Alcinous's sons in multiple physical competitions (despite missing workouts while on his raft). It's safe to say that Odysseus isn't your average soldier.
Odysseus is also pretty smart. His cleverness can be seen in his accomplishments at Troy (Trojan Horse), and especially in tricking Polyphemus. Introducing himself as "No man," even though he doesn't attack Polyphemus for a while, goes to show how clever and how he's a few steps ahead of everyone else.
While I fully agree that Odysseus is a physical and intellectual specimen, I'm not too sure about his leadership and heroic qualities. Odysseus does many things that are questionable. For example, one of the examples we emphasized in class was how he kept yelling at Polyphemus after defeating him. Odysseus says "Hey, you, Cyclops! Idiot!" (9. 475). The rest of the crew is begging Odysseus to stop, as his voice was providing Polyphemus with a general idea of where the ship was, which allowed the cyclops to throw rocks that barely missed. On another day, Odysseus might've gotten his crew killed due to his arrogance and recklessness.
Another very noticeable occurrence in the "Wanderings of Odysseus" is that many crew members die for Odysseus's personal goals. We see Odysseus sacrifice some of his best soldiers; he was the one who proposed going to Polyphemus, resulting in many of his men being eaten. In fact, Odysseus's "No man" name, although it provided some use later, made sure that he would be the last man eaten. It's clear to see that Odysseus doesn't really mind losing a few soldiers. At least, he doesn't show much grief; only one soldier got a funeral, and he died by falling off a roof (one of the less glorious deaths).
Finally, Odysseus makes some questionable decisions which leads to him losing control of his crew. Not notifying his crew about the their impending death by Scylla is a questionable decision (12. 224). He decided to stay on Circe's island for a whole year, and needed to having one of his crew members, Eurylochus, remind him of their ultimate goal. In fact, when Odysseus was challenged by Eurylochus, he had to be retrained from chopping Eurylochus's head off (10. 440-442). Odysseus lost control of his crew a couple of times to Eurylochus, who never had any malicious intent; many of his reasons were extremely logical. When one thinks of a great leader, they don't normally think of someone who doesn't have a strong grip on their team. In fact, you could say that Odysseus is more of a dictator than a leader, as he doesn't trust his crew members, and his actions are usually for himself, not the whole ship.
In the books we've read so far, Odysseus has been portrayed as the "best at every kind of trick" (3. 123-124). Menelaus, Nestor, and many of others have described Odysseus as a perfect person who was extremely wise and skilled. He is credited with many successful battles and strategies such as the Trojan Horse. We get a vibe of Odysseus being perfect and the best at everything.
Does this description match up though?
First, let's talk about how Odysseus deserves to be respected and how the idea that he's amazing at everything is somewhat true.
After the Trojan War, Odysseus does many things that no other man has ever done. For example, he visited Hades, withstood the Sirens' song, and survived Scylla and Charybdis (Books 11-12). Along the way, he was able to endure many terrible events such as surviving Charybdis's whirlpool by gripping the trunk of a fig tree (12. 430-436). After being freed from Calypso's captivity, he was able to build a raft from scratch and outlast the wrath of Poseidon while at sea (with the aid of a few gods). While in the care of the Phaecians, he was able to defeat King Alcinous's sons in multiple physical competitions (despite missing workouts while on his raft). It's safe to say that Odysseus isn't your average soldier.
Odysseus is also pretty smart. His cleverness can be seen in his accomplishments at Troy (Trojan Horse), and especially in tricking Polyphemus. Introducing himself as "No man," even though he doesn't attack Polyphemus for a while, goes to show how clever and how he's a few steps ahead of everyone else.
While I fully agree that Odysseus is a physical and intellectual specimen, I'm not too sure about his leadership and heroic qualities. Odysseus does many things that are questionable. For example, one of the examples we emphasized in class was how he kept yelling at Polyphemus after defeating him. Odysseus says "Hey, you, Cyclops! Idiot!" (9. 475). The rest of the crew is begging Odysseus to stop, as his voice was providing Polyphemus with a general idea of where the ship was, which allowed the cyclops to throw rocks that barely missed. On another day, Odysseus might've gotten his crew killed due to his arrogance and recklessness.
Another very noticeable occurrence in the "Wanderings of Odysseus" is that many crew members die for Odysseus's personal goals. We see Odysseus sacrifice some of his best soldiers; he was the one who proposed going to Polyphemus, resulting in many of his men being eaten. In fact, Odysseus's "No man" name, although it provided some use later, made sure that he would be the last man eaten. It's clear to see that Odysseus doesn't really mind losing a few soldiers. At least, he doesn't show much grief; only one soldier got a funeral, and he died by falling off a roof (one of the less glorious deaths).
Finally, Odysseus makes some questionable decisions which leads to him losing control of his crew. Not notifying his crew about the their impending death by Scylla is a questionable decision (12. 224). He decided to stay on Circe's island for a whole year, and needed to having one of his crew members, Eurylochus, remind him of their ultimate goal. In fact, when Odysseus was challenged by Eurylochus, he had to be retrained from chopping Eurylochus's head off (10. 440-442). Odysseus lost control of his crew a couple of times to Eurylochus, who never had any malicious intent; many of his reasons were extremely logical. When one thinks of a great leader, they don't normally think of someone who doesn't have a strong grip on their team. In fact, you could say that Odysseus is more of a dictator than a leader, as he doesn't trust his crew members, and his actions are usually for himself, not the whole ship.
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