"He set out for the woods and not far from the water
found a grove with a
clearing all around and crawled
beneath two bushy olives sprung from the
same root,
one olive wild, the other well-bred stock."
~ Narrator
Book 5, page 167, line 525-528
This depiction of Odysseus that Homer gives to us shows us the current state that our hero is in. Naked with nothing to aid him, shelter him, or provide for him, we see that Odysseus has been reduced to the circumstances of a human. Purely with nothing else, he sleeps underneath these two olive bushes; one wild, one tame. This natural imagery tells us of the boundaries between the civilized world and the uncivilized world; the difference between wild, and tame. Odysseus, having nothing, is dirty, naked, hungry and wild. The action of sleeping represents a transition for Odysseus from the wild to the civilized world. The separation from reality and fantasy is represented by sleep; it is a transition.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments from individuals other than registered authors are most welcome. Your comments, however, are moderated by the site administrator. We reserve the right to reject comments we deem inappropriate or irrelevant. Thanks for your interest in The Great Conversation blogspot.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.