Wednesday, February 10, 2010
"The Great Teller of Tales"
At the beginning of Book 9, just before he tells the Phaeacians about his ill-fated journey, Odysseus is described as "the great teller of tales." In a sense, then, Odysseus is bard. What are his motives in telling his tale? Does he have the same motives as other bards in the story (such as Demodocus in Book 8)? Does his tale serve the same purpose or a different one? Finally, we know that Odysseus is a master of deceit and guile who concocted the scheme for the Tojan Horse. Should we take his story of one-eyed monsters and visits to the underworld at face value? Is there reason to believe his story is a fabrication?
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1st of all, I cannot imagine with an extraordinary voice, and 2nd of all, he is far from blind. So therefore, my boy O is NOT A BARD. And I believe that his motives in telling his tale are mostly to inform, but also to entertain, which brings him closer to the state of the bard. But this comparison is sort of like a comparison between a songwriter/poet to a non-fiction writer. They both share different qualities: they both entertain, they both most definitely inform, and they both have tell stories about themselves, someone they know, or someone they simply know of (obviously they know of them, they’re telling a story about them). In this case, Odysseus is the non fiction writer/story teller and the bard is the poet songwriter. The biggest difference between them is that the bard’s purpose is to entertain; he IS the party—there is none without him. But Odysseus is the writer, the story teller. He is a guest, and his host asked him of his story and of his name. Therefore, Odysseus’ purpose is primarily to inform his audience of his past experiences. And Dr. Ialacci, when you ask, “Is there reason to believe his story is a fabrication?” do you mean this from the point of view of his audience? Actually, scratch that question. We are his audience. And I believe that there is a reason that we could be suspicious about his stories, for they do seem to give him a good amount of credit. So maybe another question we could ask is, “Why would Odysseus lie about his tale? Is he really that desperate? Or is he really the great Odysseus he seems to be from HIS stories?” Answer if you dare.
ReplyDeleteI will answer, Sam. I agree with your differences between Odysseus and bards like Demodocus, whose job it is is to entertain. However, Odysseus does not necessarily need a great voice to be a “bard”. As the text describes him, he is, “the great teller of tales” (9.1). This in itself is the main requirement one must meet to be a bard. I also have a disagreement/addition to your discussion of Odysseus’s purpose in telling his story. While, in theory, he is informing King Alcinous of his past experiences, is their really any way of knowing that his story is true? As is shown in chapters 13 and 14, Odysseus is fully capable of inventing realistic sounding stories. Why, then, could everything that Odysseus says about his journey not be a complete lie? There is no way for the reader to really know if Odysseus’s description of his journey if true or not. It could just be another fabrication.
ReplyDeleteThere are many reasons that Odysseus would make up his story. For one thing, he could have made the story a lot more exciting than it actually was. Suspenseful events, like being trapped by Polyphemus or escaping Scylla and Charybdis, make the story a good deal more interesting. Without exciting events like these, the Phaecians may have grown bored of the story and its teller. Stories like Odysseus figuring out how to escape Polyphemus’s cave also enhance his power. His schemes and ideas make him seem very clever, possibly more than he is. Odysseus could very well be making up these occurrences to simply make himself look better to his hosts. Finally, his years of apparent suffering could cause others to feel for bad for him. As Odysseus is relying on the Phaecians to take him back home to Ithaca, his fate depends on their kindness. If he simply says that he spent ten years having sex with a hot nymph, no one will feel bad for him. If he says that his comrades were all killed by monsters and giants, then people are more likely to pity him. It is in ways like this that he is able to help himself through his depiction of his story.
This being said, I am not necessarily saying that the description is in fact a lie. I think that Odysseus’s story is purposely told in a way that keeps the reader from being sure of its reliability. This set-up is a deliberate decision by Homer (or whoever wrote the epic), intended to keep the reader guessing. It is a very clever nuance, to say the least. On the topic of whether the story actually is true, I really cannot comment. There is evidence in either direction. It all depends on the reader’s interpretation.
I agree with Sam about what he said comparing the bard to Odysseus. While Odysseus is seen as somewhat of a bard by telling his stories, some which are extremely fabricated or changed to tell his story without giving the details of his actual story. Being a bard, to entertain is not Odysseus' main goal. His goal is to portray himself in a way that a room full of people will like, because they do not know who he is, and he feels that he can paint a better picture of himself as a hero and a leader through his stories. Like what Russell was saying, he can make himself as being a great leader, who yes, makes mistakes, but making little mistakes is better than sleeping with goddesses several times, or for several years, when his wife is back home, trying to get suitors trying to marry her away from her, staying truly faithful to her husband, who she has not seen or talked to in over ten years. Agreeing with what Sam posted, I do believe that the job of the bard is to entertain, and he is the party. He is the entertainment, because in this time, compared to our time, there was no music, DJ, TV, radio, or anything like that. Bards were the main entertainment, and a majority of them, like Demodocus, are blind so that they can only be bards, and nothing else. Yes, Odysseus probably doesn’t have the best voice, but on top of that, he is making up his stories, while a true bard memorizes epic poems to tell them at a party, instead of making up stories completely. Even though Odysseus is portrayed as somewhat of a bard for a time, Demodocus is a better example of what a bard should be.
ReplyDeleteIn contrast to what Caroline said, I do not believe that Odysseus is represented as a bard at all. Instead I believe that he is a man who aims to manipulate his own story in a way that will make people sympathize with him as well as respect him. A bard by definition is one who tells stories with a main goal of providing entertainment to those who listen. They tell the stories of men and women of the past in their exciting adventures, often highlighting their mistakes and warning the people not to do the same. Odysseus’ story, however, is in a different category all together.
ReplyDeleteOdysseus begins his story by acknowledging Demodocus, the bard, “what a fine thing it is to listen to such a bard/ as we have here – the man sings like a god,” (9.3-4) and then introducing himself and hints at the pains he had endured during his trip. He proceeded to tell a story of the upmost hardship, where he was faced with many obstacles as he and his men struggled to get home. As he told King Alcinous of his journey, he was sure to mention on countless occasions, the loss of many of his men. While this could be proof of nothing more than a terrible journey that accounted for many fallen comrades it could also be a hint at a story, completely fabricated to explain why Odysseus returned with so few men.
We have seen Odysseus concoct a completely false story very quickly and therefore have reason to suspect him of doing the same here. The reasoning behind this is difficult to pinpoint. Whether the story is completely fabricated for some unknown reason, be it an attempt to gain sympathy, respect, or cover up the actual events his journey, or just embellished in places, something people do quite regularly. I believe that not only is Odysseus not a bard, but neither a man of complete truth.
I agree with Grace in that Odysseus is not like a bard at all and with all that he has concocted before we have reason to believe he is making up all of the stories. At the beginning of Book 9 Odysseus’s motive to tell his tale about this journey is because Alcinous asks Odysseus to tell truthfully who he is, where he is from and where he is going. In Book 8 Demodocus tells stories for entertainment purposes. Odysseus does and doesn’t have the same motive as other bards. Odysseus is not telling his for entertainment but it is entertaining to other people. When they describe Odysseus as the great teller of tales in the very first sentence of Book 9, I think that they do this not only because he tells so many stories but they might not all be true. We have read over half of this book and by now I am very suspicious of Odysseus’s stories he tells. In Book 14 he makes up story about where he is from and I notice that he is really good at it.
ReplyDelete“I hail from Crete’s broad land, I’m proud to say, and I am a rich man’s son. And many other sons he brought up in his palace, born in wedlock, sprung of his lawful wife. Unlike my mother. . . . . .”
I think that instead of taking Odysseus’s story about one-eyed monsters and visits to the underworld at face value we should think about Odysseus’s character. He is known for being able to concoct things on the spot. After all he did concoct the scheme for the Trojan horse. In all of his stories he continues to portray himself as formidable and smart. After all these stories and with all I know about Odysseus I am starting to think that maybe all of the stories are not true. He could just be telling them for kleos/fame and to get people to think better of him. There are many times when with all he concocts there are reasons and suspicions to believe that his stories aren’t always 100% true.
I agree with Russell that the main requirement of a bard is to be the “great teller of tales” as we all know Odysseus to be, but I also agree with Caroline. Odysseus real motive is not to entertain. He may do that in the process but what he is really trying to do is make himself out to be a great hero. Considering he is talking to people who have no idea what his real identity is, this task is relatively easy. I also agree with Spencer that calling Odysseus “The great teller of tales” does not refer to him telling fantastic stories, like a bard. In this case I believe that they mean tales as in lies. As shown in several occasions, Odysseus is a genius at thinking up stories off the top of his head, leading us to question if anything he says is true. Therefore he is not like a bard at all, but rather just a liar.
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