Weekly ELA Blog Post #13

This week I will be blogging about a subject that really interested me in the Oddysey that I never got to write about before. That subject is the little blocks of italic text sprinkled throughout the book.

I didn't think much of these through most of the Oddysey, but when they became particularly prevalent in the last few books, I decided I'd like to look into them all a little more closely and figure out why they were there. What I noticed is this: all of them seemed to be similes or metaphors comparing the story's characters and their recent or current actions to other things. More specifically, though, they seemed to always be compared to animals, and always either a predator or a prey. In the case that characters did particularly noble, brave, or heroic things, they would almost always be compared to a predator chasing, killing, or gloating over its prey. On the other hand, if they were doing something cowardly or being killed, they were compared to prey being hunted, or in some cases herd animals being slaughtered.

I thought these little interjections made the story more interesting overall, and analyzing was overall very fun to do. That's all for this week.

Weekly ELA Blog Post for the week of 12/5

My class has recently been reading "The Odyssey" by Homer. At the part we are at, the hero of the story, Odysseus, has just recently returned to his homeland that he is the king of after being away for 20 years. He is in disguise, however, so nobody knows he is back, and he is able to find out the opinions of the people he used to know without bias. 

Two of these people in particular are his swineherd, Eumaeus, and his goatherd, Melanthius. Interestingly, their attitudes as a whole seem to be almost polar opposites. Eumaeus is very kind to Odysseus when he first arrives at Eumaeus's swine hut, and even though he believes that Oddyseus is just a poor beggar, he shows him much generosity, allowing him to sleep and eat in the swine hut for a few days before Telemachus orders take Oddyseus to the city to beg. On the other hand, Melanthius, who Odysseus runs into on his way in to town, is a rude and mean man who scorns Eumaues for even helping the beggar, and is even as bold as to kick Odysseus when he gets in the way. The other big difference between them is their attitude towards Oddyseus and his family in particular. Eumaues praises and reveres the family, and even shows his angst at Oddyseus being gone. Melanthius, on the other hand, jokes about Oddysseus having died at sea and expresses his hope that the suitors will kill Telemachus.

The question is, now that Oddyseus knows how both of these men feel about him, what will happen to them once Oddyseus takes back over his kingdom? I believe that Eumaues will probably recieve gifts and praise from Oddyseus. I don't think he'll be promoted from or relieved of his job as a swineherd, though, seeing as that's he's been doing his whole life. Plus, I can't think of any jobs it would make sense to promote him to. On the other hand, I think Melanthius's fate will be like his attitude: the opposite of Eumaues's. In fact, I believe that his punishment will be death, possibly a painful reason. There are a couple reasons I don't think he'll have a lighter punishment like demotion or exile. The first is how Oddyseus treated Irus. The only thing that kept him from killing Irus with one punch is that he didn't want to make the suitors suspicious. Plus, he did nothing to stop the horrible fate the suitors said they planned to exact on Irus, which included his genitals being mutilated. The second reason is that Oddyseus clearly has very few reserves about killing. Other than a single, ineffective warning to one suitor, there is no sign Oddyseus has any concerns with slaughtering all the suitors. The final reason, and probably the most significant one, is that, even though he managed to reserve himself in the end, Oddyseus seriously considered killing Melanthius on the spot on his way to his home.

This is what I believe will happen to Oddyseus's swineherd and goatherd soon because of what he learned about their attitudes. I'm assuming, though, that he will succeed in taking back Ithaca, but since he has Athena helping him, I'm pretty sure he will. Unless, of course, after the suitors are defeated, Telemachus turns on him and murders him. I have no idea why this would happen, but it sure would be interesting. That's all for this blog post, though. Adios.