Character Analysis of Odyseus

In The Odyssey, there are many important themes. One of the major ones is about memory. Being remembered is very important to the characters in the book. We see that all of the characters desire to be remembered, and many of them even ask to be remembered. In the Odyssey, there are many examples that show how important being remembered was to them, in fact it was the thing they cared about the most to be done after they passed away. Being remembered was an honor, and a way of living on. Telemachos desires to have his father be remembered, Elpenor desires to be remembered, and all the members of the underworld want to be remembered as well.

During the time that this epic took place; they lived in an oral culture. Literacy was not wide spread until 800 B.C. Most communication and record keeping was by word of mouth. People of that time kept track of history and events mostly in their minds. Everything was passed down through the generations, being retold many times. Since nothing was written down, all of the things of the past were kept in people’s minds, including the memories of their deceased heroes, friends, and family members. It was communal memories, instead of individual ones like we have today. They were cultural memories.

Remembering these people was a way of honoring them and the lives that they led. Proper burial rites were followed in order to ensure the passage of the people from earth to the underworld. When the living wished to talk to the dead, they had to go through a sacrifice in order to reach them.

Since everything was based on memory of individuals, when people died they would want to be remembered as well. Their surviving friends and family had to be responsible of keeping their memory alive. If they didn’t pass on the legends and stories about the deceased people, they would be forgotten forever. There were no records or books that future generations could go back and read to find out about the people who had already died. This made it so that memories of them were very important. The dead were important because they had lessons that could be learned from. One could talk to the dead and learn from their mistakes.

The sons carried on reputations and family stories. Their name bore the weight of his fathers and grandfathers doings. If the mans father had been a great hero, then the son would probably be looked at as a person with hero potential as well. If the mans father was a poor beggar with no respect, his son would probably get looked at in the same way. It was important for people to try to be as successful in life, because the memory of them would be passed on and attached to their future generations.

Odysseus was gone for many years. Even though nobody knew if he was still alive or not, his memory was still living. People often thought and talked about what a great man he is. Penelope and Telemachos tried very hard to preserve these great memories, by not moving on. Penelope said she would remarry when the weaving was complete, and she unraveled it every night to put off having to marry again. They got mad at the suitors, and said that by them being in the house and trying to get Penelope that they were ruining his memory. He tells them that it is their obligation to remember and honor the memory of his father. He was their ruler, and by not remembering him they are disrespecting him. By forgetting him they are not filling their obligations. They also are taking advantage of his house and his things. Telemachos is very concerned about the memory of his father not being lost. He tells the suitors:

“But if your hearts are capable of shame, leave my great hall, and take your dinner elsewhere, consume your own stores. Turn and turn about, use one another’s houses. If you choose to slaughter one man’s livestock and pay nothing, this is raphine; and by the eternal gods I beg Zeus you shall get what you deserve: a slaughter here, and nothing paid for it!

Since Telemachos is Odysseus’ son, he is expected to be a good ruler. He also has many expectations made of him. Since his father was such a great leader, captain and person, Telemachos is expected to be the same. He has to fill his fathers shoes. He big expectations to live up to, because his father is remembered as such a great hero.

When Elpenor died on the journey with Odysseus, he wishes to just be remembered. By what he said shows how important it was to him that he was buried and honored properly, and that his ship mates all remembered him and who he was. Before the proper ceremony was done, he was stuck in limbo between life and the underworld. When they saw him the night that they saw the people from the underworld, he said:

“O my lord, remember me, I pray, do not abandon me unwept, unburied, to tempt god’s wrath, while you sail for home; but fire my corpse, and all the gear I had, and build a cairn for me above the breakers- an unknown sailors mark for men to come. Heap up the mound there, and implant upon it the oar I pulled in life with my companions.”(pp.332)

They honored his wish like he asked by having a big ceremony and mark his burial with an oar from the boat they traveled on. He wants to be remembered because dying and being remembered is one of the hugest honors in that time and culture.

After the ceremony for Elpenor, Odysseus sees the people of the underworld. He sees and talks to the ghost of his mother, Antikleia, who had died because she missed him so much. This shows him the pain he is causing his family by not going home. He also sees Teiredias, Epicaste, Leda, Ariadne, King Minos, Orion, Tantolos, Sisyphos, Herakles,and Agamemnon. He knows of all these people from their surviving memories. He knows of them because of the stories passed down through the generations about them. This shows how the culture really does remember though this way. Meeting up with these people also helps Odysseus to better understand his own identity, by talking again with the people who helped shape his life. He hears their stories and what they mean for his own life. He learns lessons from them. For example he realizes that in competition he made an enemy that he will never be able to patch things up with.

All of the people that he saw and talked to in the underworld told him about their death and other stories. He honors their memory by remembering the things that they told him. The underworld is a horrible place to be, worse than earth, but it is easier for them if they are being remembered. All of the people he meets from the land of the dead have the same wishes- to be remembered. It is all they have left. Since they are no longer alive, being remembered is the one thing that keeps them with their family and friends. It is a way for them to continue to be a part in the culture.

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