PAO: Looking Beneath the Surface to See the Inspiring Human Story in Homer's Odyssey - Part 1
Why, for example, did King Alcinous offer his prize daughter Nausicaa in marriage to an as-yet-unnamed, penniless beggar (Odysseus), a foreigner who didn’t even own the clothes on his back?
Over the years I kept returning to this or that section of the Odyssey until its people became so real to me that I started to think of it as a real story. Yet that begged credible explanations for some seemingly preposterous actions. In this first segment of my commentary on the compelling human drama in the Odyssey, I’ll list questions that inevitably came up. Answering them makes the story immeasurably richer.
Why did King Alcinous offer his prize daughter Nausicaa in marriage to an as-yet-unnamed, penniless beggar (Odysseus), a foreigner who didn’t even own the clothes on his back?
How could Odysseus ever get home? If he refuses the offer, he is toast. If he accepts it, they never take him home.
Why would Odysseus even refuse marriage with the beautiful, admirable, and willing Nausicaa, a young wife in a royal household in a rich land at peace?
Why hadn’t the ruthless Antinous invaded Penelope’s home one night with a cooperative priest in tow and forced her to marry him against her will? He could have then locked her away inside the great house and defied anyone to contest the marriage. He was physically the strongest man on the island and had the pretense of marriage in his favor. If he had done it prior to the action depicted in the Odyssey, when Telemachus was still an immature youth, no one could have successfully challenged Antinous.
To forestall marriage to Antinous, why didn’t Penelope marry the one suitor—Amphinomus—who was nice, gentle, and pliable? He was strong enough to protect her and Telemachus, taking into account his personal strength and wealth and public support arising from her willing marriage. It’s not as if anyone really expected Odysseus to return, he likely being either dead, enslaved, marooned, or happily remarried.
Why did King Menelaus tell Telemachus that story of Proteus saying that Odysseus was marooned on an island when, just the night before, Menelaus had groaned that he knew nothing of Odysseus’s fate?
Why did Penelope announce that she will marry a suitor when she had been told just minutes earlier by a newly arrived beggar (Odysseus in disguise) that Odysseus was alive and will arrive within a day or two? (i.e., around the new moon, a time in the month when Apollo was honored).
Why didn’t the 108 suitors just rush Odysseus and the other three men and overwhelm them with brute force?
Why did Penelope furiously upbraid Eurykleia when Eurykleia woke Penelope to tell her that Odysseus had come, had killed all the suitors, and was waiting for her downstairs.
Why did Odysseus not clean off the blood, sweat, and other gore of battle before Penelope came down to meet him?
Why did Penelope still not recognize Odysseus after he had cleaned up and looked magnificent?
My answers to these questions play out in Penelope and Odysseus through action and dialog. I just worked out the logic of the situation; after which, the characters came to life and spoke for themselves.
Just start reading Penelope and Odysseus and see if you can put it down. See if it isn’t a story to enjoy. And if it is, please share it with people who you think might enjoy it. Good Health to You!