"""Complicated"""

In class, as we've gotten further into the story of how Odysseus was lost at sea for years, we've gotten to understand more and more of what makes him a "complicated" man. I am, however, struggling to maintain a view in my mind that he is truly complicated. To me, it really seems like more than "complicated," he is self-centered and manipulative. But how much of this is the narrative, and how much of this is my 2019 cynical perspective?

I'll start by saying that I really want to like Odysseus, and I would say that the narrative Homer paints is asking the reader to like Odysseus as well. Certainly the narrative gives some examples of Odysseus being a good, well-intentioned person - he almost always divides resources equally and he always cries for the loss of his men. The narrative seems to present him also as sympathetic, a victim of the gods' fury, as Athena pitying him and stepping in is portrayed as being a good thing. In addition to being sympathetic, he is portrayed as grandiose, and deserving of his big name and reputation - everyone knows his story, and everyone acknowledges how great a leader he is. For the most part, these devices work for me. I am quick to fall for heroes, and I like how charismatic and intelligent Odysseus seems to be. The narrative, however, does not paint him as a perfect character. As one of his men points out, it was because of him that six men died at the hands of the Cyclops, and Odysseus gets wildly angry. He's kind of impulsive - making the decision to yell at the Cyclops over and over again, to the chagrin of his men.

There are ways to read the narrative, however, that make Odysseus even more of a complicated character, and add more negative dimensions to him, but I am not sure how rooted or not rooted they are in 2019 feminist rhetoric. The whole double standard phenomenon we've been discussing in class, that Odysseus is always skeptical that Penelope is cheating or that her loyalty is one of her defining qualities as a character, is making Odysseus a hard character for me to pin down. I find him to be flawed in that he expects more from his wife than he does from himself in the fidelity department - but that seems to be the standard for ancient Greek men. Still, I find it interesting that the Odyssey kind of addresses the issue of the double standard through the goddesses Circe and Calypso. The fact that Calypso even brings up the idea that it is unfair that men gods can do whatever they want but it's uncool if Calypso has one prisoner, points to the idea that perhaps Homer or the ancient Greeks understood this gender double standard. In that case, then, why put it in here? If Homer is a man, why bring it up? My best explanation for this is Homer is kind of doing a "boys will be boys" thing for the sake of comedy. In that sense, I can accept that the narrative is trying to portray Odysseus less negatively than I read him (at least surrounding issues of fidelity).

However, there is one thing I really cannot get past, nor can I figure out if it's supposed to make me angry at Odysseus. In a recent chapter, when Odysseus makes it back home to Ithaca and goes to visit his loyal slave (ew), he "tests" him a few times by lying to him, and seeing how he'll respond. Athena also makes Odysseus unrecognizable so that they can "test" Penelope's fidelity (as far as I understood). I'm sorry, but what am I missing??? I get it when Odysseus tries to manipulate kings of far away lands, or even when he messes up with the Cyclops and has to lie in order to save his life, but manipulating the people you love, who have been holding down the fort for you for years while you were away (partying and cheating on your wife, for some of those years) to me is kind of unforgivable. I don't understand what Homer is doing with this plot device either - are we supposed to be really impressed at how clever Odysseus is? Are we supposed to be skeptical of Penelope and Eumaeus? Or are we supposed to think this is wrong of Odysseus? It seems like the last guess is wrong. Athena encourages it. I cannot get past this aspect of Odysseus's character. Does this have anything to do with my modern context? I don't know. I'm not sure if "don't lie to and test your friends" is a very contemporary idea.

I'm not sure. That just really crossed a line for me, and I don't know what to do with it. I really think that the reader is supposed to like Odysseus, and in the past, having been told these stories by my mother, I did like him as a character. But something about him this time around rubs me the wrong way, in no small part due to his weird testy behavior. What do you think? How do you view Odysseus, as a leader, a husband, or a relic of ancient values? How do you view his "tests"?