There are many many characters that I had to get to know from the very beginning of the Iliad. Because I had very little background knowledge of who’s who, it was a bit overwhelming and confusing. Especially when you get to the full catalogue of Greek ships in Book 2, I thought does Homer expect me to remember all these? But there is one person I do know and it’s quite comforting to spot his name every now and then. It’s like going to a party where everyone is a stranger but there’s one friend in the crowd. That’s how I felt about Odysseus when I first started reading the Iliad, because I read Odyssey.
However, I’m now at the end of Book 12. I feel like I’m getting to know Odysseus for the first time. In Odyssey, he was just an average bloke, who was heroic. But over 12 books of the Illiad, Odysseus stood out to me among all these millions of Greek and Trojan warriors.
What kind of guy is he? Let me show you a few incidents in the first half of the Iliad and explain why I find him fascinating and what kind of subtext I fill in for this character according to my interpretation and in my imagination, meaning what kind of man I imagine Odysseus to be.
Just a disclaimer here, I’m not doing this for academic purposes, I’m just having fun. My interpretation could be completely different to yours or you may think I’m wrong. That’s OK. My imagination is kind of hooked onto the image of Odysseus that Homer presents in the Iliad and it got a bit excited and went into a bit of overdrive. I love how much space and possibility there is for interpretation and imagination. So as I said, feel free to disagree, I’d love to hear your version of Odysseus. But I hope in this post I can explain myself why I think he is who I imagine he is.
Shipping Chryseis back to her dad
This is the first major action that involves Odysseus. In Book 1, full-blooded Agamemnon and Achilles nearly bit each other’s heads off over the girl Chryseis, and the old councillor Nestor tried hard to reconcile them. But throughout the whole argument, Odysseus didn’t say a word. It was an important assembly and Odysseus was 100% present.
What was going through his mind as he watched Agamemnon, the chief leader of the whole expedition and Achilles, the best warrior the Greeks had, falling out over a woman? What did he think of the show? The two key figures in the Greek army fighting against each other?
Where was he physically standing? Was he watching with a smirk on his lips from the back row? I imagine him leaning against the door frame with a cool and sarcastic expression on his face. Here are two of the so-called best of the Greeks.
At one point, Agamemnon said to Achilles:
“You are a great warrior, godlike Achilles, but don’t imagine you can trick me into that. I am not going to be outmanoeuvred or persuaded by you. ‘Give up the girl’, you say, in order to keep your own prize safe. Do you expect me to sit tamely by, while I am robbed? No: if the army is prepared to give me a fresh prize, they must choose one to my taste to make up for my loss. If not, I shall come and help myself to your prize, or Ajax’s, or maybe I shall walk off with Odysseus’. And what an angry man I shall leave behind me!”
I can imagine the camera at that point cut quickly to Odysseus standing at the back with the same smirk on his face. Agamemnon, you stupid man. Not in an angry tone at all, but almost exasperated. I wonder what would he have done if Agamemnon seriously has gone and taken his prize? Would he react the same way as Achilles? In my imagination, I don’t think so. I feel like Odysseus would see the big picture of the war between the Greeks and the Trojans and he wouldn’t fall out with Agamemnon at this point of time at least. He’d rein in his anger and disgust for Agamemnon for the sake of the more important thing at hand.
As soon as the assembly ended with the two storming off with black clouds coming out of their head, it was Odysseus who shipped the girl back to her dad. I wonder what did he say to the girl on the ship? I believe he was perfectly nice, even though it must have been humiliating – the girl just cost the Greeks one of their best fighters and her dad brought down the nine days plague on the Greek army which resulted in a massive amount of death.
Quick-thinking Odysseus then led the girl to the altar, gave her back into her father’s arms and said:
“Chryses, Agamemnon lord of men has ordered me to bring you your daughter and to make a sacred offering of oxen to Apollo on the Greeks’ behalf, in the hope of pacifying the god who has been inflicting sorrow and mourning on our men.”
With these words he handed the girl over into the arms of her father, who joyfully welcomed his beloved child.
And the actual meeting was a very cordial scene. Odysseus had to do the dirty work on behalf of the Greeks, basically for Agamemnon. Thinking about it, the whole drama had nothing to do with Odysseus. I wonder if he put up a perfect ambassador front when meeting Chryses, saying the correct things, and begging the plague to be lifted without losing dignity. After achieving his goal, I wonder if he boarded his ship waving back at Chryses and Chryseis on the beach with a smile on his face. Then he’d turn back to his men, roll his eyes and say, bloody hell that’s that. Let’s go. Either genuinely exasperated to the point of exploding with impatience. Or with a sense of wit and humour. What do you think?
Odysseus in another’s eyes
In novels, you can usually learn a lot about a character by hearing what other characters say about him or her. Here’s how one of the Trojan elders, one of the enemies, Antenor, describes Odysseus and Menelaus on a previous visit.
I quote the translation by Alexander Pope here. This translation was made between 1715 and 1720. It was acclaimed by the famous Dr Samuel Johnson as “a performance which no age or nation could hope to equal”. If it’s good enough for Dr Johnson it’s good for me. It’s less straightforward being a verse translation but it gives a better sense of grandeur in my opinion.
Antenor took the word, and thus began:
“Myself, O king! have seen that wondrous man [meaning Odysseus]
When, trusting Jove and hospitable laws,
To Troy he came, to plead the Grecian cause;
(Great Menelaus urged the same request;)
My house was honour’d with each royal guest:
I knew their persons, and admired their parts,
Both brave in arms, and both approved in arts.
Erect, the Spartan [meaning Menelaus] most engaged our view;
Ulysses [meaning of course Odysseus] seated, greater reverence drew.
An interesting detail here. When standing up, Menelaus attracted more attention but when seated, Odysseus looked more admirable and respectful.
When Atreus’ son [meaning Menelaus] harangued the listening train,
Just was his sense, and his expression plain,
His words succinct, yet full, without a fault;
He spoke no more than just the thing he ought.
But when Ulysses rose, in thought profound,
His modest eyes he fix’d upon the ground;
As one unskill’d or dumb, he seem’d to stand,
Nor raised his head, nor stretch’d his sceptred hand;
But, when he speaks, what elocution flows!
Soft as the fleeces of descending snows,
The copious accents fall, with easy art;
Melting they fall, and sink into the heart!
Wondering we hear, and fix’d in deep surprise,
Our ears refute the censure of our eyes.”
His eyes were modest, he didn’t look at his audience, he looked as if he was terrible at public speaking and looked a bit stupid. According to E. V. Rieu’s translation, “He didn’t swing the speaker’s staff either backwards or forwards but held it stiffly, as though he had never handled one before.” Which I presume to swing it would be the normal thing to do. It seems like Odysseus’ appearance wasn’t very impressive, his stature wasn’t imposing and he didn’t do drama.
And his style of speech matched his person, not imposing and not dramatic. It was
Soft as the fleeces of descending snows,
The copious accents fall, with easy art;
Melting they fall, and sink into the heart!
Wondering we hear, and fix’d in deep surprise,
Our ears refute the censure of our eyes.
It was soft and easy and his words melt and sank into the earth like snow. And because he didn’t LOOK very significant, his wonderful speech in contrast was even more surprising to his listeners. I imagine him to be a scholarly man. There is a description of his physique in the Iliad that says he has broad chest and shoulders which really annoys me. Because I imagine him to be a narrow person!
Odysseus did not hear
The next scene we only see Odysseus in a flash, his cloak fluttered in action for one split second and he was gone, among the thundering hoofs. At this point, the Greeks were retreating en masse in the presence of the Trojans. So did Odysseus. I mentioned Nestor earlier. The same Nestor, one of the old advisers in the Greek camp in this confusion got left behind and was in danger of being killed by Hector there and then. Diomedes saw and shouted at Odysseus for help. This time I love the translation by E. V. Rieu better:
“Odysseus, where are you off to, melting like a coward into the crowd, your shield slung behind you? Stop and help me keep this brute off old Nestor.” So he spoke, but all-daring, godlike Odysseus did not hear him properly and sped by on his way to the Greeks’ hollow ships.
I imagine Diomedes terrified at the galloping Hector coming at them, with an old man on his hand and some panicking horses, waving and shouting frantically at a capable warrior who could turn the table and get them out of the hole instantly. However, camera from Diomedes’ point of view, we watch Odysseus just sped past in a cloud of smoke, and gone. And it says ‘Odysseus did not hear him properly’. Did he hear him or not? I find that a bit comical as well. I can just imagine Odysseus heard something among all the noise and clatter as he rushed past and thought, did someone just shout something at me? And seeing the retreating army, ‘Oh my goodness what a disaster, let’s get out of here first.’ And off he went.
This scene stood out to me, partly because it’s comical, and partly because it’s unusual. The usual lines of the warriors are, for example, in Book 13, “Whenever battle is joined where men win glory, I take my place in the front line.” But we see Odysseus here retreating. Odysseus is not a coward, we see again and again how brave he can be. But he doesn’t ask for trouble. Unless the situation demands him to take risks and face death squarely, he doesn’t run after them. Which I think is very sensible. But I feel like it’s not a quality possessed by many other Greek or Trojan warriors in the Iliad.
Another example of Odysseus being sensible and not over-confident is more of a speculation. When Agamemnon rallied the troop, he stood on Odysseus’ ship. It says:
This [as in Odysseus’ ship] stood in the centre of the line, so that a shout would carry to either end, to the huts of Ajax son of Telamon or those of Achilles. Both these two had had confidence enough in their own bravery and strength to draw up their ships on the extreme flanks. From this point, Agamemnon sent his voice ringing out to the whole Greek army.
The positioning of Ajax and Achilles’ ships says a lot about their character. They were confident about their bravery and strength. I don’t know how the army fought exactly in the Iliad, but I imagine the ships on the extreme flanks were likely to be attacked first, therefore those were more dangerous positions. And it gives me a certain image of Ajax and Achilles. At the same time, I couldn’t help thinking, so what does it say about Odysseus then? His ships were right in the middle of all the army?
It’s very likely that when the Greek ships arrived at the shore of Ilium, that was the order the ships moored. Odysseus just happened to be in the centre. Or being in the centre actually carried a certain significance and that showed how important a leader Odysseus was. But those were boring explanations. I’d rather think, Odysseus chose to settle his men in the middle, where it was relatively less exposed to the enemy and a bit safer overall. I imagine Odysseus thought to himself, if possible, I’d like to go back to my wife and son. I’d rather not rush my men into slaughter unnecessarily just for the sake of looking brave.
Odysseus stranded
In Book 11, again on the battlefield, Odysseus was stranded alone among the sea of enemies. For this scene, I preferred E. V. Rieu’s translation. It shows glimpses of Odysseus’ weakness, an aspect you rarely see in the Iliad, everyone is a hero and a warrior, invincible and powerful. But in this scene we see Odysseus as human and relatable. This particular scene is the reason why I like him.
Left to himself without a single Greek to support him, since they were all in flight, the great spearman Odysseus was perturbed and reflected on the situation: ‘Damn. What am I to do now? It would be pure cowardice to run for it, frightened by the odds against me; but even more unpleasant to be trapped alone, now that Zeus has put all the rest of the Greeks to flight. But why talk to myself like this? I know cowards run from the battlefield; but the brave warrior must stand unflinching, to kill or be killed.’
I love it! First of all, he’s talking to himself. Nobody talks to themselves in the Iliad so far. They negotiate civilly with their enemies, they talk and argue with their fellow commanders, they shout at their soldiers, and they plead in tears with the gods. But we don’t know what they’re thinking, to themselves. And here suddenly, we get to see what’s in Odysseus’ head.
And facing a flood of enemies, what IS in Odysseus’ head? He says, ‘Damn. What am I to do now?’ The resourceful, quick-witted, godlike Odysseus is at his wit’s end, just like any other human. And I love him for that honest and vulnerable moment.
I watched a film recently where the main character fought for his dream for years. He gave all he had but was still rejected ruthlessly at the end. I loved him trying so hard. But it was the moment when he heard about the rejection, his honest and vulnerable response to that rejection that touched me most, he said ‘what am I supposed to do now?’ Odysseus says, ‘what am I to do now?’
1) He sees the danger and he’s not blindly self-confident, he knows he can’t manage it on his own and the price is his life. 2) But he also doesn’t panic or break down in tears in this perilous situation. He’s composed and he calmly asks himself, this doesn’t look good, what shall I do? He’s utterly at peace with himself. 3) He also chooses to do the right thing. Even if I get killed, I will not run away. I can almost see the sarcastic smile on his lips. This might be my last day. But no point talking. We’ll see how it goes.
That’s my interpretation of Odysseus. I’m at the end of Book 12 so there’s the second half of the Iliad to go. I don’t know if Odysseus is going to do something drastically different later on and turn all of my imagination upside down. We will have to see.
A Day of Small Things 