When is odysseus unfaithful

On the one hand, Homer teaches us to exalt Odysseus and Penelope as the embodiment of faithfulness. In their marriage, and in the struggle they endure to preserve it, we see Ithakan society, or Greek society — even human society — in microcosm. Civilization is a stake, Homer seems to say. The problem, on the other hand, is that Odysseus seems to disregard it himself!

How can he deserve our praise when his sexual conduct seems to mock the very idea of faithfulness? One common reply to this problem is to note that ancient Greek concepts of marital fidelity were obviously quite different from modern Christian ones, and to warn students against reading their own ideas of morality back into a foreign period.

He appears to be unfaithful by any definition, ancient, Christian, or otherwise. Maybe the problem is not a clash of ancient and modern ideas about marital fidelity, but a clash of simple definitions.

Two opposite senses of the word jump immediately to mind. This has troubling implications for readers, leading them to condemn Homer for inconsistency or sloppiness, or a lack of concern for detail. On the other hand, if being faithful means having faith — trusting in another — then things make a lot more sense, for Odysseus has this quality in abundance. Just as Penelope trusts that he will return to save his family and his city, so Odysseus trusts that Penelope is waiting for him.

He depends on it utterly. He has no plan B should he arrive to find his throne despoiled. This idea of faithfulness boils down to a reliance on the other, rather than an ordering of the self. It is not the presence of correct conduct, but rather the absence of other resources. The faithful one depends for his identity on the work of another.

His Hubris gets him into many disagreeable situations that kill his crew and hurt his reputation with the Gods. Odysseus is not a hero because, he is foolish, lacks faithfulness and is consumed by his Hubris and selfishness. Ralph is responsible because he makes the mistake of giving Jack power; he is unable to control the other boy when Jack starts to become savage and he is prone to fleeting lapses in self-control.

He forcibly takes items from the other boys - namely Piggy and Ralph - and he focuses on satisfying his immediate needs, instead of thinking of the future. Piggy is liable for the disregard for civilization because he would rather complain about the mistakes that the other boys are making than try to correct them. That he went out of his way to help others instead of looking out for himself as he usually did.

A true hero is selfless, always doing things for others. A real hero is just a person, a person who cares loves and embraces others no matter what. A hero is just a person who does the better for everyone and thing. A hero is not the kind of person to want to be recognized. Today heroes do not want to become famous, heroes just want to be normal people. This is an act of Hubris because it shows that he thinks he is better than everyone else. Odysseus is a selfish and over prided man whose self-centered and egotist decisions get him in trouble and gets him a bad name with the Gods.

Odysseus may be known as the first "Modern hero" but in my mind he is a faker. He was so afraid of the pain and sadness of seeing all those he hurt that he cared dearly about.

To Oedipus not only was it just punishment for his crimes it also helped him get over knowing what he has done. Even though this is true of the reasons Oedipus gives, arrogance played an overwhelming role. His self-importance lead him to make a rash decision to blind. Pip is surprised by this intrusion of his mind realizing that Miss Havisham did not raise him to be with Estella. Evan though Pip was not raised to be with Estella he is an vicious human being thinking such vile thoughts against a man that gave him the life of a gentleman.

In relation, as Provis lays down to sleep Pip reflects on meeting him, "Then came the reflection that I had seen him with my childish eyes to be a desperate violent man:" pg. Pip can only think of what horrible things Provis performed. Pip is an unforgiving person, still thinking of Provis as a convict after all he did for him.

He cannot take the guilt which is gnawing at him inside and he is desperate to seek release. However, the shriek was only a figment of his imaginat Sign up to join this community.

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Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Was Odysseus considered unfaithful to his wife in the Odyssey? Ask Question. Asked 4 years, 9 months ago. Active 1 year, 7 months ago. Viewed 14k times. Improve this question. Matrim Cauthon Matrim Cauthon 6, 7 7 gold badges 27 27 silver badges 75 75 bronze badges. Considering how many of the gods then had extra-marital liaisons, I doubt it. Do as thy gods do! Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Introduction To begin with, the question Has Odysseus been unfaithful to his wife?

As Stephanie Coontz has pointed out , the idea of marriage as a partnership based on romantic love is a product of the 18th century: For most of history it was inconceivable that people would choose their mates on the basis of something as fragile and irrational as love and then focus all their sexual, intimate, and altruistic desires on the resulting marriage The Ancient History Encyclopedia says: [With girls being] Married at the typical age of thirteen or fourteen, love had little to do with the matching of husband and wife.

Marriage among the ancient Greeks With regard to the first question, Nicholas Rauh explains that among landholding Greeks, women were married off to neighboring men to consolidate land ownership, to bear children, and to look after the household: To insure the sanctity of the marriage relationship and the purity of the family line, freeborn Greek children underwent a highly restricted, segregated upbringing, at least insofar as sexual interaction with the opposing gender was concerned.

Erotic life among the Greeks If marriage was not for the fulfillment of sexual desire, then it is understandable that, as we saw earlier, men formed erotic relationships "elsewhere". Rauh lists three outlets for men's sexual energies quote has been edited for length : prostitutes, particularly highly gifted, highly articulate hetairai. They were trained by their "pimps" in music, dance, and on occasion intellectual skills such as rhetoric.

Apart from sexual favors, these women were able to appeal to their lover's minds. One problem with courtesan relations was their high costs. Sexual exploitation of female servants directly under one's household control was a far cheaper alternative.

This practice by freeborn Greek males may have been relatively commonplace. Since young males had no monetary resources, could not afford hetairai or even more common forms of prostitution, and could not expect to date respectable females in any manner, their outlets for sexual experimentation were basically restricted to relations with household servants, if available, and to other males. Evidence of fairly elaborate courting rituals among older Greek males and their younger lovers indicate the likely commonplace character of these relationships.

Coontz says that the Greeks even considered this sort of homosexual love the noblest of all: In some cultures and times, true love was actually thought to be incompatible with marriage. The Odyssey It's easy to see that Homer's epics share this view of the marital relationship. Calypso even comments on the double standard: men are expected to play around; if a woman does the same, it needs to be squelched immediately: You gods are the most jealous bastards in the universe— Persecuting any goddess who ever openly takes A mortal lover to her bed and sleeps with him.

The strength of their marriage Curiously, though, the Calypso episode does reveal something about the strength of their marriage. This is his response: Goddess and mistress, don't be angry with me. Odds and Ends In the time when this was written ancient Greece. Whether Homer's epics can rightly be considered written is a whole 'nother question.

Short answer, no. In the time when this was written ancient Greece. Most of what we know about ancient Greece, including the stuff about marriage and sex that's in this answer, is from the classical period: 5th C BCE. The texts as we know them were likely written down around the 8th C BCE. Three hundred years is a long time. Think how much our own social structures and sexual mores have changed since the early s, and use your judgment.

Translations are by Stanley Lombardo , from Book 5, pages 73 and Improve this answer. This is quite an answer! Randal'Thor Yeah, I went a l'lle overboard. I shoulda just said No and left it at that.

You certainly lived up to your username ;- Bounty on the way. Zeus's sleeping around is an affront to her divinity, as it lets a mere mortal usurp her place. I don't know whether she is the only jealous wife in Greek myth, but the point of the answer is that in this view of marriage, an individual's feelings of love, jealousy, etc. For all her jealousy, Hera is not going to divorce Zeus and give up her status as the wife of the king of the gods.

And her jealousy is usually presented to be mocked at rather than empathized with. Show 1 more comment. Luna Canam Luna Canam 49 2 2 bronze badges. I woud like to highlight, however, that calling the epics novels was intentional, and at least to the Odyssey its quite untroublesome. Also, homoaffectuous and heteroaffectuous are words that as far as Im aware dont exist on English language, they are recently coined words from other language, but that are an amazing find to describe human relations, and therefore a contribution to English.

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