All 26 entries tagged Odyssey

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June 08, 2008

two parties

two parties, one Greek and the other Trojan,/both fighting for Helen (2.XX.ii).

One of the frequent allusions to the Trojan War, with 'Helen' here both evoking Helen of Troy and referring to St Lucia.

Amanda Hopkins : 08 Jun 2008 12:31 |  Tags: Aeneid Epic Tradition Glossary Helen Of Troy Homer Iliad Odyssey St Lucia Trojan War Two Parties Virgil |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

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June 07, 2008

recognition

recognition (3.XXXII.i).

Recognition is a key theme of Homer’s Odyssey.

Amanda Hopkins : 07 Jun 2008 11:38 |  Tags: Epic Tradition Odyssey Recognition |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

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she fought her memory

she fought her//memory (3.XXXII.i).

Memory is a key element of classical epic, since the poems are intended as commemorations of past figures and events. In Omeros, characters, such as Achille and Dennis Plunkett, have a longing for communion with the past. Memory brings in the theme of nostalgia and the journey that the characters take in order to find their identity and feeling of home. Memory is also important in the Odyssey, and the loss of it threatens Odysseus from returning home.

Amanda Hopkins : 07 Jun 2008 09:18 |  Tags: Achille Characters Dennis Plunkett Epic Tradition Identity & Naming Memory Remembering & Commemoration Narrators Mother Nostos Odysseus Odyssey She Fought Her Memory Walcott-The-Narrator |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

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June 06, 2008

Charing Cross

Charing Cross (1.XXXVIII.i).

Charing Cross is an interesting choice of underground station. For one, it is close to both Trafalgar Square (a symbol of England's old empire and its nationalism) and the National Gallery (which houses many great works of art from the history of the Western world), which the narrator goes on to visit. The underground system itself fits with the feeling of the chapter that London, whilst having a gorgeous, historical exterior, has a dirtier, polluted underbelly. Also, it means that the narrator must emerge into the light from underground which has many symbolic possibilities.

Amanda Hopkins : 06 Jun 2008 15:15 |  Tags: Characters Charing Cross Context Epic Tradition Europe Great Wanderings Historycolonialism London Odyssey Walcott The Narrator |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

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June 05, 2008

History was Circe

History was Circe (1.XI.i).

Circe is for Penelope what is History for Maud: they detain their husbands from them, either in reality or in the mind.

Amanda Hopkins : 05 Jun 2008 06:16 |  Tags: Characters Context Dennis Plunkett History History Was Circe Maud Plunkett Odyssey Penelope |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

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She had never felt more alone

She had never felt more alone (1.XI.i–iii).

Here Maud is very similar to Penelope: she is sewing, and above all she passes her time waiting for her husband to get back to her, to the real world in current history. Her husband is leaving the Great Wanderings in his imagination (cf 'wandering heart', 1.XI.iii, last line).

Amanda Hopkins : 05 Jun 2008 06:06 |  Tags: Characters Dennis Plunkett History Maud Plunkett Odyssey Penelope She Had Never Felt More Alone |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

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July 09, 2007

hyphen stitched

her hyphen stitched its seam (7.LXIII.iii).

An idea common in epic texts, for example Penelope stitching her tapestry (The Odyssey) and Helen weaving her web (The Iliad). The creation of art by the characters parallels the creation of the text by Walcott. Here, the stitcher is the sea-swift, crossing the seas; the bird is presented as a 'hyphen' linking the continents, one of a variety of metaphorical references linking natural images with the practicalities of language, writing and typesetting used by Walcott (cf. e.g. 'asterisks of rain', 7.LXIV.i, and 'freshly written in sheets of exploding surf', 1.59.i).

Amanda Hopkins : 09 Jul 2007 16:07 |  Tags: Animals Epic Tradition Helen Of Troy Hyphen Stitched Iliad Odyssey Penelope Poetics Women |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

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khaki dog stretched

the khaki dog stretched at his feet (7.LXIII.i).

This evokes Odysseus' old and faithful dog Argos (Odyssey 17:290-327); the khaki dog is a guide of sorts for the blind Seven Seas.

Amanda Hopkins : 09 Jul 2007 15:44 |  Tags: Animals Colours Epic Tradition Khaki Dog Stretched Odyssey |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

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click of a Cyclops

the scream of a warrior losing his only soul/to the click of a Cyclops, the eye of its globing lens (1.59.iii).

The single lens of the camera is likened to the single eye of the Cyclops (Polyphemos) from Odyssey 9 (cf. 'taking/his soul with their cameras', 1.I.i).

Amanda Hopkins : 09 Jul 2007 13:43 |  Tags: Click Of A Cyclops Epic Tradition Mythology Odyssey Poetics Tourism |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

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Menelaus

Menelaus (7.LVII.iii).

Menelaos in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, an Achaian warrior and the husband of Helen of Troy, whose bid to reclaim her from Paris starts the Trojan War. He is portrayed as a wise leader and brave fighter, particularly in his recovery of the body of Patroklos.

Amanda Hopkins : 09 Jul 2007 13:32 |  Tags: Characters Epic Tradition Helen Of Troy Iliad Menelaus Odyssey |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

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