1 00:00:04,083 --> 00:00:09,022 At this point in our story, we make a transition back to Ithaca. 2 00:00:09,043 --> 00:00:14,066 Odysseus is now home but in this interesting way, way of twisting things 3 00:00:14,066 --> 00:00:18,459 that Homer has. He's home in the same position, he's been 4 00:00:18,459 --> 00:00:21,622 as a homeless person all throughout this story. 5 00:00:21,622 --> 00:00:24,293 He washes up on shore, not sure where he is. 6 00:00:24,504 --> 00:00:29,611 He is a wandering old man of misery. Who's land have I landed on now? 7 00:00:29,611 --> 00:00:33,412 What are they here? Violent, savage, lawless, or friendly to 8 00:00:33,412 --> 00:00:35,574 strangers? Are they God fearing men? 9 00:00:35,574 --> 00:00:40,642 In other words, the same kind of thing that he wonders when he washes up 10 00:00:40,642 --> 00:00:43,184 anywhere. He's just not sure where he is. 11 00:00:43,184 --> 00:00:47,154 He functionally, has no name. He's trying to figure his way. 12 00:00:47,154 --> 00:00:52,043 It reminds us a lot of what's happened to Odysseus in the earlier adventures. 13 00:00:52,215 --> 00:00:56,112 He is now into a different world. He's into the world of Ithaca. 14 00:00:56,314 --> 00:00:59,332 This is a different place than he's been in. 15 00:00:59,597 --> 00:01:03,031 It's, of course, his home. He has people he loves there. 16 00:01:03,031 --> 00:01:06,061 His wife is there. It's a domestic intimate setting. 17 00:01:06,257 --> 00:01:10,070 It seems like all should be well. Odysseus is already home, right? 18 00:01:10,070 --> 00:01:15,058 So, there he is on the shores of Ithica, why doesn't he just waltz up to Penelope 19 00:01:15,058 --> 00:01:19,018 and say, hi honey, I'm home? Well, I've got one answer for you. 20 00:01:19,018 --> 00:01:21,630 Agamemnon. Now, remember that story, and Odysseus 21 00:01:21,630 --> 00:01:23,071 surely does. Things are in trouble. 22 00:01:23,071 --> 00:01:27,041 You're just not sure what's going on, be careful when you get home. 23 00:01:27,041 --> 00:01:30,089 Odysseus is definitely going to be careful when he gets there. 24 00:01:31,145 --> 00:01:34,053 Yeah, it's a little bit of a matter of trust with Penelope, etc. 25 00:01:34,053 --> 00:01:38,028 There's also much more there. There, Odysseus realizes that whatever 26 00:01:38,028 --> 00:01:41,042 situation he's running into is bound to be very complex. 27 00:01:41,042 --> 00:01:45,045 He has to get some information about it and figure out what's happening. 28 00:01:45,045 --> 00:01:48,081 We're also going to find that Penelope is doing the same thing. 29 00:01:48,098 --> 00:01:53,035 These two great figures, Penelope and Odysseus, are interestingly in Homer's 30 00:01:53,035 --> 00:01:59,152 Odyssey characterized by the same verb. In Greek, there's a, a word that means, a 31 00:01:59,152 --> 00:02:03,580 verb that means to weave. And it's used for things like plots and 32 00:02:03,580 --> 00:02:07,353 plans and schemes. So, when Odysseus is making his plots and 33 00:02:07,353 --> 00:02:10,913 plans, he does the weaving. Well, guess what Penelope is famously 34 00:02:10,913 --> 00:02:15,571 known for in her story? She is indeed a skilled master weaver. 35 00:02:15,571 --> 00:02:18,624 They both do the same thing incredibly skillfully. 36 00:02:18,624 --> 00:02:23,370 And we're going to see that there is a lot going on in Penelope's wider world. 37 00:02:23,370 --> 00:02:28,624 We'll spend a lot of time in the coming twelve books talking about Penelope's 38 00:02:28,624 --> 00:02:31,131 world. Everything that Odysseus has learned in 39 00:02:31,131 --> 00:02:36,066 his adventures, all the skills that he's had in terms of social connections. 40 00:02:36,066 --> 00:02:40,526 In terms of his strength and his wits. All of them, he's going to have to put to 41 00:02:40,526 --> 00:02:43,908 use in this next set of challenges The Shores Of Ithaca. 42 00:02:44,062 --> 00:02:47,357 In pacing, there are different parts of the story one through twelve, were all 43 00:02:47,357 --> 00:02:52,401 over the place to the underworld and back to the most exotic places on the surface 44 00:02:52,401 --> 00:02:55,014 of the earth. All the last of the, the remaining books, 45 00:02:55,014 --> 00:02:58,691 the last twelve books. The second half of it, were all in one 46 00:02:58,691 --> 00:03:00,109 spot. We're in Ithaca. 47 00:03:00,109 --> 00:03:05,062 But the land and the territory there is as complex and as freeded and as rich and as 48 00:03:05,062 --> 00:03:07,891 packed with meaning as the whole rest of the wider world. 49 00:03:07,891 --> 00:03:12,524 That's as though Homer is giving us a kind of equivalence between Odysseus's wide 50 00:03:12,524 --> 00:03:15,705 world and what he sees when he washes up on shore. 51 00:03:15,705 --> 00:03:20,746 This beautiful land of Ithaca these lovely sheep there waiting for him, bucolic 52 00:03:20,746 --> 00:03:23,620 scene. We're going to spend some time out in this 53 00:03:23,620 --> 00:03:28,089 world with Odysseus making alliances on the outskirts laying back in the weeds 54 00:03:28,089 --> 00:03:31,149 trying to figure out what's happening in the city center. 55 00:03:31,149 --> 00:03:35,612 But all of it, this terrain and every square inch of it that is packed and 56 00:03:35,612 --> 00:03:41,917 loaded with important things for Odysseus. His careful, cautious calibrating spirit 57 00:03:41,917 --> 00:03:47,391 as he gets through this land is absolutely necessary for him to make it through 58 00:03:47,622 --> 00:03:52,020 without a problem. Now, I thought we take a look at Ithaca in 59 00:03:52,221 --> 00:03:57,618 this schematic obviously, kind of map as a way to kind of dive home some of the 60 00:03:57,618 --> 00:04:00,316 pieces of what this territory is all about. 61 00:04:00,316 --> 00:04:05,109 Well, getting on to Ithaca is huge. It's taking half of the book to get there. 62 00:04:05,109 --> 00:04:10,191 As I say, it'll take the second half of the book for him to get from this edges of 63 00:04:10,191 --> 00:04:13,159 this little area up to the center [unknown]. 64 00:04:13,391 --> 00:04:17,569 It'll take the second half of the book for him to get that far. 65 00:04:17,730 --> 00:04:22,494 To be on Ithaca right now such as he is washed up on the shore, that hasn't been 66 00:04:22,494 --> 00:04:25,965 well, that's actually been monumentally hard to get home. 67 00:04:25,965 --> 00:04:29,761 But lots of people can just wash up on the shore there. 68 00:04:29,941 --> 00:04:32,824 Odysseus has done that and he's already there. 69 00:04:32,824 --> 00:04:37,243 Now, there is, once he gets into Ithaca, a town center that he's going to have to 70 00:04:37,243 --> 00:04:40,720 make his way to. Represented by this first larger box here. 71 00:04:40,884 --> 00:04:45,274 The town center is something that Belongs to the people of Ithaca. 72 00:04:45,274 --> 00:04:49,740 He'll be recognized there as a stranger, someone who doesn't quite belong. 73 00:04:49,897 --> 00:04:53,892 But it's perfectly okay for strangers to walk into a town, they could just expect 74 00:04:53,892 --> 00:04:58,672 some kind of conversation. To go a little bit further inward there's 75 00:04:58,672 --> 00:05:02,469 going to be a outlay. This is the representation here of the 76 00:05:02,469 --> 00:05:04,823 large box. This is the outer courtyard of Odysseus's 77 00:05:04,823 --> 00:05:07,479 house. Here is a place where, yeah, strangers 78 00:05:07,479 --> 00:05:10,040 might be walking around in the town center. 79 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:14,082 People could look at them and wonder who they are or someone might strike up a 80 00:05:14,082 --> 00:05:16,910 conversation. Once someone comes into this outlay 81 00:05:18,001 --> 00:05:20,727 Odysseus's courtyard, then they're surely going to have a conversation. 82 00:05:20,876 --> 00:05:25,070 Surely a stranger is may well walk in there, a messenger, someone from a foreign 83 00:05:25,070 --> 00:05:27,825 king, somebody wants to make contact with the household. 84 00:05:27,987 --> 00:05:31,525 But if a person walks into that space, they are definitely going to have a 85 00:05:31,525 --> 00:05:32,755 conversation. Who are you? 86 00:05:32,755 --> 00:05:35,031 What can I do for you? What are you doing here? 87 00:05:35,031 --> 00:05:38,200 Okay, that is going to surely show up when we get to the, to the outlay. 88 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:40,603 Now, going a little bit further to the inside. 89 00:05:40,603 --> 00:05:45,682 Now, the interior rooms of the house, this is the oikos, the next square inside out 90 00:05:45,682 --> 00:05:48,545 nest of squares. The oikos, the inner rooms of the house. 91 00:05:48,545 --> 00:05:52,000 This is the place where Penelope is in charge. 92 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,313 That is her area and her turf. To make it into that space, requires 93 00:05:55,313 --> 00:05:59,957 something much more than just a curiosity on the part of the visitor, I'd like to 94 00:05:59,957 --> 00:06:02,723 knock on the door and see if they will have me in. 95 00:06:02,882 --> 00:06:06,451 Pretty much anybody can do that and they can make it into the outlay. 96 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:11,314 But to make it into the oikos, the more inner the inner rooms of the house, it's 97 00:06:11,314 --> 00:06:15,046 going to be more of a challenge. That requires an invitation. 98 00:06:15,046 --> 00:06:20,017 Penelope has to say it's okay for a person to make it at that next step. 99 00:06:20,017 --> 00:06:24,085 These could be friends of the family some of the, the people who live in the house 100 00:06:24,085 --> 00:06:28,640 are interested in talking to Penelope may want to gather some information from 101 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:33,368 someone who she hasn't been introduced to yet, but she's willing to make a family 102 00:06:33,368 --> 00:06:37,046 connection with that person that person could come into the oikos. 103 00:06:37,046 --> 00:06:39,262 Now, inside of that though, is an inner room. 104 00:06:39,262 --> 00:06:43,068 Inside of those inner rooms, that is going to be Penelope's bedroom. 105 00:06:43,068 --> 00:06:48,029 To get into there is a really tricky business that is not going to be easy for 106 00:06:48,029 --> 00:06:52,733 anyone to do and it's definitely not going to be easy for our wayward Odysseus, to 107 00:06:52,733 --> 00:06:56,795 make his way back to that spot. It's where he wants to go, but he's not 108 00:06:56,795 --> 00:07:01,015 going to a be able to get there. To make it to that bedroom is going to 109 00:07:01,015 --> 00:07:05,376 require all the skills that he can muster. But there's a final infinitesimally small 110 00:07:05,376 --> 00:07:08,093 point inside of that final box of the bedroom. 111 00:07:09,158 --> 00:07:12,079 There's a final infinitesimally small point inside of there. 112 00:07:12,079 --> 00:07:17,434 And that's Odysseus's and Penelope's, bed. Odysseus, eventually wants to make it to 113 00:07:17,434 --> 00:07:20,874 that spot. That's going to require all the ingenuity 114 00:07:20,874 --> 00:07:23,521 he's been able to muster, up till now in the epic. 115 00:07:23,521 --> 00:07:27,053 All the skills, the wits, the, the, the, the game playing. 116 00:07:27,228 --> 00:07:31,033 All, all of that is going to be required to get him through there. 117 00:07:31,033 --> 00:07:35,915 And not to mention, the physical strength. But even more, is going to be required to 118 00:07:35,915 --> 00:07:41,044 make that final step from the innermost of inner rooms to Penelope's bed. 119 00:07:41,243 --> 00:07:46,393 We'll have to track Odysseus' progress as he tries to make his way, through that. 120 00:07:46,393 --> 00:07:50,182 Now, before he can get there, he is going to need some guidance. 121 00:07:50,359 --> 00:07:54,265 Athena is going to be his first guide when he washes up on shore. 122 00:07:54,453 --> 00:08:00,200 Remember the connection here with what we've already seen earlier when Odysseus 123 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:04,936 washes up on Scheria, he has a guide in the form of a, a, a young woman who shows 124 00:08:04,936 --> 00:08:07,643 up. Athena is here kind of playing a sort of 125 00:08:07,643 --> 00:08:12,427 Nausicaa kind of role. The immediate response that Odysseus has 126 00:08:12,427 --> 00:08:16,264 is like he does with Nausicaa instantly comes out a lie, right? 127 00:08:16,469 --> 00:08:23,013 Odysseus just jumps right into his perfect crafted on the spot lie where he's jumps 128 00:08:23,013 --> 00:08:29,323 into the knee jerk response when Athena asks, you know, who are you, what are you 129 00:08:29,323 --> 00:08:32,426 doing here? He just starts lying instantly. 130 00:08:32,426 --> 00:08:35,933 Athena's response to this is quite fascinating. 131 00:08:35,933 --> 00:08:39,181 She loves this. She loves it when Odysseus lies. 132 00:08:39,181 --> 00:08:43,615 Oh, my little liar, I just love it when you tell an, an untruth, the way you do so 133 00:08:43,615 --> 00:08:47,398 skillfully. And then, she they make contact, they make 134 00:08:47,398 --> 00:08:50,523 a connection. And then, Athena says, okay, it's time to 135 00:08:50,523 --> 00:08:55,093 get down to business right away. She starts to fill him in as to what's 136 00:08:55,093 --> 00:09:00,024 going on in his household coaches him instantly to go to Eumaeus. 137 00:09:00,024 --> 00:09:03,078 He needs to go make this transition to Eumaeus's hut. 138 00:09:03,078 --> 00:09:08,085 It's there that he can make an anchoring spot for himself and have a kind of 139 00:09:08,085 --> 00:09:14,023 beachhead in this new foreign strange land of his own home and try to gain his 140 00:09:14,023 --> 00:09:18,913 strength, gain information and find his way into what he's going to eventually try 141 00:09:18,913 --> 00:09:24,875 to do which is get his way into the inside of innermost points in his own house, but 142 00:09:24,875 --> 00:09:29,409 that's going to take some more time. We're going to see Odysseus being Odysseus 143 00:09:29,409 --> 00:09:33,732 in the next pieces of the story. He's going to be making connections with 144 00:09:33,732 --> 00:09:38,333 people, making social connections, he's going to be lying ah., all, all over the 145 00:09:38,333 --> 00:09:48,671 place and he's going to be in, in, incredibly effective at working his way in 146 00:09:49,324 --> 00:09:56,073 to this next set of challenges.