Close Reading Paper on the Odyssey

Aditi Farsaiya

March 6, 2016

World Mythology short term paper

        This paper analyzes the passage of Odysseus’s discussion with Achilles. Homer, via his Greek hero Odysseus, tells about Odysseus’s interaction with another killed Greek hero Achilles while his journey in the underworld realm. First, a little background on the story and the characters. Odysseus, a Greek ruler, had taken part in the Trojan wars and been one of the generals and Heroes of the war. After defeating the Trojans, he had started his travels back home to Ithaca to be reunited with his wife and son. Unfortunately, he was faced with many obstacles not letting him reach home for a couple of years. One of the obstacles was having been stranded in the underworld realm where he had a chance to meet his fallen friends and ask them advice on to how to get back home. Achilles, the son of Peleus the king Myrmidons, was another great Hero taking part in the Trojan Wars against the Troy. Paris, prince of Troy, had killed him during battle when a poisoned arrow pierced him at his heel, the only vulnerable spot on his body.

        The passage is the discussion the two characters have of Neoptolemus, Achilles son. It can be observed by the way Achilles asks of his son and father, he loved them very dearly and misses them very much. Achilles uses the words “princely son” and “Noble Peleus”, showing mere affection for the two figures. The Great Hero sounds very distressed by the use of his words, the very first thing he says to Odysseus is “I would rather be above ground still and laboring for some portionless man (139)..”. By this he means that he rather be a servant to a poor man over being dead in the underworld. Achilles is the son of a king, he was a powerful general so the comparison allows us to observe to what extent he misses being alive. He is also very concerned of his father’s well-being, having lost his true heir and being so old, Achilles worries that the Myrmidon people may not respect Peleus now that he is aged and cannot do as much. He would very much like to go back to his fathers home and teach a lesson to whoever is troublesome and harms his father in any way. Achilles is deeply troubled with problems which he may not attend to now that his dead.

        Odysseus addresses Achilles concerns of his son in the most eloquent words. With the way Odysseus talks about Neoptolemus, it can be assumed that he saw the young boy as his own. He liked the boy very much and had great respect for him. He uses words associated with “greatness” to describe the type of man Neoptolemus has become, hence conveying the respect he has for him. With the words “always earliest to speak, and he never spoke amiss” Odysseus describes him very well spoken and righteous. Another phrase which really moved me was when he described the boy in battle, “he ran far forward; he yielded to non in warlike spirit”. He doesn’t use a world like soldier or warrior, instead using “spirit”, this brings forward that it isn’t just his fighting ways but the way he brings himself into battle and the way atmosphere he has around himself, defeating all that come in his way. Neoptolemus doesn’t just kill Eurypylus, he “slays” him as in it had been no competition at all , just merely another man in his way he simply defeated. Another thing Odysseus mentions to Achilles is about the time he and Neoptolemus had been inside the Trojan horse together, as all the other soldiers were nervous and frightened, while Neoptolemus showed no “blanching there, no wiping away tears..” The words and phrases used to discuss Neoptolemus are of most high authority and manner, there is no wrong he could do in Odysseus’s eyes.