Candide by Voltaire

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“In the castle of Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh in Westphalia, there once lived a youth endowed by nature with the gentlest of characters.”

Published when Voltaire was 66 years old, Candide was expressly written to satirize the philosophy of Optimism.  This optimism was not simply the positive hope of better circumstances, but the belief that everything that happened was for the best, no matter if good or bad, happy or tragic.  This philosophy disgusted Voltaire because he felt that it left no facility for bettering oneself or one’s surroundings and that it supported fatalism and complacency.  The tragic earthquake in Lisbon in 1755 seemed to precipitated the writing of this novel, causing the author to question justice in such a calamity, and reflected in his poem, “Poem on the Disaster of Lisbon,” written weeks afterward.  Candide was further emphasis of Voltaire’s rejection of the attitude that life was the “best of all possible worlds” and that everything that happened in it was for the best.

Voltaire
detailed portrait by Maurice Quenton de la Tour
source Wikipedia

Voltaire was an established writer and thinker by the time he wrote Candide, yet a controversial figure who by many was both admired and hated.  He  was continuously clashing with the government and the church, suffering two periods of incarceration, and most of his adult life was spent exiled from Paris, the city of his birth.  Much of his works were published under a pseudonym to avoid prosecution.  During a stint in exile, he spent three years in Great Britain and, impressed with the freedoms of England, particularly that of speech, his stay intensified his desire for reforms in his home country.  In 1758 he settled in Ferney in eastern France, spending his time farming, writing and supporting local business.  Candide was written there, not long after his move.

Satire:  the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues

Candide is a young man who has grown up living in a state of perfect happiness, guided by his tutor, Pangloss, who is entrenched in the doctrines of Leibnizian Optimism.  Leibnizian Optimism, a philosophy of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, believed that this world is the best of all possible worlds because it was created by an omniscient God who would not create flaws if a better world could have been created, therefore, whatever we experience in this world, be it good or bad, must work towards good.  When Candide is thrown out of his paradise, he travels the world, at times escaping persecution, and at others, searching for his love, Cunégonde, experiencing many horrific trials and suffering that challenge the philosophy entrenched by his tutor, causing him to question over and over, if this really is “the best of all possible worlds.”

I really whiffle-waffled over how I felt about this book.  On one hand, Voltaire can write a fast-moving, engaging tale.  His storyline was amusing and it did contain deeper themes that, if the reader had a strong attention span, challenged him to think about his view of the world, his place in society and his response to injustice.  Yet Voltaire’s method was rushed and honestly, just too absurd to ellict introspection for long.  Candide flew from one adventure to the other, characters threw philosophical comments around, but there was no time or room for philosophy itself.  Voltaire never took a thought or comment from a character into deeper conversation; he simply told the reader what the characters did or thought, but we weren’t privy to the conversation.  As a reader, you were often left swimming in a murky haze of Voltaire-imposed ignorance ……. Yet perhaps this was Voltaire’s intention.  Perhaps at the end of the book, as Candide states, “we must cultivate our garden,” Voltaire meant that we should all mind our own business, not examine things too closely, and just work with what is at hand.  Okay, but it is self-introspection that causes a human being to better himself, it is dialogue and discussion that can often help a society, as well as having the possibility to harm it.  People need to have hope, and to cultivate hope it often means having dreams that reach outside our immediate circle of life.  Within the light-hearted narrative that almost masked the tragedy, I felt a fatalism with which I could not accept or sympathize.

That said, these were only my impressions of a book that touches on topics of which I have a limited understanding.  To give an informed opinion on Voltaire’s stance, you would really need to have more than a cursory knowledge of Leibnizian Optimism, as well as having at least summary knowledge of his contemporaries, with a dollop of the study of the Enlightenment on top.  So I will count this as the beginning of my inquiry into the Enlightenment and Voltaire, and hope that my journey fairs better than the journey of Candide.  And until my next foray into Voltaire, I will be cultivating my garden.

Translated by Lowell Blair

The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

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“This is a story about something that happened long ago when your grandfather was a child.”

When Digory’s father is posted to India and his mother becomes ill, they must leave their country life and settle in London with Uncle Andrew and his sister, Aunt Letty. Fortunately Digory soon meets Polly, a girl who lives in one of the connecting row houses, and the adventure begins!

While trying to find a passage through the attics from Polly’s house to Digory’s, they inadvertently stumble into the workroom of Uncle Andrew.  To this point, Digory has not had much contact with his scientific uncle, but this experience proves without a doubt his uncle’s evil nature.  With a magic ring, he sends Polly into another world with no chance of returning, without Digory entering the world as well, with two magic rings that will bring them back.

 

Aslan in the process of creating Narnia’s animals
Pauline Baynes 1955

Lewis believed that each one of our actions in life either took us one step closer to Heaven, or one step closer to Hell.  Now, this didn’t mean that by doing something bad, you would go to Hell; Lewis wanted people to be aware that their actions matter.  Our actions are what form our character and each action works either towards forming a good, trustworthy, amiable character, or a bad, prideful, self-centred character.

Uncle Andrew is a fine example of a character gone rotten.  He is untrustworthy, lacks a conscience and is extraordinarily narcissistic, believing because of his perceived superior intellectual skills and his ability as a magician and scientist, that he is exempt from societal conventions and moral obligations.  His cultivated vanity is uncontainable, and in his selfishly aggrandized mind, the ends always justify the means.

At the beginning of the story, while being different from his uncle, Digory, however, shows some disturbingly similar traits.  He exhibits the same weakness as his uncle when, in The Wood Between Two Worlds, he suggests that instead of going directly back to the study, they explore another pool.  Curiosity overcomes his common sense and a stubborn prideful attitude closes his ears to Polly’s initial prudent advice. Fortunately he agrees to Polly’s insistent demand to test the rings to see if they are able to return easily; unconstrained curiosity can get one into unexpected perils and it is important that a thirst for knowledge is tempered with a respect for the nature of things.

Similarly in Charn, even though Digory senses that it is a “queer place,” he once again ignores Polly’s suggestion to leave, using words to deride and mortify her to make her abandon common sense.  Finally, he again allows his curiosity to override his good judgement, when he rings the bell in Charn, waking an evil that is beyond his imagination.  Curiously, just before this act, Polly remarks, “You look exactly like your uncle when you say that.”

Yet finally Digory starts to make wise choices.  In spite of being initially captivated by the evil Empress Jadis, his enchantment begins to dissipate after he hears of her ruthless destruction of Charn and of her plans to travel to their world.  He also has the integrity to make a full confession when Aslan asks him about the evil that he brought into Narnia, and his bravery and honesty serve him well, as Aslan trusts him with the quest of bringing back a magic apple to grow a tree to protect Narnia from the evil that lurks there.  Within the garden there is a replay of the temptation of Eve, this time with Jadis as the tempter and Digory the intended victim.  Yet Digory shows surprising resilience, faithfully resisting the witch’s manipulations and temptations, returning to fulfil his quest.  Through the characters of Uncle Andrew and Digory, we see the formation of a virtuous character who makes prudent choices (with mistakes along the way), and the result of a deceptive and corrupt character who makes the wrong choices .

The Mountains of Mourne
…. inspired Lewis to write the Chronicles of Narnia …
source Wikipedia

Ah, this post is already too long but there are so many other elements enmeshed in this fascinating tale. Lewis’ use of “supposition” to represent the creation of Narnia was just lovely. There are obvious parallels to Genesis and the creation of Earth, but also differences, that are as creative as they are compelling.  Aslan singing the entire world of Narnia into existence, evoking edenic and pastoral images, is a beautifully captivating scene.  The Deplorable Word is thought to be a reference to the atomic bomb; when Lewis began writing this book, the world was at war, and its annihilation would certainly have been foremost in his mind.  And there is also an example Plato’s theme of self-deception, which we see played out in the character of Uncle Andrew.  Plato believed that self-deception was a state of mind where irrational desires supersede natural reason as a guide for ethical behaviour, and while the person believes that their conduct will bring them happiness, in effect, it only brings them misery.  Socrates also levelled the charge against his countrymen that blindly pursuing knowledge through any means, with the goal being the resulting power attained, can only be realized at the expense of truth and morality.

The last book in the Chronicles of Narnia series is, of course, The Last Battle.  I can’t wait!

 

C.S. Lewis Project 2014

 

Other Narnia Books

The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton (Classic Club Spin #5)

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“On the last day of January 1915, under the sign of the Water Bearer, in a year of a great war, and down in the shadow of some French mountains on the borders of Spain, I came into the world.”

I had heard many stories about Thomas Merton, the “Buddhist Trappist monk” and I was interested in finding out the commonalities he discovered between Buddhism and Catholicism. However, as it turns out, The Seven Storey Mountain is an autobiography of Merton’s early life, before he converted to Catholicism, and covering a few of the years after he entered the Trappist monastery, so I’ll have to search further to read about the Buddhist-Catholic component.  Nevertheless, this book, which was featured in the National Review’s 100 Best Books of the Century, was charming, funny, heart-warming, spiritual, serious, emotional and intellectual.

Born in Prades, southern France on January 31, 1915, and during the First World War, Merton had a somewhat nomadic life as a child.  Perhaps gaining perspective and creativity from his artistic French father and a certain practicality from his American mother, he draws the reader into the book in the first chapter:

“On the last day of January 1915, under the sign of the Water Bearer, in a year of a great war, and down in the shadow of some French mountains on the borders of Spain, I came into the world.  Free by nature, in the image of God, I was nevertheless the prisoner of my own violence and my own selfishness, in the image of the world into which I was born.  That world was the picture of Hell, full of men like myself, loving God and yet hating Him; born to love Him, living instead in fear and hopeless self-contradictory hungers …… My father and mother were captives in that world, knowing they did not belong with it or in it, and yet unable to get away from it.  They were in the world and not of it —— not because they were saints, but in a different way: because they were artists.  The integrity of an artist lifts a man above the level of the world without delivering him from it ……… I inherited from my father his way of looking at things and some of his integrity and from my mother some of her dissatisfaction with the mess the world is in, and some of her versatility.  From both I got capacities for work and vision and enjoyment and expression that ought to have made me some kind of King, if the standards the world lives by were the real ones.  Not that we ever had any money; but any fool knows that you don’t need money to get enjoyment out of life.”  

From Merton’s early life in France, we move with him to America and then, after the death of his mother, his return to France with his father, while his brother, John Paul, is left behind with his grandparents.  When Merton is 13 years old, they move to England, but when his father dies of a brain tumour, he eventually moves to the U.S. again, and finds himself enrolled in Columbia University, on his way to a possible promising professorship.  Yet life intervenes and through various circumstances, Merton finds the church and from there, a personal relationship with God.

Merton was not a man who was searching for an escape from life. Fascinatingly, he did not find the monastery; the monastery found him. Initially, as a young man, his life consisted of university, friends, bars, girls and fun.  Calling himself a true child of the modern world, he was a mirror of its afflictions: selfishness, ambition, irreligion, materialism, etc.   His expectations were to graduate and find employment, as other young men in his situation.  Yet within the social activity and superficial amusements that he experienced as a typical American youth, he nevertheless felt an emptiness that came with an increasingly strong desire to be filled.  Perhaps Merton had tried it all and the only thing left was God.

Merton’s prose is delightful, both beautifully description and harmonious, yet he is also adept at injecting light humour into situations:

“‘France!’ I said, in astonishment.  Why should anybody want to go to France?  I thought: which shows that I was a very stupid and ignorant child.”

And an excerpt from a trip to Switzerland with his family when he was about 11 years old:

“The rest of the time was one long fight.  We fought on pleasure steamers, we fought on funicular railways, we fought on the tops of mountains and at the foot of mountains and by the shores of lakes and under the heavy branches of evergreens ……………. By the time we got to the Jungfrau koch, everybody was ready to fall down from nervous exhaustion, and the height made Bonnemaman faint, and Pop began to feel sick, and I had a big crisis of tears in the dining room, and then when Father and I and John Paul walked out into the blinding white-snow field without dark glasses we all got headaches; and so the day, as a whole, was completely horrible …………… John Paul humiliated the whole family by falling fully dressed into a pond full of gold-fish and running through the hotel dripping with water and green-weeds.”

Merton’s deep understanding of human nature is punctuated by intelligent comments throughout the book.

On school:  “But when a couple of hundred of these southern French boys were thrown together in the prison of that Lycée, a subtle change was operated in their spirit and mentality.  In fact, I noticed that when you were with them separately, outside of school, they were mild and peaceable and humane enough.  But when they were all together there seemed to be some diabolical spirit of cruelty and viciousness and obscenity and blasphemy and envy and hatred that banded them together against all goodness and against one another in mockery and fierce cruelty and in vociferous, uninhibited filthiness.”

On literature:  “A course in literature should never be a course in economics or philosophy or sociology or psychology …….. the material of literature and especially drama is chiefly human acts — that is, free acts, moral acts.  And, as a matter of fact, literature, drama, poetry, make certain statements about these acts that can be made in no other way.  That is precisely why you will miss all the deepest meaning of Shakespeare, Dante, and the rest if you reduce their vital and creative statements about life and men to the dry matter-of-fact terms of history, or ethics, or some other science.  They belong to a different order.”

On capitalism:  “It is true that the materialistic society, the so-called culture that has evolved under the tender mercies of capitalism, has produced what seems to be the ultimate limit of this worldliness.  And nowhere, except perhaps in the analogous society of pagan Rome has there ever been such a flowering of cheap and petty and disgusting lusts and vanities as in the world of capitalism, where there is no evil that is not fostered and encouraged for the sake of making money.  We live in a society whose whole policy is to excite every nerve in the human body and keep it at the highest pitch of artificial tension, to strain every human desire to the limit and to create as many new desires and synthetic passions as possible, in order to cater to them with the products of our factories and printing presses and movie studios and all the rest.”

courtesy of The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University   

Through his writing, Merton’s connection with the outside world was only enlivened and strengthened after he entered the Trappist monastery. Most of his most vibrant and inspirational work was produced while he was cloistered, as if being in the world made him understand it less, but by being removed from it, he gained a greater understanding.  While his post-monastery accomplishments were vast, he initially felt the vocation of a writer in conflict with his vows, but under the urging of his abbey superior, he became a prolific author, producing more than 70 books on spirituality, social justice and pacifism, and The Seven Storey Mountain gained him a world-wide reputation.  He became more interested in inter-faith dialogue and amassed a huge correspondence with a great number of influential people.  In 1968 he attended an inter-faith conference for Catholic and non-Christian monks in Thailand, and, after stepping out of the bathtub in his hotel room, Merton was accidentally electrocuted by touching an electrical fan. He was 53 years old.

Upon its publication, The Seven Storey Mountain won critical acclaim, appealing to a post World War II society looking for meaning and stability.  Grahame Greene had high praise for it, saying: “Is is a rare pleasure to read an autobiography with a pattern and meaning valid for us all.  The Seven Storey Mountain is a book one reads with a pencil so as to make it one’s own.”  By 1984 it had sold 3 million copies, and to-date is in continuous printing and is published in 15 different languages.

The value of a book such as this is that it takes you out of life as you see it from your own perspective.  Like it nor not, society influences our thoughts, our choices, our perceptions and our actions.  We often see situations from one vantage point and must struggle to get a different view.  Merton starts with the familiar, living the status quo, but then takes you out of the normal, the complacent, the mundane, and allows you to see life from a completely different aspect.  The door is open and you are free explore.

I’m looking forward to reading more of Merton’s work.  He examines so many fascinating ideas in so many different areas, and really gets me thinking.  And I actually finished my Classic Club Spin #5 so I’m going to celebrate!  Yay!

Candide Read-Along Chapters 25 – 30

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Chapter 25 – 26

Pococurante received them politely but he is strangely unenthusiastic. Candide attempts to engage him on a number of subjects but he is always very blasé about each and finds something negative in every topic presented.   Claiming that in Italy, they only write what they don’t believe, he abuses Milton and then pronounces that he always says what he thinks whether people agree with him or not.  Flabbergasted at his continual judgements, when they leave Candide claims that Pococurante must be a happy man because he is above everything around him.  Martin, however, sets him straight, claiming, au contraire, that the senator is digested with everything.  When Candide inquires if there is not pleasure in being critical, Martin restates his question asking if there is pleasure in no pleasure. Claiming that he’ll be a happy man if he can see Cunégonde again, Candide, with Martin, continues on his way.  While Candide and Martin prepare to have a meal with six other foreigners, Cacambo appears and reveals that Cunégonde is in Constantinople, while he is a slave.  He then whispers in his master’s ear that he must leave the table and four other slaves do the same to their masters, while the sixth says to his master that they have no more credit and will be put in jail.  Amazed, Candide asks them if they are kings and they introduce themselves as six dethroned kings, Ahmed III, a great Sultan; Ivan, emperor of Russia; Charles Edward, King of England; a King of Poland; another King of Poland; and Theodore, elected king of Corsica, who is penniless; the others assist him with money, and Candide gives him a diamond.  Four Serene Highnesses who have also been dethroned arrive but Candide is too busy trying to figure out how he is going to reach Cunégonde.

Pococurante is similar to Martin, but different.  He is arrogant and condescending and even Martin does not admire his lifestyle.  The kings are all real kings, and I assume their narrative is to demonstrate the capriciousness of good fortune ……… you can be a king one day; exiled and a pauper the next.

Charles Edward “Bonnie Prince Charlie”
John Petite (1898)
source Wikipedia

Chapter 27 – 28

Candide convinces Cacambo’s master to take them to Constantinople, overjoyed at the thought of seeing Cunégonde and professing Pangloss’ philosophy with glee.  Candide remarks over their curious adventure with the dethroned kings, but Martin is not surprised by their fate.  Cacambo confesses to Candide that Cunégonde has lost her beauty but Candide is not dismayed and states that it is his duty to love her.  After arriving at the Bosphorus, Candide buys Cacambo’s freedom and they set off in a galley. Candide notices two galley slaves who resemble Pangloss and the Jesuit baron, Cunégonde’s brother, and they are revealed as such.  They are all introduced and Candide buys the freedom of his friends.  In response to Candide’s apology for his attack on him, the baron describes how he survived and how he arrived at his present circumstance.  Pangloss then gives his explanation of how they did not hang him properly, and how he revived in the middle of being dissected.  When he tried to put a bouquet back into a woman’s decolletage in a mosque, he was arrested and sold into slavery. When Candide asks him if he still believes his philosophy, he replies that he must, along with other obscure references.

“Candide …. reeled back three steps in horror,
and then, for politeness sake, advanced”
(Ilustration 1787 edition)

Chapter 29 – 30

As they land on the shore of the Sea of Marmora, they are still discussing “adventures, reasoning about the contingent or non-contingent events of this universe, and arguing about cause and effect, moral and physical evil, freedom and necessity and the consolations that one can find as a slave ….” The first person they see is Cunégonde, and they are all startled at her altered appearance.  The Baron recoils but recovers and embraces her.  Candide buys the old woman’s freedom (she is there too), and then they find an old farm nearby which Candide purchases.  When he tells the Baron that he is going to marry his sister, the Baron refuses and the old quarrel springs up with threats of murder.  Really, Cunégonde’s ugliness made him wish that he did not have to marry her, but because she was pressing and because of her brother’s arrogance, he is determined.  Instead of killing the Baron, he sells him back as a galley slave.  Now Candide has spent so much money and was cheated and robbed so many times, he now only has his farm left.  Cunégonde grows uglier every day, Cacambo is exhausted by work, and Pangloss is depressed that he is exiled from intellectual society. They have many discussions and arguments about metaphysics, morals, etc.  Martin concludes that man is either bored or afflicted; Candide does not agree; and Pangloss sticks to his philosophy, although he does not believe it. The arrival of the Venetian monk, Brother Gironde with tales of his tragedies shake Candide’s faith, but then they encounter the dervish of the neighbourhood who tells him not to question, to mind one’s own business and to keep quiet, before slamming the door in their faces.  Next, they meet an old-man who tells them that he  cultivates his land and that his work keeps him free from the three great evils: boredom, vice and poverty.  Pangloss says, “man was not born to be idle”; Martin replies, “let’s work without theorizing,” whereupon each “began to exercise his own talents” and “made himself useful”.  One day Pangloss mentions that if all the tragedies and adventures hadn’t happened, they wouldn’t be here now, but Candide only replies: “Well said, but we must cultivate our garden.”

The last chapter is somewhat telling.  Instead of being hit by calamity after calamity, our characters are now simply bored, and the old woman believes this may be worse.  Both the encounter with the dervish and the old man appear significant.  The dervish, while giving them no wisdom on the course they should take, is very insistent on what they should stop doing:  questioning.  The old man, on the other hand, gives them wisdom that appears to turn their lives in a different direction:  work.  Candide now appears to have control of his thoughts and, in the end, it is he that forestalls Pangloss’ speech and tells them what they must do.

Illustration by Fernand Siméon from ‘Candide ou L’optimisme’ by Voltaire.
Paris: Jules Meynial, 1922. NYPL, General Research Division.

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

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First Edition Dust Jacket
source Wikipedia

“This is the story of an adventure that happened in Narnia and Calormen and the lands between, in the Golden Age when Peter was High King in Narnia and his brother and his two sisters were King and Queens under him.”

The Horse and His Boy, the fifth Narnian adventure, is set outside of Narnia in a land far to the south called Calormen.  Appearing to be modeled after an eastern land, Calormen is inhabited by dark-skinned people who are traders, merchants and lords, all living under their ruler, the great Tisroc, a descendant of the god Tash.   Shasta, a fair-skinned boy lives with his “father”, a Calormen fisherman, but when a great lord arrives and attempts to purchase the boy, he escapes on the lord’s horse, a talking Narnian horse named Bree.  In their flight they are joined by Aravis, a young Calormen girl escaping on another Narnian horse, Hwin, as she attempts to avoid a distasteful arranged marriage.  Together they learn of the plans of Tisroc’s son, Rabadash to invade Archenland, a kingdom friendly to Narnia, and have to use all their skill and wits to avert a disaster and to find Shasta’s true heritage.

Elements of The Arabian Nights permeate this story.  Calormen is reminiscent of an Arabian city, and the people are perceptive, knowledgeable, wealthy and courteous, yet a ruthlessness runs through their ancient blood.  They are also respected storytellers, able to weave elaborately fabulous tales.

From another viewpoint, the storyline could be compared to a Shakespearean drama.  Lost or mistaken identity are favourite devices of the Bard, and Shasta’s situation fits just this scenario:  a boy who has been taken from his parents, discovers he does not belong within the culture where he lives, and sets out to find out his true heritage.

And finally, a prophecy is given at the beginning of Cor’s (Shasta’s) life, that he will one day save Archenland from a terrible catastrophe.  This prophecy is reminiscent of the Greek story of Oedipus told by Sophocles: a prophecy is given at his birth as well and, as in the case of Cor, every attempt to prevent the prophecy, only causes its fulfilment.

Tashbaan by Pauline Baynes (1953)

Instead of Aslan appearing outright to the children as in other stories and directly affecting the adventure, in The Horse and His Boy, he is presented as a shadowy presence that hovers at the edge of the adventure.  Finally he does intervene but the book makes it very clear that his actions are still behind the story not driving it.  When Aravis remarks that it is “luck” that she was not more seriously wounded by the Lion, the hermit replies, “…. I have never met any such thing as luck”; instead of fortune, it is Aslan or Providence that is helping them on.  As Shasta so wisely remarks, ” ……. Aslan (he seems to be at the back of all stories) …..”

I believe there is also some “reverse-theology” incorporated into the making of the characters of Shasta and Aravis.  Aravis is strong and courageous; she is adept on a horse, knows her mind, and often mocks or secretly despises some of the tentativeness or perceived weakness shown by Shasta.  Yet, at the climax of the story, it is Shasta who shows unexpected bravery and is ultimately trusted with the task of saving Archenland from the troops of Rabadash.  Aravis is forced to admit her pride, which she does most willingly:  “There’s something I’ve got to say at once.  I’m sorry I’ve been such a pig.  But I did change [her opinion of him] before you were a Prince, honestly I did: when you went back, and faced the Lion,” echoing the biblical maxim, “for those who exalt themselves shall be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

The Magician’s Nephew is up next.  It used to be my least favourite chronicle but we’ll see if the years have changed my mind!

C.S. Lewis Project 2014

Other Narnia Books

The Odyssey Read-Along Book XXIII & XXIV (the end!)

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The Odyssey Read-Along @ Plethora of Books

Book XXIII

Eurykleia announces to Penelope of her husband’s return, yet Penelope calls her crazy and laments that she is torturing her.  Eurykleia claims she is speaking the truth; Penelope believes, then does not believe her again.  When she descends and sees Odysseus, she produces the same pattern of vacillating feelings, until Odysses produces knowledge of the construction of their bed, the frame built around an olive tree, and her resistance crumbles as she throws herself into his arms.  She confesses that she had always been afraid of tricks from the suitors and that was the reason she felt it necessary to always keep her guard up.  They go to bed, make love, then afterwards fall into conversation, as Odysseus tells her of the prophecy of Teiresias and of the stories of his voyage home.  Waking in the morning, he informs her that he is going to visit his father on his estate, but he is also concerned that a rumour of the death of the suitors may have spread and instructs her to stay in her upper chamber.  He leaves with Telemachos, the swine and oxherd, and as they leave the city, Athene covers them in darkness.

Penelope
What a lovely reunion between Odysseus and his wife!  Although she oscillates between disbelief and belief, I think her reaction is sincere; she truly has been afraid of tricks from the suitors, yet her dearest wish is for her husband to return home.  Her greatest wish and her greatest fear together vie for supremacy in her mind, and is it no wonder that she cannot reconcile her feelings and make a reasonable judgement?
Deception
Odysseus’ plan for the murder of the suitors, again shows his wily reasoning.  He also had devised a plan if anyone questioned the noise coming from the palace:

“So I will tell you they way of it, how it seems best to me.  First, all go and wash, and put your tunics upon you, and tell the women in the palace to choose out their clothing.  Then let the inspired singer take his clear-sounding lyre, and give us the lead for festive dance, so that anyone who is outside, some one of the neighbours, or a person going along the street, who hears us, will think we are having a wedding.  Let no rumour go abroad in the town that the suitors have been murdered, until such time as we can make our way out to our estate with its many trees, and once there see what profitable plan the Olympians show us.”


 

Penelope & Euryclea
Angelica Kauffman 1772
source Wikimedia Commons


Book XXIII

Hermes summons the souls of the suitors and “they followed, gibbering,” as he leads them to Hades.  There, a number of Greek heroes appear, including Achilles and Agamemnon.  Achilles laments that Agamemnon was cut down in the prime of his life and experienced a “death most pitiful”, when he could have died in the land of the Trojans.  Agememnon reciprocates with a narrative of the funeral of Achilles.  When they see the souls of the suitors, they are astounded, and Agamemnon questions Amphimedon, who appears to give an accurate accounting, but puts the blame on Penelope for her “planning out death and black destruction.”  He also criticizes Odysseus’ treatment of them after their death.  Amusingly, after Amphimedon’s elaborately long story, Agamemnon only remarks on the wonderful loyalty of Penelope.  As this is happening, Odysseus and his company arrive at his estate and find his father in the orchard.  Odysseus ponders whether to announce himself outright, or “to make a trial of him and speak in words of mockery.”  He decides the latter.  Chiding his father for his ragged appearance, he then pretends that he has encountered Odysseus in another country, and offers another extravagant lie as to his history.  When his father begins to groan and lament, he finally reveals himself.  Laertes, like Penelope, is at first sceptical, whereupon Odysseus shows him his scar.  His father hugs him with joy but then expresses fear at repercussions that must come because of Odysseus’ actions.  They go into the house where Laertes is bathed and anointed, then appearing like an immortal god; he laments he did not take part in the battle against the suitors with his son.  Meanwhile “rumour” is flying through the city and Eupeithes, the father of Antinoös calls for revenge, yet Medon says that Odysseus’ conduct was with the approval of the gods, throwing fear into the assembly.  Halitherses reasons that the suitors’ own actions brought on the terrible tragedy, bringing half the crowd to his side.  Athene asks Zeus for advice and he judges that Odysseus’ actions were proper, and that it is time for friendship and peace.  Athene flies down in the form of Mentor, as Odysseus sees men approaching the estate and cautions Telemachos not to “shame the blood of your fathers.”   Athene gives Laertes an uncommon strength and he is able to throw his spear right through the helmet of Eupeithes.  The parties fall to fighting until Athene stops them, calling for a cessation from “wearisome fighting” and claiming that “without blood, you can settle anything.”  Recognizing the goddess, the men flee towards the city.  Odysseus makes to follow, but Zeus throws down a thunderbolt and Athene commands him to stop the quarrelling.  So pledges were sworn on both sides, settled by Athene, and we can assume Odysseus lived and prospered until his death, as foretold by the prophecy of Teiresias.
Fame and Glory
The conversation between Achilles and Agamemnon were contrasting an ignoble death vs. a noble one.  Achilles had fought and died bravely at Troy, and therefore he was buried with honour and ceremony, and his name is still remembered.  Conversely, Agamemnon died a shameful death, struck down covertly by his wife’s lover, and his body was not treated properly after burial.  It seems that in Hades, his only concern is the loyalty or disloyalty of women
Deception
Will the deception of Odysseus never end?  I could not believe he chose to tease and “play with” his father, after all the poor old man had been through.  However, he called his actions a “trial” so perhaps he felt he still needed to establish the loyalty of whoever knew is true identity.

The Palace of Ulysses
source Wikimedia Commons

A Preface to Paradise Lost by C.S. Lewis

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C.S. Lewis does it again.  Not only does he supply enlightening commentary to accompany a reading of Paradise Lost, but he touches on a number of other books and subjects, conveying fascinating information in an extremely accessible narrative.

A Preface to Paradise Lost is a compilation of Lewis’ Ballard Matthews Lectures, which he gave in 1941 to students at the University College of Northern Wales. Lewis’ expertise was Medieval and Renaissance literature, and while reading this book, it is apparent that he is in his element, as he covers not only Paradise Lost but also gives the reader an introduction to the genre of epic and insights into how to read it.

Lewis’ initial chapters — more than one-third of the book — cover epic poetry, both primary and secondary, and he provides numerous examples contrasting the two, from The Odyssey, The Iliad, Beowulf, The Aeneid and, of course, Paradise Lost, to further the readers’ understanding.  Next, in a lecture titled, The Unchanging Human Heart, he deals with how to read a poem (or book), which is perhaps my favourite lecture of all.  How do we deal with the gulf between our era and the author’s?  Do we read only for what is relevant to us, or do we attempt to engage with the author?  Lewis deals with both approaches:

“A method often recommended may be called the method of The Unchanging Human Heart.  According to this method the things which separate one age from another are superficial ……. if we stripped [off the superficialities] …… we should find beneath … an anatomy identical with our own ….. we shall find the Unchanging Human Heart, and on this we are to concentrate.   

I held this theory myself for many years, but I have now abandoned it.  I continue, of course, to admit that if you remove from people the things that make them different, what is left must be the same, and that the Human Heart will certainly appear as Unchanging if you ignore its changes ……. [thus] our whole study of the poem will then become a battle between us and the author in which we are trying to twist his work into a shape he never gave it, to make him use the loud pedal where he really used the soft, to force into false prominence what he took in his stride, and to slur over what he actually threw into prominence ……….. I do not say that even on these terms we shall not get some value out of our reading; but we must not imagine that we are appreciating the works the old writers actually wrote ……

Fortunately, there is a better way.  Instead of stripping the knight of his armour you can try to put his armour on yourself ………. I would much rather know what I should feel like if I adopted the beliefs of Lucretius than how Lucretius would have felt if he had never entertained them.  The possible Lucretius in myself interests me more than the possible C.S. Lewis in Lucretius …… 

To enjoy our full humanity we ought, so far as is possible, to contain within us potentially at all times, and on occasion to actualize, all the modes of feeling and thinking through which man has passed …….. Only thus will you be able to judge the work ‘in the same spirit that its author writ’ and to avoid chimerical criticism.  It is better to study the changes in which the being of the Human Heart largely consists than to amuse ourselves with fictions about its immutability ……….”


Finally Lewis delves into Paradise Lost, but instead of summarizing the chapters, Lewis concentrates on expounding on particular characters and certain themes.  He explores the poem’s theology, hierarchy, Satan, Satan’s followers, the angels, Adam and Eve, unfilled sexuality, and the Fall. Addressing some of the controversies over the poem, Lewis deals with the difficulties with his typical logical summations and a sprinkling of dry wit.  And while mostly praising Milton’s achievement, he does not hesitate to point out perceived flaws in the work, and while doing so, gives the reader a more profound comprehension of the challenges of Milton’s task.

While amazingly thorough, Lewis’ writing is simple, clear and understandable.  His lectures encourage the reader to read critically, and his explanation of Milton’s worldview is not only helpful, but necessary, to gain a good understanding of the poem.  While being very readable, this guide is the definitive “go-to” book for tackling Paradise Lost for readers who want to go in-depth with their study.

Paradise Lost Review

The Odyssey Read-Along Book XXI & XXII

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The Odyssey Read-Along @ Plethora of Books

Book XXI

The contest and therefore, the beginning of the slaughter of the suitors, is begun by the history of the backstrung bow.  It was given to Odysseus by Iphitos when they had met trying to retrieve their sheep and horses from the men of Messene.  Odysseus had left it behind in Ithaka when he went to Troy, and in his household it had remained.  Penelope retrieves the bow, announces the contest to the suitors and then places it in the hands of Eumaios, who is weeping when he sees it in remembrance of his master.  Antinoös derides him, and then admits that the bow will be hard to string, as he reminisces about Odysseus’ strength.  Telemachos announces that he will be part of the contest and, if he wins, his mother will be able to remain in his house.  He sets up the axes, making them perfect, although he has never done this task before, then picks up the bow, sending the string singing three times before Odysseus stops him at the fourth by making a signal with his head, and Telemachos encourages a suitor to come and test his skill.  Antinoös determines the order in which they will proceed, and Leodes is the first to try, a man disapproving of the suitors’ actions.  He fails, so the suitors decide to heat the bow but even then, they are not able to string it.  Meanwhile, Odysseus meets Eumaois and the oxherd, Philoitios, outside the courtyard and, based on their unwavering loyalty, decides to reveal his identity to them.   They are overjoyed and there is lots of kissing.  He gives commands to both: to Eumaios, to put the bow into his hands and then tell the serving women to bar the doors and not to open them if they hear crashes and outcries; to Philoitios to make fast the courtyard with a bolt.  In the meantime, Eurymachos finds he is unable to string the bow and is distraught, yet Antinoös chastises him, saying that of course they cannot string the bow on a holy feast day, and that they must try again tomorrow.  Odysseus states he would like to attempt the feat that day, but the suitors are alarmed in case of his success, and issue threats if he is able to string it.  Penelope chides them for their rudeness, stating the impossibility of her becoming the wife of “the stranger” but Eurymachos argues that their reputation is at stake, and finally Telemachos intervenes, sending his mother back to her house.  Eumaios tries to carry the bow to “the stranger” but the suitors are so vehement against him, he drops it.  Telemachos exerts his will and it is finally handed to Odysseus.  Eurykleia and Philoitios carry out their orders, while Odysseus strings the bow and makes it sing, sending an arrow through all twelve of the axes. 
A Decrease in Power
The suitors are made even more uneasy, not only by the bow itself, but at the possibility of “the stranger” being able to best them.  Antinoös, though he is full of hot air and bragging, seems to avoid even attempting the feat and later makes an excuse that it’s because it’s a holy feast day that none of them can succeed.
Identity
The first people to whom Odysseus chooses to reveal himself, are two servants, Eumaios and Philoitios, a swineheard and an oxherd.  What a surprise! ……. Or is it?  One of Odysseus’ self-given tasks is to find who he is able to trust in his household and from that, whom he will kill and who will survive.  Both servants have shown a steadfast devotion to their master and therefore, perhaps deserve his confidence.
There are more and more instances of Telemachos showing a governance and mastery of his household.
N.C. Wyeth

Book XXII

Odysseus sheds his rags and then springs upon the threshold, announcing that he will shoot another mark that has yet to be struck by man.  To the shock of the assembled party, the arrow flies straight through the throat of Antinoös and he slumps over dead.  “Poor fools”, they thought he had let the arrow fly in error and his target was accidental.  In all his glory, Odysseus reveals his true identity:

“You dogs, you never thought that I would any more come back form the land of Troy, and because of that you despoiled my household, and forcibly took my serving women to sleep beside you, and sought to win my wife while I was still alive, fearing neither the immortal gods who hold the wide heaven, nor any resentment sprung from men to be yours in the future.  Now upon all of you the terms of destruction are fastened.”

Fear choked the suitors, but they attempt to bargain for their lives, as Eurymachos blames all their behaviour on the influence of Antinoös, promising to pay Odysseus gifts.  Odysseus rejects his explanation and proposal, stating not one man will be left alive, causing Eurymachos to call the suitors to arms.  Odysseus kills Eurymachos and Telemachos, Amphinomos, on his way to his father’s side.  He then runs to fetch arms for the four of them (including Eumaios & Philoitios) and they continue to kill.  Agelaos calls for someone to run to the village for help but Melanthios informs him of the barred door but offers to search the house for the hidden weapons.  Quickly he finds them and begins to arm the suitors, giving Odysseus pause. Telemachos confesses that he had inadvertently left the door open and asks Eumaios to find out the culprit.  When he discovers Melanthios, Odysseus instructs them to bind him and hoist him up along the high column to suffer.  Athene appears as Mentor and Agelaos appeals to him, causing anger to grow in Athene.  Surprisingly she chastizes Odysseus for the temperance he’s shown towards the suitors, accusing him of complaining instead of standing up to his enemies.  She assists him with some of the killing but “did not altogether turn the victory their way.”  There is a volley of spears between the two parties, but while Odysseus and his warriors hit their targets, Athene causes the suitors’ aims to go astray.  Now the slaughter ensues.  Leodes grasps Odysseus’ knees in supplication and is killed, but when Phemios the singer does the same, Telemachos pleads for mercy for him and also Medon, their herald, who had taken care of him.  Odysseus agrees, stating, “that good dealing is better by far than evil dealing.”  Otherwise, not one man is left alive and Telemachos sends Eurykleia to Odysseus.  When she sees him standing among the blood and battle-gore, she is ecstatic, yet Odysseus lightly scolds her:  “Keep your joy in your heart, old dame; stop, do not raise up the cry.  It is not piety to glory so over slain men.”  Odysseus instructs her not to awaken Penelope, but to assemble all the women who have been disloyal into the hall.  They proceed to hang all these women and, for a finale, hack off  the nose, ears, hands, feet, and private parts of Melanthios to feed to the dogs.  Eurykleia gathers all the women who remain and they are overjoyed to see Odysseus.  “He recognized all these women.”

Disloyalty
We understand the grudge Odysseus carries towards the suitors, but his anger towards the women was explored more in this book.  Their crime appears to stem from their immorality and their mutiny against the household.  Both Eurykleia and Telemachos state that they refuse to listen to him or his mother, and that they have taken to sleeping with the suitors.  I’m not clear if the judgement of immorality is based on a cultural standard, or if it is because they are sleeping with enemies of Odysseus. Upon viewing the slain suitors, their reaction was weeping and wailing, so their treachery was quite apparent.
Note: The last sentence of this book: “He recognized all these women,” is very telling.  That would mean that all the women would have had to be over 20 years old (probably 30 or more likely, 40).  It appears all the young women were the immoral ones, and the older ones were the ones who remained loyal and steadfast.  This is, perhaps, another example of the breakdown of societal conventions due to Odysseus’ absence, and the lack of leadeship on the island.
The Suitors
We witnessed a rather gory end to these young men.  Should Odysseus been more temperate and spared more of them?  I tend to think not.  He will have enough to deal with, trying to explain his actions, and to leave one alive if he is not completely certain of his loyalty, could have been quite dangerous.  If one of them appeared loyal at the palace and then later began to stir up dissent in town, his actions could undermine Odysseus’ position.  Sadly, I think out of necessity, they all had to perish. 
I wonder if any of these suitors had known the real Odysseus, if they would have dared to behave the way they did.  My guess is no.

Candide Read Along Chapters 17 – 24

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Chapter 17 – 18

Candide and Cacambo decide to head for Cayenne.  After their horses die and after months of near-starvation, they decide to trust to Providence, climbing in a boat and sailing downstream. After travelling a great distance, their boat is smashed against a reef and they have to climb over rocks for three miles until they see beautifully elaborate carriages and come to a village.  They are flabbergasted to come across children playing quoits with gold, rubies and emeralds and, assuming they are all the children of kings, they return the abandoned jewels to the schoolmaster when the bell rings, but he only laughs and drops them to the ground.  Rescuing the jewels they continue on until the reach an inn, entering to find waiters and waitresses exquisitely dressed and dishes that would feed royalty.  When they try to pay with the gold they took from the road, they are laughed at and told that the meals in the inn are paid for by the government, but perhaps they did not know because this village is one of the poorer villages.  Candide and Cacambo are amazed.  They are then taken to a learned man of the court, and find they are in the former land of the Incas, that has flourished because no one of its citizens is allowed to leave it, which has preserved innocence and happiness.  Their kingdom is called El Dorado.  There, the people worship God but don’t ask him for anything because they have everything they need.   Candide and Cacambo are put in a carriage pulled by sheep and taken to the king’s palace where they are pampered and clothed and told to kiss the king on each cheek when they meet him.  They spend a month there, but Candide is pining for Cunégonde so they decide to return to civilization.  The king cannot understand their desire to leave but builds a machine that transports them out of El Dorado.  They set out from there with Bueno Aires as their destination, planning of all the wonders they can buy with their riches.

Have Candide and Cacambo found “the best of all worlds” in this chapter?  Voltaire appears to suspend his satire when directly dealing with the people from El Dorado.  What does this mean?  Is he saying that the “best of all worlds” can only be found in a fantasy?  He also makes the comment that El Dorado is as advanced as it is because the people have never left and therefore maintained their innocence and happiness.  Does he think when ideas and customs travel across boundaries, those “foreign” ideas and customs can corrupt society?  And further, does he comment on societies’ view of wealth: if we ceased to value material objects (such as the disinterest the people of El Dorado show towards their gold and jewels), will the renunciation of materialism make a well-functioning, more contented society?

Chapter 19 – 20

Their troubles begin again.  Approaching a town, they see a Negro lying on the ground with one leg and one hand missing.  He relates that his master is to blame for his plight, as he (the Negro) got a finger caught in the millstone, hence the loss of his hand, and then was caught stealing, hence the loss of his leg.  Candide is horrified, renounces the philosophy of Optimism and they move on.  The first ship they encounter won’t transport them to Bueno Aires and Candide finds out Cunégonde is the mistress of the governor of the city. Candide plans that Cacambo will go there to rescue Cunégonde and he will meet them both in Venice.  He makes a deal with a captain, a Dutch merchant, to sail to Italy but the captain deceives him and sails with his money and the only two sheep he has left from the gifts of the people of El Dorado.  He takes his case against the captain to a judge, but the judge only fines him for being noisy, charges him court costs, and says there is nothing he can do until the captain returns.  This is the last straw for Candide and he appears to give up on the goodness of man altogether.  He finds another ship going to France and offers free passage, food and 2000 piasters to a companion; from the myriad of applicants he choses a poor scholar, Martin, who has had at least as many misfortunes as Candide.  The two companions have a philosophical discussion about moral and physical evil during the voyage.  While Candide still has hope for Pangloss’ philosophy, Martin announces that he is a Manichean.  He tells of all the troubles he has experienced, and meanwhile their ship sinks a Spanish ship, which turns out to be the ship of the captain who robbed Candide.  All the men drown but one of Candide’s sheep is pulled on board.  Candide and Martin argue for weeks.

Manicheaism  – a religious doctrine, widely prevailing in the 3rd – 5th century, that the universe is controlled by two antagonistic powers, light or goodness, identified with God, and darkness, chaos, or evil. Trivia:  St. Augustine was a Manichean before his conversion.

An important point in the story occurs here:  Candide categorically denounces Pangloss’ Optimism for the first time.  Candid has been basing his opinions often on what has happened to other people, but more and more he is experiencing sufferings himself.  Martin’s worldview is obviously one where evil is seen as the overriding force in society.  While Martin’s observations don’t appear unrealistic, they do appear excessive for one person to experience.  One must question Candide’s choice of a companion.  Rather than balancing his viewpoint, one would think it would make him an extremist of one order, in the same way Pangloss’ one-sided views would make him extreme in another.  

source Wikipaintings

Chapter 21 – 22

They approach France, and while Martin relates that he has been there, he has nothing good to say about it.  Candide fires questions at Martin which are all given pessimistic answers, culminating with, “… if hawks have always had the same character, what makes you think men may have changed theirs?”  Candide asks about free will and the discussion continues.  Because all the travelers Candide meets say they are going to Paris, he decides to do likewise.  He becomes ill and receives the attention of two doctors, whom he does not know nor want.  He is accosted by a number of people wanting money, of which Candide has not a clue and gambles, wondering why he never has any aces.  An abbé from Périgord befriends him.  He takes them to the theatre, claims that in France they respect their queens when they are beautiful and toss them in garbage dumps when they’re dead, and laugh even when they are committing crimes.  Candide wishes to meet Madame Clairon, the actress, but the abbé takes him to meet a lady of a gambling establishment, where Candide manages to lose an enormous chunk of money.  The talk around the dinner table is of novels and great men.  Candide tries Pangloss’ philosophy on a dinner partner but the man disparages his words.  The lady of the house seduces Candide, not only out of his loyalty to Cunégonde, but two of his diamonds.  The abbé uses devious tactics to extract information about Cunégonde and Candide’s plans, then the next morning Candide receives a letter from Cunégonde, begging him to come to her in the city where she is staying.  Candide arrives with a bag of gold and diamonds, but is told the bed curtains must not be drawn.  Suddenly the abbé arrives with officers who arrest him and Martin, yet Candide bribes them for his release, and one agrees to take him by ship to Portsmouth, England.

Again, I don’t care much for Martin.  I’m not sure what purpose he serves other than to rain skepticism and negative opinions over much of their enterprise.  Whereas Cacambo was not surprised by human nature because he took everything in stride, Martin is not surprised by human nature because he always expects the worst from it.  Of course, we meet another avaricious and duplicitous church man, the abbé.  The society of Paris is shown as a sophisticated yet a shallow microcosm of human interactions and entertainment.  Nearly everyone whom Candide meets attempts to exploit him for his riches.  Candide finally flees the city.

Faubourg Saint-Honoré 1615

Chapter 23 – 24
Martin, at a question from Candide, tells him people in England are also mad but it is a different kind of madness than the French.  He claims the English are moody and morose, and the first sight they witness is an admiral being executed because he didn’t kill enough Frenchmen.  After witnessing this atrocious act, Candide refuses to set foot on shore, and two days later they sail for Venice.  Candide is elated, thinking he will find Cunégonde and that “everything is going well.”  When they reach Venice, Candide searches everywhere for Cacambo but he is nowhere to be found and Martin claims that he probably ran off with Candide’s money.  Candide agrees with Martin that, “life is nothing but illusions and calamities”.  Upon seeing a monk and a young woman, Candide remarks upon their happiness but Martin thinks otherwise.  They invite the two to dinner and find out the girl is Paquette, Pangloss’ mistress, who has had to sell herself to survive, along with other miseries, and that the monk was forced into his vocation by his parents and that the prior steals half his  pay and he spends the rest on women.  Martin has won the bet; Candide gives Paquette and the monk money, but Martin doubts they will be happy with it.  Candide then announces he has heard of a senator Pococurante, who makes everyone welcome at his palace and they decide to go and see him.
The execution of the British admiral is based on a true incident and one which Voltaire actively campaigned to stop.  War, again, is a theme and Voltaire brings to the forefront the lack of logic of it, in proportion to the benefits.  Voltaire shows another corrupted churchman, yet this time the monk was simply a victim of circumstances,  one who did not choose his profession but was forced into it.  Martin’s observation that money will not make the couple happy is shrewd; so far all Candide’s riches have not made him happier and his optimism, while he still clings to vestiges of it, is being whittled away.  Will his encounter or lack of one with Cunégonde push him over the edge?  We shall see ………….
The Grand Canal in Venice from Palazzo Flangini to Campo San Marcuola
about 1738
source Wikipedia


Discussion Questions:


What do you think about Martin?

I do not like Martin at all.  He is a foil to Pangloss.  Pangloss looked for good without actually seeing and, in a way, Martin looks for bad or evil without actually seeing.  If you expect people to be untrustworthy or swindlers or cruel or avaricious, that is what you will start to see and, if you have practiced it to the degree that Martin has, I doubt you would see anything else.  I actually think Voltaire did his argument a disservice by using him, but I guess that remains to be seen.

Does a utopia like El Dorado sound appealing to you?

There were certainly things I liked about El Dorado.  I think that a certain amount of autonomy can be beneficial to a country/society.  The people of El Dorado are knowledgeable and curious, yet they have a special type of wisdom that has created an harmonious balance.  Now do I think that it is realistic?  No.  Balance in human nature is hard to achieve and there will always be corruption, struggles for power, etc.  




The Odyssey Read-Along Book XIX & XX

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The Odyssey Read-Along @ Plethora of Books

Book XIX

Ordering Eurykleia to get the women into the house, Telemachos and his father proceed to store away all the weapons.  Afterwards Telemachos goes to bed, but Penelope descends from her chamber, wishing to speak with “the stranger”. Once again Melantho harps at Odysseus and he has harsh words for her, but Penelope, catching their conversation, scolds her maidservant and sends her away.  Sorrowfully she confesses to “the stranger” how she has avoided marriage for the past three years, but now she feels that she can delay her fate no longer.  Odysseus requests that Penelope not ask for his history but she ignores his entreaty and, seemingly against his will, he must weave an elaborate lie to placate her curiosity.  When he tells her of Odysseus’ return however, if spite of his apparent sincerity, she does not believe him,   She offers him a bath in the morning yet he will accept only if an old woman with as many sorrows as he, will give it to him.  Penelope sends him Eurykleia, his old nurse, and to his consternation she recognizes a scar he received on his leg from the tusks of a wild boar when he was just a young boy.  Wild with joy, she makes to summon Penelope but Odysseus stays her with rather harsh words.   Professing her loyalty, she leaves and returns with a new basin of water and proceeds to wash him and anoint him with oil.  Then Penelope speaks with him again, admitting to her indecision over her course with the suitors and then requesting that he interpret her dream:  she had twenty geese that fed on wheat and a great eagle came and broke the necks of all of them.  The eagle returned, claiming to be Odysseus and the geese the suitors.  Once again Odysseus tries to convince her of his return and the suitors’ destruction, but she then prevaricates, stating that some dreams are true but others only deception, and she believes her dream the latter.  Tomorrow she will set up a contest between the suitors and whoever can send an arrow through twelve axes set up in order, that is the man she will marry.  She retires to her chamber to weep for Odysseus.
Disbelief
How believable is Penelope’s disbelief?  She has had numerous tales of Odysseus’ return, yet she absolutely refuses to lend them any credence.  One would think she could at least send out servants to try to confirm or deny the stories, but it is as if she has given up long ago and the only way she is able to survive is to believe the worst and attempt to deal with it.  It is not surprising that Eurykleia is able to recognize something of Odysseus in “the stranger”, yet Penelope cannot.  She has already abandoned hope.
Portents and Omens
We have seen many portents throughout this poem, which always seem to need to be read by someone.  The omen of the eagle and twenty geese perhaps is not difficult to interpret.  I also thought that the 20 geese could symbolize the 20 years that Odysseus had been away and the sudden appearance of the eagle, his sudden return.
Rather shockingly, in the dream, Penelope likes her geese and cries sorrowfully when they are slaughtered.  Does this mean she likes the attentions of the suitors?  Is her claim of delay a ruse to continue their behaviour, which may possibly stroke her ego?
Deception
We finally learn how Odysseus could have honestly come by his ability to so cleverly deceive:

“This was his mother’s noble father, who surpassed all men in thievery and the art of the oath ……” 

However he is not pleased to deceive his wife, although when she persists, he does lie to her, as he finds it necessary to do so.
 

Odysseus and Penelope
Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein (19th century)
source Wikimedia Commons


Book XX

Sleep evades Odysseus as he agonizes over the suitors’ treatment of his household, meanwhile Athene descends and lightly scolds Odysseus for not being grateful that his wife and son and house are within his reach, as well as his lack of faith that he will overcomes his enemies.  As Athene drifts slumber over him, Penelope is praying for the gods to end her life; she would rather be under the earth with Odysseus than have an inferior husband.  Her husband hears her weeping and prays to the gods to send him an omen, both inside and outside, whereupon he hears thunder sent by Zeus and a mill woman prays for the suitors destruction.  Telemachos rises and checks with Eurykleia that the stranger has been treated well, then she makes sure that the palace is ready for the suitors’ arrival for the public festival.  Eumaios stops to speak with Odysseus but Melanthios mocks and challenges Odysseus, who gives no answer.  Philoitios, an oxherd, then arrives, asking about “the stranger” and lamenting the absence of Odysseus and how the suitors ruin his household.  Odysseus assures him of his master’s return, Eumaios prays for the same and Amphinomos reads an omen that Telemachos will not be murdered.  The sacrificing begins and Telemachos commands that “the stranger” will be treated well, amazing everyone with his authority, and even Antinoös defers to his spoken wishes.  One suitor, however, Ktesippos, protests at “the stranger’s” presence and hurls an ox hoof at him, which misses, causing Telemachos to praise the miss otherwise he would have had to stick him through the middle with his spear.  Again, everyone is astounded at his command, and Agelaos tried to calm the situation, but then refers to the giving of Penelope in marriage.  Telemachos states he would be willing to see her married if it was of her own free will, but since she resists, he will not force her.  The suitors laugh at his words, but instead of a sincere laughter, it is as the laughter of men who have lost control and sounds most like a lamentation.  Theoklymenos, disparages their laughter, prophesying their doom and leaves when they threaten him.  They continue their boisterous mocking and jeering but Telemachos only looks at his father.  Penelope listens outside the door.
Identity and Authority
Again we have numerous instances of Telemachos taking control of his household.  He is described as a “man like a god”, has control over his servants, to an acceptable degree, his own mother, and exhibits a subtle control over the suitors.  His speech to Ktesippos exemplifies his newly-acquired power and authority:

“Ktesippos, it was better for your heart that it happened so; you missed the stranger, he avoided your missile.  I would have struck you with my sharp spear fair in the middle, and instead of your marriage your father would have been busy with your funeral here.  Let none display any rudeness here in my house.  I now notice all and know of it, better and worse alike, but before now I was only an infant.  Even so, we have had to look on this and endure it all, the sheepflocks being slaughtered, the wine drunk up, and the food, since it is hard for one man to stand off many.  Come then, no longer do me harm in your hostility.  But if you are determined to murder me with the sharp bronze, then that would be my wish also, since it would be far better than to have to go on watching forever these shameful activities, guests being battered about, or to see you rudely mishandling the serving women all about the beautiful place.”

And yet there is still a sense that both the behaviour of Telemachos and Odysseus is a careful balancing act, but there is evidence, psychologically at least, that the scales are beginning to swing in their favour.
A Decrease of Power?
This chapter shows the suitors at a disadvantage in their surprise at Telemachos’ mastery of situations, and evidenced by their hysterical laughter.  While initially their mocking had a powerful ring to it, we sense now that their laughter is forced and purposed to cover up something.  Could it be the advent of fear?  Hmmm …….

Parthenon Temple of Athene