03 - Entertaining Unawares

EPISODE THREE – ENTERTAINING UNAWARES – TRANSCRIPT

“As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods, they kill us for their sport.”

The first time I read King Lear, those lines jumped out at me like a deer jumping in front of the car. It's an incredibly bleak view of the world. And the character who speaks from the Duke of Gloucester has plenty of reasons to be bleak. He's just been blinded on stage. He's had his eyes gouged out. And in between the first eye and the second eye, he's told that it was his own son who betrayed him, and then he's kicked out of the castle, onto the heath into an approaching storm. And that's his take on the world as flies to wanton boys are we to the gods  - but Zeus, the father of gods and men, would beg to differ. In fact, he's really tired of hearing that. According to Zeus, we bring our disasters upon ourselves, and we blame the gods for everything that happens, no matter how much we are responsible. 

Hello, I'm Tom Lee and this is “ “The Odyssey Odyssey”,” the podcast that retells the story of the Odyssey and the stories that surround The Odyssey. When we last left our hero, nothing much was happening. He'd been captive by calypso on a little island called Ogygia in the middle of the ocean. Calypso, the sea nymph and this island, by the way, is in the exact center of the ocean. It's at the omphalos of the sea. Omphalos is one of my favorite ancient greek ideas – it means the navel or the belly button. And for the ancient Greeks, the center of the body was the naval. If you think of that famous da Vinci drawing, the Vitruvian man with his arms stretched out at his side, showing da Vinci's understanding of the proportions of the human body, you can see the belly button - the navel -  right there at the center. And this is how the Greeks saw the universe. There was an omphalos to the earth. And that was the Oracle at Delphi, the Temple of Delphi was at exactly the center of the Earth, and the island of Ogygia, where Calypso holds Odysseus captive. That's at the omphalos of the ocean. And all the gods knew he was there, but no one was going to do anything. About it, because Odysseus had offended Poseidon and none of the gods wanted to make Poseidon angry. But Poseidon was away. Poseidon had gone to Ethiopia. So the gods were assembled on Mount Olympus, and they were talking, and Zeus unburdens himself of this problem that humans are constantly blaming gods for their problems, whereas in fact you only have to look at the actions of the humans to see that they overreach. They want too much. They want more than is their portion in life, and every time they do this. They bring disaster on themselves and then they turn around and blame the gods. “Look what the gods have done to me!”  When, in fact, the gods looking down from Mount Olympus say “you've done it to yourself.” And it's not Odysseus that Zeus has in mind. At the very beginning of the story, he's concerned with Aegisthus. Now gentle listener, this brings us to a fabulous and complex rabbit hole down which I have decided not to leap in this episode, but to dedicate an entire episode to next time, which is the story of the homecoming of Agamemnon. The Oresteia. Aegisthus has killed King Agamemnon the moment he arrives home from the Trojan War. Aegisthus and Agamemnon's wife, Clytemnestra -  and Zeus knew this was going to happen and he actually sent a warning to Aegisthus telling him not to do this. He sent Hermes the messenger God. And he said, don't overreach. Don't look for too much. This is not your Kingdom. It's Agamemnon's Kingdom. You have no right to it. If you reach for this and kill the king, you will eventually be destroyed. Agamemnon's son Orestes will come and he will kill you. And at the very beginning of the Odyssey, that's exactly what's happened. Orestes has just got revenge on his father's murderer. He has killed Aegisthus. And we're going to hear about this again and again and again throughout the Odyssey, we have one hero who comes home and his wife is waiting to kill him. His wife has been unfaithful. She has another lover and they destroy him. And this is the shadow side. Of Odysseus -  Odysseus, who hasn't yet come home and is hoping for a faithful wife. And we're going to see in today's episode - we're going to meet his son, who wants nothing more than to find revenge on the people who are offending his father. And the story of Orestes  is one of the last episodes in a long, bizarre, horrifying story that is the history of the House of Atreus, and we're going to take a wonderful detour into that story next time. But for now, we have the gods assembled on Mount Olympus, and Athena sees this topic as her opening. Athena has had her eye on Odysseus for seven years. She loves Odysseus. Odysseus is everything that Athena values. Athena is a goddess of war, as is her brother Aries, but Aries is the God of rage and. Battle and sort of losing your mind and going into battle screaming and shouting. And that's not Athena style. Athena is the style of the tactician, the thinker, the planner, Athena is a goddess of wisdom, which is appropriate because she was born out of her own father's brain, which will be another myth for another day. And she loves the thinker and she loves Odysseus because that's what he is. He's a Brave soldier. He's a powerful fighter, but he's also a strategist. After all, it was Odysseus's idea to create the Trojan horse and to see that through. So, Athena has a long and very close relationship to Odysseus and to see him suffering their weeping sitting on the edge of the island, looking off into the sea, being offered immortality, being offered the love of an immortal nymph, he doesn't want it, he wants to go home. He wants to see his wife to see his son, who he left as a. As an infant. He would be happy even just to see the smoke rising from his house. And Athena pities him, and as soon as she hears Zeus blaming Aegisthus for this great overreaching crime, she pipes up and she said to her father, anyone that does such a thing should die. That is an ignoble king and he should not be allowed to live. What about poor Odysseus? He has sacrificed to you all through the Trojan War. He burned animal thighs and the smoke rose up and he sacrificed to you. And now you leave him suffering alone on an island in the middle of the sea. Father, isn't it time to let Odysseus go? And Zeus knows about Odysseus and he doesn't want to make Poseidon angry. He says, you know, it's not me, any one of us would let him go. But Poseidon my brother. This proves my point. Odysseus overreached on his way home. He comes to the island of Polyphemus. Poseidon's son. What a family. Polyphemus, the child of Thousa Thousa, the child of Phorcus that see God that creates nothing but monsters. And thousa, lies in a cave with Poseidon, and as a result. They create Polyphemus, the one-eyed monster, but give him his due. What does he do? He milks his sheep. He lives alone on a little island. He's not bothering anybody. And along comes Odysseus - blinds him, gouges out his eye with a burning stake. And then what does he do? He boasts about it. He stands on the end of his ship and he cries out to the wounded Polyphemus “let everybody know it was me, Odysseus, I'm the one who did this!” I'm supposed to let this go? I'm supposed to ignore this? Of course. Poseidon is furious. He doesn't kill him. Kill him in an instant. He just wants to see him suffer. And Athena said, but father. Poseidon is away. Poseidon is in Ethiopia. Don't you think it's time Father? Can't we? Can't we let Odysseus go home? And Zeus agreed. If not now, when? All right, we'll let him go. And Daddy, can I make a suggestion? Maybe you'd be good enough to send Hermes the messenger down to calypso on Ogygia and give your command. Said Odysseus be sent home at once. She won't like it, but she will like to be visited by. Royalty, the son of Zeus, meanwhile. I'm going to go to Ithaca. I'm going to have a little talk with Odysseus's son Telemachus. Now I don't know about you, but when I'm confronted with a map of ancient Greece and the places in the Iliad or the Odyssey, I I tend to glaze over very quickly. But it's well worth looking at a map and I'll I'll put a picture on the Instagram page for the. Show it's well worth seeing where Ethica is ethica is. A province it's far to the West. It's a fairly small island. It's a it's a Kingdom, but it's fairly small stakes compared to the other kings that we've heard about in the Iliad. He's not the king of Mycena, he's not the king of Pylos. He's he's the king of Ithaca. Which is. It's good to be king. No one. It isn't, but to see where Athena is about to go in terms of the world of ancient Greece is I think it's it's interesting and she does two things and I love this about Athena. She straps on her golden sandals to make this journey, and she grabs her spear. And this is Athena's lovely, delicate golden sandals and a great big bronze spear, a spear that she has carried many times into battle to break up lines of soldiers. And in this form she drops down. From Mount Olympus and lands at the door of Odysseus's Palace. But on the way she has shifted her shape and she has become a man, a human, about the age of Odysseus, and she stands at the door and she looks. And what does she see happening in the palace? Pretty much complete chaos. There's a party that's been going on for almost 10 years. Odysseus has not come home. Every other soldier who went off to Troy, who didn't get killed, has arrived home long ago, and Odysseus is missing in action. He is presumed dead. And since Odysseus is dead, his wife Penelope must remarry. In the culture of ancient Greece, once her husband was dead, she had two choices. She could return to her father and live with him, or she could take a new husband, and she has done neither. She is waiting for her husband to return. Every Prince within 100 miles has found his way to this hall and is expecting to win the hand of Odysseus's wife Penelope in marriage, and they wait and they wait. And as they wait, they feast. Every night for years there has been a party in Odysseus's hall. The suitors, as they are called. The group -  they're lounging on oxides, and these are the hides of Odysseus's own oxen that they themselves have slaughtered to feast off of. And they're drinking out of Odysseus's gold and silver cups, and the servants of Odysseus are washing the hands of these men. And they're playing dice in the doorway, and Athena in the form of this older man standing there with spear in hand. And simply scans the room. It's a beautiful sort of cinematic moment where we're witnesses to the chaos that has taken over Odysseus's. hall and in the midst of all this, a young man is sitting, ignoring everything around him. And this is Odysseus's son Telemachus. And if I could transport you for just, a moment to 1977. Before Telemachus enters the story I want to remind you of Luke Skywalker standing at the edge of the desert, staring at the twin setting Suns. And we know that he's thinking. Where is my father? And this is Telemachus's Luke Skywalker moment. Where is Odysseus? If Odysseus were to come home right now, if he were to walk through that door and see this desecration of his house, what revenge would he take? So how old is Telemachus? This is an interesting question because Odysseus has been at the Trojan War for 10 years. And he's been on his way home for 10 years. He remembers Telemachus, who must have been a baby, an infant, one or two, perhaps. When Odysseus left, it's it's never specifically said. So Telemachus has to be about 21 years old, but he's a 21 year old man who has never known a father in his own home, and this loss has been the defining factor of Telemachus's life. And Athena knows this. And Athena decides it's time to have a talk with Telemachus. Telemachus looked up and saw a total stranger standing at the door of his father's house, and this was simply not permissible. You never kept a stranger outside. In Ancient Greece, the laws of hospitality were paramount. Ironically, you treated a stranger as if they were a God in your home. And of course. We know that this man actually is a goddess. Athena, but Telemachus ran to him, apologized to him, didn't ask his name, didn't ask where he was from, welcomed him into his home, and offered him food and drink. After that we can get to know one another, but First things first, come in, sit down and be fed. There's a great moment where he takes the stranger's spear, it's the same spear and he hangs it on the wall, just underneath one of the spears of his father's beautiful little vignette of these two spears resting on the wall as Telemachus and the stranger talk, and any time a stranger arrives from anywhere, Telemachus wants to know one thing: has this stranger heard anything about my father? And Athena is a consummate character actress. This is the first of many roles that she's going to play in the story. She becomes Mentes - who is a real person, an actual friend of Odysseus from many years ago, but she embodies this man to the life, and she introduces herself and says I'm Mentes. I'm king of the Talifans. I'm the son of Anchylos. I've been traveling trading for copper. I have a boat in the harbor. I have beautiful iron bars in it and I'm going wherever I can to trade for copper, but along the way. I heard a rumor. I heard that Odysseus was back, so I came here to see for myself. Has Odysseus returned ? And Telemachus answers no, my father has not returned, in fact. My father will never return. In fact, I know my father is dead. Somewhere in the world, there's a pile of bones lying in the mud in the rain, and those are my father's bones. Or maybe my father's bones are at the bottom of the ocean, rolling with the waves, but I will never see my father again. If my father had died at Troy. If there was a message that had returned from the battlefield that he'd died there and been given a soldier’s funeral. I could have gone on with my life and we wouldn't be here, but no one knows if my father is alive or dead. And so these men, these suitors, have come into my home and have eaten my father's cattle, have drunk my father's wine, have ordered my father's servants here and there. And I sit by and do nothing. This is the sorrow the gods have given me and Mentes/Athena, looks Telemachus in the eye and says I don't believe it. I'm not a prophet. I can't see the future. The gods haven't given me that power, but I know -I know that your father is alive. I would like to give you some advice, fatherly advice, if I may presume. You need to call an assembly. You need to take control tomorrow at dawn, call every man on Ithaca and speak your mind. Tell them that this must stop. These suitors must go. And then get yourself a ship find twenty trustworthy men and go in search of news of your father's travel to Pylos King. Nestor was at Troy, and he's been home for years. He may have been the last person to see your father. Menelaus has come home.  He must have news of your father. Something, even if it were just a rumor. Some rumors come from the gods. If you learn that your father is dead, then come home, burn his gear. Give your mother away in marriage to a suitable husband and then. Kill these men. It's what your father would do. It's what you have to do. You're not a child any longer. Have you heard about Orestes? Have you heard about the son of Agamemnon, Agamemnon returned and was killed by a Justus adjusters was ready to take over his Kingdom. But Orestes returned, and Orestes hunted him down, and Orestes has killed Aegisthus. That's the kind of fame you could have, my friend. Kill these men - take revenge. Telemachus listened to every word the stranger had to say. And with every word, Telemachus began to feel transformed. Reborn -  more powerful. He said “ My friend, I I thank you for everything that you have said. What can I give you? Let me give you a gift as a  guest in my father's house. Let me give you a bed to sleep in tonight, a bath. What can I do for you? But mentees, the stranger. Gave a little smile, a strange smile and said no, no, don't keep me. I really have to be going. And then - he disappeared. Just like a bird flying up a chimney. He was gone. And Telemachus knew – this had been a God. A God in his home. He didn’t know which one but one of the gods was watching out for him. One of the gods had told him what to do, and so he turned and faced the room again. The suitors laughing, drinking, eating, gambling. And they looked at him and one of the suitors spoke a little louder than the rest. His name was Antinous, and we're going to be keeping our eye on Antinous throughout the story. What's come over you, Telemachus? You look. You look almost ready for a fight. Who's your friend who disappeared so quickly? None of us saw him leave. You were chatting long enough. Did he bring news of your father? And Telemachus quietly said. My father is dead. There is no news to be told. The news is this, Antinous. We're going to have an assembly tomorrow. And I'm going to lead it. I'm taking charge. And I expect to see you there. And it looked for a moment, as if there might be a fight. But the bard who lived in Odysseus's hall, Phemius, began to play on his lyre and entertain the group, and this is one of the most meta moments in all of the epic. Phemius begins to tell a story. He's singing a poem. And the poem that he's singing is the Nostoi. He's singing the song of the returns from the Trojan War. This is meta within meta because the story of the return of the heroes from the Trojan War. This is one of the lost epics from Ancient Greece. We have, miraculously, all of the Iliad and, we think, and all of the Odyssey, but we also know that there are several other books that tell the story of what happened before the Trojan War and what happened after the Trojan War. And these are the lost epics. However, the first time this poem was written down, that papyrus has long since rotted away. We only know the poem because somebody wrote it down, and then somebody made a copy of that writing, and then someone made a copy of that copy and a copy of the copy of the copy. Because texts rot, and they burn up in fires, and they get lost - for every masterpiece of ancient Greek literature that we have, there are dozens that we have lost that simply didn't get copied enough, that we're in the wrong library at the wrong time. That were went on fire, that were flooded, that were eaten by mice, a lot of stuff got damaged in the Middle Ages, copies of copies that were eaten by mice. And among these were the stories of the returns of the heroes. There are references to these lost books in some books that aren't quite so old. Books from around 500 AD and they give these tantalizing little details. The ghost of Achilles comes back and warns Agamemnon not to return. Achilles son decides not to travel by sea, but rather to walk home, and he goes with Tyrese Zeus, who is the seer who dies on the way. And we don't know these stories, but it's these stories that Phemius begins to sing in Odysseus's house. And it's a strange choice, certainly to sing of all the heroes who returned from the Trojan War. And this melody, this sung poem, travels to the ear of Penelope -  Odysseus's wife who has been waiting for 20 years for the return of her husband. And she hears the return of other men from the Trojan War, and this is the first time we see her in the poem. She comes downstairs and she stands on the stairs and she asks the harpist the Bard. What are you thinking? What are you doing? How offensive can't you sing? Of all the other songs that you know of, all the other poems and stories that you could tell, why this one? Stop. And Telemachus? Presumably for the first time speaks up to his mother. What are you talking about? This great singer sings whatever the gods put into his mind, he sings what the gods tell him to sing. Why question this? Why stop this? Many, many men came home from Troy. Shouldn't we hear their stories as well? Mother, go back upstairs. This is no place for you. This is the first time that Penelope has ever heard Telemachus speak this way. He's speaking with authority. He's speaking in a in a manly way. He's some people think being incredibly rude to his mother. But she sees that he has transformed and she goes to her room and she weeps as presumably she has done every night for 20 years. But Athena sends sleep to Penelope. And they listen to the story of the returns from Troy until long after dark, and the suitors depart, they head home to their own palaces, knowing that they've been called at dawn to this assembly. By Telemachus and Telemachus goes to his room and prepares to sleep. With the help of the family slave. Ouch here is Eurycleia purchased for the price of 20 oxen by Telemachus's grandfather, Odysseus's father Laertes. And she has served Telemachus since he was a baby. She's known him since she was a baby, but she is very definitely an enslaved servant in the household. It's a fascinating, troubling topic to explore. Another time. We will let the young man Telemachus go to bed. Where he will sleep until dawn. Thank you for listening to  “The Odyssey Odyssey”. I'm Tom Lee, a professional storyteller, and this podcast is available now on Apple Podcasts. A lot of people were very happy about that. It makes it easy to search and easy to share, and I hope you'll share it with anyone that you think might be interested. It's also available on Spotify and the host site Buzz Sprout if you'd like to know more about my work (and I am available for performances at schools, libraries, museums, theaters and festivals) you can go to www.tomleestoryteller.net. You can read about me there. And there's also a page called podcast where you can find images and background information that connect to each episode. Thanks for listening. See you next time.