Odyssey

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Odyssey

When one ponders the Greek mythology and literature, powerful images invariably
come to mind. One relives the heroes’ struggles against innumerable odds,
their battles against magical monsters, and the gods’ periodic intervention in
mortal affairs. Yet, a common and often essential portion of a heroic epic is
the hero’s consultation with an oracle or divinity. This prophecy is usually
critical to the plot line, and also to the well being of the main characters.
Could Priam have survived in the Achaean camp if not at the gods’ instruction
(200-201)? Could the Argos have run the gauntlet of the Prowling Rocks if not
for the gods’ advice of using a sacrificial bird (349). Moreover, prophecy can
be negative as well as positive. Achilles was prophesied to die gloriously in
battle if he chose his life’s way as a warrior. Oedipus was exiled and
condemned by his own words, after he slew his sire and wed his mother. This type
of prophesy can blind even the gods themselves; Chronos was fated to be defeated
and his throne stolen by his son. Demeter loses Persephone periodically every
year because her daughter ate Hades’ pomegranates. Prophecy plays an important
role in the whole of Greek folklore. Something this ever-present bears further
examination. In The Odyssey, prophecy in its myriad forms affects nearly every
aspect of the epic. Prophecies are seen in the forms of omens, signs, strict
prediction of the future, divine condemnation, and divine instruction. Though
conceptually these forms are hard to distinguish, they are clearly separate in
the Odyssey. Moreover, prophecies can be interpreted not only on the "plot
device" level, but also on the level of characterization. Whether a
character accepts or denies the gods’ prophecies tells the reader something
about the character himself. Omens are brief prophecies intimately connected to
the action at hand, which must be interpreted in terms of that action.
Halitherses comments on the eagle attack after Telemakhos condemns the suitors
(463-464); he correctly interests it to mean that if the suitors keep feeding
off Odysseus’s possessions they will be destroyed. Yet the suitors ignore the
omen, inviting their eventual destruction. This haughty treatment of a divine
omen is a justification for their deaths. When Penelope says if Odysseus had
returned he would, with his son, surely slay the suitors, Telemakhos let loose a
great sneeze (429). This omen reinforces the previous one, and simultaneously
prepares th...

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