Tuesday, April 23, 2013
In Media Res: Chronological vs. Narrative Order
In class we observed the narrative order of the Odyssey, the order the event are retold in the epic, are different from the chronological order, the order the events occur in time. The epic begins in media res, literally in the middle of things. What is ONE reason that the story begins in this way? Why doesn't the story begin with Odysseus leaving Troy?
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Homer did not put The Odyssey in chronological order for a few reasons. One of the reasons Homer put it in his own order is because he wanted to set a better scene for Odysseus when he shows up in the book. This is because it would have been very easy to portray Odysseus as a big hero, but starting this epic with Telemachus alone without his father made Odysseus look like a warrior more than a father. By showing Telemachus’ point of view, it makes Odysseus look like a father who does not care about his family. Another reason is when Odysseus is talking to King Alcinous; Homer exaggerated a lot because he did not want to portray Odysseus as the perfect person. Homer shows Odysseus as a pompous narrator who talks large about not only himself, but about other events. Odysseus exaggerates his story so much that it makes some of the other events seem miniscule in comparison. Odysseus is so self-important that he attempts to sound like a hero, but in reality, he portrays like a self-centered leader. Homer also uses this format of putting Telemachus before the story of Odysseus because he wanted to frame the setting of Odysseus better. Telemachus’ story shows what Odysseus has left behind and how poor the situation he left at home is, which when you compare it to Odysseus, after having the chance to get home earlier, makes Odysseus look extremely self-centered and less of a kingly father.
ReplyDeleteI think that the biggest reason the Odyssey starts ‘in media res’ is to elicit curiosity for the story and to make Odysseus’ journey home more important. Starting the story in the middle of the conflicting situation is a good way to hook the reader in because it uses dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is when the reader knows what is happening or knows something that the characters do not. Homer uses dramatic irony well, because starting the book ‘in media res’ explains to the reader that Odysseus is alive and trying to return home, and then forces them to return again to Ithaca and read about his family grieving and unsure about his return. By knowing this, the reader wants to read more. In addition, by starting the book ‘in media res’ the reader gets a chance to learn about the stories of warriors from the Trojan War, whereas if the reader learned about the characters such as Agamemnon and Ajax in the middle of the story where they do not flow as well as when they are told fully in context. I say they would be out of context because they all arrive home at much different times and Odysseus is doing many different things other than arriving home at the same time they do. Because of the time-period difference, they would not be as understandable since they would be told in the middle of Odysseus’ stories of his journey home. The story would seem jumbled. One other reason that the story could have been told ‘in media res’ is because when the story starts with Telemachus, it can nicely show him maturing and growing throughout the book, whereas if they told the story without comparison to before he started to mature, he would not be as important of a character. Overall, it was a smart decision to begin the story ‘in media res’ because it introduces main characters, hooks the reader into wanting to read more, and the story flows the best this way.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Homer did not put the Odyssey in chronological order for a couple reasons. I believe that one of the reasons why Homer did not write the Odyssey in order is because by not revealing the stories chronologically it creates great tension in between the characters. An example of this is when Homer inserts the story of Agamemnon into the Odyssey. This creates tension because it makes Odysseus scared to come back to Ithaca. In the story of Agamemnon Clytemnestra and her new suitor kill Agamemnon upon his return from Troy. By knowing this story it makes Odysseus nervous to return to Ithaca. He fears that when he returns that his wife will have fallen in love with another man. To disguise himself Odysseus comes into the city as a beggar. He does this so he can see if his wife has found another man. Odysseus is quite wrong when he thinks this because his wife is still very in love with him. Many men try to get her attention but she does not try to pursue any other relationships. She even tricks people by telling them that she will marry them when she is done looming she will marry them. Many years go by and she is still not done with it so the suitors finally realize that they will never marry her. By not writing the Odyssey in chronological order it creates an exciting atmosphere for the reader. By writing it out of order it makes the reader curious as to what is going to happen next. By alluding to Odysseus return it makes the reader want to know what his return was like and why it took him so long to return. In the end it was very smart of Homer to write the Odyssey out of order because it creates tension between characters and it makes the read more exciting.
ReplyDeleteIn the odyssey Homer sets up the story narrative order that contrasts with the chronological order by beginning the story in the middle of Odysseus’s return. Homer does this because he wants to make odysseus appear not as a hero, but a selfish conniving adventurer.
ReplyDeleteThe story begins with the aftershocks of Odysseus’s actions, also known as Penelope and Telemachus, opposed to the chronological beginning, which is Odysseus’s return home from Troy. Homer shows us how Penelope has struggled to fend off suitors and keep her home intact, while raising her son, all the while waiting for her Odysseus’s return. It then cuts to Odysseus who has been slowly making his way back to Greece. While Penelope has been staying true to him he has slept with a woman on almost all of the islands. This style of storytelling shows how Odysseus’s selfish actions have caused all this work and suffering for Penelope. He further pushes this point by having Odysseus tell his own version of what happens in troy, in which he glorifies himself while in reality all he did was come up with the idea to make a giant horse. Odysseus is no more then a self-serving captain who willingly hurts others to further himself.