Ginny - I have just re-read the first three books again, and I have the following queries:
In Book One , line 456, Telemachus refers to;
"all that King Odysseus won for me by force"
- does this mean that there is no automatic inheritance of property, etc, and that ownership is asserted by force?
In Book Two, line 60, Telemachus says the suitors;
"would rather die than approach her father's house"
- why is this the case? Why are the suitors happier to hang around trying to ingratiate themselves with Penelope than to ask her father for her hand? Is it because they can't prove Odysseus is dead? I am a bit confused here
In line 137, Antinous says that the suitors will stay "as long as she holds out" - so is it Penelope's choice? I got the impression that a woman didn't get much say in whom she married, but here there seem to be two alternatives - either Penelope makes a choice, or she is sent back to Icarius and he makes a choice. Is that right? In lines 147-8, Telemachus seems to be saying that to send her back would cost him too much.
Later, in lines 229-30, Eurymachus says he and the other suitors are fed up with waiting for Penelope and;
"Never courting others, bevies of brides who'd suit each noble here"
- why? Is it because Penelope is potentially richer than the other available women, or what?
In lines 414-5, Telemachus tells the store-woman not to tell Penelope where he has gone until ten or twelve days have passed "or she misses me herself" - this seems to me to imply that Penelope might not even notice Telemachus has gone for some time. Isn't this a bit odd? Or would Penelope not see that much of Telemachus in the huge palace?
In line 504 of Book 1, when the nurse "puts Telemachus to bed", she is said to "slide the doorbelt home with its rawhide strap" - this sounds like she is locking Telemachus into his room - is that right? Or is she inside with him?
About both Nestor and Menelaus it is said;
"he'll never lie - the man is far too wise"
- I am not sure how wisdom links with truthfulness, and would have expected something like "he'll never lie - he's too moral/reliable/honest" - why "wise"? What do the other translators say?
There are also some lines which I would just like to mention because I like them so much:
- the repeated use of;
"the roads of the world grew dark"
to signify nightfall. What a beautiful phrase, so visual - one thinks of a country road as darkness falls.
- line 239 of Book 3, which Fagles translates as;
"Now that you mention it, dear boy"
-
wonderful, seems to make Nestor so much more real - he makes all these regal statements, then throws in this little aside and becomes human.
When Nestor tells Telemachus the story of Clytemnestra and Aegisthus's betrayal of Agamemnon, (line 310, Book 3) he sums it all up in the simple words:
"lover lusting for lover" - what a powerful phrase, it says so much
I also love the line:
"flocks of birds go fluttering under the sun's rays"
- a wonderful image, and the sound of the words is so "fluttery" - I think we can see the black birds flying. I sometimes notice at dusk, here in the city, huge flocks of birds circling above the buildings, and out in the country I sometimes here a noise that I know is the approach of a flock of arctic geese on their way south - sure enough, when you look up, there they are, always in a "V" formation. They come to some of the lochs in winter (which presumably, for them, count as warm!)
That's my twopennyworth for today - sorry it's taken so long, and also if I have asked about things you have already covered -I was racing to catch up,
Rosemary
