WEBVTT - The Odyssey: Circe 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:12.760 Welcome to the Hillsdale College Online Courses podcast. I'm Jeremiah 0:00:12.760 --> 0:00:13.480 Regan and. 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:17.440 I'm Juan Davalos. We're back with the Odyssey lecture number six, Circe. 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:19.720 This is an interesting one. And before we started recording, 0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:22.319 we were debating what's the most important theme of this 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:25.040 book and therefore this lecture. What's your position? 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:29.360 Yeah. I was thinking that the idea of leadership, we 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:34.680 have Odysseus distrusting his man and they almost make it 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:36.920 back to Ithaca. They can see the fires coming out 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:40.479 of the island. But because of his distrust of his men, 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:42.320 essentially he falls. 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:46.400 He's exhausted and can't pilot the ship any longer. And 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:48.519 then his men, even though they're right on the border 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:50.760 of home, go. Well, before we get there, we better 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:51.920 get our share of the loot. 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:55.040 Yeah, they distrust him. So there's a distrust going both ways, 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:57.760 and it ends in disaster. So that, to me, gives 0:00:57.760 --> 0:01:00.400 you a little bit of a lesson on leadership. As in, 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:03.080 you can't have a team and where the leader distrusts 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:04.960 the team or the team distrusts the leader, it's just 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:05.760 not going to work. 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:08.480 The other major event and the other theme of this 0:01:08.480 --> 0:01:13.280 book is the disastrous experience on Cersei's island, where Odysseus 0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:17.120 and his men tarry for a year, living like animals. 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:20.600 Aristotle will later write that men are made for more 0:01:21.000 --> 0:01:25.200 than the pleasures of grazing and procreation like cattle. Odysseus 0:01:25.200 --> 0:01:28.080 and his men live like cattle for a while, and 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:30.280 have to reconcile with that and decide to pull themselves 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:31.080 away from it. 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:34.960 What Homer does in this scene is, first, Cersei turns 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:39.160 them into actual pigs, and then Odysseus actually, you know, 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:41.640 gets her to turn them back into men, but then 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:44.199 they actually turn into pigs and live like pigs for 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:44.760 over a year. 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:47.480 That's right. So we have this great moment of cunning 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:50.240 and excellence from Odysseus. He's also being pious because the 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:53.920 gods have given him advice and he follows it. He 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:57.760 is very assiduous in taking instruction from the gods. But then, 0:01:57.840 --> 0:02:01.640 after the apparent danger has passed, they fall into temptation 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:03.760 and lose a year. And maybe this is what's great 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:06.040 about Homer. We don't have to decide whether the leadership 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:09.840 message or the temptation message is more important. They're both great, 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:13.240 and that's the richness that you experience when you read Homer. 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:15.959 And if you're enjoying the course, you should watch it. 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:18.000 I think it's one of the most beautiful sets that 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:21.680 the online courses team has built, has put together. It's 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:25.639 the special effects that go into the lectures are also incredible. 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:28.760 It's just a beautiful course. And when I say that, 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:31.240 I mean not just obviously the message and what we're 0:02:31.240 --> 0:02:34.880 learning from it, but it's visually stunning and beautiful and 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:39.840 therefore you should go watch it. Go to hillsdale.edu/course. That's 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:44.079 hillsdale.edu/course and take a look for yourself. 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:46.760 It doesn't hurt that Professor Whalen's a good looking guy. 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:50.799 So let's turn to him for lecture six of the Odyssey. Circe. 0:02:56.639 --> 0:03:00.079 In our last lecture, we discussed the first adventures that 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:03.760 Odysseus narrates to King Alcinous and the Phaeacians after he 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:07.120 departed from Troy. This included his visit to the land 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:09.720 of the Lotus Eaters, as well as his encounter with 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:14.240 the Cyclops Polyphemus. In this lecture we will discuss books 0:03:14.240 --> 0:03:17.480 ten and the beginning of book 11, as Odysseus continues 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:21.320 his narration of his journey. Now thus far, Odysseus little 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:24.840 fleet of 12 ships has suffered some losses, as they 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:27.560 did in their encounter with the Cicones, but they've remained 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:31.840 largely intact. In the current book, however, in book ten, 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:36.240 Odysseus narrates how he loses almost his entire command. He 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:40.720 suffers catastrophic losses, and we see growing tensions between Odysseus 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:45.200 and his men. This raises several important questions for us 0:03:45.200 --> 0:03:49.760 as readers. What do these losses reveal to us about Odysseus? 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:53.560 What do we think of him as a leader? What 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:56.050 do we think of him as a man. What do 0:03:56.050 --> 0:04:01.930 we think of him in terms of heroism as a hero? Relatedly, 0:04:01.930 --> 0:04:05.290 this raises questions regarding the source or the cause of 0:04:05.290 --> 0:04:09.570 Odysseus suffering and of his losses. If we recall, at 0:04:09.570 --> 0:04:12.970 the very beginning of the Odyssey, Zeus opened. The first 0:04:12.970 --> 0:04:16.170 spoken words of the work are. Zeus complaint that men 0:04:16.170 --> 0:04:21.730 blame the gods for sufferings that they bring on themselves. Well, 0:04:22.010 --> 0:04:24.810 with the losses and sufferings that we see with Odysseus here, 0:04:25.130 --> 0:04:30.409 who's responsible? Is it the gods? Is it chance? Is 0:04:30.410 --> 0:04:35.810 it Odysseus? Or is it his men? How responsible is Odysseus? 0:04:35.810 --> 0:04:40.490 Here at the beginning of book ten, Odysseus narrates to 0:04:40.529 --> 0:04:43.650 us about his coming to the island of the king Aeolus. 0:04:44.089 --> 0:04:48.890 He narrates. We reached the Aeolian island, the home of 0:04:48.890 --> 0:04:53.330 Aeolus Hippothous son, beloved by the gods who never die. 0:04:53.930 --> 0:04:57.450 A great floating island. It was. And round it all 0:04:57.490 --> 0:05:03.490 huge ramparts. Rise of indestructible bronze and sheer rock cliffs 0:05:03.490 --> 0:05:07.489 shoot up from sea to sky. The king had sired 0:05:07.529 --> 0:05:11.890 12 children within his halls. Six daughters and six sons 0:05:11.890 --> 0:05:14.690 in the lusty prime of youth. So he gave his 0:05:14.690 --> 0:05:18.969 daughters as wives to his six sons, seated beside their 0:05:18.970 --> 0:05:23.409 dear father and doting mother. With delicacies aplenty spread before them, 0:05:23.410 --> 0:05:27.370 they feast on forever. All day long the halls breathed 0:05:27.370 --> 0:05:30.690 the savour of roasted meats and echo round to the 0:05:30.690 --> 0:05:34.330 low moan of blowing pipes. And all night long, each 0:05:34.330 --> 0:05:37.810 one by his faithful mate. They sleep under soft piled 0:05:37.810 --> 0:05:43.849 rugs on corded bedsteads. This is a strange, otherworldly island 0:05:43.850 --> 0:05:48.410 and continues to help support and bolster the sense of 0:05:48.410 --> 0:05:51.330 the sort of fairy tale or fable like realm that 0:05:51.410 --> 0:05:55.609 Odysseus has entered. We have the sense that the island 0:05:55.610 --> 0:05:59.490 here is is free floating. That is, it's not actually 0:05:59.490 --> 0:06:03.090 an island sitting on the Earth's crust, but it's floating 0:06:03.089 --> 0:06:06.370 around in the Mediterranean. And if it's free floating, that 0:06:06.370 --> 0:06:09.890 also means that it can't be navigated to. You couldn't 0:06:09.890 --> 0:06:13.250 mark it on a map. We are in unnavigable waters 0:06:13.250 --> 0:06:17.370 here in a strange fairy tale like land, and it's 0:06:17.370 --> 0:06:21.609 also entirely self-contained. It has these impregnable walls around it, 0:06:21.610 --> 0:06:25.650 these sheer cliffs, and then the self-contained nature is also 0:06:25.650 --> 0:06:29.690 reflected in the the strange, incestuous marriages of the children 0:06:29.730 --> 0:06:34.770 of King Aeolus. Here we've entered a different self-contained fairy 0:06:34.770 --> 0:06:39.770 tale like world. Now King Aeolus is hospitable to Odysseus. 0:06:39.770 --> 0:06:42.730 He welcomes him and his men. He feasts them, and 0:06:42.730 --> 0:06:45.330 then finally he sends them on their way with a 0:06:45.330 --> 0:06:49.210 sack containing the four winds, and those winds then drive 0:06:49.250 --> 0:06:54.450 Odysseus fleet almost to Ithaca. They come just within sight 0:06:54.490 --> 0:06:59.849 of Ithaca. When disaster happens, Odysseus tells us. Nine whole 0:06:59.850 --> 0:07:03.650 days we sailed nine nights non-stop. On the 10th our 0:07:03.650 --> 0:07:06.650 own land Hove into sight. At last we were so 0:07:06.650 --> 0:07:10.730 close we could see men tending fires. But now an 0:07:10.730 --> 0:07:14.410 enticing sleep came on me. Bone weary from working the 0:07:14.410 --> 0:07:18.650 vessel's sheet myself. No letup. Never trusting the ropes to 0:07:18.690 --> 0:07:22.410 any other mate. The faster to journey back to native land. 0:07:23.170 --> 0:07:26.530 But the crews began to mutter among themselves. Sure. I 0:07:26.530 --> 0:07:30.170 was hauling troves of gold and silver home the gifts 0:07:30.170 --> 0:07:35.050 of open hearted Aeolus Hippothous son. The old story. One 0:07:35.050 --> 0:07:38.250 man glanced at another, grumbling, look at our captain's luck. 0:07:38.250 --> 0:07:41.650 So loved by the world, so prized at every landfall, 0:07:41.650 --> 0:07:45.530 every port of call, heaps of lovely plunder. He hauls 0:07:45.530 --> 0:07:48.410 home from Troy. While we who went through slogging just 0:07:48.490 --> 0:07:52.530 as hard. We go home empty handed. Now this. Aeolus 0:07:52.570 --> 0:07:56.730 loads him down with treasure. Favouritism. Friend to friend. Hurry! 0:07:56.730 --> 0:07:59.530 Let's see what loot is in that sack. How much 0:07:59.530 --> 0:08:03.770 gold and silver. Break it open now! A fatal plan, 0:08:03.770 --> 0:08:07.130 but one my shipmates. Over. They loosed the sack and 0:08:07.130 --> 0:08:10.370 all the winds burst out. And a sudden squall struck 0:08:10.370 --> 0:08:13.890 and swept us back to sea, wailing in tears far 0:08:13.890 --> 0:08:16.570 from our own native land. And I woke up with 0:08:16.570 --> 0:08:19.810 a start, my spirit churning. Should I leap over the 0:08:19.810 --> 0:08:22.290 side and drown at once. Or grit my teeth and 0:08:22.290 --> 0:08:25.890 bear it. Stay among the living. I bore it all. 0:08:25.890 --> 0:08:29.450 Held firm. Hiding my face, clinging tight to the decks. 0:08:30.730 --> 0:08:34.250 It's important in this episode to note that Odysseus and 0:08:34.250 --> 0:08:38.130 his fleet got within sight of Ithaca. They were right there. 0:08:38.170 --> 0:08:41.370 They have almost accomplished their homecoming, and then they're driven 0:08:41.370 --> 0:08:44.250 back all the way to the island of King Aeolus 0:08:44.450 --> 0:08:48.490 because of a breakdown in the order and the relationship 0:08:48.490 --> 0:08:52.329 between the leader and the men in his command. That is, 0:08:52.530 --> 0:08:56.730 Odysseus does not trust his men to man the ship. 0:08:56.730 --> 0:08:59.370 And so he. As he describes, he stayed awake for 0:08:59.370 --> 0:09:02.089 nine straight days and so finally fell asleep right when 0:09:02.090 --> 0:09:04.930 they were in sight of Ithaca. That then gave his 0:09:04.929 --> 0:09:07.330 men the opportunity to open the sack and let the 0:09:07.330 --> 0:09:12.329 winds escape. Similarly, Odysseus men don't trust him. They don't 0:09:12.330 --> 0:09:14.770 know what it is that Odysseus has in the sack. 0:09:14.929 --> 0:09:17.730 And they they resent him. They think he's got spoils 0:09:17.730 --> 0:09:21.929 that he hasn't shared with them. The discontent and resentment 0:09:21.929 --> 0:09:25.729 of Odysseus men here leads them to open this magical 0:09:25.730 --> 0:09:28.850 sac that contains the wind that is driving Odysseus and 0:09:28.850 --> 0:09:31.690 his fleet to Ithaca. They think that it's full of treasure, 0:09:31.690 --> 0:09:33.170 and they want to divvy it up, or at least 0:09:33.170 --> 0:09:36.450 inspect it for themselves. And so we see here the 0:09:36.450 --> 0:09:39.730 leader not trusting his men and the men not trusting 0:09:39.730 --> 0:09:44.290 the leader. And this is an insuperable barrier for their homecoming. 0:09:44.929 --> 0:09:47.820 Now the winds drive Odysseus and his fleet back to 0:09:47.860 --> 0:09:51.500 King Aeolus island. But Aeolus, when he sees Odysseus returned 0:09:51.500 --> 0:09:53.660 after what he had given him, says this is a 0:09:53.660 --> 0:09:57.540 sign that the gods must dislike Odysseus, that Odysseus must 0:09:57.540 --> 0:10:03.060 be cursed. This is the first sign for Odysseus that 0:10:03.059 --> 0:10:07.460 perhaps Polyphemus prayer to Poseidon will bear fruit that. In fact, 0:10:07.460 --> 0:10:11.820 perhaps Odysseus is cursed, that the easy trip home is lost, 0:10:11.820 --> 0:10:13.140 and that he is going to have to go through 0:10:13.140 --> 0:10:16.860 many years and many trials and much suffering before he 0:10:16.860 --> 0:10:21.060 can reach home. Now, this dispiriting episode where we see 0:10:21.100 --> 0:10:25.500 disorder between Odysseus and his men is immediately followed by 0:10:25.500 --> 0:10:30.100 a catastrophe. Odysseus and his fleet of 12 ships sail 0:10:30.100 --> 0:10:33.579 to another island, the island of the Laestrygonians. These are 0:10:33.580 --> 0:10:36.420 unknown to Odysseus and his men, but it turns out 0:10:36.420 --> 0:10:40.179 that they are very violent and hostile giants. Now the 0:10:40.179 --> 0:10:42.700 Laestrygonians island is shaped in a way that. There's a 0:10:42.700 --> 0:10:47.460 large cove where 11 of Odysseus ships enter and Odysseus, 0:10:47.500 --> 0:10:51.179 with his ship, stays outside of that cove. Now when 0:10:51.179 --> 0:10:55.300 Odysseus men encounter the Laestrygonians, they are hostile giants, and 0:10:55.300 --> 0:10:58.220 they come out and they surround the fleet that's anchored 0:10:58.260 --> 0:11:01.020 there in the cove, and they hurl rocks down on it, 0:11:01.020 --> 0:11:03.579 and they sink all of the 11 ships there, and 0:11:03.580 --> 0:11:06.540 only Odysseus and his ship are able to sail away. 0:11:07.420 --> 0:11:11.339 Now the king of the Laestrygonians, his name is Antiphates, 0:11:11.700 --> 0:11:16.260 which means anti renown or anti fame. And this is 0:11:16.260 --> 0:11:21.140 reflected in this episode where Odysseus nearly loses everything by 0:11:21.140 --> 0:11:25.020 encountering anti renown or anti fame. We have to wonder 0:11:25.020 --> 0:11:27.780 and we're encouraged by the text. Wonder what renown could 0:11:27.780 --> 0:11:31.860 a leader have who loses the men he leads? Homer's 0:11:31.900 --> 0:11:35.860 narration here is quite simple and brief. It's very straightforward, 0:11:35.860 --> 0:11:38.980 and Odysseus just suddenly loses almost all of the men 0:11:38.980 --> 0:11:42.020 in his command. And so we should see this destruction 0:11:42.020 --> 0:11:45.660 and loss as related, as a sort of consequence to 0:11:45.700 --> 0:11:50.859 the political and military disorder, that the breakdown that occurred 0:11:50.860 --> 0:11:55.460 when they had Aeolus winds. We can note here what 0:11:55.460 --> 0:11:59.300 seems to be a confluence of the sources of man's suffering. 0:12:00.020 --> 0:12:05.900 Both gods and men cause problems and suffering for humankind 0:12:06.260 --> 0:12:10.340 and to survive, to get home, to have a successful nostos, 0:12:10.740 --> 0:12:15.900 Odysseus must account for both hostility and problems provoked by 0:12:15.900 --> 0:12:20.100 the gods, as well as hostility and problems provoked by 0:12:20.140 --> 0:12:23.300 even his own men, even his subordinates. That is the 0:12:23.300 --> 0:12:27.780 source of suffering, of trials, of difficulties for mankind come 0:12:27.780 --> 0:12:31.780 from both the divine and from the human. Now, after 0:12:31.780 --> 0:12:35.020 this loss of his fleet, Odysseus and his single remaining 0:12:35.020 --> 0:12:38.340 ship come to the island of. Aeaea. This is an 0:12:38.340 --> 0:12:41.980 island belonging to Cersei, and her epithet, as Homer gives 0:12:41.980 --> 0:12:45.699 it to us as Circe, the nymph with the lovely braids. 0:12:46.460 --> 0:12:50.100 It's an island thick with vegetation, and from a distance, 0:12:50.100 --> 0:12:52.100 as they are there on the side of the island, 0:12:52.100 --> 0:12:54.260 and mourning the loss of the rest of the fleet, 0:12:54.780 --> 0:12:58.660 Odysseus sees. Rising from the middle of the island, some 0:12:58.660 --> 0:13:01.860 smoke coming up in the midst of this force, and 0:13:01.860 --> 0:13:04.740 so he decides to divide his men into two platoons, 0:13:04.740 --> 0:13:06.740 and they draw lots to see who will go and 0:13:06.740 --> 0:13:10.460 explore and see if if there's a friendly or civilized 0:13:10.460 --> 0:13:13.500 people here. Now, as an interesting counterpoint to the episode 0:13:13.500 --> 0:13:16.500 with the Cyclops, where Odysseus had led his men into 0:13:16.500 --> 0:13:20.300 the cave, here the other platoon gets the draw of 0:13:20.300 --> 0:13:23.020 the lots. And so Odysseus sits on his ship and 0:13:23.020 --> 0:13:26.740 waits as his other men enter the island and explore 0:13:26.860 --> 0:13:31.380 to find the source of the smoke. Odysseus tells us. 0:13:31.700 --> 0:13:34.620 Deep in the wooded glens, they came on Cersei's palace, 0:13:34.860 --> 0:13:37.940 built of dressed stone on a cleared rise of land, 0:13:38.420 --> 0:13:42.980 mountain wolves and lions were roaming around the grounds. She'd 0:13:43.020 --> 0:13:47.220 bewitched them herself. She gave them magic drugs, but they 0:13:47.220 --> 0:13:51.620 wouldn't attack my men. They just came pawing up around them, fawning, 0:13:51.900 --> 0:13:55.699 swishing their long tails, eager as hounds that fawn around 0:13:55.700 --> 0:13:59.260 their master. Coming home from a feast. Who always brings 0:13:59.260 --> 0:14:03.540 back scraps to calm them down. So they came nuzzling 0:14:03.540 --> 0:14:07.939 round my men. Lions, wolves with big, powerful claws. And 0:14:07.940 --> 0:14:10.780 the men cringed in fear at the sight of those strange, 0:14:10.820 --> 0:14:15.820 ferocious beasts. But still they paused at her doors, the 0:14:15.820 --> 0:14:20.380 nymph with lovely braids, Cersei. And deep inside they heard 0:14:20.380 --> 0:14:24.500 her singing, lifting her spellbinding voice as she glided back 0:14:24.500 --> 0:14:28.700 and forth at her great immortal loom, her enchanting web 0:14:28.740 --> 0:14:33.900 a shimmering glory only goddesses can weave. Polity's captain of 0:14:33.900 --> 0:14:39.020 armies took command. The closest, most devoted man I had friends. 0:14:39.020 --> 0:14:42.340 There's someone inside plying a great loom. And how she 0:14:42.340 --> 0:14:46.300 sings enthralling. The whole house is echoing to her song 0:14:46.500 --> 0:14:49.620 Goddess or woman. Let's call out to her now. So 0:14:49.620 --> 0:14:52.940 he urged, and the men called out and hailed her. 0:14:53.780 --> 0:14:56.660 She opened her gleaming doors at once and stepped forth, 0:14:56.660 --> 0:15:00.180 inviting them all. In and in they went, all innocence. 0:15:00.580 --> 0:15:05.340 Only Eurylochus stayed behind. He sensed a trap. She ushered 0:15:05.340 --> 0:15:07.900 them in to sit on high backed chairs. Then she 0:15:07.900 --> 0:15:12.260 mixed them a potion cheese, barley and pale honey mold 0:15:12.260 --> 0:15:15.380 in Pramnian wine and into the brew she stirred her 0:15:15.380 --> 0:15:19.180 wicked drugs to wipe from their memories any thought of home. 0:15:20.020 --> 0:15:22.980 Once they'd drained the bottles, she filled. Suddenly she struck 0:15:22.980 --> 0:15:26.420 with her wand, drove them into her pigsties, all of 0:15:26.420 --> 0:15:32.420 them bristling into swine with grunts, snouts, even their bodies. Yes, 0:15:32.900 --> 0:15:37.180 and only the men's minds stayed steadfast as before. So 0:15:37.180 --> 0:15:41.060 off they went to their pens, sobbing, squealing as Cersei 0:15:41.100 --> 0:15:45.340 flung them acorns, Cornel, nuts and mast, common fodder for 0:15:45.340 --> 0:15:49.500 hogs that root and roll in mud back. Eurylochus ran 0:15:49.500 --> 0:15:53.940 to our swift ship. So Eurylochus tells Odysseus what has 0:15:53.940 --> 0:15:56.700 happened to his men, and after losing his entire fleet, 0:15:56.740 --> 0:16:00.100 Odysseus has now suddenly lost half of his remaining crew. 0:16:00.660 --> 0:16:04.020 But as a sign of Odysseus commitment to his men, 0:16:04.460 --> 0:16:07.420 despite Eurylochus saying we should simply sail away, there's this 0:16:07.420 --> 0:16:11.180 powerful witch here. Odysseus is determined to rescue them. And 0:16:11.180 --> 0:16:14.900 so he makes his way inland alone to find his 0:16:14.900 --> 0:16:25.820 men and save them. Now, as he makes his way 0:16:25.820 --> 0:16:29.060 through the woods on the island to Cersei's house, the 0:16:29.060 --> 0:16:32.660 god Hermes appears to Odysseus, and he gives him very 0:16:32.660 --> 0:16:36.990 special help and particular advice on how to deal with Cersei, 0:16:37.030 --> 0:16:41.790 this witch. Hermes says, but wait, I can save you. 0:16:41.830 --> 0:16:44.630 Free you from that great danger. Look, here is a 0:16:44.630 --> 0:16:48.750 potent drug. Take it to Cersei's halls. Its power alone 0:16:48.750 --> 0:16:51.670 will shield you from the fatal day. Let me tell 0:16:51.670 --> 0:16:55.190 you of all the witch's subtle craft. She'll mix you 0:16:55.190 --> 0:16:58.670 a potion. Lace the brew with drugs. But she'll be 0:16:58.670 --> 0:17:02.230 powerless to bewitch you. Even so, this magic herb I 0:17:02.270 --> 0:17:05.790 give will fight her spells. Now here's your plan of action, 0:17:05.790 --> 0:17:09.070 step by step. The moment Cersei strikes with her long, 0:17:09.109 --> 0:17:12.510 thin wand, you draw your sharp sword sheathed at your 0:17:12.550 --> 0:17:15.510 hip and rush her fast as if to run her through. 0:17:16.950 --> 0:17:20.150 She'll cower in fear and coax you to her bed. 0:17:20.590 --> 0:17:24.390 But don't refuse the goddess's bed. Not then, not if 0:17:24.390 --> 0:17:27.110 she's to release your friends and treat you well yourself. 0:17:27.630 --> 0:17:30.190 But have her swear. The binding oath of the blessed 0:17:30.190 --> 0:17:33.630 gods shall never plot some new intrigue to harm you. 0:17:33.670 --> 0:17:37.510 Once you lie there naked, never unman you strip away 0:17:37.510 --> 0:17:43.110 your courage. This advice Odysseus follows to a T and 0:17:43.109 --> 0:17:48.230 it's all successful. He withstands Cersei's charms. He then charges 0:17:48.230 --> 0:17:51.190 at Cersei with his sword. She coaxes him to bed. 0:17:51.190 --> 0:17:54.110 He sleeps with her, and then he forces her to 0:17:54.150 --> 0:17:57.070 turn his men back into the human form, to change 0:17:57.070 --> 0:18:01.430 them from pigs back into men. Now, having saved his men, 0:18:01.470 --> 0:18:03.629 we might expect that Odysseus would get back on the 0:18:03.630 --> 0:18:05.830 ship and try to make his way home. But he 0:18:05.830 --> 0:18:08.430 makes another mistake here with Cersei. And it's a very 0:18:08.430 --> 0:18:12.950 important one for our narrative, as Odysseus tells us. So 0:18:12.950 --> 0:18:16.750 she enticed in one our battle hardened spirits over. And 0:18:16.750 --> 0:18:19.629 there we sat at ease, day in, day out, till 0:18:19.630 --> 0:18:22.750 a year had run its course, feasting on sides of 0:18:22.790 --> 0:18:26.230 meat and draughts of heady wine. But then, when the 0:18:26.230 --> 0:18:28.510 year was gone and the seasons wheeled by and the 0:18:28.510 --> 0:18:31.869 months waned and the long days came round again, My 0:18:31.869 --> 0:18:36.950 loyal comrades took me aside and prodded. Captain, this is madness. 0:18:37.190 --> 0:18:39.750 High time you thought of your own home at last. 0:18:39.869 --> 0:18:42.390 If it really is your fate to make it back alive. 0:18:42.390 --> 0:18:46.550 And reach your well-built house in native land. They're urging. 0:18:46.550 --> 0:18:50.950 Brought my stubborn spirit around. It's amazing here that Odysseus 0:18:50.950 --> 0:18:54.590 will spend a year with Cersei, simply feasting with her 0:18:54.590 --> 0:18:58.510 and sleeping with her, forgetting entirely about his home. And 0:18:58.510 --> 0:19:00.950 this stands as a nice counterpoint to the land of 0:19:00.950 --> 0:19:04.109 the lotus Eaters at the land of the lotus Eaters. 0:19:04.150 --> 0:19:07.590 Odysseus was the one who saved his men, who remembered 0:19:07.590 --> 0:19:09.990 home and brought them back onto the ship and forced 0:19:09.990 --> 0:19:14.750 them to sail on. Here it's Odysseus's men who save him, 0:19:14.750 --> 0:19:17.310 who remind him of his home and say it's madness 0:19:17.310 --> 0:19:21.310 to spend our time here. This episode also shows us 0:19:21.590 --> 0:19:27.470 two distinct sorts of threats. Cersei literally turned Odysseus's men 0:19:27.470 --> 0:19:32.190 into pigs with her magic, But on a deeper level, metaphorically, 0:19:32.230 --> 0:19:36.669 Cersei turns Odysseus himself into a pig. He spends a 0:19:36.670 --> 0:19:39.710 year there forgetting about home, not thinking of his obligations, 0:19:39.710 --> 0:19:42.750 of his wife, of his family, of his order, and 0:19:42.750 --> 0:19:47.869 instead simply feasting and sleeping with Cersei. Now, it's quite interesting, 0:19:47.869 --> 0:19:50.670 with this sort of threat, the threat of becoming a 0:19:50.670 --> 0:19:55.990 metaphorical or intellectual pig, that it's Odysseus's men who help 0:19:55.990 --> 0:19:59.510 save him from this state of forgetfulness. That is, I 0:19:59.510 --> 0:20:03.230 think Homer is suggesting on a wider level that our 0:20:03.230 --> 0:20:06.390 fellow men can help ennoble us and bring us to 0:20:06.430 --> 0:20:11.190 a higher level than simply mere sensual existence. Man is 0:20:11.190 --> 0:20:16.510 not meant to simply live satisfying his appetites. Odysseus's men 0:20:16.550 --> 0:20:18.949 help bring him out of that state and to a 0:20:18.950 --> 0:20:23.030 higher plane. Now after this, Odysseus approaches Cersei and says, 0:20:23.030 --> 0:20:25.830 we must go. And Cersei agrees to let them go. 0:20:25.869 --> 0:20:29.670 She's not trying to hold Odysseus as Calypso will. But 0:20:29.670 --> 0:20:31.669 she tells him that first he must go on a 0:20:31.670 --> 0:20:37.909 different journey. She says. Royal son of Laertes, Odysseus, old campaigner. 0:20:38.430 --> 0:20:40.990 Stay on no more in my house against your will. 0:20:41.470 --> 0:20:45.429 But first, another journey calls. You must travel down to 0:20:45.470 --> 0:20:49.230 the house of death and the awesome one Persephone. There 0:20:49.230 --> 0:20:53.350 to consult the ghost of Tiresias, seer of Thebes, the 0:20:53.350 --> 0:20:58.590 great blind prophet whose mind remains unshaken even in death. 0:20:58.710 --> 0:21:02.710 Persephone has given him wisdom, everlasting vision to Him and 0:21:02.710 --> 0:21:06.830 him alone. The rest of the dead are empty, flitting shades. 0:21:07.150 --> 0:21:09.869 So she said, and crushed the heart inside of me. 0:21:10.910 --> 0:21:14.350 Odysseus here is told by Cersei that he must go 0:21:14.350 --> 0:21:16.189 to the land of the underworld. He has to consult 0:21:16.230 --> 0:21:20.910 Tiresias to find out how to appease Poseidon's anger. Cersei 0:21:20.950 --> 0:21:23.990 goes on to give Odysseus detailed instructions on how to 0:21:23.990 --> 0:21:25.990 get to the land of the dead and what he 0:21:25.990 --> 0:21:28.790 should do when they're to get the spirit of Tiresias 0:21:28.790 --> 0:21:32.190 to come and speak to him, she says. But once 0:21:32.190 --> 0:21:34.990 your vessel has cut across the ocean River, you will 0:21:34.990 --> 0:21:40.149 raise a desolate coast and Persephone's grove, her tall black poplars, 0:21:40.310 --> 0:21:44.070 willows whose fruit dies young. Beat your vessel hard by 0:21:44.070 --> 0:21:46.869 the ocean's churning shore. And make your own way down 0:21:46.869 --> 0:21:51.070 to the moldering house of death. And there into Akron 0:21:51.109 --> 0:21:55.070 the flood of grief. Two rivers flow. The torrent river 0:21:55.070 --> 0:21:58.710 of fire. The wailing river of tears that branches off 0:21:58.710 --> 0:22:03.550 from Styx. The stream of hate and a stark crag looms. 0:22:03.550 --> 0:22:07.190 Where the two rivers thunder down and meet. Once there, 0:22:07.390 --> 0:22:11.710 go forward, hero! Do as I say. Now dig a 0:22:11.710 --> 0:22:15.189 trench of about a forearm's depth and length. And around 0:22:15.190 --> 0:22:18.390 it pour libations out to all the dead, first with 0:22:18.390 --> 0:22:22.030 milk and honey, and then with mellow. Wine, then water 0:22:22.030 --> 0:22:25.600 third and last. And sprinkle glistening barley over it all 0:22:25.600 --> 0:22:28.240 and vow again and again to all the dead, to 0:22:28.280 --> 0:22:31.320 the drifting, listless spirits of their ghosts. That once you 0:22:31.320 --> 0:22:33.800 return to Ithaca, you will slaughter a barren heifer in 0:22:33.800 --> 0:22:37.159 your halls the best you have, and load a pyre 0:22:37.160 --> 0:22:41.160 with treasures. And to Tiresias alone, apart, you will offer 0:22:41.160 --> 0:22:44.560 a sleek black ram, the pride of all your herds. 0:22:45.480 --> 0:22:47.560 And once your prayers have invoked the nation of the 0:22:47.560 --> 0:22:51.040 dead in their dim glory. Slaughter a ram and a black. 0:22:51.080 --> 0:22:55.160 You turning both their heads towards Erebus. But turn your 0:22:55.160 --> 0:22:58.600 head away. Looking toward the ocean River. Suddenly. Then the 0:22:58.600 --> 0:23:01.399 countless shades of the dead and gone will surge around 0:23:01.400 --> 0:23:04.480 you there. But order your men at once to flay 0:23:04.480 --> 0:23:07.800 the sheep that lie before you, killed by your ruthless blade. 0:23:07.960 --> 0:23:10.960 And burn them both. And then say prayers to the gods, 0:23:10.960 --> 0:23:14.320 to the Almighty God of death and dread Persephone. But 0:23:14.320 --> 0:23:17.959 you draw your sharp sword from beside your hip. Sit 0:23:17.960 --> 0:23:20.880 down on alert there, and never let the ghosts of 0:23:20.880 --> 0:23:24.640 the shambling, shiftless dead come near that blood till you 0:23:24.640 --> 0:23:29.359 have questioned Tiresias yourself. Soon, soon the great seer will 0:23:29.359 --> 0:23:32.840 appear before you. Captain of armies. He will tell you 0:23:32.840 --> 0:23:35.920 the way to go. The stages of your voyage. How 0:23:35.920 --> 0:23:41.040 you can cross the swarming sea and reach home at last. Now, 0:23:41.040 --> 0:23:43.520 one of the interesting things about the order of the 0:23:43.520 --> 0:23:48.760 episodes here is that after Odysseus has become a metaphorical animal, 0:23:48.760 --> 0:23:52.520 a metaphorical pig living without thought of home, without thought 0:23:52.560 --> 0:23:56.639 of nostos a homecoming, or of kleos of human glory, 0:23:56.840 --> 0:24:00.600 without even a thought of his identity. After having descended 0:24:00.600 --> 0:24:04.679 into such an existence, a return to the human realm 0:24:05.000 --> 0:24:08.800 requires passage through the land of the dead. We can 0:24:08.840 --> 0:24:11.680 think of this, in fact, as after having descended to 0:24:11.720 --> 0:24:15.000 mere animal existence, Odysseus must go through the land of 0:24:15.000 --> 0:24:17.879 the dead to come back to life. We're going to 0:24:17.880 --> 0:24:21.280 have a trip to life through death. And it is 0:24:21.280 --> 0:24:23.680 that voyage will see in our next lecture. 0:24:25.680 --> 0:24:28.320 Thank you for listening to this episode of the Hillsdale 0:24:28.320 --> 0:24:31.960 College Online Courses Podcast. If you want to continue learning, 0:24:31.960 --> 0:24:37.120 please visit hillsdale.edu/course. There you will find over 40 free 0:24:37.160 --> 0:24:42.360 online courses, including Ancient Christianity, the Genesis story, classic children's literature, 0:24:42.359 --> 0:24:46.400 and many more. The courses include additional readings, study guides, 0:24:46.400 --> 0:24:49.720 fully produced videos. Upon completing a course, you will also 0:24:49.720 --> 0:24:52.680 get a certificate. 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