In
our society, liars and deceivers are often seen in a bad light. Most of us are
taught from a young age that lying is bad, and we even have stories teaching us
that it is wrong to lie (e.g. The Boy Who Cried Wolf). But for some reason, The Odyssey seems to be encouraging
these deceitful practices. We often consider lying as a character trait of “bad
guys”, but it’s the exact opposite in The
Odyssey, since all of the heroes and good guys seem to carry this trait.
Odysseus,
the main hero of this epic poem, is known for being cunning and quick to
deceive others. He tricks Polyphemus by saying that his name is Nobody. He
tricks the suitors by posing as a beggar and testing them. He even makes up
intricate stories in order to trick (or attempt to trick) Eumaeus, Penelope,
and the goddess Athena. When Odysseus lied to Athena about his backstory, I thought
that Athena would take offense to this and become unfavorable towards Odysseus.
I assumed that Odysseus had made a mistake by trying to trick a goddess. But
instead, Athena praises Odysseus and talks about how he is better than everyone
else because he is quick to deceive, just like she is. Not only is Odysseus
praised when he lies, but he is actually punished when he doesn’t! For example,
after Odysseus escapes from Polyphemus, he taunts the Cyclops and reveals his
real name. For once Odysseus was honest about his identity, but we all know
what hardships he faced later as a consequence of revealing his name to Polyphemus.
Odysseus
isn’t the only one who is known for being cunning. This trait seems to run in
the family line, as both Penelope and Telemachus share these traits as well.
Penelope tricks the suitors for three years by undoing the burial shroud every
night. Telemachus tricks Penelope when he sneaks away from home to find out
news about his father Odysseus. Even the gods and goddesses often deceive
people by disguising themselves when visiting humans. All of this seems to
point to the fact that craftiness and deceptiveness were considered as positive
traits in ancient Greek culture. I looked this up to see if this was true,
since my only evidence for this idea comes from The Odyssey. Apparently in The
Iliad, an epic poem about the Trojan War, Achilles says the following about
Odysseus: “For hateful as Hades’ gate is the man for me who conceals one thing in
his heart but speaks another”. This statement seems to completely contradict
the ideas presented in The Odyssey. Achilles
obviously detests men like Odysseus who purposefully lie and deceive others. Perhaps
researching the relationship between Achilles and Odysseus will reveal some background
context that would clarify this statement. Or maybe Achilles’ views on this is
different from the ancient Greek norm.
At
this point, I really don’t know how ancient Greeks viewed deception. The Odyssey seems to strongly point to
the idea that craftiness should be praised, and yet I am hesitant to come to
this conclusion with such limited knowledge. Maybe lying was accepted as long
as it was for a good purpose? Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus all lied out
of a “good” motive, right? Odysseus lied to save his crew and to reunite with
his family. Penelope lied to keep the suitors at bay and stay faithful to
Odysseus. Telemachus lied in order to search for his lost father. Still, there are a few counterexamples where
these characters didn’t lie out of a clearly good motive. I obviously don't know the answer, what do you guys
think?
Perhaps this modern day look at lying is part of the reason that so many people in our class don't like Odysseus. He is, as you say, a prolific lier in these books, and seemingly very good at it. This is definitely different from the ideas of honor and honesty that are often associated with storybook heroes. I am skeptical that greeks might see lying as an admirable thing, since lies usually don't end well in everyday life.
ReplyDeleteI think that one of the main differences between the Odyssey and the Iliad is that the Iliad focuses on great warriors (i.e. Achilles) whereas the Odyssey is about how good cunning and intelligence are. These differing messages could be the cause of this discrepancy, but in any case you do make a good argument. I think that, on the whole, "deception" as Odysseus was constantly doing was different from our modern concept of "lying." We think lying is bad, but perhaps the ancient Greek version of that concept was viewed as a positive, even heroic, trait.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, I think that most of the motives that the characters lied for good motives. Although some of the decisions came to questionable outcomes, I feel that climax of the story that we consider so questionable mostly happened for the concept of Greek hospitality. It had little to do with the concept of deviousness, and deception. I do agree that the lying is a family thing, and I think the lying was for mostly good causes, but only led to questionable outcome because of hospitality.
ReplyDeleteSomehow this question seems related to Odysseus's general skills as a storyteller--a would-be bard, as we see when he's in Alcinous's palace. There's a fine line between being a good *liar* and being able to tell a compelling and dramatic story, and we can view some of his lies in this light (like, when he needs to come up with a cover story to advance his plot, he cooks up and entire dramatic narrative about being on the lam for murder--it's a good story totally apart from the question of truth and deception).
ReplyDeleteBut then what about more consequential lies, as when he tells Penelope (through the ruse of being the beggar who once saw Odysseus) that Odysseus has been delayed so long because he "thought it the better, shrewder course / to recoup his fortunes roving through the world"--i.e. he's not been Calypso's love-prisoner, but in fact smartly traveling the world recouping his losses? Good story, guy--but is there a reason he's hesitant to completely come clean about where he's been for the last decade?
It seems that lying is often considered a beneficial act when it serves to advance the plot - a reasonable decision on Homer's part. As you point out, Penelope lies about her weaving. Had she not done this, she would've presumably married a suitor and rendered Odysseus return pointless.
ReplyDeleteOdysseus is definitely a master liar and lying / storytelling is something that gets him through a lot of his troubles. I was a little disturbed by just how skilled Odysseus was at lying, and the extent to which he would weave false tales and stories as if he was doing it for fun! The scary part I think is if he's this skilled at lying with GOOD intentions ... imagine how easy it must be for him to lie for BAD intentions.
ReplyDeleteHmm my personal opinion/guess is that Greek culture is ok with lying, as long as it's part of like a laid out plan, or something smart - not one of those "boi did u eat the cookie" "pssh no what *crunch crunch*" - so I guess lying with intellect, rather than by flight (aka I'm not going to admit to the things that I have done so imma run away - i.e. cowardly).
ReplyDelete(and I quite honestly would appreciate that a lot more than being cowardly, though I wouldn't really respect that)
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