relationships: men and women

• crucial to the Odyssey
• Ody has fought in a war waged to reclaim Helen
• he is now returning to Ithaca is to reclaim his own wife, Penelope
• the question of the woman's fidelity is central to the epic
• beginning of bk 1 - Zeus relates the story of Clytemnestra's affair with Aegisthus and her husband, Agamemnon's, homecoming
• bk 11 shows us women whose marriages have deviated from the ideal
• the catalogue includes Tyro, raped by Poseidon; Alcmene, seduced by Zeus, disguised as her husband; Epicaste (Jocasta), who unwittingly married her own son; Phaedra, who fell in love with her step-son; Eriphile, who bartered her husband's life for gold
• it is as though Ody is observing the scenarios which could threaten his relationship with P
• Agamemnon, in Hades, recalls the treachery of Clytemnestra
• 'never be too trustful even of your wife,' he warns before adding 'not that your wife, Odysseus, will ever murder you'
• the man's fidelity is generally not an issue
• Agamemnon shows no indication that his returning home with a mistress should have any bearing on Clytemnestra's behaviour
• Ody's sleeping with Calypso for 7 years and Circe for a year is not raised as a moral problem
• women being possession of men seems to be accepted
• Eurymedusa was given to Alcinous as a prize
• the women of the Cicones (bk 9) are presented as provisions for men along with the food and wine
• Laertes' treatment of Eurycleia does show some sensitivity
• he has brought her for the price of 20 oxen (bk 1), but for fear of his wife's displeasure, he had not slept with her
• husbands and wives have close relationships, based on affection and mutual respect
• the closeness of the couples is reflected in their retiring at the end of the day to their bed, in the case of Ody and P, to a bed which is constructed so as to be impossible to move
• the women Ody meets are attracted to him
• Calypso keeps him for 7 years
• Circe keeps him for a year
• Nausicaa enjoys her dreams of him as potential husband for just one day
• these women are powerful and Ody relies on them for his next stage of nostos
• they might be disappointed at his departure, but they remain strong
• Calypso sees him off with provisions
• Circe with valuable advice
• Nausicaa establishes that she has her part in his story and demands recognition for it
• Ody's relationship with Athene can never be a normal one, she being a goddess and is devoted to chastity
• book 13 - she teases him about where he is, sees through his lying tales, and laughs with him about the way they are both the best at deception
• this closeness based on affection and shared intelliegence is not dissimilar to his relationship with P