What does theoclymenus prophecy to penelope

At the great hall of the palace, Odysseus has more need for judgment, prudence, and restraint. The suitors are feasting well on the best of Odysseus' sheep, hogs, fatted goats, and cattle. Most of the suitors give him something, a scrap or crust.

But Antinous, reminiscent of the ill-mannered goatherd on the road into town, verbally assaults Eumaeus and sardonically challenges the swineherd's decision to bring such a despicable old vagabond Odysseus to interrupt his dining. Eumaeus risks his own life by talking back to Antinous, but Telemachus wisely intercedes and directs the debate toward himself.

The truth is, of course, that the food is Odysseus' to begin with. More than a little perturbed, but staying in character as an old beggar, he pointedly asks Antinous for a "crust" in words that have double meaning; they sound flattering but are actually insulting. He jabs at the reason for Antinous' presence by saying, "You look like a king to me!

Odysseus foreshadows the showdown in Book 22 by wishing that Antinous might "meet his death before he meets his bride! Prudence prevails. The king and his son stop short of violence, although it is especially difficult for Telemachus to see his father treated so. The feast resumes, but Antinous has sealed his fate with his rude arrogance. The suitors will be given more opportunities to atone for their actions, but Athena The swineherd tells how impressed he was during his three days with the visitor, and Penelope requests that the guest speak with her.

Taking Mercury out of the mix leaves 15 matching dates in the year search period, he adds. According to Magnasco, the references imply that Homer chose to set the slaying of the suitors on the day of the eclipse.

He notes that he has "no clue" whether similar events to those described in the Odyssey actually occurred on that day. JR Minkel was a news reporter for Scientific American. Already a subscriber? Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. See Subscription Options. In any case, a legitimate thirty lines point to a more significant role for Theoclymenus than scholars have yet been able to establish.

Can he meet these high expectations? The answer can be found through careful examination of his three prophecies. After the introductory fanfare, Theoclymenus supplicates Telemachus, receives welcome, and sails back to Ithaca with the young prince, who has just learned the minds and cities of at least a few men and is at last on the road to manhood.

It will be worthwhile to go through the context and procedure of this prophecy carefully. Theoclymenus calls Telemachus over to speak to him privately , and then prophesies. His speech is four lines long. As to the affirmation that a bird of omen has flown past, it is notable that Theoclymenus characterizes the bird to Telemachus in just the same terms as the narrator has done to us: thus Telemachus is evidently unaware of anything unusual until Theoclymenus takes him aside. Let us review what has happened here.

Telemachus counters, not without a hint of self-pity, that this is impossible — and tells him to go to the house of one of his enemies — A bird flies by. Theoclymenus takes the young man aside and tells him forcefully that a god-sent bird of omen has appeared, and that his lineage is unbeatable.

Clearly the whole scene revolves around the question of where Theoclymenus is to stay in Ithaca. Since the prophecy lies squarely between the initial, shoddy invitation and the subsequent, hospitable invitation, the question is not whether Theoclymenus has made use of his prophetic ability for his own advantage, but how, and why it should be so effective. In order to answer this riddle, we must explore the relationship of mantic prophecy and archaic epic. These links both with the Homeric and Hesiod poetry of the rhapsodic repertoire and with the representation of epic poetry in Homer via the aoidos Demodocus prompt us to ask what relationship may obtain between a mantis like Theoclymenus inside Homer and manteis outside Homer in Panhellenic culture.

Certainly it is clear, as Nagy has shown, that the representation of epic by epic is subject to a process he terms diachronic skewing Nagy a—24 , whereby the depiction of occasional, lyre-accompanied performances by Demodocus and Phemius belies the attested reality of rhapsodic practice while nonetheless insisting on key elements of real rhapsodic poetry, such as the invocation of the Muse or the subject-matter of nostoi Odyssey i How then does the depiction of Theoclymenus correspond to the reality of prophecy in the archaic period?

The obvious starting point is Delphi. Since Theoclymenus, as an itinerant mantis , thus subsumes both oracular utterance by his very name and oracular performance by his activity in the Odyssey in a historical context of retrojection, we are on firmer ground in considering his role in oracular formulation. One obvious difference between a sports-bar conversation and Homeric performance is that of dignity; another is that of regular meter.

Bakker writes: [The linguist Wallace] Chafe has drawn attention to the capacity of the human mind to be activated not only by sensory input from the immediate environment, but also by what is not in the here and now.

The human mind appears to have a natural inclination to turn away from the physical present and to create a mental here and now, either by producing speech or listening to it. The obvious sign of this imaging potential in human discourse is the ubiquitous deployment of evidentiality markers and other linguistic devices pertaining to the here and now—the pretence is that what is remembered or imagined is actually seen , and the devices are deployed on the assumption that the listener is willing to play along with the pretence.

Here we discover a different sort of reaction to mantic performance than applied in the case of Telemachus, and a second riddle to consider regarding audience response. She asks him about his trip xvii 44 ; but he fobs her off 46—51 and, remarkably, says that he must go fetch Theoclymenus immediately 52—56 —so strong is his new bond with the soothsayer as a result of the first prophecy.

At this point Theoclymenus breaks in suddenly and prophesies. Fortunately we are now more familiar than were ancient scholars with the idea of reperformance. Gregory Nagy has been chiefly responsible for the application of this concept, which lies at the root of oral tradition, to archaic Greek poetics.

Such a mentality. In other words, Homeric poetry presents itself as the same thing each time it is performed, just as the words of heroes and gods that are quoted by the poetry are imagined to be the exact same words on each occasion of each new performance. Nor would his principal audience, Penelope, be aware of a contradiction with his first prophecy: the occasionality of reperformance triggers the reinterpretation of the bird of omen, but the suitability of the performance itself remains the only criterion of authenticity.

But how does Penelope react? He begins line with a full line of address; the next line discredits other sources of authority; the third defines the terms of his speech-act, and he deploys the professional verb manteuomai. My own view is that a middle course is more sensible: Penelope achieves gradual recognition of the disguised stranger—or rather, gradual recognition that the stranger is disguised. But she proceeds to declare that she will test the stranger by asking him to describe Odysseus — ; when he does so — , her reaction is even more emotional and she remarks that she is now in complete sympathy with the stranger, though she will not see Odysseus again — Firstly, the first two instances, those spoken to Theoclymenus, do not fit with the content of his prophesies: specifically, this triplet refers to future action, whereas Theoclymenus has been describing present-tense situations.

What are we to conclude from these seeming incongruities? We have seen that Odysseus himself, while no mantis , nonetheless shares in the Book 19 scene a line of characterization with the Hesiodic Muses, and I noted earlier the mantic affinities of Hesiod.

How do you spell prophysy? Who is Theoclymenus, and why is it appropriate that Telemachus should treat him kindly? He tells Penelope that Menelaus had heard that Odysseus had been trapped on Calypso's island. Answers is the place to go to get the answers you need and to ask the questions you want Who is Menelaus? Agamemnon Ag-ah-mem-non. Report of this cruelty reaches Penelope, who asks to have the beggar brought to her so that she can question him about Odysseus.

As the hour of the battle approaches, the tone is ominous. This is a sharp contrast to the dog Odysseus left behind; Argos used to be known for his speed and strength and his superior tracking skills. When sulfur dioxide reacts with water droplets in the air, it forms a substance that falls back to Earth as? Anticleia An-tick-leah. How does she respond? When father and son are alone in the hut, Athena appears to Odysseus and calls him outside.

Theoclymenus then speak up and swears that odysseus. Why does Argos die after greeting Odysseus? Odysseus decides to act stoically towards the rude actions of Melanthius because he cannot show his true form and he must act as a beggar, he knows that he will soon get back at him when he takes revenge on the suitors.

He foresees them entering Hades and ends his speech with the statement, "The Sun has been obliterated from the sky, and an unlucky darkness invades the world. How is Theoclymenus treated when he arrives at Telemachus' palace? Moreover, what prophecy does Theoclymenus give to Penelope? Why might it be significant, in terms of the Odyssey as a whole, that Helen, whose misbehavior towards her husband set in motion the Trojan War, gives Telemachus a robe to bestow upon his future bride?

Theoclymenus tells Penelope that Odysseus is back on the island. Odysseus tests the suitors by begging for food from each one.