Unit 4
   English 201: 
  Masterpieces of Western Literature
.Unit 4 Reading Course Reading Entry Page
Introduction Background .Explication Questions Review

Background:

Poseidon: Why does Poseidon trouble OD?
1.29    Yet all the gods had pitied Lord OD,
           all but Poseidon, raging cold & rough
           against the brave king

 The literal answer does not provide a sufficient reason:
1.88    Poseidon, bears the fighter an old grudge
          since he poked out the eye of Polyphemos

Who is Polyphemos?  The wild sea storm offspring of the god of the sea.  How does OD blind him?  By using ship-building technology.  The olive tree trunk is:
9.336    like a mast
            a lugger of 20 oars, broad in the beam--
            a deep-sea-going craft
& OD's crew:
9.400    rammed it
            deep in his [Polyphemos] crater eye, & I leaned on it
            turning it as a shipwright turns a drill
            in planking

Wedding of Posedion & Amphitrite
OD (who stands for us Greeks) dares to put out to sea in ships, violating the realm of Poseidon.  Now add the Greek paradox that God troubles those he loves.  Poseidon is the god who troubles us sailors daily.  Our fight against the sea is never done, but we measure our lives in our temporary victories.  For when we no longer pull an oar, it is because we have lost the body, lost the battle.

Helen: Book 4.  Look up Leda. It is no doubt fitting that the number of Leda's children is in question; how much moreso the various fathers.  With Zeus, Leda fathered Pollux & Helen.  With Tyndareus, Leda fathered Castor & Klytemnestra.  Look up Castor & Pollux (Dioscuri).  Our Dictionary reports: "It was also said that Helen was the daughter of Zeus & Nemesis."  In any case, Helen & Klytemnestra are half sinister sisters.  Notice Hermione.  Don't you wish we had photographs!
4.12    the gods had never after granted Helen
          a child to bring into the sunlit world
          after the first, rose-lipped Hermione,
          a girl like the pale-gold goddess Aphrodite.
Who does Hermione marry?  There are 2 names in question.  This is not just a rhetorical question.  See Questions.

Click on the next section: Explication above.