Talk:The Ancient World (HUM 124 - UNC Asheville)/Texts/Odyssey/Book 19

I thought that it would be a good idea to split the character section into major and minor characters. Major characters are characters in more than one book or that are important to this particular book, and minor characters are only in this book or are only mentioned once or twice. Let me know if you think this is a good idea or if I need to get more or less specific about what classifies a major vs a minor character. --H.G.Grotenhuis (discuss • contribs) 18:59, 8 September 2020 (UTC)

Just chiming in here from my perspective, I think its a great idea! It would be interesting to identify characters that only appear in this book, or, if that's not the case, are maybe mentioned elsewhere in the Odyssey but play an important role only in this book. That gives you something interesting to think about...the storyteller has decided that this character's role is subservient in a sense to the story. Or maybe I'm mistaken? Is it possible to have a one-time character that is there for purposes other than advancing the story? Maybe as a diversion? -Joey Cross (discuss • contribs) 13:31, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

Ancient worldview: gender

@Faitha41: Talking about the scene with Eurycleia and Odysseus is a great approach here. Try to pick some quotations that you can add to your discussion and interpret...that would help a great deal. Also, think about the pivotal role that Eurycleia plays in the story. We can definitely assume that women played inferior roles in public life in the Greek world, but I find it interesting that Homer makes the discovery made by a servant woman to be maybe the most important discovery of the whole epic. Can you say anything about Homer's reasons for doing this? -Joey Cross (discuss • contribs) 15:21, 21 September 2020 (UTC)