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Polyphemus
“Indeed, here is where the knowledge of the poet is not heard, for the community has broken down into the individual sphere of forgetfulness. In any obsession, duty to one’s community is lost in favor of the prize. Odysseus will soon find what his lotos is.
Soon after escaping the Lotos Eaters, Odysseus and his crew encounter the Cyclops: “giants, louts, without a law to bless them . . . they neither plow / no sow by hand . . . they have no muster and no meeting, / no consultation or old tribal ways, / but each one dwells in his own mountain cave / dealing out rough justice to wife and child, / indifferent to what others do” (IX.113-24). In Cyclops Land there is no community, only the individual living separate from the others, like members of the Minnesota Militia hunkered down in caves waiting to defend themselves with violent force against any intruder who happens to be stupid enough to venture into their land without his NRA card. The cyclops are even distrustful of each other, only interested in isolation, not in venturing out to meet others or even to tell stories. Based on its concentration on hospitality and community, the Odyssey seems to count the cyclops as a representation of barbaric, pre-communal beings that are not as sophisticated as humans.”
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September 3rd, 2007 at 1:42 pm
http://www.greekmythology.com/Books/Odyssey/O_Book_IX/o_book_ix.html
September 3rd, 2007 at 4:55 pm
So what are you saying?
September 3rd, 2007 at 6:28 pm
There is a powerful archetype here, something our society is dealing with at a larger level. The image I see has a cyclops out at a disco club trying to meet the ladies. The disco-ish music I hear now (I am at a coffee shop) is playing. Its Donald Byrd. Its related also to the Geico caveman, and their deep resonance with the culture at large. I think the image is of individuals trying to rectify the primitive self with complexities of this society.
September 3rd, 2007 at 6:44 pm
I’m not trying to “say” something Ted. I am just marking a reference point for something that happened in my personal life.
September 3rd, 2007 at 7:27 pm
I’m not trying to “say” something Ted. I am just marking a reference point for something that happened in my personal life.
September 3rd, 2007 at 7:30 pm
So its like a note to yourself that anyone reading your blog kind of intrudes in upon without really knowing what its about?
September 3rd, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Cut me some slack man!
September 3rd, 2007 at 10:12 pm
:P
September 4th, 2007 at 3:11 am
The war machine springs to life
Opens up one eager eye
Focusing it on the sky
As ninety-nine red balloons go by
(always said there’s a quote for any occasion somewhere in that ;-D )
September 4th, 2007 at 10:47 am
I’m more worried about them biclops. They’re all over the place. Fuckers.
September 4th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
The beauty of poetry is that it speaks truth regardless of context. Whatever the significance of the Cyclops is to Tim, I’m sure these words speak truth to his situation…
September 4th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
Uh… I’m just going to let this conversation go
September 4th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
What conversation? What is everyone talking about again?
September 4th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
I have no idea!
September 4th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
We aren’t really trying to engage you, Tim. We each have are own interpretation of this post that is special to us.
September 4th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
Yeah, I’m perfectly fine with that. I’d like to encourage more of that sort of thing actually: just setting up reference points as backdrops for other people’s experiences. I feel like that is one of the main things an artist does: create rallying points for people to share experiences
September 4th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Ah! Good to hear Tim like’s to hear our interpretations…I can’t stress mine enough, there is this thing about these brutes, cyclops and cavemen in our culture and its seriously important in the collective mind. Here, let me demonstrate it. Check out:
http://www.cavemanscrib.com/
This is about the Geico cavemen. (Do you know they are starting a freaking TV series off them? They are that resonant with us!) Now as you go through it, notice its in first person perspective and you don’t know what you are. Imagine though that you are a mute voyeuristic cyclops, which the experience suggests, you go around looking and say nothing.
Now you are invited to this caveman’s house expecting a party, but instead you find him unkempt, in his natural state with no one else there. Why?
He arrays all his electronics before you, and then leaves you alone to go take a shower, leaving the door to the shower enticingly open. Why?
You then have to spend your time tampering with his electronics and discovering his secrets “without his knowledge” You even listen to the compromising messages on his answering machine, as he says nothing. But when you tamper with the food in his microwave, his omniscience is revealed through smart ass comments. Why?
September 4th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Oops, I didn’t finish my cave man comments.
The ultimate question is, why are we so damned interested in a simulated voyeuristic experience of an urbane caveman? Why is this archetype of the gentle wreckless brute so compelling? The answer is that we see it in OURSELVES, but we are afraid to express it. Its the same thing with rock stars, dressing as women or acting out sexually on stage. The wild man is US, caveman or cyclops, and society is dealing with this at a very large level.
September 4th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
Sorry to disappoint, but there is no large Minnesota Militia movement, and probably not much of a small one. You may be thinking of Ohio, or somewhere.
Minneapolis is one of the premiere cities in the world, I might add. It is an arts capital, and the last I heard the bible belt had only moved up into southern Iowa.
Odysseus was known as one of the greatest liars of all time, and also one of the worlds most treacherous men. He was celebrated for that by the Greeks.
September 5th, 2007 at 10:01 am
Well, I hate to break it to you, but I didn’t write that bit about militias. It’s just a quote I found somewhere. And trying to discredit mythological figures is simply ridiculous!
September 5th, 2007 at 11:07 am
oh c’mon, my “biclops” comment was brilliant! Right?
Right?
;)
September 5th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
” And trying to discredit mythological figures is simply ridiculous!”
Far from trying to discredit him, I admire him, and he was one of my early role models, back when I had heroes. Homer’s two books are favorites of mine.
Odysseus has been described as the archetypal wanderer, and also someone that eventually makes his way home, learning from life along the way, and gaining knowledge.
Formidable, strong and enduring. Crafty in dealing with men. He had to be, or not survive.
More clever and more resourceful than any other Homeric hero - not so much ‘cunning’ as capable of analysing any situation and forming rational decisions accordingly.
A person that discovers life and himself.
I did not think you wrote the thing about militias. I just had to pipe in being a Minnesotan, and wanting to defend my turf, because I like it here.
September 6th, 2007 at 7:54 am
I got it.
September 7th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
No slack for the weary.