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Did Not Expect To Have A Full Analysis Thrown At Me While Looking At The Hermes Tag For Art - Blog Posts
The Assosiation of Odysseus with the Ram (an Odyssey and Iliad Analysis on Odysseus and Hermes)
Is there no one gonna talk on the fact that Odysseus escapes Polyphemus under a ram? A RAM! The ram is one of the sacred animals of HERMES! Also the association of Odysseus with the ram seems to be blatant and I am surprised no one talks of it! Hermes! The god that is his lineage and also arguably the one that helped him without conditions in his trip...is always there!
Hermes is also called Κριοφορος (Kriophoros)= ram-bearer, due to myths that involve him carry a ram around his back
Also in ancient art, Hermes is also depicted riding a ram!
Odysseus escapes Polyphemus and certain death UNDER a ram, when Hermes, the sender of souls to the underworld is depicted ON a ram! What is more the ram as black of color, a color associated to death and mourning as well as Hermes is associated with death!
Hermes is mentioned as "bearer of rams" and yet a lamb now bears Odysseus under it out of the cave!
Of course the most infamous association of Odysseus with a ram is that he is also compared to one! Infamously in the Iliad:
Secondly, the old man upon seeing Odysseus he asked: "Tell me now, dear child, who is that one. He is a head shorter than Agamemnon the son of Atreus but he seems to me wider in his shoulders and his chest, his arms he has them placed upon the well-graised earth. He seems to me like a thick-haired ram the way he prances through the lines of men as if they are a flock of white lambs"
(Translation by me)
Not only does Homer give us a very good physical description of Odysseus in the most beautiful way (ram= thick of hair, possibly curly and wholly -as also described in the Odyssey- possibly hairy of body as well also walking proud and steadily) as well as in a way his demeanour (the word "ram" κτίλος also means "calm" or "demured") but it also seems very interesting how he is associated with an animal known to be sacred to Hermes!
Hermes according to many myths was the father of his grandfather, Autolycus, therefore Odysseus's grea-grandfather! From line one he is associated with an animal that is also associated with his lineage (to me it seems that Homer more or less from line one shows us that this is the family line he follows for Odysseus)
Then a ram is his salvation out of the cave of Polyphemus; a ram that is associated with a god that is said to send souls to the dead also saves his life!
In Aeaea Hermes appears to assist him by giving him Moly and instructions on his trip. Hermes is there all by himself. Other gods have either abandoned him because of his hubris or were not interested in him. Hermes is there to bring assistance on his own accord. (Hermes is also a rule-breaker, just like Odysseus is not the classical figure of a hero and uses methods that are often seen as shady for the ideal warrior)
In the Underworld Odysseus once again has to sacrifice a ram, a BLACK ram and wait for Tiresias to drink from its blood.
A ram is also part of the sacrifice he has to offer to Poseidon (ram, bull and boar).
Hermes comes to bring the message to Ogygia and release Odysseus from it
Odysseus seems to be completely associated with the ram and it is more than just a coicidence to me. Arguably Odysseus who was described as a ram, travels in the Underworld, like Hermes travels to the underworld to bring the souls of the dead! This doesn't seem like a coicidence in my eyes.
Homer seems to be totally insinuating that the ram and consequently Hermes are part of his inheritence. Even the fact that Hermes is often seen as a trickster and a rule-breaker seems to be connected to Odysseus and his behavior or demeanour.
Hermes is also associated as protector of travelers and wanderers and this is exactly what Odysseus is in the Odyssey! Moreover Odysseus and Hermes are associated with the iconography of the hat called petasos:
(Odysseus and Hermes)
Also both associated with this double-stafff iconographically, which is a symbol of a messenger! Odysseus often acts like a messenger or as a comittee or as a negotiator! I also daresay that he is also depicted pulling Briseis from the hand, the movement is associated with Hermes as he leads souls in the underworld!
And most importantly; Hermes's epithets among other are Δόλιος (Dolios)=Wily, Deceiving, Planning
And.....
Πολύτροπος (Polytropos)= Of many ways, of many turns