Soldier, Poet, King

The word of God

The word of God: Xenia

During the lectures something that caught my eye was the way Professor Giannopoulos described the power dynamic of the host and guest. Stating that the host has the power to kill their guest or simply treat them well. I found it amusing how quick of a turn it was, it's such a jump from being nice to committing an act of murder. Then I realized that is very much the case for those who live in this world of Gods, although strange in our world to commit murder simply you have the power to as a host, for them it's a very real possibility. The word of Xenia is the word of God, protected by Zeus in order to show generosity and hospitality to those who have traveled far from home. Those who follow this are deemed to be a good host and those who don't are destined to be punished by God.

Jupiter and Mercury in the House of Philemon and Baucis

God | Odysseys

In the case of Odysseus, this idea of punishment is further enforced with Polyphemus, the cyclops who rejected Odysseys and his men with Xenia and was in turn given the terrible fate of being blinded and stolen from by Odysseus. Although he wasn't given the fate of death he was still punished by Odysseus.

That had me thinking further, is Odysseus God? Although not literally a god he very much has a lot of qualities that make him seem like a god. He has expressed to the Phaeacians that he is a well known man with many accomplishments, he is a natural leader, smart and strategic. On top of that he is very much aware of all of this, he is a very prideful man.

I believe that Odysseys to some extent is God, or more specifically when he encounters Polyphemus as the law of xenia, his bible, has been broken. He is executioner, judge, and jury and punishes Polyphemus as he sees fit. To further show this connection I will be comparing Odysseus encounter with Polyphemus with the song "Soldier, Poet, King" by The Oh Hellos

Solider, Poet, King:

God | Odysseus

The soldier, a reference to how God will punish those who did not set their loyalties with him shall now experience unspeakable horrors. "who carries a mighty sword. He will tear your city down".

The Solider, the one who has fought wars and conquered places. So when faced with someone like Polyphemus who denies him and his men the right of xenia he sees fit to "tear" his city down.

The poet, a reference to the words of God more specifically the bible, as his weapon. "whose weapon is his word. He will slay you with his tongue".

The Poet, there are 2 poets the words of Odysseus and xenia. His words are powerful in many ways, he can command his men to follow his order, he manipulates and twist his words when telling his stories with the Phaeacians. Then there is xenia, already a respected law amongst most and acts like the bible of god since it is protected by Zeus and Odysseus in this case. This lack of loyalties towards xenia is what gives Odysseus the right to slay Polyphemus with his words.

The King, a reference to Christ himself as he is known to be the “Kings of Kings” as there is also a reference to being “smeared with oil like David's boy” referencing to anointed a king on his coronation, but even so the king is still depicted to cause horrors. “he will tear your city down”

The King, He is the King of Ithaca, he is a natural leader and is the one most look to when there is trouble. Naturally when in trouble with the cyclops his men look at him to find a way out, and together they tear down polyphemus' home by blinding him and stealing his sheep and goats.

The song "Soldier, Poet, King" is a story of the second coming of Christ by making God be reflected as these 3 characters. Inspired by C.S. Lewis novel "The Screwtape Letters" on how the world will end

Corrupted file: GLiTCh 1

The world of the Gods is corrupted. They are not any better than the humans in our world. Take the great Odysseus into example, the man who preached the good of Xenia was the same man who violated all of the rules of this sacred idea first. He let his men and himself into the home of the cyclops without permission, they stole and ate his food, and then asked for a gift without promising the host a gift in return, then he believes that the cyclops is in the wrong and harms him in his own house. He is not one who follows xenia himself, he picks and choices when to enforce the law of xenia

Reflection

This project overall has been a fun creative outlet for me as I get to play the role as a storyteller in my archive and I get to have fun by adding my own thoughts as "corrupted files” as they usually stray away from my original points. I have so far loved getting to be creative with the site as a whole by searching for images and making it look cool overall and hopefully I can still use different forms of media in the future. As of this assignment I incorporated a song with my ideas, who knows what I might do in the future or even by next quarter. As of right now I would say that as a collector of materials for worldbuilding I am doing just fine, although slowly I am picking up the pieces out of my mind and slowly making them into a reality. As for the future, I hope I do good in assembling my ideas and making them as cohesive as possible. As I continue this project I can't wait to include bits and pieces of myself and make it a fun experience for any of my travelers exploring my story.

Citations:

Giannopoulou, Zina. "Odyssey 9 - Take 1: Constructing the Cyclops". Humanities Core. University of California, Irvine. Irvine. 27 September 2022. Lecture

Giannopoulou, Zina. "Odyssey 9 - Take 2: Deconstructing Odysseus". Humanities Core. University of California, Irvine. Irvine. 3 October 2022. Lecture

Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Robert Fagles. Introduction and notes by Bernard Knox. Penguin Books, London

GIF Sources

Lost - 4 colors [Digital Image]. 2019. Retrieved from https://www.reddit.com/r/PixelArt/comments/dxmn2i/oc_lost_4_colors/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Master Sword [Digital Image]. 2021. Retrieved from https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3e/20/2a/3e202af0f61d27eea2ff19c3774b944d.gif

Crown Royale [Digital Image]. 2016. Retrieved from https://dribbble.com/shots/2927182-Crown-Royale

Would You Like To Play? [Digital Image]. year unknown. Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/732820170634512372/

Image Sources

Jordaens, Jacob. Jupiter and Mercury in the House of Philemon and Baucis. circa 1645, North Carolina Museum of Art, North Carolina

Quill and Paper Embroidered [Product Image]. https://www.etsy.com/listing/175955884/writer-shakespeare-hamlet-quill-and?click_key=13bf6f1e82f63d339d5304d17de1a67a55340cf4%3A175955884&click_sum=f83c917d&ref=shop_home_recs_1

Video Sources

Health, Tyler and Health, Maggie. "Soldier, Poet, King." YouTube, uploaded by Lost In Aisle 12, 16 October, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z8zZBBkIRw&ab_channel=LostInAisle12

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