Sultan Jaber

10 December 2019

Homer: The Earliest Existentialist

Introduction
Peoples through ages have been blaming deities, governments, others, ideologies, and
anything they can blame for their actions except for themselves. This blame has been
characterised as an escape from responsibility as well as way of confronting oneself. There
have been attempts to study the human condition in terms of existence, suffering, and
responsibility, one of the latest philosophies is existentialism and its implications, and one of
the earliest texts to discuss these topics is Homer’s Odyssey.
Homer’s masterpiece influenced English literature and functioned as a main pillar in modern
writings for the issues it addresses and the readings it offers. Writers intertextualised The
Odyssey in many of their writings because it teaches lessons, morals, and most importantly,
examines existence and tries to explain it according to the belief system of their times. In this
paper, I will explain existentialism, discuss its origins, prove that it is misconceptualised, and
explain why Homer is seen as the earliest existentialist in terms of thinking and proposing the
concept.

Literature review

Existentialism

A philosophy that emerged in the nineteenth and twentieth century with which people try to
create meaning in their lives. It tries to define the human condition from abstract, and perceives
humans as free agents; thus, responsible for their own actions. (Macquarie, John. Existentialism,
New York 1973). It states that the only way of making our lives meaningful is by forging
actions and taking steps. This action forging creates meaning in people’s lives and makes them
purposeful. The philosophy is associated with modern European figures like Soren Kierkegaard,
Frederich Nietzsche, and Albert Camus for their influential works. Nietzsche’s Gay Science in
which he declares the death of God, which was, and still is, misunderstood for Nietzsche
referred to the absence of morals and spirituality in the times when Europe was facing a moral
and human catastrophe that can be summarised in the deaths of wars and the genocides
happening to eliminate others. Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus is a prominent book that studies
the human existence and suffering and introduces it in new forms. The mal-history of the
philosophy’s roots makes it always associated with modern approaches and philosophers not
taking into consideration how ancient is the concept.
Reading in history, we notice that the name of the philosophy was coined in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries, but the concept has been there for ages. Many writers and philosophers
tried to examine the human condition and define it, but those attempts were not framed which
caused their loss. One of which is Homer’s Odyssey in which he presents a magnificent reading
to the human existence that submerges with the Greek belief system.

The Odyssey
A brilliant narrative of a lost man seeking his home after being cursed in the sea for 10 years.
The epic is a wonderful representation of the Greek culture, it can also be read as an
existentialist piece for the existential references it includes. It addresses a journey of lost
wandering in which the hero achieves his purpose only through forging actions, it also teaches
us lessons of morals such as the importance of taking responsibility and the value of
dependency. Odysseus suffers to reach Ithaca and endures many hardships to become the man
he admires to be.

The poem is a perfect visualisation of Sartre’s “man is condemned to be free; because once
thrown into this world, he is responsible for everything he does”, Odysseus is literally thrown
on an island with a goddess and he is sitting there helplessly, unable to do anything.
Existentialism rejects the divine intervention in the human action, however, it addresses and
acknowledges boētheia (guardianship in Greek). Homer acknowledges the guide offered to
Odysseus but does not comply with it. “He won’t be gone long from the native land he loves,
not even if iron shackles bind your father down. He’s plotting a way to journey home at last;
he’s never at loss.” (Homer. Heinemann. 1919, The Odyssey, pp. 25), the previous passage
from Athena’s speech to Telemachus shows the stubbornness of Odysseus to return back home.
Calypso offers Odysseus immortality but he insists on not relying on deities and favours
creating his own meaning.

Existential suffering is what makes Odysseus long for his return home. When Calypso offers
him immortality, he refuses that and insists to leave and seek his way back home.

Don’t be angry with me, please. All that

You say is true, how well I know.

Look at my wise Penelope. She falls far

Is mortal after all, and you, you never

Age or die.

Nevertheless I long- I pine, all my days-

To travel home and see the dawn of my

Return. And if a god will wreck me yet

Again on the wine dark sea, I can bear

That too, with a spirit tempered to

Endure. Much have I suffered, laboured

Long and hard by now in the waves and

Wars. Add this to the total- bring the

Trial on.

Odysseus’s stubbornness to create meaning rather than rely on divine powers and blame them
for his trials implies his existential soughing that would shape him into the man he is to fight
absurdity which in his case is exile, and to create meaning by reaching Ithaca. We notice the
tone with which he defies the void- it could be gods here- challenging the predestined dreads
he has to encounter. Existentialism argues that predestinations are myths, but because Greeks
had their own set of values and beliefs, they could not overlap the traditions and religious
system in the times, so they addressed it but did not acknowledge it. The divine guide helped
Odysseus but was never the real action doer, it only lighted the path and made it more visible.
No matter how much Athena helps the hero, how much Poseidon tries preventing him from
journeying home, how many obstacles await the hero, he still manages to create his seldom
meaning.
Research questions

What is existentialism?

Why is the philosophy associated with modern European philosophers?

Have there been any attempts to write about existentialism before it was coined?

Is the concept related to Greek kleos and Old English comitatus?

In what way did Homer succeed immortalising his masterpiece?

What does the word Odyssey mean and refer to?

What are the existential references in the Odyssey?

Research methodology

I have searched prominent existential philosophers’ arguments on existence and how they
perceive the void. Analysing and comparing Homer’s epic to Sartre and Nietzsche’s famous
opinions on the absurdity of life and the suffering of existence to Homer’s visual
representations of them. I have also extracted some pieces from Beowulf to prove that the
concept has been in practice long before the term was coined, thousands of years of human
civilisation developed through different approaches and focused all on one purpose: meaning.
This experience is examined briefly in this paper trying to understand what is meaning, and
how did people through ages interact to it.

I have also examined the Odyssey and interpreted it without any external sources, translations
of some words in the epic referred mainly to the themes discussed in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries. Such examples are to be mentioned in the data analysis and translation.
Many epic poems, novels, and all canons of literature contain an existential reference, and I
have decided to study this specific text for the different readings it offers and for the lack of
existential readings of it. Most of existential critiques were directed towards novel texts as they
were written with awareness of theme, Homer might have written his piece not taking into
consideration how influential it will be, but he realised that it addresses the human condition
and will be studied for eternity. Homer was wandering around Athens narrating his narrative
to Achaeans to transform his philosophical knowledge and to teach people a lesson about their
way of lives. Homer realised back then that people need education and awareness, he dedicated
his epic to spread the most sublime knowledge of humanity; how to exist, how to create your
own personal meaning which resulted in an enlightenment in Greece.

Content analysis

Reading through the epic, it is noticed that the whole text is a motivation for creating meaning.
Passages throughout books contain encouragements for meaning seekers; Odysseus’s
insistence on wandering the sea, Telemachus’s affirmation on finding his father, Penelope’s
patience are all examples of how these characters endured suffering to teach us a lesson about
how should we interact with the absurdity of life.

Albert Camus came up with the term ‘void’ to define meaninglessness of life and explained in
his The Myth of Sisyphus how one can defy the void. This Camusean void is what Odysseus
had to go through, Homer managed successfully to convey the circumstances surrounding his
case and allowed the reader to imagine how hard his situation was. This is achieved through
hamartia where readers experience the hero’s feelings and feel pity for him, emotional uprising
occurs when reading epic poems and leads audience to interact with it. Odysseus suffers but
seizes the process through which he goes because it is the process that will make him what he
is by the end of the text.

Translating the word Odyssey from Greek leads to a conclusion that summarises the main
theme of the poem; suffrage. The word Odyssey means a journey, a journey through which the
audience develop along with the character, a journey of existence to defy the void. He refuses
Calypso’s offer of dolce vita (immortal and luxurious life) for the sake of journeying home and
fighting the suitors.

Kleos is a Greek word that means code of honour, this code of honour is what urged fighters
back in the times to fight and forge actions to be remembered_ being remembered here is their
purpose. Odysseus’s pride causes him troubles when he addresses the Cyclops with the
following speech: “Cyclops— if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded
you, shamed you so—say Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out your eye, Laertes’ son who
makes his home in Ithaca!” (Homer. Heinemann. 1919, The Odyssey, pp. 152), which includes
a clear reference to the statement made by existentialists that one should never blame any
higher power but rather takes responsibility. Odysseus starts going through the curse of
Poseidon after having stated his real identity to the monster. This declaration of identity comes
from a culture that teaches knights to be brave and proud, although he knows he will have to
counter The God of Sea, yet he does not blame anyone. He admits his deed and prepares himself
for what is going to happen next.

Apparently, English culture had the same cult in the early centuries. Reading through Beowulf,
we notice the strong presence of comitatus (old English code of honour) in so many places.
The most prominent one is when Hrothgar, the Danish King, tells Beowulf “your pride shall
kill you” (Heaney, S. 2009. Beowulf. Faber& Faber. pp. 186), and his prophecy comes true
when Beowulf fights the dragon by the end of the poem. Beowulf also takes absolute
responsibility being the king of the Geats-land and decides not to endanger his thanes’ lives by
fighting the dragon on his own. Both examples show a pure existential attitude in terms of
creating meaning and taking responsibility, both epics affirm the belief system of Old English
and Greek societies where people were valued for their actions and attitudes.

Death is inescapable, no one was known for escaping death, even the greatest heroes, and
ideologies tried justifying and explaining what is meant by death, or what happens after death,
based on their understanding of the concept and based on their cult_ be it religion or philosophy.
Greeks acknowledged death and saw it as a part of life, and saw destiny as the controlling
object. “But the great leveller, death; not even the gods can defend a man, not even one they
love, that day when fate takes hold and lays him out at last.” (Homer. Heinemann. 1919, The
Odyssey, pp.40). Athena addresses death as a result of fate that is un-survivable and with that
she complies with ideologies, religions, and peoples’ statements through ages. Existentialism
also sees the matter of death as something beyond our comprehension, it fails to explain the
concept of death like all other philosophies and ideas, and thus it does not try to defy it. It
brutally accepts death as a part of our existence, as a phase of transforming from being to
nonbeing. It also rejects the idea of heaven and hell as it opposes its main theme, freedom of
human species.

Homer could not ignore the divine intervention, Greeks were firm believers of the idea of fate
and how the gods plan our lives, and their culture relied heavily on prophecies and fortune
telling. Homer, being a writer in Greece in the times, had to comply with the religious and
societal system to be accepted as a narrator and to be able to represent and explain their way
of living for future readers or hearers. “With those words, Zeus turned to his own son Hermes.
“You are our messenger, Hermes, sent on all our missions. Announce to the nymph with lovely
braids our fixed decree: Odysseus journeys home—the exile must return. But not in the convoy
of the gods or mortal men. No, on a lashed, makeshift raft and wrung with pains.” (Homer.
Heinemann. 1919, The Odyssey, pp. 78), with this speech made by Zeus, Homer complies with
the belief system, yet he smartly indulge the reference to Odysseus’s wanderings and pain. As
if Homer is asking ‘if fate controlled Odysseus’s lives, if it planned his way back home already,
why would not Zeus just take him there with his godly powers? Why does he make him suffer,
wrung with pains? With this clever statement, Homer is telling us that divine intervention may
and may not function as a guide, a map to see the path, but it would not forge the actions nor
will it use a magical power to easily take the hero home and kill all the suitors. Fate, for
existentialists, is a useless concept, it is used by the weak to justify their failures, miseries,
comfort themselves by blaming fate, and depending on mythos to plan their lives, and rely on
fortune telling to guide them to avoid the unexpected. The fear of bad deeds makes them escape
their reality and try to find their lost meaning.

Conclusion

Overall, it may be said that some texts, like the Odyssey, have not had enough credits or studies
for several reasons: their antiquity, lack of resources, ambiguous readings, and their ability to
endure so many interpretations. It also may be said that some philosophers and philosophies
were misunderstood and misconceptualised due to linguistic as well as historical reasons. This
research discussed the mistakes made when talking about existentialism_ be it ideas and
figures_ like Nietzsche’s death of God which referred mainly to the prevail of materialism on
the account of spirituality in Europe, this lack of morals led Nietzsche to the conclusion that
morals represented God and since morals are dead; so God is also dead. The concept of the
philosophy existed with the beginnings of human existence, the word existentialism comes
from the verb ‘to exist’ which makes it date back to the beginning of existence, and associates
its ideas to human civilisation and even before. Before the formation of civilisation, primitive
people had to make actions to survive, they had to hunt, find shelters in caves, make weapons
to defend themselves from animals, and breed to ensure the maintenance of the human race.
According to evolution, humans invented civilisations, came up with rules, and created laws to
survive. The idea of coming up with an organised way of living is also a way of creating
meaning, it illustrates man’s need to undertake specific actions to obtain survival and safety.
With time, these needs started to develop along with the development of human societies, and
the concept of meaning started to differ. Homer is one of the earliest people living in an
organised and progressed society that complies with the norms and beliefs of his times, yet he
adjusts it according to the needed set. His Odyssey is a visualisation of people’s way of lives,
norms, and traditions, it elaborates more on Greek mythologies as well as history books and
adds value to our understanding of such phenomenal texts. He was able to examine the human
condition and study the surroundings of existence in terms of absurdity and meaninglessness,
and what could possibly make it meaningful and useful. The title foreshadows the journey we
are going to witness and all its suffering and meaning finding through the hero’s actions and
deeds. When the text comes to its end, we, the readers, see the results of his decisions and how
they led him to find meaning and return home.
References

Macquarie, John. 1973, Existentialism

Homer. Heinemann. 1919, The Odyssey

Heaney, S. 2009. Beowulf. Faber& Faber

Nietzsche, F. (1974) The Gay Science

Camus, A. (1990). The Myth of Sisyphus. London: Penguin