Memory and Grief Theme Analysis

Memory is a source of grief for many characters in The Odyssey. Grief and tears are proper ways to honor the memory of absent or departed friends, but grief as a mere expression of selfish sadness or fear is somewhat shameful – Odysseus often chides his crew for wailing in grief for fear of death. Moreover, the grief caused by memory is in many instances a guide to right action. Telemachus' grief for his father spurs him to take command of his household and journey to other kingdoms in search of news. Penelope remains faithful to Odysseus because she remembers him and grieves in her memory, and the gods honor her loyalty – just as they scorn the disloyalty of Agamemnon's wife. Odysseus remains faithful in his heart to the memory of Penelope even in the seven years he spends as Calypso's unwilling lover, and his memory keeps alive his desire for home.

If memory in The Odyssey is a guide to action, it follows that loss of memory is often a loss of desire - since it is mainly desire that causes people to act. The Lotus-Eaters, Circe and the Sirens all threaten to halt the homecoming of Odysseus's crew by erasing the men's memories and extinguishing their desires. Like grief, desire can be both noble and shameful: desire for home is noble, but desire for food and drink is bestial. In the Circe episode, the men who are stripped of their desire for home become swine – as though a person without desire for something other than food and drink is no longer human.

The opposite of grief seems to be the forgetfulness and innocence of sleep, which Athena often gifts to Penelope or Telemachus to ease their sorrows. But sleep, like loss of memory, can be treacherous: when Odysseus falls asleep after his encounter with the god Aeolus, his crew opens the bag of winds that was the god's parting gift, and the winds cause a terrible storm. Grief and memory are noble, heroic experiences in The Odyssey. Lotus flower, Circe, and the Sirens are said to spellbind their victims, as the bards spellbind their listeners; but the songs of the bards enhance memory rather than destroy it. The Odyssey itself was such a song, a spell of memory and grief.