1	Remembering Odysseus (Odyssey, 1-8)
2	The opening lines as promise “Muse, sing me the man, the man of many wiles” “Saw… learned… weathered… fought”: the story of Odysseus “Of”? As in his story? Or a story about him? Telemachus: “My mother says I am his son; I know not / surely. Who has known his own engendering?”
3	The Council of the Gods (scene 1) “For [Zeus] had meditated on Aigisthos” Poseidon away on business Athena the reminder “Could I forget that kingly man, Odysseus?” Being remembered by your friends: a good life
4	Telemachus’s travels He travels into his father’s legend. Mentor (cognate with “mental”; “the mindful one”?) Nestor Menelaus Helen and nepenthe (“no-grief”) Fame and gifts Recognition A round trip
5	The medium of memory No letters in the Odyssey! “Oral poetry”: if nobody remembers it, it vanishes Recitation from memory Composition from a memorized “kit” Think of jazz. The standards, the riffs. No “original” or “final” text
6	J. L. Borges “Things duplicate themselves on [the imaginary planet of] Tlön; they also tend to grow vague or ‘sketchy,’ and to lose detail when they begin to be forgotten. The classic example is the doorway that continued to exist so long as a certain beggar frequented it, but which was lost to sight when he died. Sometimes a few birds, a horse, have saved the ruins of an amphitheater.” “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” (Collected Fictions)
7	The techniques Chunking, batching, routines, macros Automatic composition: “formulae” One form serves many needs Dinner scenes (example, pp. 5-6) Shipping out (p. 31) Answering someone (p. 3)
8	Milman Parry, 1902-1935
9	The body of the hero– dimensions 1. Physical body, plus 2. Body of legend 3. Relationships or social body (“guest-friends”; possessions) P. 71 4. Survival after death But who’s in a hurry?
10	Did his life flash before his eyes? Odysseus on death versus dissolution (p. 90)
11	Making the heart fonder? Away from home (physical body absent) Relationships: one powerful enemy bears a lasting grudge (a form of memory) Remembered longingly (legend), but Suitor problem (see below) His possessions are being eaten away by people who are happy to act as if he really is dead Self-defense?