Technology and Nihilism: Preview of The Net of Hephaestus

In this transcription, the speaker discusses the second discussion of Homer in the Technology and Nihilism series, focusing on the shield of Achilles and the encounter with Hephaestus in Book 8 of the Odyssey. The speaker highlights the importance of the generations of men and the role of technology in their lives. He also mentions the presence of a poet within the poem and the significance of the songs he sings. The speaker emphasizes the details in the passages and their connection to the teachings about technology. Overall, the discussion revolves around the themes of art, technology, and the relationship between the gods and humans in Homer's works. Alright, this is the second discussion of Homer in the Technology and Nihilism series, the first of which was regarding the shield of Achilles in Book 18 of Homer's Iliad. There I covered the entire book of 18, and we were looking at the meaning of the shield for, on the one hand, Achilles, and then, on the other hand, for Hephaestus, and what might be the ultimate understanding and meaning of the shield in the teaching of Homer with regard to this thing we're calling art or technē, technology, in the life of man, the flourishing of man, and most in particularly in the generations of men. The youth played a very big part in that shield, and along with the elders, and what it is that the elders owed the youth and what they wanted to safeguard, etc., and the traditions going forward for the youth. Now, here we're going to look in the Odyssey, in particular in Book 8, and we're going to have another encounter, a very important encounter, with this god Hephaestus. And here, things become very, very interesting because so many elements come together here. We're going to have a very, very rare character in all of Homer. We're going to have a poet who's going to be telling us about the gods in the Battle of Troy. So, we have a poet within a poem written by Homer about these things. I'm going to be reading from the Joe Sachs translation, S.A.C.H.S., that's put out by Paul Dry Books. I think it's a great edition of the Odyssey. And I'm not going to be reading the entirety of the chapter. It turns out that it's very, very dense, and we're going to get a lot more out of small passages from it for our purposes here. And let me begin by setting the scene. So, Odysseus has washed ashore to the land of the Phycheans. He's lost his entire crew already. He's on his own. And the Phycheans, it turns out, are a very special race of man. They're very protected, they're guarded, by Poseidon in particular. What's fascinating about this is it turns out that they're somewhat related to the Cyclops. Now, that alone is worth its own discussion, but because I'm doing the entire series on the Odyssey for the fathers and sons section of the website, I'll leave that there. But it's just worth knowing this. Now, again, they don't have many visitors, and the visitors that they do have, they quickly whisk them off to send them home. People don't stay there, and the Phycheans certainly don't know the ways of man. They don't know, in other words, the ways of war. They're very naive people, and this is going to be very important for a number of claims that they're going to make, in which Odysseus himself is going to have to educate them in certain ways. And that's where our story is really going to pick up. But let me give a kind of forewarning here. It's going to seem like there's a lot of little details that one would not even think have anything to do with technology, but let me just say this. We really see the brilliance of Homer coming out in these passages, because all of these little details are going to turn out to combine into just an absolutely amazing teaching about technology in the life of man. So let me just jump in here. So Archinous is the king of the Phycheans, and Odysseus has asked for passage home now from one of their ships. And so Archinous is going to have an assembly come and gather at his palace while they're getting the ship ready for Odysseus. And then something's going to happen, and then he's going to say he's going to take everybody out to the arena, and they're going to see these sports games of the youth. Now again, very, very crucial to keep in mind the generations of men here. We've got the elders on the one hand and the youth on the other. That's going to be very crucial going forward. Now I'll just jump into it. At the assembly, this is what Archinous says, just beginning very early in Book Eight. He says, Give me your attention, leaders and rulers of the Phycheans, so I may tell you the things the heart within my breast prompts me to say. This stranger here has been brought to my house by his wanderings. I don't know who he is or whether he comes from people who live where the sun rises or where it sets. He appeals for an escort home and begs to be assured of it. Let's raise up such an escort, as we have often done before, for there has never been any man at all who came to my house and stayed here a long time mourning over the lack of an escort home. So come, let's drag a black ship down to the shining sea, one that will be making its first voyage, and let fifty-two young men chosen from throughout the land to man it, those who have proven themselves best in the past. Then when everyone has lashed his oar securely in an oarlock, all of you must come back and make your way to our palace and get ready for an impromptu feast, which I will provide abundantly for all. Those are my orders for the young men. Meanwhile, you others who hold the scepters of kingship, come straight to my beautiful palace so you can help me entertain the stranger in our halls, and let no one refuse the invitation, and summon the godlike singer Demodocus to join us, for the God has given him the art of song to surpass all others and bring delight with anything his spirit prompts him to sing. Okay, here we have this very rare occurrence in all of Homer about a poet, and it's going to be a poet singing songs of the Trojan War written by Homer. So you have a poem being sung within a poem that we have. Now this is, I can't emphasize enough how rare this is and how important this is, but notice what Archimedes says, he says that the God has given the art of song to surpass all others to this court poet, Demodocus. Now does Archimedes understand that as all other Phycians, or all people simply? Well Homer's going to provide us an answer for this very shortly. But continuing it says, with these words he, Archimedes, led the way off, and the scepter bearers went following along with him, while an attendant went off to bring the godlike singer. And then it goes on to describe how the young men that he's instructed to go prepare the ship, they get it all done, and then they head back to the palace. And then picking back up it says, the terraces and the courtyards and rooms of the palace were all filled with men who had gathered, for there were multitudes of both the young and the old. Again, more emphasis on the generations of men, fathers and sons. This is going to be very, very important, in many ways this defines this thing we're going to call technology, which is to say, the handing down of new learning to the young from the elders. And he says, he says, Alcinous had made sacrifices for them, of twelve sheep, eight white tusk boar, and two bandy-legged oxen, skinned and trimmed, and prepared for a delightful feast. And he says, and the attendant arrived among them, bringing the admired singer, whom the muse loved above all others. Now that's Homer himself telling us that the muse did in fact love Demodocus among all others. Now many have speculated that this is Homer talking about himself, and so there's been a lot of ink spilled over this, I won't go into details about it. It doesn't really have any bearing on our discussion, but it's worth just keeping in mind and knowing. It says, and again this is Homer speaking, it says, but she had given him both good and evil. She deprived him of the sight of his eyes, but granted him sweet song. That is going to become very important, which is to say that the gods, even among those who they love the most and bless the most, they don't give them everything at the same time. This is going to constitute in many ways what Odysseus is going to have to teach the Phycheans since they're very naive. In fact, what's going to happen is that what Archinovus had just boasted about a moment ago of always providing passage to other people, that's going to be their flaw. They've been too friendly to others, and that's going to be problematic. And so again, there's going to be some learning going on here on behalf of the Phycheans from Odysseus himself. The person, they don't know who he is, Odysseus hasn't told them his name, and continuing, this is what's going to be said, it says, Pontonius brought out a chair adorned with silver and set it out for him in the middle of the celebrants of the feast, drawing it up beside a tall pillar, where he hung the clear-voiced lyre from a peg mounted above the singer's head, and the attendant showed him how to reach it with his hands, and then set beside him a beautiful table with a basket and a cup of wine on it for him to drink when his heart desired. So that little detail is going to become important. They're in Archanos's palace, they've pulled up a chair in the middle of everyone for this poet Demodocus, and they've hung his lyre on a little peg just right above his head and shown him that he can reach up there and get his lyre whenever the muse strikes him. And so everyone is feasting, young and old, and when they're done feasting, that's when the muse strikes Demodocus. And Demodocus is going to sing a total of three songs. The first is going to be about the strife of Achilles and Odysseus, the second is going to be the one that we're going to concern ourselves with the most, and then the third is going to be one that Odysseus himself asks Demodocus to sing of about the Trojan horse at the war. So three songs total by this very rare figure of a poet in Homer who's more blessed than all the rest, and it's the middle poem that we're going to be concerning ourselves with here. So it says, when all their craving for food and drink had been satisfied, the muse stirred Demodocus to sing of glorious deeds of men, from a song whose popularity had by then reached the wide heavens about the quarrel between Odysseus and Peleus's son, Achilles. So as it told how they came into contention with violent words of splendid feast of the gods, while Agamemnon, lord of men, inwardly rejoiced that the best men among the Achaeans were at odds with each other. Now as a side note, this is going to become very, very important for Nietzsche, because what's happening is that the very best of the Achaeans, which is to say Achilles and Odysseus, are coming to strife, and normally that would be bad, you're having a problem in the ranks, but Agamemnon sees it and understands it as a good thing because he likes for any of his men to constantly always strive to simply be the best. This is going to be the agon, as Nietzsche understands it, among the Homeric age. And this is also what's the primary teaching of Achilles from, on the one hand, his father, but also from Phoenix, who raises him, and we see it time and time again throughout the Iliad, and I guess we could also say it's going to occur in the Odyssey as well, I mean we've just seen it, is always be best among everyone simply. And that's one of the things that Nietzsche wants to bring back to life in his discussion of rescuing culture, but that's for the Zarathustra series, but it's something worth keeping in mind nonetheless. Now what happens, I won't get into the poem there because it doesn't have direct bearing on our interpretation here, but I'll pick up shortly thereafter. This is Homer speaking, he says, that was the story the far-renowned singer was singing, but Odysseus's strong hands took hold of his ample cloak, dyed a deep purple from the sea, and pulled it down over his head to cover his handsome face, for he was ashamed to let the Phycheans see the tears that were pouring out of his eyes. But every time the godlike singer would take a pause in his singing, Odysseus would wipe away his tears, he'd pull the cloak off his head, take up his two-handed goblet, and pour libations to the gods. Then each time he would start singing again at the urging of the chief men among the Phycheans, that is to say, each time Demodocus would begin singing again at the urgings of Alcinous. Odysseus himself would cover up his head and give way to his tearful groans, he says, there, where he was sitting, he managed to shed his tears unobserved by all the others, except for Alcinous alone, who was sitting right next to him and noticed, and it says he understood what was happening and he heard the deep groans, and so abruptly he, Alcinous, spoke up to the Phycheans, whose delight is in their oars. So just to recap here, what's happening is that Alcinous is the only one among all of the people present who recognizes that there's something very displeasing about the poem that Demodocus is singing for Odysseus. And remember what Alcinous had just said about Demodocus' singing, he said that God has given him the art of song to surpass all others and bring delight with anything his spirit prompts him to sing. So this should be very confusing that apparently he doesn't bring delight to everyone, in particular the stranger they're hosting, but notice how Alcinous handles it, he's very, very tactful. He immediately interrupts the festivities and he says, give me your attention, leaders and rulers of the Phycheans. He says, now that our spirits have had their fill of the feast in which all share equally, and the lyre, which is the fitting accompaniment to a splendid feast, he says, let's go out and put ourselves to the test at all sorts of athletic contests. Then the stranger, once he's gotten back home, will be able to tell his friends how far superior we are to all other men with fists and wrestling holds and at running and jumping. So Alcinous has handled this very, very tactfully. He doesn't want to draw attention to the fact that Odysseus is upset, so he stops the procession altogether and changes the venue. Now he's saying, let's all go from the palace down to the arena where we can watch the young men participate in games of excellence. Notice what he says there too. He says that the Phycheans are the best among men of, and he gives an itemized listing here, he says, with fists and wrestling holds and at running and jumping. So in other words, at boxing, at wrestling, at running and jumping. Now we need to keep an eye on that because that's going to provide an occasion for another very tactful move that Alcinous is going to make regarding what's about to happen here. And again, I want to emphasize, this does have great bearing on the role of Hephaestus that we're about to come into. It says, with these words, he led them out and they came following along, and the attendant hung the clear-voiced lyre back on the peg and took Demodocus by the hand, and he led him out from the palace. He guided him along the same road the others had taken, where the foremost among the Phycheans walked in front to admire the athletic displays, while a vast crowd, thousands it seemed, followed them to the assembly ground. It says, and many fine young men stepped up to compete. So the young men are competing in the games, and also note that Demodocus, his lyre, had been hung back on the peg in the palace as he's going down to the assembly ground. So, I'll just pick up what's going to happen now, I'll skip ahead a little bit. What happens is, it ends with a wrestling match in which one of their greatest wrestlers has just won, and Alcinous' son, Laodanus, is going to have something to say. It's going to turn out that he's going to have a kind of challenge for Odysseus. The way we need to understand this is that what has happened is that the elders, the older generation, are watching the young display their physical prowess, and the young are going to have this little bit of collusion against the, we could say, the older generation. This is going to be very important because the youth very often think they know so very much, but they lack a certain experience to fully know what they're talking about. So this is something that becomes thematic again and again and again, is that you might know something. So, for instance, Achilles, back in the Iliad, he had foreknowledge of events, but can you really say you know something when you haven't lived through it, you haven't gained an element of experience? In other words, there's a very, very powerful role of experience to knowledge itself. And simply to say that you know something in advance doesn't necessarily mean that you fully know it if you haven't experienced it. Because as Achilles himself said, he knew that he was going to die, but when it happens that Patroclus is killed, he didn't know that. He says, well, let me die immediately to have my revenge. So Achilles had much to learn while thinking he knew the future. This is going to be very similar to what's about to happen with the Phycheans and this problem with the generations of men, which is to say when the youth are not properly educated by way of experience to know the knowledge of the elders. Now it says the following, it says, but when they had all enjoyed the contest to their heart's content, Laodamus, the son of Alcinous, in other words, the prince, spoke up among the young men. He said, friends, let's go and ask the stranger if there's any kind of contest he has the knowledge and training to compete in. As far as physiques go, he's not in bad shape. His thighs and calves, his two arms and upper body and his massive neck all show great strength. He's not at all past his prime. He's just been beaten down by a multitude of hardships. He says, I don't believe there's anything else in the world that's as bad as the sea for breaking a man's spirit, no matter how tough he might be. Okay, Alcinous has just made a very powerful claim. He said that he doesn't think there's anything that will break a man's spirit more than being at sea. But what about being at war? What about Odysseus being at war? Is it possible that Odysseus' experience in war is what is weighing down him more than anything than certainly not being at sea? It says, so continuing, it says, then Eurylus, now Eurylus was the winner of the wrestling match. It says, then Eurylus, winner at the wrestling, spoke to him in reply. He says, Laodamus, this speech you've made is altogether right and proper. Go and call him out now yourself and tell him what you propose. And then continuing, it says, then when the worthy son of Alcinous heard this, he went and stood in the middle of the crowd and spoke to Odysseus, saying, so he gets in the middle of everyone and calls out on Odysseus. He said, honored stranger, you too should come and try your hand at the sports, if by chance there are any you're trained in. It says, you seem likely to be skilled at athletics, for no greater glory can come to a man as long as he lives than what he achieves with his own hands and feet. So come on and give it a try and shake off the cares from your heart. He says, your journey home is not far off anymore. The ship has already been hauled down to the sea and shipmates are ready to man it. Now keep in mind what he's just said to Odysseus. Laodamus has made another very, very bold assertion that he doesn't have the experiential knowledge of. He says, he says, for no greater glory can come to a man as long as he lives than what he achieves with his own hands and feet. And he's talking about sports here. Now Odysseus is someone who absolutely knows about glory, and it certainly doesn't have anything to do with sports. It has to do with war. This is something that the Phycheans know nothing about. And so in response it says, then Odysseus, resourceful and cunning, spoke to him in reply, Laodamus, why do you give me this advice that cuts me to the heart? He says, cares and abundance fill my breast more than any thought of sports. He says, I've been through plenty of suffering and plenty of labor up to this time, and now I sit here in the midst of your gathering in a desperate need of a return home, a supplicant at the mercy of your king and all your people. It says, then Eurylus replied in return, taunting him to his face. So Eurylus, remember the winner of the wrestling match, who's the one who provoked Laodamus to go and address Odysseus this way, Eurylus just can't contain himself. He chimes in, insulting him to his face, or taunting him, as Homer tells us, and he says, no stranger, I wouldn't take you for a man who's had training in any of the sports that are so widely practiced among mankind. He says, you're more like someone who plies his trade in a ship with lots of rowing benches, the leader of a merchant crew, with your mind on your cargo and your eye on how much trade and rapacity, profit, it will bring you in return. He says, you don't have the look of an athlete at all. So he's not only insulted Odysseus by saying, you don't even look like an athlete, he's accused him of being nothing more than a roaming pirate. This is what Odysseus says, it says, then Odysseus, resourceful and cunning, replied to him with a frowning look, he said, stranger, your words are ugly, and you're like a man with no sense of restraint. He says, that's the way it is, says the gods don't bestow all forms of grace on all men, not all the blessings of physique and mind and eloquence. He says, for one man turns out inferior in looks, but the god surrounds his words with an elegance of form, and people gaze upon him with delight as he speaks in public without ever striking a false note, maintaining a tone of charming dignity that makes him stand out among the assembled crowd, and when he makes his way through the town, the people look at him as if he were a god. He says, but then another man is like the immortal gods in looks, but no crown of grace surrounds his words at all. As in your own case, he says, you're so outstanding in looks that not even a god could find any way to improve them. He says, but as far as mind is concerned, you're completely deformed. He says, you've roused the spirit within my own breast with such rude and disordered words. He says, I'm not inexperienced in athletic contest, as your pronouncements would have it. In fact, I regard myself as having been in the front ranks of athletes when I could still use my youthful vigor in my hands. He says, but now I'm gripped by hardship and pain. I've had to endure so much in coming through the wars of men and the bitter waves, but even as I am, after suffering so many hardships, I'll subject myself to competition because your words have bitten deep and disturbed my spirit. Now notice what he said there. He said that the gods don't grant all things at the same time, and what he says is that deformity of physique or form can be more than made up for with this art of speech or eloquence. He says, but you could have perfect form, and if you don't have any kind of eloquent speech or mind, then no one's even going to really care. They're going to just probably have contempt for you more than anything. Now that, in fact, was what we saw with Hephaestus himself. Hephaestus was lame, but yet his knowledge of the arts, which is to say fire and what can be done with fire, more than made up for whatever he was lacking in his body, and that's also what we previously saw there a moment ago with Demodocus himself. Demodocus was not granted everything by the gods, but the power of his song would seem to make up for more than enough. The fact that he's blind, I mean, also, even as we've just seen with Archinovus himself, he has a knack for eloquence of speech when it's needed, which is to say when he noticed that his own guest was very, very displeased and upset, and he flatly changed the entire venue of what was going on for the day. So, what we have here, what's really going on, is Uralus has accused Odysseus of being a pirate and not being any sort of athlete, but what this really is is a kind of mutiny on behalf of the younger generation, so really they're showing their colors as being the pirates and accusing the older generation of these things. We are, in fact, witnessing a mutiny by the youth, and it's going to be Odysseus himself who's going to write this ship of state, I guess we could say. So, continuing, it says, And leaping up with his cloak still round him, he grabbed a discus, a thick one, broader than the rest and heavier by no small amount than the kind the Thyacaeans had been using to compete with one another. He spun around and flung it from his strong hand, and as the stone went whizzing off, they dropped down on the ground in fear, the Thyacaean men, famous for their ships, accustomed to wielding the long oars. Now ducking beneath the flight of the stone, it soared beyond the pegs that marked out all the others, flying lightly from his hand, and Athena, in the likeness of a man's form, dropped it where it landed and spoke up, saying, Stranger, even a blind man who had to feel around with his hands could pick out your mark, since it's not mixed in the clutter with the others. But way out in front, you can be confident about this contest. None of the Thyacaeans can come up to this mark, much less outdo it. So Athena, which is essentially Odysseus' patron here, she's in the crowd, she's been with him on the island of Thyacaea the whole way, she's always helping him out, and she's disguised herself now, and she's out there in the outfield, and says, I found it! It's way out here! None of the others even come close!