Subject: Ulysses or just Useless?
Author:
Posted on: 2015-04-16 16:52:00 UTC
Hi. Remember me? Probably not. It doesn't matter, since I'm not really returning just yet anyway.
But I've just seen the worst ever retelling of The Odyssey, and thought I'd share it with you.
http://www.toondoo.com/cartoon/8781615
I love the illustration in panel two, where it looks like the boat is tipping up because of Odysseus weighing down the rear!
It quite clearly starts before the Trojan War, when Angry McClipart gives him his marching orders.
It's like Movies in Fifteen Minutes taken to the ultimate extreme. ^_^
(And yes, I at least remember you. Hi.)
hS
From the way he said "the trojan war", rather than "a war in troy", I'd assumed the war had already started, and Odysseus had been caught draft dodging.
But you're right, Mr Angry could be Agamemnon doing his initial recruiting at the start of the war. And of course, the strip does use several important elements from the Iliad, such as the lack of a Cyclops, the lack of Circe, the lack of Scylla and Charybdis, etc.
:)
BTW has there ever been an Odyssey Suefic? I hate to imagine what that would be like!
But I remember reading an article about Mary Sues throughout historical literature, and in the comments someone suggested that Ulysses was a Gary Stu. Another commenter disagreed, and posted a summary of a decidedly NSFW Stufic version of the Odyssey.
I'd agree with the second commentator. Ulysses is an exaggerated over-the-top hero figure, but in a world with lots of similar exaggerated over-the-top hero figures. There's nothing unusually remarkable about him or his adventures compared to Jason, Hercules, etc.
And, unlike a typical Stu, he does have to face consequences for his actions. That little business of upsetting Poseidon, for example.
I do think that Sueishness is probably at least partially relative. Also I do agree that he did face the consequences of his actions. Also if you look through some of his other appearances he really starts to take on what almost looks like the prototypical Byronic Hero. And I do not think those could really be seen as Sues. Further if you look deeper, Odysseus is a deeply flawed individual. In my opinion Homer creates a very good balance between the flaws and attributes.