Towards the beginning of Chapter Two, Finley writes:
" The serious problem for the historian is to determine whether, and to what extent, there is anything in the poems that relates to social and historical reality; how much, in other words, of the world of Odysseus existed only in the poet's head and how much outside, in space and time."
One central thesis of World of Odysseus is that Homer's world, though partly historical, represents the ideology of a certain kind of aristocratic thought -- the values, especially social values, of the aristocracy.
Note that, just before the passage quoted above, Finley writes:
"Particularly in the Odyssey the word 'hero' is a class term for the whole aristocracy..."
What examples can you find in Chapter Two of (a) echoes of real history, present or past; and (b) the embodiment of aristocratic values?
Pick three examples of each, and write a brief paragraph about each, discussing it. Identify your passages specifically by quoting the first few words of the paragraph the passage is in, but do not quote the whole passage.
Write 300-350 words. Email this to your whole group, and to me.