The Odyssey: A Ritual Self

The psyche or self as depicted in Jane Harrison’s Themis is a ritual self which focuses on the collective identity of a tribe. Opposite of this self, the psyche or self as depicted Homer’s The Odyssey is a self which focuses on the individual. In Themis these collective selves centered around a ritualistic society are demonstrated by the way society connected with their gods through rituals which focused on initiation of young men into the tribe, a collective emotion, and the tribe’s connection to the earth. The epic self which appears in The Odyssey, moves away from the collective self and instead focuses on the individual. This individual self is demonstrated by the focus on Odysseus’s internal development of the consciousness, as well as the paradox between the desire for …show more content…
Therefore, the individual is made stronger through their connection with the tribe, as the tribe is stronger as a whole. The tribal strength and cyclical nature of the ritual also creates an immortal self, and therefore society, because since the people are not individuals, they remain living within the tribe forever through the rebirth of the tribe in initiation rights and dromenon and so never die. Ergo, these ritualistic societies focused on self as a collective self as their collective emotion connected them more strongly to their gods, nature and helped strengthen the tribe.

In Homer’s The Odyssey, the epic self is not viewed as a collective self, but rather as an individual self which yearns both for adventure and to remain rooted in a home. The epic self wants to remain rooted in a home because it is still innately linked to the communal tribes of the ritual selves. The epic self as an individual who develops self-consciousness is demonstrated through Odysseus becoming more self-conscious throughout his adventures on his journey home. For example, on the island of Cicones Odysseus