The Odyssey’s influence in Arya’s arc (long read)

[ShadowCat Rivers]

The following essay was inspired by the work done by everyone in the Arya’s re-read project, so I want to thank everyone there, hosts and participants, for their thoughts and ideas.

Wikipedia is always there for a ready and easy source of reference, so I feel it should be mentioned as well.

Please excuse the inevitable grammar and spelling mistakes and the “flat” use of language. Not a native English speaker…

It’s quite long, so it’s coming in two parts. I hope you’ll enjoy.

[ShadowCat Rivers]

The Odyssey’s influence in Arya’s arc – Part I

“There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.” - Mark Twain, a Biography

Homecoming is a theme as old as literature, being the main subject of one of the oldest known works, the famous Odyssey. The main character, Odysseus, strives to get home after the Trojan War. A brief summary of the Odyssey can be found here.

Homecoming, along with family and belonging, is also one of the prominent themes in ASOIAF. It is a theme explored in many ways, through various characters. ASOIAF is also full of direct or indirect, obvious or subtle, more or less intended references to classic works of fiction. The purpose of this essay is to explore the analogies of Arya’s arc to the Odyssey.

Of all the characters of ASOIAF, Arya is the one that can be better associated to Odysseus. The writer himself points us to that direction, by giving her name to the “Trojan Horse” events of his saga: the “Weasel soup”.

Should this parallel require any further analysis, the “Weasel soup”, just like the Trojan Horse, involved a number of warriors entering the castle of the enemy under a guise (hiding in plain sight faking the injured captives in the first case and hiding into the belly of a wooden horse in the second) in order to take the castle from inside by surprise. The Trojan Horse plan was conceived by Odysseus and executed under his command, while Arya’s role in the “Weasel soup” was much more limited. This is a necessary concession to the story’s credibility, as Arya is not an accomplished politician and military general like Odysseus; she’s only a ten-year-old girl.

With the Trojan soup as a head start, we can now move on to examine the similarities and parallels to the Odyssey.

1. The theme of Nostos – Ithaca and Winterfell

The main theme of the Odyssey is Nostos (the Greek word for homecoming), the idea of returning home from a long journey.

There are many instances in the rhapsody in which Odysseus is longing to return home to Ithaca and to Penelope, his wife, for example watching the sea and weeping every sunset, when he is stuck on Calypso's island. Another example is during the night before he leaves the island of the Phaeacians, after he has told them his lengthy story, when he kept turning his face at the blazing Sun, impatient for it to set, as he was longing to be on his way.

Arya’s longing to return home to Winterfell is there even before the strike of tragedy. She is homesick in Kings Landing and she is happy when Ned announces that they are going to leave immediately. Although most of her efforts are focused in Riverrun, in order to reunite with her mother, it’s Winterfell she really wants to reach, the home she dreams of (either with hope or fear). Winterfell is Arya’s Ithaca.

Nostos is the first stem of the compound word nostalgia. The common use of the term describes a person’s emotional attachment to a particular period of time in the past and/or a longing to go back. The resulting emotion can vary from happiness to sorrow. Studies have shown that smell and touch are strong evokers of nostalgia, as they stimulate recollections of our past. Those recollections are usually about important events, people we care about, and places where we have lived.

Arya repeatedly displays symptoms of nostalgia. The most characteristic examples are found in her second chapter in AFFC, the last of her name:

Winterfell, she might have said. I smell snow and smoke and pine needles. I smell the stables. I smell Hodor laughing, and Jon and Robb battling in the yard, and Sansa singing about some stupid lady fair. I smell the crypts where the stone kings sit, I smell hot bread baking, I smell the godswood. I smell my wolf, I smell her fur, almost as if she were still beside me.

… … …

Needle was Robb and Bran and Rickon, her mother and her father, even Sansa. Needle was Winterfell’s grey walls, and the laughter of its people. Needle was the summer snows, Old Nan’s stories, the heart tree with its red leaves and scary face, the warm earthy smell of the glass gardens, the sound of the north wind rattling the shutters of her room. Needle was Jon Snow’s smile. He used to mess my hair and call me “little sister,” she remembered, and suddenly there were tears in her eyes.

In my opinion, these are perhaps the most poetic and touching descriptions of Home in the series. Home is a living memory of all her senses. It is much more than a safe place and it’s certainly not a property: Winterfell does not belong to her; she belongs to Winterfell.

Other themes of the Odyssey include temptation, disguise, hospitality, identity and exile.

2. The quest to return home

Since her last chapter in AGOT, we have followed Arya in an adventurous journey with destination Winterfell. The war made it so that home is no more, and family is blown in the winds. So, she has to change destination in the way but the objective remains to reunite with her family or what’s left of it.

Just like Odysseus, “Arya never seemed to find the places she set out to reach”. The journey to Ithaca took ten years; Arya’s journey is still going on.

Both journeys consist of several discrete “stations” with varying levels of association between them. There is not (there wouldn’t be) a direct one-to-one correlation for each and every station of the two journeys, but references and similarities are plenty.

a. Being No-one as a means to survive

Odysseus told Polyphemus that his name was no-one, so that his fellow cyclopes would not come to his help. Then, he and his companions escaped the cyclops’ cave by hiding themselves to the undersides of sheep. The idea of being no-one is mainly associated with the Faceless Men, but I believe that in this case, it is more relevant to Arya’s pretending to be a commoner, concealing her true identity and hiding among the nameless masses of “unimportant” smallfolk.

b. Harrenhal and Circe

The process of dehumanization, the transformation of human beings into something less than human due to horror and extreme oppression, is deployed in the Harrenhal sub-journey. The road to Harrenhal turned men into sheep and staying there turned them into mice. I believe that this is a reference to Circe turning men into swine. Circe used magic, a power beyond human’s ability to counter; in the same manner the commoners –and Arya– were utterly helpless in the hands of the Lannister forces. In both cases, divine intervention was needed (Hermes/Jaqen).

c. The trip to the underworld

After leaving Circe, Odysseus took a trip to the underworld where he met the spirits of the dead and received advice. I think that her encounter with Beric Dondarrion and the Ghost of High Heart, along with the vibes of their respective surroundings, could very well be viewed as underworld. It has also been suggested that the scene of crossing the Trident with the Hound could be a symbolic crossing of the Acheron, and during their time together, they both face ghosts of the past.

It is also interesting to note that during this trip, Odysseus met the spirit of his own mother, who had died of grief during his long absence. Arya also had a “meeting” with her dead mother, who died of grief for the loss of her children. Dondarrion’s role, as well as her own, in Cat’s rise from the dead has been thoroughly discussed here (and in the comments below).

d. Loneliness

One by one or many at a time, both protagonists gradually lose all their companions. Closing to the final stages of their journey, they are left totally alone. For Arya, this happens after abandoning the Hound; Odysseus, in a shipwreck that resulted in him, alone, being washed ashore on the island of Calypso. Which brings me to the final point of this part…

e. Calyspo and the House of Black and White

In Homer’s story, Odysseus stayed in Calypso’s island for seven years. She took him for lover and intended to make him her immortal husband. She provides him with everything that any mortal would desire, but in return he has to let go of his dream to return home. Odysseus cannot do that. He soon feels miserable and prays to the gods to release him. Again by divine intervention (Athena-Zeus-Hermes), Calypso finally sets Odysseus free, against her will, for it was not his destiny to live with her forever.

Arya is still staying in the HoBaW, training to become one of them. They provide her with a safe place to stay, education, and an opportunity to become something more than a mere human, to be one of the “dark angels” of the many-faced god. But she can’t let go of her loves and hates (both related to her family and those who harmed them). She won’t give up the Needle, because she longs for what it represents. More than anything, her bond with Nymeria is unbreakable.

Calypso's name means "to cover", "to conceal", "to hide", or "to deceive", giving one more reason to relate this stage of Odysseus’ journey to Arya’s time with the FM.

[ShadowCat Rivers]

The Odyssey’s influence in Arya’s arc – Part II

3. Divine intervention

In Homer’s rhapsodies, the gods are active characters. They interfere directly in the story, helping the hero throughout his journey. The Odyssey is a trace of humanity’s baby steps into the fields of literature and therefore a certain amount of naïveté should be expected. On the contrary, ASOIAF belongs to the 21st century and we, readers, demand some level of realism/credibility even in fantasy. Therefore, divine intervention in ASOIAF is much more subtle, but it is still manifested quite visibly in Arya’s arc.

Malevolent gods mostly take the form of greedy kings and lords, playing the Game of Thrones at the expense of the innocent, whose fate is to suffer and die.

Helper gods are also present. There are hints that the old gods might be watching for her (Bloodraven, maybe?) and at Harrenhal the heart tree is speaking to her with her father’s voice: “You are Arya of Winterfell, daughter of the north. You told me you could be strong. You have the wolf blood in you.”

Warging Nymeria also provides a sort of divine intervention, like hunting the Bloody Mummers who were hunting her, and getting Catelyn’s corpse out of the river.

The most explicit occurrence of a Deus ex Machina figure, though, is Jaqen H’ghar. [She regarded him suspiciously. Had the gods sent him?]

Usually, “divine intervention” in ASOIAF takes the form of fortuity or coincidence, often in a subversive way. What, at first sight, looks to be bad luck, in hindsight proves to be a blessing. For example, what could have happened to Arya if the Hound had not captured her?

A special mention must be made for Bran, as I think that in the next novels he will play a god-like role not only for Arya, but for all his siblings.

4. Family Members

Odysseus family consists of his wife Penelope, his son Telemachus and his old father Laertes. They were left behind when Odysseus left for Troy and since they have been waiting for his return.

On the contrary, Arya’s family has been scattered and each one is out and away, living their own adventures. However, examining Arya’s still living family members, there are some impressive similarities:

a. Sansa - Penelope

Penelope had been waiting twenty years for the final return of her husband, during which she had a hard time snubbing marriage proposals from 108 odious suitors, whose aim was to rule Ithaca in her name. She has devised tricks to deceive them and delay any decision to be remarried, the most famous of which was to pretend to be weaving a burial shroud for Odysseus's elderly father Laertes and claiming that she will choose a suitor when she has finished. Every night for three years, she undoes part of the shroud, until one of her servants discovers her chicanery and reveals it to the suitors.

Since it became apparent that Robb would lose the war, Sansa has been plagued with a number of suitors, all chasing her for her claim. Should we sum up Sansa’s story in one sentence, I think it would be fitting to say that she has been trapped in a web of plots, pretending to be a part of them “by day” but secretly working to undo them “by night”.

Arya and Sansa have had a difficult relationship. Despite the apparent sibling conflict, they have always loved each other as shown through their thoughts and memories. In Arya’s POVs, Sansa is mentioned almost as much as Jon and I think it is notable that, in one of the most intense experiences of her life –getting a new face– the sour taste of the potion reminds her of “a girl who loved lemon cakes”. It’s never explicit, but it’s there in the text: Arya misses her sister terribly.

b. Rickon - Telemachus

The little brother, who was only a baby when she left, can be a parallel to Telemachus, the newborn son Odysseus had to leave behind when he left for Troy. So far, Rickon’s contribution in the story is almost nonexistent, but this seems about to change.

c. Jon

Jon is the one Arya misses the most. Although he cannot be paralleled with any particular member of Odysseus’ family, I think he includes elements of all of them:

- As Penelope, he has had his own peculiar “suitor” in Stannis, who wanted to use Jon’s blood ties with Winterfell to advance his own cause.

- As Telemachus, he has drastically changed during the years of Arya’s absence. He is not the boy who left Winterfell for the Night Watch – kill the boy… Moreover, he might not even be her brother by the time she comes back. [She wondered if he would still call her “little sister.” I’m not so little anymore. He’d have to call me something else.]

- As Laertes, who lives in retirement in the countryside nearby, unable to do anything about the situation in Ithaca, Jon is a member of the Night Watch, so close and simultaneously so far from Winterfell, pledged to take no part in the wars and politics of the realm.

d. Bran – goddess Athena?

Goddess Athena, as Odysseus protectress, plays a major part in the Odyssey. If there is going to be one such figure in Arya’s story, this could only be Bran. A thousand eyes, a hundred skins, wisdom deep as the roots of ancient trees. Bran is the one who will be able to reach and communicate with his siblings, to send them dreams, to inform and advise them.

5. Possible future implications

With all the above parallels and similarities, I think that it wouldn’t be invalid to suggest that the Odyssey is the main inspiration for Arya’s story. If indeed it is so, then we could make a few non-arbitrary assumptions for the next two books, following the Odyssey pattern.

a. Arya will leave the HoBaW with their consent (forced or no), either by some kind of divine intervention, or they could even send her off on their own initiative for some reason.

b. She will return to Westeros but she won’t reveal her identity until the very end. (Nymeria’s story also points to this assumption: She is known by rumors, by tales told about her, but very few have really seen her, or lived to tell. Nobody knows where she came from and only one person so far, Jaime, has an idea of who she might be).

c. It won’t be easy to identify her, not only because of disguises but also because she left as a little girl and she’ll return as a young woman (“maid”). The revelation of fake Arya – Jayne will add more suspicion. Her siblings will recognize her through warging and by memories and secrets they share (for example, the “pointy end”). My favorite -but more of a wishful thinking- idea: Odysseus, despite his disguise, was easily recognized by his “Old Nan” Eurycleia.

d. She will be the protagonist figure in taking back Winterfell for the Starks. Rickon and Sansa will play a part too. I can’t say to what extent Jon and Bran will contribute in this sub-plot, mainly because they’ll have another, much more demanding battle to fight.

(On a side note, I think that her similarities to the Starks of old and the story of the Wolf’s Den point to this direction as well).

e. The Odyssey ends without letting us know what happened to the heroes until the end of their days. It is only implied that “they lived happily ever after”. Other stories, however, claim that the “traveler virus” had entered Odysseus’ soul for good and he sailed again for other adventures. Similarly, Arya might live her life in Winterfell with her family, or she might decide to sail the Sunset Sea… But this could be the subject of another tale.

[Mladen]

Compliments on wonderfully written essay and great presentation. This is truly a work I came to expect from you and you did this superbly... I don't have anything smart to add but to congratulate you on this brilliant piece of work and to express my hopes we'll read more things from you...

[Knight Of Winter]

Threads such as this make this forum such an amazing place. I have nothing useful to add, except for :bowdown:

I'm interested, how did it occur to you to compare Odyssey with Arya's plot arc? The parallels are obviously there, as you have shown, but how did you start noticing and comparing them?

[ShadowCat Rivers]

Mladen & Knight of Winter, thank you so much for your encouragement and the kind words!

It came to me while watching with my little niece an animated version of the Odyssey, during easter holidays. But only recently I found a little spare time to work on it and write something presentable. I'm very glad you liked it!

[Sigurður Ingi]

Great essay of finding similarities between Arya and Odyssey.

Good work

[Roadside Rose]

Great essay! Loved the mythological parallels in it - and the interesting future implications you provided. I'm glad she kept the 'Needle'. She will need it for future identification purposes.

[Teal'c]

Bravo! Well struck, ShadowCat Rivers, well struck!

Your comparison of Penelope and Sansa makes me wonder if Arya will be the one to rescue Sansa from her suitors.

[Ser Edmure Tully]

This is incredible. Odysseus has always been a hero I've admired in literature, even from when I was a little kid and referred to him as the "Clever King" in the Greek Army. That Old Nan-Eurycleia idea is amazing, it would be beautiful, if unlikely, if it came to pass.

My biggest question is how she gets out of the House of Black and White. It has to happen, she can't just be stagnant there, and because she is so inexperienced she surely will not be sent to kill someone, so this idea of forced permission by the Faceless Men intrigued me, as my previous thoughts had only been of escape. Who would have the authority to force the Faceless Men to release her? Or will it be a form of divine intervention that materialises in a form of leverage, allowing Arya to leave? Questions I cannot wait to be answered.

This is an amazing post, thank you for pointing out the parallels between two of my favourite protagonists.

[Ser Oswell]

This is amazing. And the similarities are endless .Well Played !

[jentario]

This is incredible. Odysseus has always been a hero I've admired in literature, even from when I was a little kid and referred to him as the "Clever King" in the Greek Army. That Old Nan-Eurycleia idea is amazing, it would be beautiful, if unlikely, if it came to pass.

My biggest question is how she gets out of the House of Black and White. It has to happen, she can't just be stagnant there, and because she is so inexperienced she surely will not be sent to kill someone, so this idea of forced permission by the Faceless Men intrigued me, as my previous thoughts had only been of escape. Who would have the authority to force the Faceless Men to release her? Or will it be a form of divine intervention that materialises in a form of leverage, allowing Arya to leave? Questions I cannot wait to be answered.

This is an amazing post, thank you for pointing out the parallels between two of my favourite protagonists.

I think the FM will let her go if that's what she wished, all she needs is a push that will make her realize that home is the most important thing, not revenge- and IMO that will come in the form of a Westerosi set on returning to his homeland. Arya will get an opportunity bigger and better than no other, and with great promise.

It may very well be Justin Massey, sent by Stannis to deal with the Iron Bank. I assume Arya will meet him during her training and befriend him, and then he'll offer to take her to Westeros (he would not know she is Arya yet) but not only to Westeros- TO WINTERFELL where his king resides and maybe even with Rickon at his side.

She would not refuse that offer, and the FM will let her go.

EDIT: Amazing essay, well done!

[JuicyM]

"As you set out for Ithaca hope that your journey is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery." - C.P. Cavafy

[Katt.V]

Excellent essay, congrats :)

If I may add - Odysseus returns home and still in his disguise, kills all the suitors that had been constantly hanging around his wife and then reveals his true identity. I see the suitors as those trying to get their hands on Winterfell by brute force or scheming so she might attempt to revenge her loved ones before turning into Arya Stark again.

[Elfaki]

Brilliant and fantastically written!

If I may add, when Odysseus returned home, he was instantly recognized by his dog Argos and maybe when Arya returns home she will meet Nymeria and be recognized by her, and also the direwolf will help her prove her identity.

[Where is Rickon]

Just wonderful! :bowdown:

[Arya_Ghostface]

What a beautiful essay! Thank you! It's very well written and well thought-out :) Congrats!

I love the parallels and I am really surprised that I didn't think of this before with all this "No-one" business. As a kid I used to love Odysseus' escape from the Cyclops the best among his adventures, and now I love Arya's plotline in the HoBaW. :)

Penelope proved to be quite cunning in the end, with the shroud and the games she organised that she knew only Odysseus could win, whist she was playing dumb (or considered dumb by the suitors because she was a woman, heh). So could Sansa prove to be a quiet power? the pupil that betters the teacher (LF)?

Another thing in the Odyssey is that Odysseus after leaving Calypso's island washes up on a shore of the land of the Phaeacians (modern day Corfu, just north of Ithaca) and is an anonymous guest there, until a song is sung of his Trojan Horse success and he reveals himself. At that point he is helped by the king and queen and was given a ship to sail home. Do you think Arya will go through something similar? If so, who would be having her as a guest without knowing who she is, and how will they find out? What act of hers will become so popular as to be talked about with admiration?

"As you set out for Ithaca hope that your journey is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery." - C.P. Cavafy

"And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you. Wise as you have become, with so much experience, you must already have understood what Ithacas mean." Here's to Arya having a happy ending! :cheers:

[Frey family reunion]

Excellent post. I've noticed that Martin seems to reference Norse and Celtic mythology much more explicitely then he does Greek mythology. The allusions to Greek mythology are definitely there as you observed they are just far more subtle.

Also it was Arya's journey to Braavos that made me think of a journey to an "underworld", especially with the use of J'aquen's coin to pay for the ship to take her across the Narrow Sea. This is also where she comes into contact with Daeron, the bard. Kind of like Odysseus meeting Orpheus (wasn't Daeron trying to find his bride, at least for the night?),

[Arya_Ghostface]

Also it was Arya's journey to Braavos that made me think of a journey to an "underworld", especially with the use of J'aquen's coin to pay for the ship to take her across the Narrow Sea.

Well spotted! I love this thread.

[ShadowCat Rivers]

Thanks everyone :) The Odyssey has always been one of my favorite tales, too.

This is incredible. Odysseus has always been a hero I've admired in literature, even from when I was a little kid and referred to him as the "Clever King" in the Greek Army. That Old Nan-Eurycleia idea is amazing, it would be beautiful, if unlikely, if it came to pass.

My biggest question is how she gets out of the House of Black and White. It has to happen, she can't just be stagnant there, and because she is so inexperienced she surely will not be sent to kill someone, so this idea of forced permission by the Faceless Men intrigued me, as my previous thoughts had only been of escape. Who would have the authority to force the Faceless Men to release her? Or will it be a form of divine intervention that materialises in a form of leverage, allowing Arya to leave? Questions I cannot wait to be answered.

It's one of my biggest ASOIAF wishes, that Old Nan will end her days peacfully at Winterfell, surrounded by the love and affection of her "sweet summer children". But I'm afraid, it will stay just a wish - too "happy end" to really happen...

Considering the future, I am very hesitant to go beyond the draft line of similarities. I can't imagine how the specifics of each sub-plot could be materialized, I guess we have to try to be patient until the next book is released :)

It may very well be Justin Massey, sent by Stannis to deal with the Iron Bank. I assume Arya will meet him during her training and befriend him, and then he'll offer to take her to Westeros (he would not know she is Arya yet) but not only to Westeros- TO WINTERFELL where his king resides and maybe even with Rickon at his side.

I was wondering if the wildlings of Hardhome ended up in Braavos for a reason... Maybe she could get in touch with another skinchanger? There are so may options...

If I may add - Odysseus returns home and still in his disguise, kills all the suitors that had been constantly hanging around his wife and then reveals his true identity. I see the suitors as those trying to get their hands on Winterfell by brute force or scheming so she might attempt to revenge her loved ones before turning into Arya Stark again.

Yes, I believe this is what will hapen, most probably. She won't reveal her identity -at least publically- untill the end.

If I may add, when Odysseus returned home, he was instantly recognized by his dog Argos and maybe when Arya returns home she will meet Nymeria and be recognized by her, and also the direwolf will help her prove her identity.

Can't believe I forgot about Argos!!! I only hope Nymeria won't die as Argos did...

Penelope proved to be quite cunning in the end, with the shroud and the games she organised that she knew only Odysseus could win, whist she was playing dumb (or considered dumb by the suitors because she was a woman, heh). So could Sansa prove to be a quiet power? the pupil that betters the teacher (LF)?

Another thing in the Odyssey is that Odysseus after leaving Calypso's island washes up on a shore of the land of the Phaeacians (modern day Corfu, just north of Ithaca) and is an anonymous guest there, until a song is sung of his Trojan Horse success and he reveals himself. At that point he is helped by the king and queen and was given a ship to sail home. Do you think Arya will go through something similar? If so, who would be having her as a guest without knowing who she is, and how will they find out? What act of hers will become so popular as to be talked about with admiration?

Oh, I am sure that Sansa will play a very important role. Not only as Arya's "Penelope", but in her own right as well. She really has it in her to become a quiet power!

As for the Phaeacians, I can't say if there will be an analogy to that as well. But if there will be something similar, I'd suggest the White Harbor. After all, Robett Glover is there, the same one who was a part of the Weasel soup incident...

"As you set out for Ithaca hope that your journey is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery." - C.P. Cavafy

"And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.

Wise as you have become, with so much experience,you must already have understood what Ithacas mean."

Thanks for the poem guys, it's really lovely... Here I found a few alternative translations.