The Odyssey And Homer's Once Upon A Time

Many Americans gather around the television almost every night of the week to view the latest episode of their favorite thrilling and alluring show. What very few people realize is that most of the time the producers and screen writers did not come up with the idea and themes of these main stream shows all on their own. Much of the modern day media can be traced back to ancient text and stories that were common in antiquity. In the television show, Once Upon A Time it is clear to see that the source of the production comes from fairy tales and Disney movies, but some of the underlining themes actually originate from sources much farther back than Beauty and The Beast. This would entail Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey and the role of more
of an ancient beast, the Siren. As society has developed, the view on the mythological creature, the Siren, has also developed into a more socially acceptable and relatable image that resonates more with the new audience.
Based on the viewers who watch the television hit Once Upon A Time compared to the audience of Homer’s epic The Odyssey, the themes have coincided with one another and have morphed to best fit the era in which they were both produced.
In the show Once Upon A Time many of the fairytale story characters have been enchanted by a curse that the evil queen has put on their land that erases their memory and brings them all to a little town in Maine. During each episode there are always scenes that flashback to the old life of the characters, which of course ties into the plot that is going on in Maine. In the episode What Happened to Fredrick, Prince Charming, also known as David in the present day land, was suppose to marry Princess Abigail to collide two kingdoms. The two did not want to follow through with the arrangement because they are both in love with other people, Charming with Snow White, and Abigail with a prince named Frederick. The prince was in battle with Abigail’s father, who was curse was that whatever he touches turns to gold. Sequential, in attempt to save her father, Frederick was turned into gold. Charming, being the hero that he is, wanted to help Abigail find her
happiness and be with Frederick. Abigail informed Charming of a lake, which had magical powers and can return “something that has been lost” (“What Happened To Frederick”). This lake that Charming seeks out for in hope to bring back Frederick was called Lake Nostos. Abigail warned Charming about the powerful keeper of the lake. On the way up to the lake, they both faced a shrine to the beast by previous men asking for mercy, because no one has ever survived. As Charming was gathering water from the lake he hears birds which startled him, and then appeared a beautiful and seductive woman. She attempted to lure him in, but he resisted at first. She then became the object of his desire, Snow White. Still Charming attempted to defy the beast, in which he called Siren. After much struggle, he still rejected her and did not “fall prey to [her] deceptions” (“What Happened To Fredrick”). Siren both upset and surprised that someone surpassed her, pulled him down under the water where there were many skeletons of men who have come before Charming. Even though the weeds of Lake Nostos wrapped around Charming’s foot, he escaped with Siren defeated, regardless of what others before him were able to accomplish.
Much like this story, Homer’s account of Odysseus and the Sirens in The Odyssey follows a very similar plot. Odysseus is on his way back home to Ithaca from the Trojan War in hopes to regain his nostos, νόστος, which in Greek literally means homecoming and the idea of returning home from a long journey. On his voyage he ends up on the island of Aeaea which is ruled by the sorceress Circe. After a year, Odysseus and his remaining men gather up fleet and head back home. Circe, who loves Odysseus even though they cannot be together, gives him advice on how to get back home to Ithaca. She warns him about the Sirens that have beautiful songs which will “bewitch all men/ who come near” (Homer 12. 41-42). The Sirens are located near a meadow, where they entice the men whose bones still remain. Odysseus warns his men, tells them to put wax in their ears, and orders them to tie him up to the ship so he can listen to their seductive songs. Although the Sirens are birded women and not particular attractive, however, their seductive songs try to lure Odysseus in. With the help of his men, who acts as his strength, he is able to get surpass them. The Sirens sing “no one has ever sailed/ his black ship past here” (Homer 12. 193-94) to Odysseus. In success, he and his fleet are able to exceed the Sirens and continue on their journey home. It is to be believed that the Sirens did not survive after the passing of Odysseus. Virgil’s account in the Aeneid states such: “now approached/ The cliffs of the Sirens, formerly perilous/ And white with men’s bones but now just rocks” (Virgil 5. 988-990). Thus indicating that Odysseus and his men where the reason behind Sirens beast extinction.
The main reason as to why Charming was at Lake Nostos was the myth that the water had magical powers to bring something that was lost back.
Much like Odysseus, searching for the return of nostos, he had hopes to gain something that was once lost to him many years ago, to be at home again. The way the producer ties in the underlining meaning of the word nostos is very clever because the audience would not typically know ancient Greek or be as familiar with The Odyssey. This double meaning gives the producers a sense of originality in the eyes of the viewers. Of course it is a significant part of interlocking both stories together because the idea of nostos is the main theme of The Odyssey and is the driving force behind every event in the epic poem. Considering that the Sirens in The Odyssey resided in a meadow, only furthers interlocks the lake in Once Upon A Time with Homer’s tale. Both heroes, Charming and Odysseus, could have not completed their journey without the aid of a female figure. Circe, longing to be the one in Odysseus life, lets him ago and tells him just what to do in order to return back home to Penelope, his devoted wife. Much like Circe, Abigail in Once Upon A Time aides Charming to the lake in hope to find his peace away from Snow White, who is the center of his affection. This is also another important tie between the two, because without this help, the ending of the story would not be as successful. Odysseus does receive help from his men during his
battle against the Sirens, but to be fair he had to stand up to more than just one beast.
The most noticeable similarity between epic’s account and the reason for the struggle to regain nostos is the antagonist of both plots, the Sirens. In the accounts of Homer they are portrayed as anthropomorphic, being half bird and half women. The general reaction towards the animal was that it was a beast, a deceptive and seductive one in the most negative way. Women in ancient literature were often perceived as such mostly by men; this does not stop modern day media to continue the tradition, in a new approach. Siren was heavily depicted as purely seductive and a physically attraction to Charming, which lured him in just as Odysseus was lured in by the Siren’s song. Unlike in antiquity, the audience in the twenty-first are much more comfortable with the visual depiction of sexuality, where as the classical audience would have not be as easy with the idea. Nevertheless, the message is conveyed in both accounts that the beasts are the one distraction and force holding the heroes back from gaining what they set out to achieve, nostos. Many have come before both men and each one had failed. The bones of men were found at the bottom of Lake Nostos and in The Odyssey the Sirens mention that no one had ever passed them alive. So why were these men so successful while the others were not able to simple surpass the temptation? The answer lies in the motives behind the actions and in the main theme that was portrayed by both the producers and Homer. Being a noble prince, Charming took on the task of defeating the Siren not just for his own triumph at the end of the journey, but to help another receive what was lost. Odysseus, wishing to receive his triumph as the end, not only took on another challenge, but got through it to once again return something that was lost, a husband. The Sirens were an obstacle standing in the way of the heroes attempt to regain the treasured nostos.
In some eyes, the television show might not have been as big of a hit as the epic poem was but in many ways compared. The thoughts and themes were not completely original on the shows side, but the way in which they took the ancient text and morphed it into their own is very notable. Thus restating, with development of society and culture the perspective of the Sirens has morphed from a beastly figure in The Odysseus to a more agreeable one shown in Once Upon A Time in order to please the audience with the time period in which the text was produced. One cannot help but wonder if Homer had known that they Sirens would have influenced literature and media later to come, would he have made them more attractive to save the efforts of other later in history.

Work cited
Homer. The Essential Homer, Odyssey I. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co., 2000. 352-359. Print.

Virgil. Aeneid. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co., 2005. 129. Print

“What Happened To Frederick.” Once Upon A Time: First Season. Writ. David H. Goodman. Dir. Dean White. ABC, 19 Feb. 2012. Television.