The Odyssey, Hamlet, The Canterbury Tales

In Homer's The Odyssey, Odysseus and his men run into trouble on Aiaia, the island of the evil enchantress Kirke, who seduces the men with drugged Pramnian wine. They are destined for her service, like the enchanted creatures of power--lions and leopards--who guard her house, mesmerized and static. Odysseus' unsuspecting men drink Kirke's wine, and

Scarce had they drunk when she flew after them

with her long stick and shut them in a pigsty--

bodies, voices, heads, bristles, all

swinish now, though minds were still unchanged.

So, squealing, in they went. And Kirke tossed them

acorns, mast, and cornel berries--fodder

for hogs who rut and slumber on the earth. (172)

For the Minister, this story is an analog for the problems which characterize the society he seeks to reeducate. Kirke, whose power is subtle, manipulative, and deadly, is a metaphor for corporate power (the status quo), which seduces and drugs the masses into a "slumb

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and after"--that is, cause and effect, it is crucial and difficult to do the right thing. Therefore the Minister of Education can infer that the implementation of a new educational system will contradict humankind's more "bestial" impulses and will harness them, appealing not to human avarice, but to the human higher faculty of fairness and reason. Like Hamlet's decision to avenge his father's death, the decision to revolutionize an educational system which allows access to all and privilege to none is a moral judgement made for the good of the larger community. The danger, for Hamlet, is "thinking too precisely on th'event," which suggests that a focus on methodology (slitting his uncle's throat, for example) constitutes an equation that is only one part wisdom and three parts cowardice. While it is important for Hamlet to develop a plan of action, to dwell too narrowly on just the plan would be unwise. Similarly, the Minister must approach the task with broad-mindedness. Since he cannot at any time lose sight of the projected result, he cannot stall on specific problems which may require fortitude and courage to face. To equalize education means to redistribute power, and those in power--presumably colleagues of the Mini
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Approximate Word count = 1441
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)