Odyssey, Book 11 Notes

The visit to the dead

Major concepts:

• The importance of treating the dead with respect (Elpenor)
• The ritual Odysseus performs in order to meet those in the Underworld.
• The prophecy of Teiresias and the importance of prophecy (this seems to underscore the inevitability of fate).
• The parade of women followed by a break in the narration for some Phaeacian reaction before Odysseus nreturns to his story.
• Agamemnon's rage at his wife's betrayal.
• How Ajax reacts to Odysseus; the cause of this reaction.
• What Achilles tells Odysseus about the misery of the dead.

Study Guide Questions:

1. What does Odysseus do to call the souls of the dead to him?
2. Who is Teiresias and what does Odysseus want from him?
3. What does Odysseus learn about his journey from Teiresias?
4. What should Odysseus do to the suitors at his house?
5. What does Teiresias say Odysseus should do after dealing with the suitors?
6. What favor does Elpenor ask of Odysseus?
7. What is the name of Odysseus's mother and how did she die?
8. Why can't Odysseus hug his dead mother?
9. What does Agamemnon tell Odysseus about how men should feel about women? Is it significant that earlier in the book we hear about celebrated women?
10. What is the reason for Ajax's anger at Odysseus?

Page 115.
Vocabulary: aft, feckless

• Land of the Dead -- stop # 8
• "...weeping and in great distress of mind...."
• "I drew my sword and dug the trench a cubit each way...." --> Odysseus follows the instructions given to him by Circe in book 10; cubit was a rough measurement from the knuckles to the elbow
• "...Teiresias should have a black sheep..." --> black animals were sacrificed to the gods of the underworld

Page 116.
Vocabulary: feckless

• "...not let the poor feckless ghosts come near the blood till Teiresias..." --> again, he follows Circe's instructions here
• "...my comrade Elpenor..." --> how is Elpenor able to speak to Odysseus before he partakes of the blood? perhaps because his body is left unburied at Circe's palace?
• "...how did you come down here..." --> interesting that he asks this when he already knows how Elpenor ended up there
• "...and by Telemachus who is the only hope of your house..." --> at this time, Telemachus would have been only 13 years old
• "Do not go thence leaving me unmourned..." --> Elpenor asks for Odysseus to give him a proper burial -- the only hope of a person in the Land of the Dead would be remembrance
• "Then came the ghost of my dead mother Anticlea..." --> he will allow her to drink after he hears from Teiresias on the next page
• "Stand back from the trench and withdraw your sword..." --> Teiresias prepares to speak to Odysseus

Page 117.
Vocabulary: winnowing, ebb

• "...when he had drank of the blood he began his prophecy..." --> this will be important
• "Poseidon, who still nurses his bitter grudge..." --> Poseidon is still angry
• "...Thrinacian island..." --> this disaster will occur in book 12
• "If you leave these flocks unharmed and think of nothing but of getting home..." --> Teiresias's warning: do not kill or eat the cattle
• "...you will take your revenge on these suitors..." --> Teiresias advises revenge
• Teiresias's other instructions: (1) take an oar to a place where no one knows it is an oar; (2) wait until someone asks about it; (3) bury the oar in the ground; (4) make a sacrifice to Poseidon; (5) return home and make a sacrifice to the other gods --> reason for these instructions? vague. apparently it has something to do with preserving his life until old age
• despite Circe saying that Teiresias will be very informative about the way home, he really isn't; he will actually learn more from Circe when he returns to her after he leaves the land of the dead
• "Any ghost that you let taste of the blood..." --> Teiresias explains how to get Anticlea to speak to Odysseus
• she asks him how he got there and why he's there

Page 118.
Vocabulary: none.

• "But tell me, and tell me true, in what way did you die?" --> Odysseus wonders at his mother's death since when he left for Troy she was still living; note her response at the end of the next paragraph
• "Tell me again what my wife intends doing..." --> this is the first mention of Penelope since he left Calypso's island; it would have been very difficult for him to return home and rule his kingdom if Penelope has chosen a new husband
• "...I tried to find some way of embracing my poor mother's ghost..." --> Odysseus finds he is unable to hug his mother because she has no flesh

Page 119.
Vocabulary: none.

• "...soon Persephone sent up the ghosts of the wives and daughters of all the most famous men...." --> begins the "Catalog of Women" -- perhaps its purpose was to show how great families come into being and eventually how they can be corrupted; does this have a lesson for Odysseus especially in regards to the family he wishes to return to?
• "...first I saw was Tyro..." --> fell in love with a river god -- not the river
• "Next to her I saw Antiope..." --> Zeus disguised himself as her husband
• "Then I saw Alcmena..." --> mother to Heracles; Heracles means "glory of Hera" though Hera hated Heracles because he was the result of an affair Zeus had with Alcmena
• "...fair Epicaste..." --> Oedipus's mother and wife
• "Then I saw Chloris..."

Page 120.
Vocabulary: none.

• "And I saw Leda..." --> mother of Helen and Clytaimestra
• "After her I saw Iphimedeia..."
• "Then I saw Phaedra, and Procris, and fair Ariadne..." --> Ariadne from the Minotaur / Theseus story
• "I also saw Maera and Clymene and hateful Eriphyle..."
• "Here he ended..." --> Odysseus takes a break from the Catalog of Women and returns to his storytelling at Phaeacia with Alcinous and Arete

Page 121.
Vocabulary: august, charlatan

• "Our guest is indeed very anxious to get home..." --> Arete and Alcinous persuade Odysseus to stay another day -- but to what end? again, Homer is vague
• "...there is a style about your language..." --> Alcinous compliments Odysseus's storytelling and asks about the heroes who Odysseus knew from the war
• "I will not refrain from telling you the still sadder tale of those of my comrades who did not fall fighting with the Trojans, but perished on their return, through the treachery of a wicked woman...." --> is he referring to Helen or Clytaimestra here? vague.
• "How did you come by your death, King Agamemnon?" --> finally, Agamemnon will be able to tell his side of the story

Page 122.
Vocabulary: none.

• "Aegisthus and my wicked wife were the death of me..." --> Agamemnon puts much emphasis on his wife's role in his death, though it seems as if the action was carried out by Aegisthus
• "...as though I were a fat beast in a slaughter house..." --> simile
• "...my comrades were slain like sheep..." --> simile
• "I heard Priam's daughter Cassandra scream as Clytaimestra killed her close beside me...." --> Agamemnon planned to bring Cassandra home and keep her as a mistress along with his own wife; Cassandra was cursed to always tell the truth but to have no one ever believe her
• "...I was going to be welcomed home by my children..." --> note how Homer fails to mention that Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter to assure a safe trip on the way to Troy
• "...and not be too friendly even with your own wife...." --> Agamemnon warns against trusting any woman -- he reinforces this several times over the next paragraph
• Agamemnon wants to know about his son, Orestes (recall what Orestes did to avenge his father)

Page 123.
Vocabulary: none.

• "...Achilles came up to us with Patroclus, Antilochus, and Ajax..." --> Odysseus meets some more war heroes
• "Do not, therefore, take it so much to heart even if you are dead...." --> Odysseus tries to cheer Achilles up -- does it work?
• "Say not a word...in death's favor...." --> Achilles really doesn't like being dead
• Achilles and Peleus -- strong bond between father and son; note Achilles's response on the next page when he hears about his son Neoptolemus

Page 124.
Vocabulary: asphodel, rankle

• "When I had told him this, the ghost of Achilles strode off across a meadow full of asphodel, exulting over what I had said concerning the prowess of his son...."
• "...still angry with me for having won th ecause in our dispute about the armor of Achilles..." --> Ajax is still angry at Odysseus about Achilles's armor -- when Odysseus tries to confront him about it -- how does Ajax respond in the next couple paragraphs?
• "Then I saw Minos son of Zeus..."
• "After him I saw huge Orion..."
• "And I saw Tithys son of Gaia....Two vultures on either side of him..." --> this is the same punishment Prometheus suffered for giving the humans fire
• "I saw also the dreadful fate of Tantalus..." --> this is where the word "tantalize" comes from

Page 125.
Vocabulary: prodigious

• "And I saw Sisyphus..."
• "After him I saw mighty Heracles..." --> one of the only mortals who was later turned into a god; why is his body elsewhere and his soul here in the underworld?
• "...but I got the hound out of Hades..." --> the hound referred to here is Cerberus
• "...the head of the awful monster Gorgon..." --> by looking at the head, mortals were turned to stone
• Odysseus and his mean leave the Land of the Dead at last

Bibliography

Odyssey, Book 4 Notes

Lacedaimon

Major concepts:

• Greek hospitality
• Helen and her stories of Troy
• Menelaus's return from Troy
• Menelaus's news of Odysseus
• Menelaus's reaction to Helen's stories
• Proteus
• Plot to kill Telemachus

Study Guide Questions:

1. How do Menelaus and Helen compare to Nestor as hosts?
2. What clues cue Menelaus and Helen that Telemachus is Odysseus's son?
3. How does Menelaus represent himself as responding to his wanderings on the way home to Sparta?
4. What is Menelaus's opinion of Odysseus?
5. Why does Menelaus still value and accept Helen, even though her elopement to Paris led to the Trojan War?
6. What is impressive about the palace of Menelaus and Helen?
7. How does Menelaus's story of Proteus, the Old Man of the Sea, serve as an instructional tool for Telemachus in his quest to find his father?
8. Why is information withheld so frequently?
9. What does Penelope learn in this book?
10. Describe Antinous's plan to kill Telemachus.

Odyssey, Book 3 Notes

Sandy Pylos


Major concepts:

• Sacrifice to Poseidon
• Athena's prayer to Poseidon
• Respect for Odysseus
• Athena's role at the end of the Trojan War / her wrath
• Nestor's hospitality
• Story of Orestes, Aegisthus, Agamemnon, and Clytaimestra
• Sacrifice to Athena

Study Guide Questions:

1. How does Athena help Telemachus prepare for Nestor?
2. Why is it important for Telemachus to meet Nestor? What does Nestor represent?
3. What is Nestor's opinion of Odysseus?
4. Describe Nestor's reaction when he learns that Telemachus's companion is Athena.
5. What does Nestor tell Telemachus about the Trojan War and the return home? Why does he dwell upon the fate of Agamemnon?
6. Why is it important for Telemachus to meet Pisistratus?
7. What does Telemachus learn about himself?
8. What does he learn about the meaning of being a son?
9. What does he learn about the treatment of guests?
10. What does he learn about sacrifices to the gods?

Page 27.
Vocabulary: firmament, guilds, embers

Page 28.
Vocabulary: spits, precedence, import, befell, certify

Page 29.
Vocabulary: suppliant, stratagem, bandying

Page 30.
Vocabulary: none.

Page 31.
Vocabulary: incessant

Page 32.
Vocabulary: batten, gilding, helm, bane

Page 33.
Vocabulary: none.

Page 34.
Vocabulary: propitiate

Page 35.
Vocabulary: spits

Odyssey, Book 1 Notes

Two main questions addressed in the Odyssey:

Will Odysseus return home? Will he again be master of his own kingdom?

Major concepts:

• Invocation
• Story of Orestes, Aegisthus, Agamemnon, and Clytaimestra
• Gods / goddesses' discussion of Odysseus
• Odysseus's problem: where is he / why?
• Athena's disguise
• Telemachus's youth and power / lack of power
• Greek code of hospitality / violation of hospitality
• Penelope's situation

Study Guide Questions:

1. What does the invocation say the poem as a whole will emphasize?
2. What first impression does this book give us of the gods/ How much of a role do they play in human affairs? What seems to motivate their actions?
3. How does the tragic homecoming of Agamemnon relate to Odysseus's story?
4. Where is Odysseus?
5. What or whom is Athena disguised as?
6. Why do Telemachus and Penelope need Odysseus home?
7. What is our first introduction to various characters? The suitors, for example, are they a homogeneous group or are there differences among them? What qualities does Telemachus possess at the outset?
8. Why does Odysseus's wife have suitors?
9. What does Athena advise Telemachus to do?
10. Who is Phemius?

Page 11.

Vocabulary: suitors, acquainted, sheer (adj), persecuted

• "Tell me, O Muse..." --> 9 Muses; daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (memory)
• "...hero who traveled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy...." --> reminds readers of Odysseus's greatest trick so far, the Trojan Horse
• "...he suffered much by sea..." --> points out one of Odysseus's strengths: endurance
• "...for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god Apollo..." --> direct result of the men's hubris
• "...all who escaped death in battle or by shipwreck had got safely home..." --> refers to Nestor (returned home early from battle); Menalaus (returned home late from battle); Agamemnon (returned home to be murdered on his return)
• "...was detained by the goddess Calypso, who had got him into a large cave and wanted to marry him...." --> Calypso held him captive for 7 years; Athena finally convinced the gods to command Calypso to release him
• "...except Poseidon, who still persecuted him without ceasing..." --> Poseidon hated Odysseus for blinded his Cyclops son, Polyphemus

Page 12.
Vocabulary: hecatomb, sea-girt, asunder, propitiate, nymph, torments, pacified, suitors

• "...though he knew it woudl be the death of him..." --> again, consequence of hubris; this example of Aegisthus and Orestes serves two purposes: (1) an example to Telemachus to avenge his father by slaughtering the suitors who waste away his wealth; (2) begs the question: will Odysseus's wife Penelope be ever-faithful (even after 20 years) or will she be like her cousin, Clytaimestra, who was unfaithful to her husband Agamemnon?
• "...Hermes told him this in all good will but he would not listen..." --> Hermes will often deliver messages throughout the Odyssey
• "...keeps trying by every kind of blandishment to make him forget his home..." --> other creatures / experiences along the way sought to make Odysseus forget, i.e., Lotus Eaters, Sirens
• "...we should first send Hermes to the Ogygian island to tell Calypso that we have made up our minds and that he is to return..." ; "...call the Achaeans in assembly..." ; "conduct him to Sparta and to Pylos..." --> Athena's plan is three-fold: (1) send Hermes to Calypso and order him released; (2) tell Telemachus to call and assembly and warn the suitors to leave; (3) urge Telemachus to take a ship with a crew of 20 men to travel to Sparta and Pylos to learn news of his father

Page 13.
Vocabulary: redoubtable, quells, suitors, partaken, bearing-post, insolence, ewer, embellishments

• "...for this will make people speak well of him..." --> in this portion of the epic, Odysseus's son Telemachus struggles with his own position of power; he is still considered a boy, though people may also consider him the head of the household in the absence of his father; going on this journey will gain him both respect and power in the eyes of the elders and suitors
• "...disguised as a visitor, Mentes, cheif of the Taphians..." --> Athena and the other gods and goddesses often don disguises to mingle among the mortals in Greek myths
• "Welcome...to our house, and when you have partaken of food you shall tell us what you have come for...." --> the Greek code of hospitality plays a vital role in the Odyssey; Telemachus first notices Athena, the guest, and offers hospitality while the suitors blatantly ignore her; Greek hospitality says to treat the guest kindly first, then ask questions later.

Page 14.
Vocabulary: lyre, tongue, sea-girt

• "...but he, alas, has fallen on an ill fate, and even when people do sometimes say that he is coming, we no longer heed them..." --> Telemachus believes his father is dead
• "They told me your father was at home again, and that was why I came..." --> Athena foreshadows Odysseus's homecoming
• "My mother...tells me I am son to Odysseus, but it is a wise child that knows his own father." --> Telemachus struggles with his father's absence for two reasons: he neither has memory of his father (Odysseus left when Telemachus was an infant) nor has he been able to hold a memorial, unsure of his father's death

Page 15.
Vocabulary: atrociously, renown, pretext, havoc, suitors, short shrift

• "And the guests--how atrociously they are behaving; what riot they make over the whole house..." --> brings attention to the gross manners of the suitors, abusing the code of hospitality of the Greeks
• "...all the principal men of Ithaca itself, are eatin gup my house under the pretext of paying their court to my mother, who will neither explicitly say that she will not marry, nor yet bring matters to an end..." --> Telemachus's suituation grows dire for two reasons: (1) the suitors will eventually cause him to lose all of his wealth he may have inherited from his father's estate; (2) his mother will not choose a new husband, causing the suitors to stay until she does
• "...and if he is the man he was when I first knew him in our house, drinking and making merry, he would soon lay his hands about these rascally suitors..." --> again, Athena foreshadows the return of Odysseus and his revenge on the suitors
• "...call the Achaean heroes in assembly tomorrow mroning..." --> this passage begins Athena's advice to Telemachus: (1) call an assembly; (2) urge the suitors to leave; (3) tell Penelope to get a dowry from her father for a new husband if she desires to remarry

Page 16.
Vocabulary: barrow, mettle, suitors, bearing posts, staid

• "...go in quest of your father who has so long been missing..." --> Athena's advice continues: (1) get a crew of men and a ship; (2) visit Nestor in Pylos; (3) visit Menelaus in Sparta; if Telemachus hears his father is still alive, put up with the suitors for another year
• "...it has been very kind of you to talk to me in this way, as though I were your own son..." --> it is clear from this passage that Telemachus yearns for a father-figure in his life
• "...stay a little longer till you have taken a bath and refreshed yourself..." --> again, evidence of the Greek code of hospitality
• "she flew away like a bird into the air..." --> Athena reveals herself as a goddess to Telemachus

Page 17.
Vocabulary: bard, weal, clamorous, suitors, spunging

• "...for it is I who am master here...." --> Telemachus takes a stern tone with his mother, showing how Athena's words gave him courage
• "...meet me in full assembly that I may give you formal notice to depart..." --> Telemachus calls the assembly and again foreshadows the suitors' untimely deaths at the hand of his father ("...Zeus shall reckon with you in full, and when you fall in my father's house there shall be no man to avenge you.")
• Antinous --> one of the main suitors, symbolizes hostility and agression
• Eurymachus --> another one of the main suitors, symbolizes hypocrisy and trickery

Page 18.
Vocabulary: soothsayer, hied, fleece, counsel

• Euryclea --> nurse to both Odysseus and Telemachus; 20 oxen would have been very pricey for that time period (most women slaves cost around 4 oxen); and Laertes's behavior with her is worth noting because it was not common for the time period

Why start in the middle of things (in media res)?

1. illustrates the desperation of the situation with the suitors
2. sets the scene in Ithaca
3. makes it possible for Odysseus to tell his own story, in autobiographical form
4. creates tension with Telemachus becoming an adult
5. shows that the maturation of Telemachus must occur outside of Ithaca

Bibliography