Odyssey, Part II Notes

Odysseus returns

• Returns on King Alcinous’s ship
• Must dress as beggar
• Athena is helper/guardian

Eumaeus

• Faithful servant
• Swineherd (pig keeper)
• Doesn’t know O b/c of disguise
• Welcomes/nice to O

Telemachus

• O’s son
• Traveled to Pylos and Sparta to find dad
• Athena said “go home”
• O’s house is over-run with suitors
• T’s mom must choose new husband
• Athena warns: suitors plan ambush
• T gets home secretly
• T has been away 1 year

Father and son meet

• Dogs play with T
• O doesn’t recognize T
• E is very happy to see T – acts like dad
• T says to E: I want to see you first
• First thing: T, E, and O share a meal
• T and O don’t know each other b/c O wears disguise
• Athena changes O to young and new
• T thinks O is a god
• T denies O is father
• T finally accepts O as father
• They both cry

Beggar and his faithful dog

• Argos = O’s dog
• Trained by O
• Hunter dog
• Sleeps on dung, abandoned
• Wags tail when he hears O
• Very good hunting dog
• No one takes care of him now
• Argos dies

Penelope

• P delayed the suitors by telling them she must weave a rug for lost husband
• Each night, she undid the work from that day
• One of the maids tattled on her

• P supports O (as beggar)
• P wants to talk to O about O
• P gets mad at T for letting O be abused by suitors
• P sings praises of O
• O and T later discuss plan
• O will test P and maids
• Some maids not faithful
• O tells P three things: (1) “Beggar” makes up origin when he talks to P; (2) O praises himself to P; (3) O tells P that he is on his way

Eurycleia and Odysseus

• P = happy at O’s news
• P tells Eury to wash O’s feet (sign of respect)
• Eury = O’s nurse / nanny
• Eury recognizes O by scar on leg
• O makes Eury promise NOT to tell

Penelope

• P decides to test suitors
• O is very mad at suitors and maids
• Athena says: don’t fear – suitors will die

The Test of the Great Bow

• P proposes “impossible” task for suitors
• String bow = impossible for all except O
• O left his bow in Ithaca
• Test is twofold: string bow and shoot arrow clean through 12 axhead sockets
• Many suitors try; all fail

Faithful servants

• Swineherd and cowherd leave; they are sad
• O asks them if they’d be faithful to O if he returns
• Both say they’d be faithful
• O reveals himself to them
• If they help O defeat suitors, he promises wives, cattle, and houses to both
• O shows them his scar
• Tells them to return to room
• When he asks for the bow, suitors will laugh
• Give him the bow anyway
• Tell women to bar the doors and lock them tight
• If they hear screams / fighting – don’t open the door

Odysseus revealed

• O asks for bow – suitors don’t like the idea
• P says O must have a chance – accepts him as suitor
• E removes P and all maids from room
• T had removed all suitors weapons from room before
• O tests the bow for weaknesses – suitors jest
• O easily strings the bow
• Zeus thundered
• O easily shoots arrow through axes
• T stands by his father with weapons, ready to defend

Death at the Palace

• O must deal with more than 100 suitors
• O confronts Antinous, meanest of suitors
• Antinous broke a stool on O; teased and ridiculed him
• O loses his rags and aims for Antinous
• O shoots Antinous through the throat
• Suitors are angry, but find no weapons or shields
• O reveals himself: “Your last hour has come. You die in blood.”
• Eurymachus tries to bargin with reason and bribery:
• Reason: why kill more? You already killed Antinous, the cause of all troubles
• Bribery: we’ll replenish what we’ve used
• O says: you all will die for what you’ve done
• T helps his father kill all suitors
• Suitors can’t leave because doors are locked

Odysseus and the maids

• O makes maids clean up dead suitors
• T “pays” maids by hanging them in courtyard
• They were loyal to suitors and had to be punished

Odysseus and Penelope

• Eury tells P of O’s return and defeat of suitors
• P still doesn’t believe – wants to test O
• T is angry at P for not welcoming O
• P says: she is shocked and confused
• Later, P says to move bed into hall
• O says: bed can’t be moved
• O says: he built bed around an olive tree
• P very happy that O is her husband

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 2 Notes

The Meeting of the Council


Major concepts:

• Athena's involvement in the lives of Odysseus's family
• Economic importance of the household
• Bird omen / reactions to bird omen
• Telemachus's change
• Telemachus's departure / suitors' reactions

Study Guide Questions:

1. Describe the trick that Penelope plays on the suitors.
2. What, specifically, does Athena do to help Telemachus in this book?
3. How do the suitors, according to Antinous, view Penelope's reluctance? Why do they think they are justified in acting as they do?
4. How well does Telemachus handle the suitors' chief, Antinous, and his self-justification?
5. What are the two difference interpretations of the bird omen?

Page 19.
Vocabulary: criers, comeliness

• "...child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn..." --> literary device: epithet -- word or phrase associated with a person or thing, often present in epic poetry as a mneumonic device
• "...looking like an immortal god..." --> literary device: simile
• "Aegyptius, a man bent double with age..." --> elder from Ithaca questions why someone called a council meeting and who called it

Page 20.
Vocabulary: omen, convened, aggrieved, ere, abetting, remedy, braggart, artful, tambour frame

• "...turns on two great misfortunes which have fallen upon my house..." --> Telemachus's two chief complaints: (1) the loss of his father and (2) the unending presence / tyrrany of the suitors
• "No estate can stand such recklessness; we have now no Odysseus to ward off harm from our doors..." --> Telemachus asks the elders for their help / support because Telemachus feels he cannot do the job of protecting his household by himself
• "With this Telemachus dashed his staff to the ground and burst into tears...." --> still struggling between childhood / adulthood, Telemachus is not mature enough to "hold his own" with the suitors or even the elders
• "...Antinous, who spoke thus..." --> here, Antinous begins to explain why they (the suitors) blame Penelope for their over-extended stay
• "And then there was that other trick she played us...." --> Penelope sets up a loom in her quarters and began creating a rug / piece of needlework in honor of Odysseus's father(continues on next page)

Page 21.
Vocabulary: pall, plaguing, rigorously, creditable

• "...we could see her working on her great web all day long, but at night she would unpick the stitches again by torchlight...." --> Penelope said she would not choose a new husband until she had finished the needlework; however, each night she undid that day's work; this continued for four years until one of her maids revealed her secret to the suitors
• "Understand, then, that we will not go back to our lands, neither here nor elsewhere, till she has made her choice and married some one or other of us...." --> Antinous tells Telemachus how things will be
• "It will be hard on me if I have to pay Icarius the large sum...heaven will also punish me..." --> Telemachus reveals the two reasons why he shouldn't do as the suitors say: (1) he will need to repay the dowry to Penelope's father if he sends her back; and (2) he will be punished by heaven and the Erinyes
• "...Zeus sent two eagles from the top of the mountain..." --> birds were often seen as omens / foreshadowing during Greek times; interpretations of the eagles follow on the next page

Page 22.
Vocabulary: omen, prating, vying

• "I see mischief brewing for them...." --> Halitherses (the best prophet; foresaw Odysseus's trouble in going to Troy / the journey home) interprets the two eagles as an ill omen for the suitors: Odysseus will return home soon and seek revenge
• "...birds are always flying about in the sunshine..." --> Eurymachus (one of the suitors) says that the eagles were merely birds flying and should not be interpreted in any way
• "As for Telemachus, I warn him in the presence of you all..." --> Eurymachus also tells Telemachus that the suitors will not change their patterns and boasts how the suitors fear no man or omen
• "Give me, then, a ship and a crew of twenty men..." --> Telemachus asks for a ship and crew, just as Athena directed him

Page 23.
Vocabulary: barrow, henceforward, victuals, bade

• "...people often hear things in this way)..." --> this may sound familiar; see Athena's directives on page 16
• "...I am shocked at the way in which you all sit still without even trying to stop such scandalous goings on..." --> Mentor, left in charge of the kingdom by Odysseus, displays his frustrations with the other elders
• "Even though Odysseus were to set upon us..." --> another suitor makes note here that even if Odysseus returned, there would be little he could do to punish the suitors without receiving punishment, himself
• "...prayed to Athena..." --> Telemachus asks for help from a higher source
• "As he thus prayed, Athena came close up to him in the likeness and with the voice of Mentor...." --> again, Athena dons a disguise to speak to Telemachus

Page 24.
Vocabulary: henceforward, discernment, flaying

• "Sons are seldom as good men as their fathers; they are generally worse..." --> Athena (as Mentor) continues to encourage Telemachus to continue on his journey and to draw upon the strength he must have since he is Odysseus's son
• "...give no thought to death and to the doom that will shortly fall on one and all of them..." --> Athena foreshadows Odysseus's return and the slaughter of the suitors
• "...come with you myself...." --> Athena will accompany Telemachus on his journey
• "I will run my eye over them and will choose the best..." --> Athena will go and pick out a boat for Telemachus
• "...bear no more ill blood neither in word nor deed, but eat and drink with us as you used to do...." --> Antinous tries to pretend to be Telemachus's friend
• "Telemachus means to be the death of us..." --> the suitors begin talking about Telemachus's intentions; they also hope that Telemachus will die on his journey (continues on the next page)

Page 25.
Vocabulary: barren, drawing, tackle

• "...divide up his property amongst us..." --> the suitors hope Telemachus will die on the journey so they may take his things
• "Get these things put together at once..." --> here, Telemachus tells his nurse / servant Euryclea to help him gather his things but not to tell Penelope about it, because she will be upset
• "Your poor father is dead and gone in some foreign country nobody knows where..." --> Euryclea worries about what will happen if Telemachus leaves
• "The old woman swore most solemnly that she would not..." --> Euryclea promises not to tell Penelope that Telemachus is leaving

Page 26.
Vocabulary: hawsers, forestays, hoisted, watches

• "...threw the suitors into a deep slumber...." --> Athena puts the suitors under a spell so Telemachus could leave safely
• Telemachus leaves Ithaca to go to Pylos, to visit Nestor

Parts of a Greek Ship: mast, yard-arm, sail, oars, rudder oar

Bibliography

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