Odyssey, Book 8 Notes

Banquet in the house of Alcinous; the games


Major concepts:

• Alcinous's response to Odysseus's request for help
• Preparation of the black ship
• Song / storytelling of the bard; games; feasting; dance
• Demodocus, the bard
• Demodocus's song / effect on Odysseus
• Challenge of the Broadsea / Odysseus's response
• Gifts for Odysseus

Study Guide Questions:

1. Describe the activities that King Alcinous arranges to entertain Odysseus.
2. Who is Demodocos?
3. Why might his blindness be significant?
4. How is King Alcinous helping Odysseus to get home?
5. Who is Odysseus quarreling with in the first song?
6. What is Odysseus's reaction whenever Demodocos sings about the Trojan War?
7. How does Odysseus respond to the challenge of Broadsea?
8. Which qualities of Odysseus shine through in this episode of athletic competition?
9. How does Odysseus win the respect of the young Phaeacians?
10. What does Alcinous ask Odysseus at the end of book 8?

Page 79.
Vocabulary: none.

• "...the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn..." --> epithet
• "...while Athena took the form of one of Alcinous' servants..." --> Athena dons yet another disguise
• "...he looks like an immortal god...." --> simile
• "...for Athena had beautified him about the head and shoulders, making him look taller and stouter..." --> Athena improves Odysseus's appearance again, just like she did with Nausicaa -- now Odysseus has looks and authority

Page 80.
Vocabulary: chieftains

• "Let us draw a ship into the sea--one that has never yet made a voyage--and man her with two and fifty of our smartest young sailors...." --> Odysseus's ship would have carried 60+ men; again, Alcinous is boasting about the Phaeacians
• "...we will have Demodocus to sing to us...." --> Demodocus's name is of Greek origin, meaning 'welcomed by the people'
• "...famous bard Demodocus, whom the muse had dearly loved, but to whom she had given both good and evil, for though she had endowed him with a divine gift of song, she had robbed him of his eyesight...." --> physical blindness could suggest mental or spiritual insight (to a Greek)
• "...the muse inspired Demodocus to sing the feats of heroes, and more especially a matter that was then in the mouths of all men, to wit, the quarrel between Odysseus and Achilles..." --> this side-story does serve a purpose: it refers possibly to the time in the Trojan War after the death of Hector and Odysseus's confrontation with Achilles -- this story asks the question: will cunning (Odysseus) or force (Achilles) win the war? Agamemnon would have been happy with the two leaders fighting because it was prophecied that "Troy would fall when the best of Greeks came into conflict"

Page 81.
Vocabulary: none.

• "...let us then proceed to the athletic sports..." --> not only was there a banquet, there also were games
• "Acroneos, Ocylaus, Elatreus, Nauteus..." --> weird names? weird for a reason -- they all have to do with (take a guess) sailing / the sea
• "...nor is he at all old..." --> actually, by this point, Odysseus would have been in his early-mid forties
• "Your return home will not be long delayed, for the ship is already drawn into the water, adn the crew is found...." --> this reassures Odysseus that no matter how (well or bad) he does in the contests, he will still have a way home

Page 82.
Vocabulary: reviled

• "I have been through infinite trouble, and am come among you now as a suppliant..." --> says Odysseus: leave me alone
• "I gather, then, that you are unskilled...you are one of those grasping traders..." --> people like Odysseus would have gained wealth through raiding other lands, like pirates; independently wealthy people (like the Phaeacians) would have found this to be primitive and unrefined
• "No god would make a finer looking fellow than you are, but you are a fool...." --> says Odysseus: you've messed with the wrong guy
• "Athena, in the form of a man, came and marked the place where it had fallen...." --> Athena appears before Odysseus makes a fool of himself by angering the Phaeacians; remember, he is still a guest and must "keep a low profile"
• "If anyone wants to have a bout with me let him come on, for I am exceedingly angry...." --> Odysseus challenges them

Page 83.
Vocabulary: intrigue, defiled

• Philoctetes inherited a bow from Heracles -- the bow never missed -- so of course he could outshoot Odysseus
• "...when we Achaeans were before Troy and in practice...." --> BIG hint at who he is -- is Odysseus ready to tell yet?
• "...for Apollo was angry with him and killed him because he challenged him as an archer..." --> jealousy of the gods -- anthropomorphism
• "Sir, we have had much pleasure in hearing all that you have told us, from which I understand that you are willing to show your prowess..." --> Alcinous acknowledges Odysseus's authority and stature
• "...singularly fleet of foot and are excellent sailors..." --> what?! good at sailing?!!! I never knew.
• "...the bard began to sing of the loves of Ares and Aphrodite..." --> this story tells about how the gods enjoy and condone adultery -- this is the only time mentioned in the Odyssey where the gods are not "morally sound"

Page 84.
Vocabulary: festooned, loth, vestibule

• "...and festooned the bed-posts all over with chains like cobwebs..." --> not because the trap looked like a spiderweb, but because it was invisible like a spiderweb (simile, by the way)
• "Father Zeus...and all you other blessed gods who live for ever..." --> he calls on Zeus for help, but Poseidon comes instead
• "See how limping Hephaestus, lame as he is, has caught Ares who is the fleetest god in heaven; and now Ares will be cast in heavy damages...." --> does brawn always win over brain?

Page 85.
Vocabulary: raiment

• "...if Ares goes away without paying his damages, I will pay you myself...." --> a better compromise: that way, if Ares cuts out without paying, Hephaestus will still get his retribution
• "...Ares to Thrace...Aphrodite to Cyprus and Paphos...." --> these are two totally different directions
• "I was astonished as I saw them...." --> just as much as the Phaeacians enjoy boasting, they also enjoy receiving praise -- Odysseus praises them again
• "...let us give him such proof of our hospitality as he may reasonably expect..." --> here, Alcinous tells the elders what they must give up to provide to Odysseus

Page 86.
Vocabulary: amiss, raiment

• "He was very glad of a warm bath..." --> this would have been a typical bathing scene in Greek times

Page 87.
Vocabulary: freighting

• "Nausicaa, daughter of great Alcinous..." --> Odysseus offers his blessings
• "Demodocus, there is no one in the world whom I admire more than you...." --> the ultimate praise for a performer / singer would be to praise the accuracy of his story
• this is yet another hint at who Odysseus is
• "the Trojans themselves had drawn the horse into their fortress..." --> the Trojans want to do one of three things with the horse: (1) destroy it immediately; (2) launch it off of a cliff; or (3) keep it as a souvenir / offering to the gods [they end up keeping it, causing the fall of Troy and ending the war]

Page 88.
Vocabulary: piteously

• "...how Odysseus went raging like Ares along with Menelaus to the house of Deiphobus...." --> Deiphobus is important because he was one of the Trojan leaders after Hector's death
• "He wept as a woman weeps...even so piteously did Odysseus weep..." --> Homeric simile describing Odysseus's sorrow / weeping for the story
• "...let Demodocus cease his song, for there are those present [ahem, Odysseus] who do not seem to like it...." --> only Alcinous notices Odysseus weeping like a baby
• "...it will be more polite in you to give me a plain answer...." --> does Alcinous suspect, at this point, that Odysseus has been hiding something?
• "Still I do remember hearing my father say that Poseidon was angry with us for being too easy-going in the matter of giving people escorts...." --> yet another prophecy: is this one about helping Odysseus? will their ship be wrecked after helping him home?

Page 89.
Vocabulary: none.

• "And now, tell me and tell me true...." --> Alcinous asks who Odysseus is
• Question: If the Phaeacians are so distant and isolated from all other areas -- would they have even heard of Odysseus? obviously, with bards like Demodocus, the answer would be yes, though they probably couldn't have related much to his sorrow and wouldn't understand why he would cry when the bard sang about Troy and the Achaeans

Book 8 divides into three main sections, each with a song:

1. Odysseus and Achilles's argument (Odysseus weeps at this)
2. Aphrodite and Ares (no weeping)
3. Troy / the Trojan Horse (Odysseus weeps at this one too)

Bibliography

Odyssey, Book 7 Notes

Reception of Odysseus at the palace of King Alcinous

Major concepts:

• Odysseus's prayer
• Odysseus's entrance to the palace
• Parallels: Odysseus / Scheria = Hermes / Ogygia
• Description of the palace
• Odysseus's greeting of Queen Arête
• Hospitality
• Phaeacians' familiarity with visits from the gods
• Odysseus's avoidance of introducing himself
• Alcinous's suggestion

Study Guide Questions:

1. What sort of kingdom is Phaeacia? How well is it governed, judging from the way the King relates to his family and subjects and the way he receives the guest?
2. What craft are the Phaeacians best known for?
3. How is Odysseus treated as a guest?
4. What is the difference between the way Odysseus greets Arête and the way he greeted Nausicaa?
5. What does this tell us about Odysseus's perception of the two women?
6. Why does Odysseus sit in the ashes?
7. What does Odysseus say when asked to identify himself?
8. What is Arête's role in helping Odysseus?
9. How does Odysseus explain why Nausicaa did not bring him directly to the palace?
10. How might the impression Odysseus and we receive of Phaeacia be significant for Odysseus's subsequent return to Ithaca?

Page 71.
Vocabulary: comely

• "...her brothers -- comely as the gods..." --> simile
• "...the people obeyed him as though he were a god...." --> simile
• Nausicaa's brothers were waiting for her -- suggests a tight-knit family
• "Athena shed a thick mist all around him..." --> again, Athena's involvement in maintaining Odysseus's safety
• "...she came towards him in the likeness of a little girl..." --> yet another disguise for Athena
• "...say not a word as you go, and do not look at any man, nor ask him questions...." --> Athena offers Odysseus advice on how to stay "under the radar"
• "They are a sea-faring folk..." --> yet another mention of how the Phaeacians are good with ships

Page 72.
Vocabulary: consummate

• "...by the grace of Poseidon..." --> close ties to Poseidon -- a warning sign for Odysseus?
• "...for the bolder a man is the more likely he is to carry his point..." --> Athena continues her instructions: be brave -- didn't she suggest something similar to Telemachus when he was to speak to Nestor at Pylos?
• "...they both descend originally from Poseidon..." --> Poseidon + Perioboea = Nausithous; Nausithous + ? = Rhexenor and Alcinous; Rhexenor + ? = Arete; Arete + Alcinous = sons and Nausicaa
• "Arete" = Greek, for "goddess" ; "excellence" ; "virtue"
• "If you can gain her good will, you may have ever hope of seeing your friends again..." --> key to returning home is to get Arete's blessings
• "...the splendor of the palace was like that of the sun or moon..." --> simile
• "...gold and silver mastiffs..." --> statues fashioned from the gods to protect the palace

Page 73.
Vocabulary: shuttles, endowed, precincts,

• "...while the linen is so closely woven that it will turn oil..." --> refers to Greek custom of bleaching wool in a bath of olive oil and other substances
• "As the Phaecians are the best sailors in the world..." --> good with ships (again)
• "The fruits never rot nor fail all the year round..." --> describes Scheria as if it were a Utopian society / world
• "Such, then, were the splendours with which the gods had endowed the house of king Alcinous...." --> Alcinous and the Phaeacians are blessed by the gods
• "...then he laid his hands upon the knees of the queen..." --> Odysseus supplicates to the Queen, Arete

Page 74.
Vocabulary: none.

• "Then he sat down on the hearth among the ashes..." --> shows humility; does being a hero involve lowering oneself down to the lowest level?
• "...tell him, then, to rise and take a seat on a stool inlaid with silver, and bid your servants mix some wine..." --> Echeneus (Phaeacian elder) reminds Alcinous to be hospitable to his guest (what about Arete? wasn't she supposed to play a major role in this???)
• "...will give a sacrificial banquet in honor of our guest..." --> Alcinous will honor Odysseus by throwing him a party
• "It is possible, however, that the stranger is one of the immortals who has come down from heaven to visit us..." --> Alcinous boasts about their closeness to the gods by saying that Odysseus might be a god

Page 75.
Vocabulary: importunate

• "I am in great trouble, yet it insists that I shall eat and drink..." --> if Odysseus is to play the part of the helpless beggar, food would be of utmost importance to him
• "Arete was the first to speak, for she recognized the shirt, cloak, and good clothes that Odysseus was wearing..." --> in this section, Arete also questions Odysseus about who he is -- does he ever answer her?
• "...there is an island far away in the sea which is called 'the Ogygian.' ..." --> in the next few paragraphs, Odysseus tells about his stay with Calypso; does he change the story at all? for what purpose?

Page 76.
Vocabulary: westering, disposition

• "...your daughter among them looking like a goddess..." --> simile
• in his retelling of the his arrival at Scheria, he fails to mention Ino or how the girls awoke him from his sleep; he also mentions that he was "ashamed and afraid" -- is this true? why would he say this?
• "...I wish you would stay here, marry my daughter, and become my son-in-law..." --> note that Alcinous offers his daughter's hand in marriage and almost immediately withdraws his offer / changes his tone -- why?

Page 77.
Vocabulary: none.

• "You will thus see how much my ships excel all others, and what magnificent oarsmen my sailors are...." --> what are the Phaeacians good at?
• Odysseus next wishes Alcinous an "imperishable name" -- this is the highest glory one can achieve as a hero

Bibliography

Odyssey, Book 6 Notes

The Meeting between Nausicaa and Odysseus

Major Concepts:

• Phaeacians / their relationship with the gods
• Athena's disguise / message to Nausicaa
• Nausicaa's description / her beauty / her age
• Nausicaa being of marrying age
• Odysseus's awakening
• Differing reactions to Odysseus and his frightful appearance
• Odysseus's tact / Nausicaa's hospitality
• Bathing / annointing with oil
• Odysseus's changed appearance
• Athena's presence

Study Guide Questions:

1. What 'subliminal' message does Athena give to Nausicaa while she sleeps?
2. Who is th eonly person who doesn't run away from the terrifying Odysseus? Why doesn't she run away?
3. What does Odysseus choose not to do when he sees Nausicaa? Explain.
4. What does Odysseus say to Nausicaa?
5. Is it pure luck that Nausicaa helps Odysseus? Explain.
6. Why does the fact that Odysseus won't bathe in front of the girls tells us about the kind of person he is?
7. Does Nausicaa believe her parents will help Odysseus?
8. Why won't Nausicaa let Odysseus ride in her cart?
9. Why instructions does she give Odysseus?
10. Who has ties to the city which might be a warning sign for Odysseus?

Page 63.
Vocabulary: none.

• "...near the lawless Cyclopes...." --> the city obviously has ties to the Cyclopes, Odysseus's enemies. a warning sign?
• "...King Alcinous, whose counsels were inspired of heaven, was now reigning...." --> this is Odysseus's last stop before he returns to Ithaca
• "...in which there slept a girl who was as lovely as a goddess..." --> note that many of the descriptions / similes about the Phaeacians compare them to gods / godddesses
• "...yet you are going to be married almost immediately..." --> the first of many references to Nausicaa's age and ability to be married soon -- is Homer suggesting that after all he went through, Odysseus will marry Nausicaa?
• "Athena took the form of the famous sea captain Dymas' daughter..." --> Athena dons yet another disguise to speak to a mortal and instructs Nausciaa to spend a day washing clothes by the river so she will encounter Odysseus

Page 64.
Vocabulary: want, cruse

• "...and you are not going to remain a maid much longer..." --> again, Nausicaa is of marrying age
• "...Nausicaa, who began wondering about her dream..." --> Nausicaa goes to find her mother, weaving purple yarn at her loom (purple yarn = very rare / expensive); and her father about to attend a meeting
• Nausicaa's father Alcinous gives her a wagon so she can wash the clothes

Page 65.
Vocabulary: unkempt, begrimed

• "When they had done dinner they threw off the veils that covered their heads and began to play at ball, while Nausicaa sang for them...." --> all unmarried women would have always had two things when going out in public: a veil to cover their face and other people accompanying them. Note that here, the young girls are vulnerable and about to meet a man, rather dissheveled in appearance.
• "As the huntress Artemis goes forth upon the mountains...even so did the girl outshine her handmaids...." --> another Homeric simile
• "...see the handsome girl who was to conduct him to the city of the Phaeacians...." --> again refers to Nausicaa's beauty and how Odysseus should take note of it
• "What kind of people have I come amongst?" --> Odysseus wakes and wonders what kind of people the Phaeacians will be
• "...to hide his nakedness...." --> Odysseus would have appeared very frightening to Nausicaa and her handmaids, especially being unclothed. Does he pose a threat to their safety?
• "He looked like some lion of the wilderness that stalks about exulting in his strength and defying both wind and rain...." --> another Homeric simile
• "...the others scampered off along the spits..." --> all of the other handmaids abandon Nausicaa, who holds her ground; her strength comes from Athena
• "...he doubted whether he should go up to her, throw himself at her feet, and embrace her knees as a suppliant, or stay where he was and entreat her to give him some clothes and show him the way to the town. In the end he deemed it best to entreat her from a distance in case the girl should take offense at his coming near enough to clasp her knees, so he addressed her in honeyed and persuasive language...." --> yet another Greek custom, supplication involved the act of falling onto ones knees in front of another (god or mortal) and begging for help; was supposed to be very demeaning and embarrassing for the person begging for help; in order for the act of supplication to be complete (and accepted) there also needed to be some sort of physical contact between the person asking for help and the assumed helper (usually grasping the knees); here, Odysseus realizes his ravaged appearance and how approaching a lone female and grasping onto her knees might be misconstrued; he decides to merely ask for help through flattery; note his language on the next page

Page 66.
Vocabulary: scion, discomfits

• "...and who takes you to his own home...." --> Odysseus flatters Nausicaa by saying how lucky everyone is who knows her (family, friends, future husband)
• "I dare not clasp your knees..." --> recall, for supplication to be complete there needs to be physical contact; Odysseus is substituting this for his explanation why he won't do that
• "May heaven grant you in all things your heart's desire..." --> ends supplication by blessing the person who he's asking for help
• "...we are called Phaeacians..." --> Nausicaa introduces herself
• "Neither he nor anyone else can come here to do us Phaeacians harm..." --> Nausicaa scolds the other maids for running away from Odysseus; she reveals that Scheria is isolated, and, in a sense, protected from intruders

Page 67.
Vocabulary: cruse, ravenously

• "...for strangers and foreigners in distress are under Zeus' protection...so, girls, give the poor fellow something to eat and drink, and wash him in the stream at some place that is sheltered from the wind...." --> explains Zeus's code for hospitality / guests; Nausicaa commands her servants to wash Odysseus (common practice for women to bathe men)
• "...told him to go and wash in the stream...." --> Nausicaa told her servants to wash Odysseus and here, they tell him to do it himself -- defiance? -- in his response, Odysseus makes is seem like it was his decision to wash alone (shame), allowing Nausicaa to retain her control over her servants
• "Athena made him look taller and stronger than before..." --> why does it matter that Odysseus look nice? Nausicaa notices the change: "the girl gazed on him with admiration."
• Nausicaa vs. Calypso: Calypso bathed, fed, and slept with Odysseus herself; Nausicaa commands her servants to bathe and feed him, and merely looks at him in wonder and appreciation
• "I should like my future husband to be just such another as he is, if he would only stay here and not want to go away...." --> does Nausicaa want to marry Odysseus? Will she marry Odysseus?

Page 68.
Vocabulary: disparaging, scandalized

• "You will see the market place with a temple of Poseidon..." --> isn't Poseidon Odysseus's sworn enemy? is this another warning sign?
• "...but are a sea-faring folk, and pride themselves with their masts..." --> what does Odysseus need more than ever right now? a boat! how convenient these people are well-known for their ships / knowledge of the sea
• "I suppose she is going to marry him..." --> here, Nausicaa presents what people may say when they see her with Odysseus -- does she want people to think this? what is the importance of what other people think?
• "You will find her sitting by the fire and spinning her purple wool by firelight...my father, on which he sits like an immortal god...." --> Nausicaa tells Odysseus how to approach her parents and ask for help; he should supplicate before her mother and win her over; apparently, she will play an important role in his returning home

Page 69.
Vocabulary: unweariable

• "...she would not show herself to him openly..." --> apparently, even Athena fears Poseidon's wrath

Book 13 Quiz

1. How did the people in King Alkinoos' court react when they heard Odysseus' story? (p. 198)


2. What does Odysseus hope to find when he returns home? (p. 199)


3. Homer compares Odysseus' sleep to what? (p. 200)


4. In lines 89-92, it says "She carried a man with a mind like the gods for counsel, one whose / spirit up to this time had endured much, suffering many / pains: the wars of men, hard crossing of the big waters; / but now he slept still, oblivious of all he had suffered." Who is she? What literary device is this an example of?


5. Summarize what happens in lines 113-119.


6. Poseidon is speaking to Zeus in lines 127-138. Why is he upset?


7. What do the Phaiakians (Phaecians) do to please Poseidon? (p. 203)


8. What is Odysseus' lament in lines 200-216?


9. When Athena approaches Odysseus, how is she dressed? Why? (p. 203-204)


10. What does she reveal to him at the end of her speech? (p. 204)


11. What does Odysseus say to Athena when he hears her news? (lines 256-286)


12. What does Athena do and say in response to what Odysseus tells her? (lines 287-295)


13. In lines 299-302, Athena reveals her identity to Odysseus and says she was the one "who is always / standing by you and guarding you in every endeavor." However, Odysseus responds to her in lines 314-323. What does he say to her?


14. Why didn't Athena become more involved in Odysseus' trials? (lines 339-343)


15. What did Odysseus think would never happen? (page 207)


16. What do Odysseus and Athena do before they discuss the plan for the suitors? (page 207)


17. How many years have the suitors been in Odysseus' house? (page 208)


18. What does Odysseus ask Athena in lines 385-391?


19. What will Athena do to assist in his cause to defeat the suitors? (lines 396-403) (She actually does it in lines 429-438).


20. Athena reveals in lines 412-415 that she will call Telemachus back from his journey looking for information about his father. Odysseus is upset that she sent him when she knew that Odysseus was alive. Was it so Telemachus would suffer as Odysseus did? Athena says no. What was her reasoning? (lines 420-424).

Book 13 Notes

Odyssey Book 13 Bookrag Notes

Odyssey Book 13-14 Cliff's Notes

Book 13 -- Full Text (no line numbers)

Odyssey Book 13 Mythweb

Odyssey Notes, Circe, Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, Lord Helios, Calypso, Phaecia

Circe

• Circe warns: “The Sirens are in your path
• The Sirens will sing your mind away
• There are bones around them on the rocks
• Plug your men’s ears with beeswax, but
• If you want to hear the Sirens’ singing, have your men tie you to the mast”
• Circe also warns about Scylla – 12 legs, 6 heads, 3 rows of teeth in each head – a serpent-like monster
• She’ll take one man for each mouth
• Charybdis is next, a giant whirlpool
• Circe says: go closer to Scylla – less risk
• Circe also warns of Helio’s cattle: don’t kill and eat them (the cattle are immortal) and it’ll upset Helios
• Circe says: your men will probably kill the cattle
• O doesn’t tell men about what Circe said

Sirens

• Sirens are ½ bird, ½ woman
• O stuffed his men’s ears with beeswax
• The men tied O to the mast
• When O hears the sirens, he asks to be released but his men do not release him

Scylla and Charybdis

• Scylla stole 6 of O’s men; Charybdis tried to eat the ship, but the ship wasn’t close enough

Land of the Sun God

• O wants to pass by this island, but men want to stop
• O says: “don’t eat the cattle”
• It stormed for a month; they ran out of food
• O leaves men alone to pray to gods
• Eurylochus urges men: “let’s kill cattle”
• “starvation is the worst way to die”
• So, the men kill the cattle
• O returns and is upset at his men
• Helios prayed to Zeus for help: “they killed my cattle”
• Zeus punishes O’s men with a thunderbolt striking the ship
• Only O survives
• He washes up on Calpyso’s shore
  

Calypso

• O spent 7 years as Calypso’s prisoner
• Athena begs Zeus to let O go home
• Calypso is bad b/c she keeps O from his home
• Hermes arrives and likes Calypso’s house
• Hermes tells Zeus’s decree: “release him”
• Calypso tells O: “I thought it over. I’ll let you go.”
• Calypso wants to know why O still wants his wife when she’s not as pretty as Calypso is
• Calypso also offers O immortality if he stays
• O still says he wants to go home
• Calypso helps O build a raft
• Poseidon is still angry; crashes O’s raft

Phaecia, King Alcinous

• O washes up on the Phaecian shore
• O is found by King Alcinous’s daughter
• O is taken to King’s palace; treated very well
• He tells the whole story to the kingdom
• King Alcinous gives O a ship to go home

Please make your comment something meaningful or add something you noted in Book 12 as you read. First or last names only.