Odyssey, Book 10 Notes

Aeolus; The Laestrygones; Circe

Major concepts:

• King Aeolus's gift to Odysseus
• Odysseus letting his "guard down"
• Aeolus's belief that Odysseus is not favored by the gods
• Aeolus's attitude toward second chances
• Odysseus's caution when he reaches the land of the Laestrygonians
• Odysseus's caution when he reaches Aeaea
• Circe's initial reception of Odysseus's men and her witchcraft
• the role of Hermes
• Odysseus as seducer and seduced
• the importance of Circe's promise
• the luxury of the palace
• Circe's ultimate support and hospitality
• the need to visit Hades and hear from Teiresias

Study Guide Questions:

1. What favor does Aeolus do for Odysseus and his men?
2. What stupid mistake do some of the men make on the ship? Was it preventable? Explain.
3. How does Odysseus lose 11 of his 12 ships and a very large portion of his men?
4. What sort of character is Circe? Why (aside from her magic) is she able to turn Odysseus's men into pigs? What have they done to offend her or what weakness do they show?
5. What does Hermes give to Odysseus? What is it supposed to do?
6. What makes Odysseus succumb for a time to Circe's enticements? What is his mistake here?
7. How does Odysseus get Circe to release his men?
8. How long does Odysseus stay with Circe in her palace?
9. Why does Odysseus need to visit the Land of the Dead and consult with Teiresias?
10. How is Circe like Calypso? How is she different?

• the formatting of book 10 mimics that of book 9: two shorter incidents followed by a longer, more complex one
• themes started in book 9 will continue to develop in book 10: tension between Odysseus and his men; Odysseus's vulnerability to accusations of cowardice and obstinancy (Odyssey seems more set to stay with Circe than his men)

Page 103.
Vocabulary: savor, flayed

• Aeolian island: stop # 5
• Aeolus --> name means "changeful" -- appropriate (1) ruler of the winds; (2) lives on a floating island; and (3) treats Odysseus different two times
• Hippotas --> name means "horseman" -- connections to Poseidon (god of horses)
• "...so he made the sons marry the daughters..." --> a practice of the gods, not humans
• "All day long the atmosphere of the house is loaded with the savor of roasting meats till it groans again, yard and all." --> personification
• "Aeolus entertained me for a whole month" --> verbal cue
• "...he flayed me a prime ox-hide to hold the ways of the roaring winds, which he shut up in the hide as in a sack..." --> Aelous bags up all the winds except for the West wind "which was fair for us did he alone let blow as it chose"
• "...for we were lost through our own folly..." --> foreshadowing / will pride play a role in this?
• "Nine days and nine nights did we sail..." --> they can see Ithaca by the tenth day

Page 104.
Vocabulary: prevailed, lamented

• "...for I had never let the rudder out of my own hands..." --> because he didn't trust them?
• "...the men fell to talking among themselves..." --> what do the men decide to do here? what is their motivation? how does this reflect on Odysseus as a leader?
• distrust is mutual between Odysseus and his men
• "They loosed the sack...raised a storm that carried us weeping out to sea and away from our own country." --> what happens when they open the sack?
• "...knew not whether to throw myself into the sea or to live on..." --> Odysseus contemplates suicide
• "We took pains to further you on your way home to Ithaca, or wherever it was that you wanted to go...." --> INFER: how will Aeolus react when Odysseus asks him for help again?
• "My men have undone me; they, and cruel sleep, have ruined me." --> Odysseus blames his men mostly for what happened. Who do you believe is at fault?
• "Vilest of mankind, get you gone....Be off, for you come here as one abhorred of heaven." --> Odysseus has not said or done anything to indicate the gods hate him (he fell asleep -- not by any god or goddess's commands; his men unleashed the winds, again, of their own free will) so why would Aeolus assume he is hated by the gods?
• "Six days, night and day did we toil, and on the seventh day, we reached the rocky stronghold of Lamus -- Telepylus, the city of the Laestrygonians...." --> stop # 6

Page 105.
Vocabulary: reconnoitre, forthwith

• "...we found it land-locked under steep cliffs, with a narrow entrance between two headlands..." --> does this place sound dangerous? why/why not?
• "I kept my own ship outside..." --> important that Odysseus's ship is isolated from the others
• the Laestrygonians have "a level road" for firewood transport (industrialized) and a "place of assembly" (law and order) --> so are they "civilized"?
• "...so she directed them to her father's house...they found his wife to be a giantess as huge as a mountain...." --> the guide leads them straight to danger -- are the laws of hospitality broken here?
• "He snatched up one of them, and began to make his dinner off him then and there..." --> cannibals, like the Cyclops
• "...they threw vast rocks at us from the cliffs as through they had been mere stones..." --> the ships in the harbor are destroyed before they have the opportunity to leave
• "While they were thus killing my men within the harbor I drew my sword, cut the cable of my own ship, and told my men to row with all their might..." --> is Odysseus acting like a coward here? how does this reflect on his leadership? is he doing the right thing?
• "As for the others there was not one of them left...." --> Odysseus loses 11 of his 12 ships at the land of the Laestrygonians
• "...glad to have escaped death, though we had lost our comrades..." --> repetition, page 101
• "...came to the Aeaean island, where Circe lives..." --> stop # 7

Page 106.
Vocabulary: fathom

• "...send some of them instead of going myself..." --> Odysseus sends his men to investigate instead of himself; how does this reflect on his leadership?
• "...sent a fine stag..." --> Odysseus kills a large deer and tries to rally his crew
• "...they uncovered their heads..." --> they had been mourning the loss of the other crewmembers
• "...the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn..." --> epithet
• "...so I divided them into two companies...I gave one company to Eurylochus, while I took command of the other myself...." --> 22 men + 1 leader X 2 groups = 46 men; they lost 6 with the Cicones and 6 at the Cyclops's home = around 60 men total per ship

Page 107.
Vocabulary: fawned

• "...mountain wolves and lions..." --> compare and contrast this image with other descriptions of Nature so far (Calypso's island; Cyclops's island)
• similarities with Calypso: (1) both live alone; (2) both are unmarried goddesses; (3) both live on islands; (4) both have strange powers; (5) both are untrustworthy; (6) both sing and weave; (7) both compel Odysseus to stay with them for a time [Calypso = 7 years; Circe = 1 year]
• "As hounds crowd round their master..." --> Homeric simile
• "...all except Eurylochus, who suspected mischief and stayed outside..." --> INFER: does he have something to fear?
• "...she drugged it with wicked poisons to make them forget their homes...she turned them into pigs by a stroke of her wand..." --> Circe turns them into pigs
• Eurylochus returns to tell Odysseus what happened with the other men

Page 108.
Vocabulary: lairs

• "...let us rather see if we cannot escape at any rate with the few that are left..." --> Eurylochus doesn't want Odysseus to go back -- does he perhaps remember what happened in the past when Odysseus couldn't control his adventurous spirit?
• "...for I am most urgently bound to do so...." --> what is Odysseus's motivation here? does he feel guilty about abandoning the other men or will this rescue bring further glory to him?
• "Hermes with his golden wand, disguised as a young man..." --> PROBLEM: if Odysseus is the one telling the story and Hermes never reveals that he is, in fact, Hermes, then how does Odysseus know this?
• "I will protect you and get you out of your difficulty..." and "...the gods call it Moly, and mortal men cannot uproot it..." --> Hermes offers Odysseus a root to protect him against Circe's powers
• Note the detail of Hermes's instructions to Odysseus about how to defeat / overcome Circe in the fourth paragraph: (1) Circe will mix a potion for him to drink; (2) she will strike him with the wand in an attempt to change him, like the others; (3) Odysseus should draw his sword and act as if he's going to kill her; (4) she will ask him to bed; (5) he must not refuse her but first make her promise not to hurt him

Page 109.
Vocabulary: lair, arrayed, dumb

• "Who and whence are you...?" --> Circe is frightened; Odysseus is able to overcome Circe's powers by way of the Moly from Hermes
• Odysseus makes Circe promise not to hurt him and then goes to bed with her
• Note the hospitality in the fifth paragraph
• Circe notices Odysseus sad in the last paragraph on this page

Page 110.
Vocabulary: halloa-ballooing

• "If you want me to eat and drink, you must free my men and bring them to me that I may see them with my own eyes..." --> Odysseus makes Circe release his men
• "...hide all your ship's gear and property in some cave, and come back here with your men...." --> Circe tells Odysseus to return to the others and bring them back to her palace; he agrees
• "Eurylochus tried to hold them back and said, 'Alas, poor wretches that we are, what will become of us...It was all through his sheer folly that those men lost their lives.' " --> finally someone stands up to Odysseus and makes clear his poor leadership in the past; what does Odysseus consider doing in the next paragraph?

Page 111.
Vocabulary: flit

• "Eurylochus was not left behind after all..." --> Eurylochus had considered staying behind but feared Odysseus if he would not go
• "...so stay here, and eat and drink till you are once more as strong and hearty as you were when you left Ithaca..." --> RECALL: what is Odysseus's main goal?
• "We stayed with Circe for a whole twelvemonth feasting upon an untold quantity of both meat and wine...." --> stayed for 1 year with Circe
• "Sir, it is time you began to think about going home..." --> it is his men who remind him of his goal (interesting change since in the past, it was Odysseus who had to remind his men of this)
• "You must go to the house of Hades and of dread Persephone to consult the ghost of the blind Theban prophet Teiresias..." --> Circe tells Odysseus that he must go to the Land of the Dead

Page 112.
Vocabulary: gossamer

• "...poplars and willows..." --> trees associated with death
• Note Circe's detailed instructions of how to get Teiresias to speak to him starting at the end of paragraph 2: (1) go to where the two rivers run together; (2) dig a trench a cubit deep and a cubit wide; (3) pour a drink offering of honey mixed with milk, then wine, then water; (4) sprinkle barley meal over the whole thing; (5) offer prayers to the dead; (6) promise the dead to sacrifice his very best barren heifer and put many 'good things' on the pyre; (7) promise Teiresias to sacrifice the finest black sheep in all the flocks; (8) offer the dead a ram and a black ewe; (9) have the men skin the two sacrificed sheep; (10) offer them as a burnt sacrifice with prayers to Hades and Persephone; (11) prevent any other dead from coming near the spilt blood until Teiresias has answered the questions
• "...certain youth named Elpenor..." --> Elpenor slept on the roof of Circe's house and heard the noise downstairs

Page 113.
Vocabulary: none.

• "...coming down by the main staircase..." --> after hearing the noise, Elpenor forgot where he was and stumbled off of the roof; he broke his neck and died; interesting that Odysseus and his men leave him without giving him a proper burial first; Odysseus will see Elpenor in the Land of the Dead

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

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 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

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