Odyssey, Book 9 Notes

Odysseus declares himself and begins his story; the Cicons, Lotophagi, and Cyclopes

Major concepts:

• Odysseus's failure to control his men in the land of the Cicons
• Odysseus rescuing his men in the land of the Lotus Eaters and saving them in the land of the Cyclopes
• Odysseus's adventurous attitude
• Hospitality, and how it changes in other lands
• "Farm" culture of the Cyclops
• Vividness of Odysseus's attack against the Cyclops
• Cleverness of his escape
• Polyphemus's curse
• Odysseus's leadership qualities, adventurous spirit, courage and cleverness; his lapse into hubris / pride

Study Guide Questions:

1. Where do Odysseus and his men go first after they leave Troy?
2. Who are the Cicons / Cicones?
3. Describe the Lotus Eaters.
4. How does Polyphemus prevent Odysseus and his men from leaving the cave?
5. What does Polyphemus's diet consist of?
6. Are the Cyclopes in any way civilized? Explain.
7. Why doesn't Odysseus just kill the Cyclops when he has the chance?
8. What gift does Odysseus give the Cyclops? What gift does the Cyclops give in return?
9. What mistake does Odysseus make at the end of book 9?
10. What benefit does Homer have by allowing Odysseus to tell the story of his adventure after the fact? Why wouldn't Homer just tell the entire story of the Odyssey in chronological order?

Page 91.
Vocabulary: renowned

• “There is nothing more delightful than when a whole people make merry together…” --> ironic since, technically, a “whole people” are “making merry” at his house but are the suitors
• “Now, however, since you are inclined to ask the story of my sorrows…” --> Odysseus will finally tell his story
• NOTE: Odysseus is a storyteller, not a singer
• “…my name…” --> xenia / hospitality could not be complete without knowing the guest’s name
• “…my fame ascends to heaven…” --> finally, Odysseus feels comfortable enough to exert his authority
• “The goddess Calypso kept me with her in her cave…” --> for one year (we find out in book 10)
• “…for there is nothing dearer to a man than his own country…” --> again, emphasizes / appeals to Greeks’ sense of loyalty to one’s home

Page 92.
Vocabulary: invoked

• “…however splendid a home he may have in a foreign country…” --> interesting that Odysseus does not mention a crucial part of his home – his WIFE
• even though it may have been great with Calypso, he still longs for his home
• “…first to Ismarus, which is the city of the Cicons….” --> Odysseus’s first stop after Troy; Cicons (pronounced sick – ko – nees); allies of the Trojans
• “…but my men very foolishly would not obey me….” --> Odysseus tried to get his men to leave but they did not listen to him; what does this suggest about his leadership abilities? How does this relate to his role as a “hero” ?
• “…the Cicons got the better of us, and we lost half a dozen men from every ship…” --> Odysseus had 12 ships and lost 6 from every ship = 6 X 12 = 72 men
  Odysseus would have had around 60 men on each ship
• “thrice invoked each one of the poor fellows who had perished by the hands of the Cicons….” --> this would have been necessary for those who could not recover the bodies to provide them with proper burial
• “…we lay two days and two nights…” --> a storm kept them from leaving
• “…driven thence by foul winds for a space of nine days…” --> spent a total of ten days on the sea before reaching the land of the Lotus Eaters
• “…I sent two of my company…” --> Odysseus sends two men and a “runner” to return with the news – the Lotus Eaters were not violent people – so what threat did they pose?
• QUESTION: Is apathy worse than violence?

Page 93.
Vocabulary: smote

• QUESTION: What is Odysseus’s main goal?
• “…who ate of it left off caring about home…” --> men who ate the lotus forgot about home / were unable to return home – compare this with other stories / myths where getting home involved eating / not eating certain foods
• “…till we came to the land of the lawless and inhuman Cyclopes….” --> if Odysseus knows the Phaeacians’ connection to the Cyclopes, why does he talk bad about them?
• Lawless people were considered “bad” or “monstrous” in 8th century Greece
• “Now off their harbor…” --> compare this description with that of Calypso’s island – is this Nature over-run?
• “…the Cyclops have no ships…” --> Cyclops are completely isolated, but the lands are rich enough that they have no need to trade / travel to other lands
  compare the Utopian description of the Cyclops to that of the Phaeacians – shortsightedness (Cyclops) verses intelligence (Phaeacians)

Page 94.
Vocabulary: smote

• “…twelve ships with me…” --> 12 ships, 60 men per ship = 720 men
• “Stay here, my brave fellows…” --> Odysseus takes his main ship to the Cyclops’s and leaves the other 11 ships on the neighboring island
• it’s Odysseus’s curiosity that drives him to investigate the Cyclop’s home
• “…we saw a great cave… --> Cyclop’s home
• “…resembling rather some crag…” --> metaphor
• “…but the twelve best among them…” --> Odysseus choses 12 men out of the 60 to help; only 6 will return
• “…a goatskin of sweet black wine…” --> wine plays a major role in the success of his escape from this island
• “…with twelve jars of sweet wine, unblended…” ; “…he mixed twenty parts of water to one of wine…” --> most wine would have been 1 part wine to 3 parts water or 2 parts wine to 3 parts water
• “…for my mind warned me that I might have to deal with some savage…” --> if he knew there would be danger, why did he go?

Page 95.
Vocabulary: hoggets, renown

• “When they saw all this, my men begged me to let them first steal some cheeses…” --> leadership issues?
• “…for I wanted to see the owner himself…” --> pride / hubris ; Odysseus wants to increase his own wealth
• “…to light the fire for his supper…” --> but his meal isn’t cooked, so he uses the fire for light and warmth and Odysseus will need the fire for his escape plan
• “flung with such a noise…” --> doesn’t describe Cyclops’s physical appearance though his actions should make us afraid
• Note the care the Cyclops takes with milking his sheep / caring for them
• “Strangers, who are you?” --> Cyclops thinks Odysseus’s men are pirates – how does his hospitality compare with the Phaeacians?
• Odysseus reminds the Cyclops to be hospitable – note the Cyclops’s response in the next paragraph

Page 96.
Vocabulary: entrails

• “And now tell me where you made your ship fast…” --> should Odysseus tell the Cyclops where he parked his ships? Why/why not?
• “Poseidon…sent my ships on to the rocks…” --> interesting that Odysseus chooses this god – why might that be ironic?
• “He gobbled them up like a lion…” --> note that Odysseus was also compared to a lion when he first met Nausicaa
• Cyclops eats two men and goes to sleep; Odysseus realizes he shouldn’t kill the Cyclops in his sleep – why?
• Note that the Cyclops is NOT a wine drinker – that much easier to get drunk
• “…he clutched up two more of my men…” --> eats 2 more men then leaves and returns the stone to the doorway
• “…so I was left to scheme some way…” --> Odysseus is concerned with his pride / or “covering himself with glory”

Page 97.
Vocabulary: ramping, gobbets

• “..end in the fire to make it harder…” --> prepares the stake for the Cyclops’s eye
• “…the lot fell upon the very four…” --> these four must be saved / others can be sacrificed
  note: two more men die, not among the four he chose
• “…ivy-wood bowl of black wine…” --> Odysseus gives the Cyclops unmixed wine; Cyclops drinks several bowls of it and pukes and passes out, face-up (important for Odysseus’s plan to work)
• “…tell me your name at once; I want to make you a present…” --> Cyclops DOES know the rules of hospitality but chooses to ignore them; makes him barbaric
• “…my name is Noman…” --> this clever trick foreshadows his own return to Ithaca – he must return anonymously
• Note what the Cyclops’s gift to Odysseus is now that he knows his name
• “…thrust the beam of wood far into the embers…” --> as a ‘green wood’ it probably wouldn’t glow; it would catch fire before it would glow

Page 98.
Vocabulary: besmirched, esconced

• “…bearing upon it with all my weight…” --> Homeric simile
• “As a blacksmith plunges an ax…” --> Homeric simile
• “…asked what was the matter with him…” --> note how the Cyclops responds to the others
• “…I bound them noiselessly…” --> how does Odysseus plan to use the sheep / rams to assist his escape?

Page 99.
Vocabulary: smote

• “My good ram…” --> how is Polyphemus’s questions to the ram ironic?
• “Then, when I had got as far as my voice would reach…” --> Odysseus’s pride gets the best of him
• “…Now Zeus and the other gods have punished you…” --> Odysseus will also punish the suitors in the same way
• “…flung it just in front of my ship…a little of hitting the end of the rudder…” --> impossible; Homer words this wrong
• “Do not be mad enough to provoke the savage beast further…” --> Odysseus’s men beg him not to continue – what keeps driving him?

Page 100.
Vocabulary: none.

• QUESTION: What is Odysseus’s main weakness?
• Odysseus calling out to the Cyclops is stupid for 2 reasons: (1) gives the Cyclops another chance to lob a boulder and (2) it gives the Cyclops Odysseus’s real name (prayers to the gods / revenge couldn’t take place without someone’s real name)
• Omen: “There was a prophet here, at one time…” --> interesting that the Cyclops is also a victim of hubris – he only thought a certain kind of man could defeat him / rob him of his sight

Page 101.
Vocabulary: livelong

• Cyclops’s prayer: do not let Odysseus get home alive, or if he must…

1. Takes a long time
2. Trouble on the way
3. Lose all of his men
4. Arrive in someone else’s ship
5. Trouble at home

Additional notes about book 9:

• Odysseus's adventureland is very different from the Phaeacians's world.
• Note how Athena is completely kept out of Odysseus's adventures.
• Odysseus is a hero of courage and versatility -- but also (obviously) with his problems as well (leadership, pride / hubris)
• Odysseus is known for his 'metis' or resourcefulness / cunning --> his intelligence and not brute force is inevitably what saves him (recall the Demodocus's song about Achilles and Odysseus arguing in book 8 -- the question asked was will cunning or force win Troy? -- INFER: if a hero like Achilles would have encountered the Cyclops, what would have been the end result?

Problems for books 9-12

• (1) the source / origin of the stories stems from Jason and the Argonauts
• both stories / myths share the stories of Circe, Sirens, Sun God, etc.
• the stories / adventures were adapted to fit with the story of the Odyssey
• the stories are "told" by Odysseus -- but are they completely true? how can we trust Odysseus as a narrator?
• (2) stories were told to the Phaeacians
• were the stories adapted by Odysseus to fit / appeal to their audience?

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

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