Unit 3 Mortals and Heroes Cont Lecture 23 Homer Odyssey 11 2 15 11 20 15 o Homer ca 800 BC Odyssey story of Odysseus o Odysseus return to Ithaca after war in Troy Epic poem in 24 books i e chapters Plot Poem begins in media res Books 1 4 often called the Telemachy story of Telemachus in the middle of things o o Homer s Odyssey First word of the poem andra the man o This man is said to be polutropos much travelled of many devices shifty o Book 1 Thus the epic s main focus will be on this man s dangerous journey home which he will navigate successfully largely by use of his cleverness When poem opens where is Odysseus What s going on in Ithaca Trapped on island with a goddess named Calypso the Concealer The suitors o Devouring Odysseus wealth while wooing his wife Penelope Telemachus role up to now Nothing apparently This all changes with visit by whom o Athena Athena disguised as Mentes prompts Telemachus to do what Be a man The Telemachy is thus a miniature epic of sorts A coming of age story centered on Telemachus Telemachus even gets a mini odyssey of his own Voyage to Pylos and from there to Sparta An interesting way to begin an Odyssey What are some of the effects of this beginning o Background info suspense to pique our interest establish themes e g xenia anger of Poseidon o Books 1 2 o Books 3 4 Not the constant references to the murder of Agamemnon and revenge taken by Orestes his son Orestes avenged his father s death by killing Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus Effects of this theme Orestes as example for Telemachus to follow o Will Penelope play role of Clytemnestra thus killing Odysseus forcing Telemachus to play role of Orestes Aided by Athena Telemachus tries to learn the whereabouts of Odysseus Travels to Nestor and Menelaus both follow proper rules of xenia Pylos to speak with Nestor Sparta to speak with Menelaus An important theme throughout the poem Telemachus in essence learns the proper way to act among noble men by seeing how their households are run Nestor is full of recollections of the past and he too tells of Agamemnon s recent demise but has little info regarding Odysseus In Sparta we meet Helen who has moved back in with Menelaus From Menelaus Telemachus learns that Odysseus is alive but a captive of the nymph Calypso on the island of Ogygia o Book 5 Hermes sent to order Calypso to release Odysseus What is Odysseus doing when we first see him in the poem Odysseus builds a boat Weeping Wrecked in a storm sent by Poseidon o Anger of Poseidon o Book 6 Washes up on island of Scheria home of Phaeacians Odysseus alone and naked happens upon whom Nausica princess of Scheria daughter of Alcnious and Ar te o She is there because she is doing laundry in the water o All of the women except Nausica run off Nausica tells A somewhat comical moment him how to get to her parents house since she can t walk with him o Book 7 o Book 8 Odysseus received kindly by King Aleinous and Queen Ar te Nausica is of marriageable age and there are hints that the Xenia again Phaeacians would love for Odysseus to marry her and stay among them Athletic contents dancing and song The poet Demodocus sings the story of Hephaestus Ares and Aphrodite Also sings about the Trojan War o Saddens Odysseus o Aleinous finally asks his guest who he is where he s from and Odysseus launches into the story of how he got there Books 9 12 are taken up with Odysseus account of his wanderings Odysseus tells the Phaeacians of his wanderings from Troy to Calypso s o Books 9 12 island This section of the Odyssey is known as the apologoi tales yarns Odysseus tale contains monsters witches trips to the land of o Nearly all of the fantastical elements of the Odyssey Nature of the section the dead etc occur in this section o Book 9 o Book 10 Is Odysseus embellishing things Is he at times outright lying o o o Odysseus is a great liar elsewhere in the poem all his men are dead And note part of the story is to account for why Blame usually put on them for their own demise The Cyclops Polyphemus The Circones The Greek lose a few ships while they are there The Lotus Eaters People have a magical plant and they sit around and eat it and get high A one eyed giant Cyclops means orb eyed Represents a kind of anti civilization o He s a cannibal and despiser of Zeus o Does not follow mankind s rules of xenia o They cling to the bottom of the sheep They get Odysseus scheme to break free Polyphemus drunk and stab him in the eye and he becomes blind him nothing o He shouts out his name so the giant knows who bested The result o Polyphemus curse and the anger of Poseidon Island of Aeolus lord of the winds The bag of winds Odysseus untimely exhaustion o The other crew members wonder what is in the bag they open the bag and get blown off course The Laestrygonians Island of Circe More cannibals Odysseus escapes with one ship Who is she and what does she do Hermes and the antidote Greeks remain with Circe for a year o A witch turns Odysseus men into swine She tells Odysseus to visit underworld to see Tiresias o Book 11 o Book 12 The Nekuia Return to Circe s island to bury Elpenor The Sirens Note our term siren for a woman who is desirable but dangerous He puts earwax earplugs in his men s ears so they do not hear their song but he ties himself to the mast so he can hear the song A Scylla is a monster with a lot of heads and arms and when people come close to it it picks them up and eats them Scylla and Charybdis Island of the sun god Helius A Charybdis is a whirlpool which destroys ships when they get too close Odysseus gets near Scylla and some of his men get taken and eaten by Scylla The cattle of Helius Storm winds detain men Odysseus men want to eat the cattle but he tells them not to Odysseus untimely sleep again Odysseus men eat some of the cattle Helius is very mad and goes to Zeus and asks him to do something about it o Zeus zaps the ship and everyone except Odysseus dies Odysseus washes up on Calypso s island o Book 13 Home at last Athena alters Odysseus Appearance so he looks like a beggar Informs him of the mess at home o Book 14 o Book 15 Eumaeus the loyal swineherd Odysseus stays with him on his farm Eumaeus will be an important ally as events unfold Athena tells Telemachus to return home to Sparta She helps him avoid the suitors ambush Telemachus goes …
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