Review Guide for Exam 3 Lecture 23 Homer s Homer s Odyssey Book 1 16 Odyssey o Opens in medias res Medias res in the middle of things o Telemachy him Books 1 4 are often called Telemachy since it s all about First word of the poem is Andra the man Polutropos much travelled of many devices shifty Telemachus is visited by Athena in disguised as Mentes and prompts Telemachus to be a man More of a coming age story centered on Telemachus Telemachus visits Nestor and Menelaus Telemachus visits Nestor in Pylos his basic job is to talk a lot about the olden times He doesn t have a lot to tell him about where Odysseus is Nestor is full of recollections of the past and he too tells of Agamemnon s recent demise but has little info regarding Odysseus Goes to Sparta to speak to Menelaus o Helen has moved back in with Menelaus o Telemachus learns that Odysseus is alive but a captive of the nymph Calypso on the island of Ogygia Xenia xenia Nestor and Menelaus both follow proper rules of Does all the things a proper host is suppose to do Important theme throughout the poem Telemachus in essence learns the proper way to act among noble men by seeing how their households are run o Odysseus and Calypso on Ogygia Calypso the concealer She is hiding him from the rest of the world Takes him 3 years to get to Calypsos island and then he is trapped there for 4 years Hermes is sent to order Calypso to release Odysseus Odysseus builds a boat to leave Ogygia o Odysseus washes ashore Scheria Odysseus is wrecked in a storm that was sent by Poseidon Scheria home of the Phaeacians o Odysseus and Nausicaa Nausicaa princess of Scheria daughter of Alcinous and Arete She finds Odysseus on the beach naked and he grabs a stick to cover his junk She gives him directions to get to her parents place so she doesn t show up with a naked man o Alcinous and Arete King and Queen of Scheria Show great xenia to Odysseus Nausicaa is of marriageable age and there are hints that the Phaeacians would love for Odysseus to marry her and stay among them Double standard Penelope in order to remain above the infedility she has to remain completely loyal to her husband and not marry any suitros Odysseus is allowed to have many lovers along his way The poet Demodocus sing the story of Hephaesthus Ares and Aphrodite Also sings about the Trojan War which saddens Odysseus and Alcinous finally ask him who his guest is where he is from and Odysseus launches into the story of how he got there o The Apologi Books 9 12 Odysseus accounts of his wanderings from Troy to Calypso s island Apologi tales yarns Nature of this section Odysseus tale contains monsters witches trips to the land of the dead etc o Nearly all of the fantastical elements of the Odyssey occur in this section Cicones and Lotus Eaters Book 9 Cicones Pirates of some sort they take a bunch of Odysseus ships Lotus Eaters People sitting around eating the Lotus and when they eat Lotus they get really lazy o Mythological version of drug doing possibly opium Polyphemus the Cyclops Book 9 A one eyed giant Cyclops orb eyed Represents a kind of anti civilization o He s a cannibal and despises Zeus o He is the son of Poseidon and is pissed off Poseidon is second in command to Zeus Does not follow mankind s rule of xenia Odysseus and his men see some fire away and then go into the cave and see a bunch of food and start eating away at the food them thinking the owner would be okay with it Polyphemus comes into the cave and rolls a huge boulder as a door and Odysseus has to figure out how to escape When Polyphemus realizes that they ate all of his food he starts grabbing Odysseus men and starts smashing their heads against the wall and eat them Odysseus gives him some wine that s really strong and gets Polyphemus really drunk and tells him his name is Nobody Odysseus and his men get Polyphemus walking stick and stab him in the eye Polyphemus gets up screaming and then falls back asleep from pain When Polyphemus wakes up he has to let his sheep out and the men cling on to the bottom of the sheep Polyphemus check the backs of the sheeps but they get out They escape and get to their ships and Polyphemus is throwing rocks at him Odysseus looses restraint by shouting his real name so Polyphemus knows who has bested him Polyphemus curses Odysseus and prays to Poseidon his father to cause harm to him Circe Book 10 Circe is a witch who turns Odysseus men into swine Hermes tells Odysseus to drink the antidote so he doesn t turn into a pig she says she must be the guy who she has heard about who will not be turned with her magic He then goes to bed with her and when they wake up he asks her to turn her men back into humans they stay there for a year She tells Odysseus to visit Underworld to see Tiresias The Nekuia Book 11 Description of the underworld They return to Circe s island to bury Elpenor The Sirens Book 12 Female bird creatures Sirens a woman who is desirable but dangerous They sing a beautiful song near the rocks and sailors get lost in the song and stray into the rocks and shipwreck and die Tiresias and Circe have already told him about the Sirens Odysseus plan is to put earwax in his men s ears and they have to row fast Odysseus is going to be tied to the ship so he can listen to the song and not be able to go towards them Odysseus and his men know about this because Tiresias has already told him They sail close to Scylla she eats a couple of men but they sail away with their ship safe and a couple of men alive Scylla and Charybdis Book 12 Helius cattle Book 12 Helius Sun God Odysseus has been warned to not eat any of the cattle of the Sun God or he is going to be in trouble with the Sun God He tells his men that he knows they are hungry and tired but he tells them not to eat them storm winds detain the men Odysseus falls asleep and when he wakes up he smells food and he realizes that the men have killed some of the cattle and are cooking it Helius mad about his cattle being eaten goes to Zeus and tells him he has to do something or he will not shine the sun Zeus zaps the ship and all his men and the ship die the only one that lives is Odysseus Odysseus washes up in Calypso s island o Phaeacians return Odysseus to Ithaca After Odysseus tells the Phaeacians his stories they tell him the …
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