The Odyssey By Homer ca. 700 BC

Main Characters  Odysseus/Ulysses – our hero who through his intelligence helps the Greeks eventually with the war against Troy through the use of the Trojan horse.  Telemachos – Odysseus’ son who has been at home all of these years awaiting the return of his father. He is now called by Athena to search for his father and to rid his home of the suitors who wish to wed his mother and take Odysseus’ place at king of Ithaca. Because so many years have passed, most people believe Odysseus is dead.  Penelope – wife of Odysseus. Even though most think her husband is dead, she still hopes he is not. For many years she cleverly fools the suitors to keep from having to marry again.

Characteristics of an Epic Long story Deeds of a hero Determines fate of a whole people Begins in medias res [in the middle of the action] Involvement of the gods Magic or supernatural events Has characteristics of oral tradition [like repetition] Written in beautiful language [often verse]

Book One  After Odysseus {O} sacked Troy, he was detained by Nymph Kalypso on her island and could not get home. He has been stranded for 10 years. Backstory is that O told his wife Penelope not to wait for more that 10 years and that after that time she should marry another. Because of this, Penelope has many suitors in her house trying to get her to marry them but she wants to wait for O.  All the gods pitied O except Poseidon.  Athena champions O, goes to Telemachos {T} disguised as a mentor and tells him O will return.

Book Two  T. had no father to teach him to fight; so he must learn from Athena  Suitors ridicule him, but he stands his ground  T. appeals to suitors’ responsibility to care for widows and orphans (his mother and he), rather than taking advantage of them – the suitors have been there so long they are eating them out of house and home!  Penelope promises suitors she will marry once she finishes weaving a rug to honor O. Everyday she weaves, and every night she unravels what she weaves. Suitors think it is magic, but eventually after many years, she gets caught.  Suitors angrily demand she marry one of them and make him king of Ithaca.  T’s mentor [actually Athena in disguise] claims the suitors not as bad as those who do nothing about them.

Book 4 – We learn of Helen & Menelaus  The war between Greece and Troy is caused because a prince of Troy [Paris] stole the wife of Greek King Menelaus. For this reason, all Greek kings have banded together to avenge Menelaus and return Helen to him. Essentially, the timeline goes like this:  Helen Marries Menelaus  Helen then Marries (or lives with) Paris  At the end, Helen repents what she has done  She knows the Greeks hide in the Wooden Horse, but she doesn’t betray O. in the Trojan camp  Helen asks forgiveness of Menelaus and receives it

Book Five  Odysseus with Kalypso-- She represents one of the temptations--or life trials--that he must win against. She represents sexual temptation, or being slave to the sensual rather than focusing on the spiritual. Because of Athena, Zeus orders Hermes to tell Kalypso to release O O makes a raft which Poseidon sinks, but O reaches land

Book Nine – this is what you are reading  Odysseus tells his story of the last 9-10 years  These episodes are, perhaps, symbolic of the variety of temptations that O. must overcome to return home Kalypso--lust the Lotus Eaters (drugged)--sloth the Cyclopês (slaughtered and stole sheep and goats)-- unthinking violence  The story of Noman  Giant asks Poseidon to curse O

Eventually Odysseus returns home  Odysseus has many more adventures before finally making it back to Ithaca  Once in Ithaca, he must fight the suitors [and he wins of course!].  Then he must convince Penelope he is her husband [which he also succeeds in doing].  Finally with the help of Athena, they smooth over the violence done to the suitors and have a happy ending.