Chapter 22 Lecture One of Two The Return of Odysseus ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

The Return of Odysseus More folktale patterns than the Iliad Ends happily, hence it was compared with comedy, not tragedy (as was the Iliad) ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

PERSPECTIVE 22.1 Ulysses ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Ulysses Odysseus is often seen in Western literature as an anti-hero and villain. This tradition begins with the Greeks themselves, and is continued by the Roman poet, Vergil. The Christian writer, Dante, condemns him to hell. He is rehabilitated in Tennyson's poem "Ulysses,” and reworked by James Joyce in the novel Ulysses. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

ODYSSEUS' JOURNEY FROM TROY The Cicones and the Lotus Eaters ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

The Cicones and the Lotus Eaters The great adventures we most remember from the Odyssey are told by Odysseus while he's taking refuge on the island of the Phaecians. Close to Troy, they are cut off at Ismarus while stealing cattle, and several of his men are killed by the Cicones. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

The Cicones and the Lotus Eaters His men next come under the forgetful influence of a drug used by the Lotus Eaters and must be forced marched off the island. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

ODYSSEUS' JOURNEY FROM TROY Polyphemus ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Polyphemus The book reproduces an extended passage narrating Odysseus' famous adventure with Polyphemus. Odysseus escapes by outwitting Polyphemus; thus Odysseus is a the trickster, folkhero, despite his nobility. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Fig Blinding of Polyphemus ©2012 Pearson Education Inc. Archaeological Museum, Eleusis; Erich Lessing/Art Resource, New York

ODYSSEUS' JOURNEY FROM TROY Aeolus, the Laestrygonians, and Circê ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Aeolus, the Laestrygonians, and Circê Aeolus, the god of the winds, gives Odysseus a bag with favorable winds, but his men, thinking there is treasure inside, open it when Odysseus is asleep with disastrous results. At the island of the cannibals, the Laestrygonians, all his men are lost except for those on Odysseus' ship. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Aeolus, the Laestrygonians, and Circê On Circê's island, Odysseus is protected from the spell she place on his men by a magic herb. Odysseus remains on the island as her lover for a year, until his men remind him of his true purpose: to return home. Circê consents to let him go and gives him advice and instructions to the underworld. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Fig Circê and the Pigs ©2012 Pearson Education Inc. Photograph © 2011 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

ODYSSEUS' JOURNEY FROM TROY Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, the Cattle of Helius, and Calypso ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

After Circê's Island Odysseus hears the song of the Sirens. They survive the passage between the Scylla and Charybdis. The rest of his men are downed after they eat the forbidden cattle of the Sun. Odysseus alone is washed up on the island of the Phaeacians, where he is rescued by Nausicaä, the daughter of the king and queen. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Fig Odysseus and the Sirens ©2012 Pearson Education Inc. (© Trustees of the British Museum/Art Resource, New York

OBSERVATIONS Historical and Mythical Travel ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Historical and Mythical Travel The Odyssey was composed and written on the island of Euboea, which was in the forefront of extended sea travel in the 800 century B.C. It was both inspired by and meant to be heard by sailors and wanderers of the Archaic Period. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

End of Book Summary An Appendix Follows ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

An Overview of Odysseus' Life Not in the text, but perhaps useful to set the context ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Overview of Odysseus' Life The Odyssey begins in the 20th year after the beginning of the war The first half of the epic is embedded memories; songs within songs The great adventures of the Odyssey are memories ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Overview of Odysseus' Life Laertes, king of Ithaca and son of Autolycus, marries Anticleia Their household slave is Eurycleia Son, Odysseus Odysseus has a dog, Argus and a special hunting bow ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Overview of Odysseus' Life Odysseus marries Penelope, daughter of the Spartan King Icarius Builds a bed build around a tree Odysseus joins the expedition after their son Telemachus is born His advice to Penelope: “If I don’t return, remarry when Telemachus comes of age.” ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Overview of Odysseus' Life After the war, for years, he is blown around the Mediterranean – Cicones, Lotus-Eaters, Cyclops Polyphemus, Aeolus, Laestrygonians, Circe The underworld Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, the cattle of the Sun, Ogygia and Calypso ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Overview of Odysseus' Life In the 17th year of his absence, 108 suitors begin coming to Odysseus’s palace The Odyssey begins in the 20th year The gods decide it is time for Odysseus to go home ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Outline of the Odyssey Begins when the gods decide Odysseus should return and when events in Ithaca have reached a crisis point. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Books 1–4 “Telemacheia” Stirred by Athena, Telemachus fails to rally the men of Ithaca against the suitors Then, accompanied by Athena disguised as Mentor, he goes to find news of his father Nestor in Pylos; Menelaus in Sparta The suitors learn he is away and plan an ambush when he returns ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Outline of the Odyssey Book 5: Calypso releases Odysseus, but he is nearly killed by Poseidon Books 6–7: Odysseus lands on Scherie, the island of the Phaeacians – saved by Nausicaa, the daughter of the king, and taken to the palace Books 8–12: Odysseus finally says who he is, and relates the tales of his adventures at Troy ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Outline of the Odyssey Books 13–21: Odysseus arrives in Ithaca, but disguises himself as a beggar, undergoing various forms of abuse at the hands of the suitors and others Books 21–2: the contest and the slaughter of the suitors ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Outline of the Odyssey Book 23–4: Odysseus proves to Penelope that he is Odysseus, ghosts of the suitors in the underworld; battle between Odysseus and his allies and the relatives of the suitors; Zeus and Athena intervene; Odysseus makes a symbolic end to his travels. ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.

End ©2012 Pearson Education Inc.