Odyssey- book 12

Question 1

what happens at the beginning of book 12?

Answer 1

Odysseus and his men return to Aeaea, climbing onto the shore and falling asleep before waking up the next morning to return to Circe’s palace to get the body of Elpenor.
Odysseus and his men perform the funeral rites- they burn the corpse of Elpenor and bury him, placing his oar on top of the mound of his grave

Question 2

what happens before Odysseus departs Circe’s island (Aeaea)?

Answer 2

Before Odysseus and his men depart, Circe approaches the men and offers them bread, meat and wine and encourages them to spend the rest of the day at Aeaea, enjoying the food and wine, before sailing back in the morning. Odysseus says that he was ‘not difficult to persuade’, and Odysseus and his men spend the rest of the day feasting on rich supplies of meat and wine.

Question 3

when night falls on Circe’s island, what happens?

Answer 3

once night falls, Odysseus’ men go to sleep by the ships, but Circe takes Odysseus by the hand and takes him away from his comrades, encouraging him to tell her the whole story of his troubles. At the end of the story, Circe tells Odysseus what he shall encounter on his return home.

Question 4

what does Circe describe that Odysseus will come across?

Answer 4

Circe tells Odysseus that his next encounter will be with the sirens, who will try to lure the men to their deaths with their songs. The Sirens create pure, unmotivated desire which overrides the listeners more particular desire for home, life, or anything. Circe advises that Odysseus puts beeswax in the men’s ears, and that they tie Odysseus to the mast of the ship so that he can listen to the siren’s songs, but not be tempted. If Odysseus begs and commands his men to release him, the men should secure Odysseus even tighter onto the mast. Once Odysseus passes by the sirens, two paths will open up to him- one path leads to scylla, a six-headed monster and another monster named Charybdis, who creates a whirlpool that sucks whole ships down into the sea three times a day. The Other path leads to the ‘wandering rocks’, which only the ship ‘argo’ has ever passed.

Question 5

What does Odysseus ask Circe?

Answer 5

Odysseus asks Circe if he could steer clear of charybdis whilst warding off Scylla when she attempts to attack his crew- but Circe calls him a fool, claiming that he is only looking for trouble. Circe chastises Odysseus for his stubbornness- Scylla is immortal and can’t be defeated.

Question 6

after calling Odysseus a fool, what does Circe advise?

Answer 6

Circe then advises Odysseus to drive his ship past Scylla and call on her mother, cratais to prevent her from attacking his men.

Question 7

After encountering Scylla and Charybdis, what does Circe say the men will come across next?

Answer 7

Odysseus and his crew will then sail on to the island of Thrinacie where the sun god keeps his cattle- if the men leave the cattle untouched and fix their minds on returning home, then there is some chance that all of Odysseus’ crew will return to Ithaca, but not without suffering- if they hurt the cattle, Odysseus’ crew and ship will be destroyed. He will reach home in a wretched state, having lost all his comrades.

Question 8

as the sun rises, and circe finishes, what do the men do?

Answer 8

the men prepared for departure before sailing away with the help of Circe, who sent wind to help them sail. As the ship sailed away, Odysseus told the men of Circe’s advice and instructed them on what to do when they pass by the sirens- however, he didn’t mention Scylla and Charybdis because he didn’t want to paralyse his men with fear.

Question 9

why does Odysseus not tell the men about Scylla?

Answer 9

because he didn’t want to paralyse his men with fear.

Question 10

Once Odysseus and his men sail past the sirens, what happens?

Answer 10

when they start to approach the two paths they become terrified, causing Odysseus to walk up and down the ship and encourage each man, claiming that they have met trouble before- They were troubled with the cyclops but managed to escape. Odysseus claims that his strategy and intelligence found a way out of the cyclops’ cave and saved the men.

Question 11

once the men sail around the whirlpool, what catches their eye?

Answer 11

they caught a glimpse of Charybdis , and were struck with fear- whilst they were looking away Scylla snatched 6 of Odysseus’ best and more skilled men from the ship and ate them- filled with grief and pity, the men sail away as fast past possible.

Question 12

once odysseus’ men have been inevitably eaten, where do they sail past?

Answer 12

The island of the sun god- Odysseus then remembers what teiresias and Circe had advised him to do and addresses his men, saying that he was advised to keep away from the island of the sun-god’s cattle. However, Eurylochus insists that the crew needed rest and that they should stop off at the island for the night.

Question 13

to prevent the men from eating hyperions cattle, what does odysseus make the men do?

Answer 13

Odysseus made the men swear an oath not to eat any cattle, but they were trapped on the island for a month by an inopportune of wind- eventually their stores ran out and the men began to starve.

Question 14

what does Odysseus decide to do one day on the island of the sun god?

Answer 14

go further inland and pray to the gods- however, the gods (specifically zeus) put odysseus in a deep slumber. In the meantime, Eurylochus convinced the men to eat the cattle of the sun-god hyperion- it’s better to die at sea from the wrath of the gods than to die of hunger.

Question 15

what did the men do to the cattle?

Answer 15

The men prayed to the gods before slicing the throats of the cattle and roasting the meat- Homer here is demonstrating incorrect worship of the gods:
1. the men’s cattle is not their own, the item that you are worshipping should be relevant/meaningful to you
2. the men pour a libation of water rather than wine to the gods
3. the men are supposed to give the best pieces to the gods. instead they eat every part of the meat

Question 16

when Odysseus awakes from the sleep that the gods put him in, what happens?

Answer 16

he goes to return to the boats, but smells the smell of sweet meat roasting- Odysseus calls upon the gods, claiming that it is there fault for making him fall into a deep slumber.

Question 17

who informs Hyperion that Odysseus’ men have eaten his cattle?

Answer 17

A messenger, Lampetie ran to the sun-god, hyperion, and informed him that Odysseus’ men had killed his cattle- to this he cried out in fury to the immortals to punish Odysseus’ crew for killing his cattle, and zeus complied.

Question 18

when Odysseus confronts his men, what strange things start happening?

Answer 18

strange things began happening to the meat- it bellowed and moved and seemed to come back to life. However, the men continued to feast for 6 more days before sailing away.

Question 19

As soon as the men set sail, what happened?

Answer 19

As soon as the men set sail, Zeus sent down a storm that destroyed the ship and killed everyone abroad except Odysseus, who hung onto some pieces of wood. The wind drove him back towards Charybdis, right when the monster made the whirlpool but Odysseus saved himself by hanging onto the branch of a fig tree. After the Whirlpool spit back out his little raft, he drifted at sea until he reached Calypso’s island. Here, Odysseus finishes his tale to the Phaeacians.

Question 20

who are the sirens and what do they do?

Answer 20

Women who bewitch everybody who approaches them and listens to their voices by singing about what a person most desires.

they Attempt to lure Odysseus and his men through their singing- they praise Odysseus and mention his kleos (honour) from the Trojan war.

Question 21

who is Eurylochus and what does he do?

Answer 21

Odysseus’ kinsman and crewmate.

Antagonises Odysseus, says the crew will mutiny if they don’t land on the sun gods island. Encourages men to eat the sun god’s cattle.

Question 22

what is Odysseus’ characterisation like in book 12?

Answer 22

Heeds Circe’s advice and follows her instruction in order to safely pass the sirens. He also clearly holds his men in high regard, as when scylla takes six of his men, he describes them as ‘the six strongest and ablest men’, and goes on to describe their agony before death. He keeps his word to Elpenor, by burying him when they get back to Circe’s island. This shows that he did actually care deeply about his men, and he still does. This can also be seen when he suggests fending off Scylla to protect his men and not let them get eaten, but it also shows he doesn’t trust them, since he doesn’t tell them about Scylla, for fear they’d run and hide. He is right to not trust them, since they kill the cattle and sheep even when Odysseus tells them not to. He also thinks that he knows best, and doesn’t heed Circe’s instructions not to put his armour when facing Scylla.

Question 23

what is Eurylochus’ characterisation in book 12?

Answer 23

Starts a mutiny against Odysseus, and convinces everyone to camp on the island until morning. He also convinces all the men to kill and eat the cattle and sheep. He is untrusting of Odysseus and he is hot headed and likes to take charge, almost as if he is jealous of Odysseus’ leadership and wants it for himself. The attitudes between Odysseus and Eurylochus are reversed- On Circe’s island Eurylochus had been the sensible one and Odysseus had been the risk taker. However, in book 12 Odysseus is rational and explains to the men that they have to avoid Thrinacie and makes them swear an oath not to kill the sun god’s cattle so as to avoid trouble and return home. In book 12, Eurlyochus is careless and disobedient.

Question 24

how is the theme of magic/mythical creatures presented?

Answer 24

The Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis are all mythical creatures, showing that while some mythological characters are helpful (such as Circe), others are there to destroy and kill people. The sacred cattle are also mythical, showing the sacredness of mythical creatures and items to the gods - something a homeric audience would have seen as important.

Question 25

how is the role of the gods and religion presented in book 12?

Answer 25

The gods serve as malicious forces in this chapter, making Odysseus fall asleep at the worst time, and killing his crew. This creates pathos and makes Odysseus seem like more of a human character, as he loses a lot during this chapter. Hyperion, once disrespected by Odysseus’ men when they wrongly sacrifice and feast on his livestock, takes the matter to Zeus, who sends down a lightning bolt to them, which destroys their ship and kills Odysseus’ men. This order of events presents the reciprocal relationship of the Gods; when the mortals make an action against them, the Gods punish the mortal for their insubordination.

Question 26

how is the theme of fate and prophecy presented in book 12?

Answer 26

Circe explains to Odysseus what will happen if he lands on Hyperion’s island and if they kill the cattle. The Prophecy once more is enacted by putting another stunt in his journey (30 days) which will make him late but also all of his crew died. Polyphemus said he would arrive late and alone so it is making the final part of the prophecy come true.

Question 27

what does Graziosi say about ‘women, clothes and monsters?’

Answer 27

-the women or the monsters that he encounters along his journey are trying to prevent him from reaching home
the women are representing a delay in his homecoming and a threat to his nostos
-the clothes that women made for the men in their households was a method of claiming connection to the-there is also the case when Calypso gives Odysseus clothes to wear that she has made
this is also then shown when the sea goddess whos us and offers him the veil to wear instead of the clothes that calypso has given him. Nausicaa also gives him clothes to wear once he has washed up from sea.- arete recognises these clothes because they are something that she has made before- clothes are a way for a woman to have a form of connection with the men whilst they are away and travelling which is clearly shown throughout the Odyssey with the different women that Odysseus meets.

Question 28

what does Rosenfield say about the sirens?

Answer 28

If Odysseus were to yield to the temptation of the siren’s song, then there would be no homecoming, and no singing of his tale. You could say that Odysseus did not triumph over the Sirens but he is condemned to repeat it forever in the words of the Odyssey.
“The Sirens’ seductive power lies not just in their ‘sweet voiced’ tones, but in their words: the knowledge that they offer to impart is essentially that of the Trojan War.”