The Odyssey Flashcards
Who was Odysseus?
Family:
King of Ithaca.
Son of Laertes and Anticleia.
Married to Penelope – depicted as shrewd in her ability to fend off the suitors, and a faithful wife to Odysseus.
Son = Telemachus – struggling to gain his own maturity without a father figure whilst also attempting to deal with issues in Ithaca.
Household slave = Eurycleia.
Dog = Argos.
Significant items to Odysseus
Special hunting bow left in Ithaca.
Bed around tree.
Key background points about Odysseus
Odysseus joins the expedition to Troy AFTER Telemachus was born – initially, he tried to feign madness so he didn’t have to go to Troy.
Upon leaving for Troy, he gives this advice to Penelope: “If I don’t return, remarry when Telemachus comes of age.”
The Odyssey: The Longest Nostos there ever was!
Homer’s second epic.
Different vibe to the Iliad – less tragedy, more of a quest? Also plenty of comedic elements.
Setting = Ithaca, and the sea!
Theme = the nostoi (= ‘return’) of Odysseus from Troy (cf. nostalgia – yearning for home).
The texts opens TWENTY YEARS after the start of the Trojan War!
Narrative structure vs. Temporal Chronology of the Odyssey
The Odyssey begins in medias res (“in the middle of things”).
But is it really the middle? More like near the end! 20th year after departure.
Ithaca action = ‘present-day’
Majority of Odysseus’ adventures are narrated as his own memories, looking back in time – question of whether he is a trustworthy narrator?
Lots of embedded narratives/digressions – “songs within songs”.
So – order of events as they are described to us NOT the same as order of events as they happened.
Temporal Chronology of the Odyssey
After the Trojan War, Odysseus is blown around the Mediterranean for three years with his crew, where they encounter many mythical beings and face many challenges.
For the other seven years, he is held in captivity on the island of Ogyia with Calypso.
Back in Ithaca, in the 17th year of his absence, 108 suitors begin coming to Odysseus’s palace to try and win the hand of Penelope.
Year 20 = it’s crisis point in Ithaca – gods decide its time for Odysseus to return home.
BUT - this is NOT the order of events as they are presented in the narrative – that is a different structure all together (as we shall see!)
Opening lines = always significant!Odyssey Book 1.1-19 (Compare with focus of Iliad)
“Speak Muse, of the cunning hero, the wanderer, blown off course time and again, after he plundered Troy’s sacred heights.
Speak of all the cities he saw, the minds he grasped, the suffering deep in his heart at sea as he struggled to survive and bring his men home but could not save them, hard as tried – the fools – destroyed by their own recklessness when they ate the oxen of Hyperion the Sun, and that god snuffed out their day of return.
Of these things, speak Immortal One, and tell the tale once more in our time. By now, all the others who fought at Troy – at least those who had survived the war and the sea – were safely back home. Only Odysseus still longed to return to his home and his wife. The nymph Calypso, a powerful goddess – and beautiful – was clinging to him in her caverns and yearned to possess him.”
Books 1–4 “Telemachia”
The first four books deal with Telemachus’ struggle on Ithaca (hence “Telemachia”) – Athena appears to him in disguise and advises him to gather an assembly to protest the invasion of the suitors.
The two leading suitors – Antinous and Eurymachus – confront the prince and accuse Penelope of delaying her choice of a new husband for too long.
Telemachus ultimately fails to rally the men against the suitors BUT he sets off in secret to Pylos and Sparta, to try and find out information on his father from King Nestor and King Menelaus – Menelaus reports that Odysseus is alive but is being held captive by the nymph Calypso.
When the suitors learn that Telemachus has gone, they start a plot to assassinate him.
Odysseus & Nausicaa
At the beginning of Book 5, we leave the story of Telemachus just as the suitors are about to ambush his returning ship.
At Athena’s urging, the gods have decided to free Odysseus from Calypso, who has held him captive for 7 years. Hermes delivers the news to Calypso, who reluctantly agrees to let him go.
However, Odysseus is almost killed on his journey by the god Poseidon (who is very angry with him – we will soon learn why) and he lands on the island of the Phaeacians.
Here, the princess Nausicaa saves Odysseus and guides him to the palace (Book 7).
Having been received by the Phaeacians, Odysseus reveals his identity (Book 8).
He is then encouraged to tell the court the tales of his adventures at Troy and how he ended up in this state
Odysseus’ adventures at sea
Books 9-12 = perhaps the most famous and well-known part of the epic - details Odysseus’ adventures since leaving true – told in the form of flashback narration by Odysseus himself (so essentially a really long first-person narrative digression!).
Book 9 has three adventures.
First up – Odysseus and his crew sail to the island of the Cicones, where they successfully sack the city. They received the gift of wine for sparring Maron.
Hoping to sail home directly from here, the crew come up against a huge storm, brought on by Athena, that blows them far off course to the island of the Lotus Eaters. These are not hostile people, but the lotus plant removed memory and ambition – Odysseus is barely able to pull his men away and resume the journey.
Out of curiosity (fool!) Odysseus stops off at the islands of the Cyclopes (1-eyed giants) – one of them Polyphemus (the son of Poseidon) traps Odysseus and his scouting party in his cave.
They only manage to escape through deceit (under the ram, initially says he is ‘nobody’), and Odysseus blinds the Cyclops – incurring the wrath of Poseidon.
Odysseus and the Laestrygonians
Next up = the crew come into contact with Aeolus, the wind god, who is a pretty friendly host.
He captures all the adverse winds and bags them up for Odysseus, who is thus able to sail within sight of Ithaca – BUT his men suspect that the bag holds treasure and open it whilst Odysseus sleeps.
The troublesome winds blow the party back to Aeolus, who refuses to help them again, believing them to be cursed.
Next “hosts” = the Laestrygonians - a cannibalistic group – who end up sinking all of Odysseus’ ships except the one he is in.
The one remaining ship reaches the island of Aeaea, the home of Circe the sorceress = daughter of the sun-god Helios.
Circe initially transforms Odysseus’ men into pigs but, with the help of Hermes and the magical herb moly, Odysseys defeats Circe and gets his men turned back into human form.
The crew spends one year with Circe, within which Circe and Odysseus become lovers and Circe gives birth to Telegonus.
She then advises Odysseus that, before he can return to Ithaca, he must go to the Underworld.
Odysseus & the Sirens
Book 11 charts Odysseus’ journey into the Underworld – there he meets various Greek heroes, a visit from his own mother, and an important prophecy from the seer Tiresias.
Book 12 = Barely surviving the temptations of the Sirens’ songs and an attack by Scylla (and thus avoiding Charybdis), Odysseus and his crew arrive at the island of Helios.
Despite severe warnings not to, the men feast on the cattle of the sun-god during a brief absence of Odysseus. Zeus is outraged and destroys the ship as they attempt to depart.
Odysseus now the lone survivor!
Books 13-17 of the Odyssey
Odysseus is washed ashore at Calypso’s island, where he stays until released seven years later.
Book 13 = After the re-telling of these adventures, Odysseus receives the admiration and gifts of the Phaeacians, who follow their tradition of returning wayfaring strangers to their homelands by returning him to Ithaca (this causes them to be cursed by Poseidon though).
The action now returns to Ithaca (Books 13-17), where Athena helps Telemachus avoid the suitors’ ambush.
We learnt that Penelope, to avoid the suitors’ marriage please, has been using her loom as a ruse – says she will pick once her weaving is done, but every night she unpicks the majority of the section she has spun that same day – delay, delay, delay!
Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca, and is recognized by his faithful servant Eumaeus, and by Telemachus. Argos the dog also recognises him and then promptly dies!
With the help of Athena, Odysseus disguises himself as a beggar in order to enter the palace.
Odysseus Slaughters Suitors (books 19-24)
Penelope, suspicious that this beggar is in fact her long-lost husband, arranges a special contest for the suitors – she says that she will wed any man who can string the great bow of Odysseus and shoot an arrow through a dozen axes, just as he used to do.
The suitors all fail – Telemachus ALMOST succeeds.
Odysseus reveals himself by successfully stringing the bow – and promptly massacres all the suitors. Twelve female slaves are also hanged – it is an incredibly macabre scene.
Odysseus and Penelope are finally reunited – note the contrast compared to Agamemnon and Clytemnestra!
Athena makes peace with the suitors’ vengeful friends and families.
Odysseus finally reunites with his ageing father Laertes.
Books 1-4: The ‘Telemachia’
A coming of age story – he is approximately 21 years old when the Odyssey begins, on the brink of manhood, uncertain and insecure in his potential power AND in grave danger from the suitors.
He does have the protection of the goddess Athena (like his father) – which suggests his potential – gods and goddesses do not waste their time on someone they think is fundamentally “un-heroic”.
In Books 1-4, Telemachus embarks on both a physical journey AND a metaphorical one.
Defies reader expectations by focusing on Telemachus, NOT Odysseus.
We know more about Odysseus than Telemachus for the majority of these books (revelation at 4.556-60).
Bildungsroman – a “coming of age” narrative about a sensitive character who searches for life’s answers with the expectation that such answers will come from experiencing the world c.f. Jane Eyre, Harry Potter, Catcher in the Rye.
Odyssey Books 1-2: Plot Summary
Athena travels to Ithaca (“Mentes”)
Advises Telemachus to call an assembly of the suitors
Telemachus rebukes Penelope
Telemachus demands that the suitors leave (because BAD XENIA)
Resistance of Eurymachus and Antinous
Omen of the eagles – Odysseus to return? Suitors refuse to believe the sign…. Uh oh….
Telemachus prepares to go to Pylos and Sparta (Athena – “Mentor”)
Odyssey Books 3-4: Plot Summary
Book 3 = Pylos (King Nestor).
Athena gives Telemachus courage.
No information from Nestor about Odysseus.
Book 4 = Sparta (King Menelaus and Queen Helen).
Stories of Odysseus’ cunning.
Story of Agamemnon and Orestes – Orestes as an example for Telemachus?
Revelation that Odysseus is alive – HUZZAH!!
Book 4 ends with the stage being set for Odysseus’ return to Ithaca – we know all the background and we just need him to get back now!
Right: Telemachus comes to the Palace of Nestor, 5th century Greek vase painting
How is Telemachus changed by his journey?
Beginning of Telemachus’ psychological journey – he does demonstrate some progress here, but it is not a linear journey:
- 381-3 = suitors are astounded to be told so abruptly that they will have to leave the palace - “And they began to bite their lips, shocked that Telemachus would dare to speak so boldly.”
- 356-60 = unsympathetic (and stereotypically ‘masculine’) treatment of Penelope – “Go in and do your work. Stick to the loom and the distaff. Tell your slaves to do their chores as well. It is for men to talk, especially me. I am the master.”
- 21-25, Telemachus = “But Mentor, how can I approach and talk to him? I am quite inexperienced at making speeches, and as a young man, I feel awkward talking to elders” – still needs the encouragement of Athena here (and many other instances!)
Orestes is presented as an example for Telemachus to look up to in both Books 3 and 4 – just as Aegisthus took advantage of Agamemnon’s absence to consort with Clytemnestra, so too have Penelope’s suitors exploited Odysseus’ absence and presumed death to gorge themselves on his provisions and pursue his grieving wife. Telemachus’ mission thus parallels Orestes’ – he must avenge his father by driving out the interlopers who have taken over their home.
