The Odyssey

Question 1

Polis

Answer 1

A polis is a city-state. They were independent political and economic entities of Ancient Greece.

Question 2

Geography of Greece and the Poleis

Answer 2

Poleis were different in custom, political constitution, and dialect. Fragmented and saw one another as rivals and competitors.

Question 3

Homer and Education

Answer 3

The Iliad and the Odyssey were the basis of education of young boys from the fifth century onward. Greek boys learned the tales of the Iliad and the Odyssey alongside the alphabet.

Question 4

Homer

Answer 4

Existed in the eighth century B.C.E. Wasn’t actually a person. The Iliad and Odyssey were more of a oral tradition.

Question 5

The Judgement of Paris

Answer 5

Occurs in the Iliad. Paris, vain prince, presumes to be able to judge a beauty contest between the gods (the same contest which Zeus wisely denied to judge and deflected off onto Paris). Athena offers wisdom, Hera offers power, and Aphrodite offers the most beautiful woman in the world. Things never go well when gods and humans interact. Paris’s decision to choose Aphrodite indicates humans often look for the material, women are seen as just objects.

Question 6

Ramifications of Paris’s Decision

Answer 6

Makes eternal enemies of Her and Athena. “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. His decision also permanently makes Troy an enemy of Athena and Hera.
Greeks lived connected lives. Punishments are not individualistic, but whole communities.

Question 7

The Spartans

Answer 7

Started in military at the age of 7. To pass training, had to sneak out of the barracks, murder helots, and sneak back in undetected. The ideal warrior cult and known for great prowess in battle.

Question 8

Helen of Sparta

Answer 8

Paris deems Helen the most beautiful woman in the world and either kidnaps or seduces her and takes her away from Sparta. Enrages the Spartans. Paris is of the assumption he will be safe once he gets behind the indestructible walls of Troy. Spartans are not just going to back down though. One bad judgement by Paris starts the Trojan War.

Question 9

Beginning of the Odyssey

Answer 9

Starts with the invocation of the muse, Calliope, eldest muse and muse of epic poetry. Since Greece was a very age emphatic culture, eldest muse suggests that which is most important to Greeks: glory. Takes place almost immediately following the conclusion of the Trojan War.

Question 10

Odysseus’s Skills of Peace

Answer 10

Adaptable, possesses physcological strength. Can endure and inflict pain without flinching. Possesses strength and physical courage. Master story teller. Formidable for guile and a great public speaker. Oddly manipulative in my opinion. Well-rounded contender.

Question 11

Xenia

Answer 11

The Greek religious code/law of hospitality. The whole relationship between guests and hosts/ stranger and the people that take them in. Punishable by the god Zeus if broken by any of the involved parties.

Question 12

Though We Know all of Odysseus’s Companions Will Die…

Answer 12

We listen to find out how and why and what we can glean from their deaths.

Question 13

Poseidon

Answer 13

Completely against Odysseus. Controls the oceans and other bodies of water in the world. Responsible for earthquakes. As Odysseus must venture by sea, this is not a good god to have pissed off. Pissed off because of the blinding of his son, the Kyklops Polyphemos.

Question 14

The Gathering about Aigisthos

Answer 14

Aigisthos stole (perhaps seduced) Agammenon’s wife, Klymneastra and the two plotted to kill Agammemnon upon returning home from the Trojan War. Agammemnon is killed. Hermes very clear in telling Aigisthos “do not kill the man, do not touch his wife”. Direct disobeying of this leades to Aigisthos’s death at the hands of Orestes, Agammenon’s son.

Question 15

At the Gathering

Answer 15

Athena speaks on behalf of Odysseus. Patiently waits her turn to gently redirect the conversation to Odysseus which shows the importance of the ability to persuade/ rhetoric in Greek society (Odysseus is great warrior and master persuader). “Mortals get what they deserve, but Odysseus didn’t deserve that”.

Question 16

Zeus’s Opinion of Odysseus

Answer 16

“There is no mortal half as wise”. Nor one who has given as much. Odysseus is collective of what Greeks feel the smartest man alive would decide. Says that Odysseus will be remedied and not made to stay with Kalypso any longer and will be allowed to go home.

Question 17

Athena at Start of Book 5

Answer 17

Vexed because Odysseus is still trapped on Ogygia with Kalypso despite Zeus saying that he would handle it.

Question 18

In Response to Athena’s Displeasure…

Answer 18

Zeus sends Hermes on an errand to tell Kalypso that the gods want Odysseus set free, sent on a raft to Skheria, and then sent home in a boat with garments, gold, and bronze.

Question 19

Hermes and Calypso’s Interaction

Answer 19

Kalypso opens by asking him why he’s there before catching herself and offering him food and drink. This is a violation of xenia and perceived as very rude to Hermes. Hermes calls her out “goddess to god, you question me”. Hermes- “I don’t really wanna be here. Zeus told me I had to come”. Kalypso responds by exploding in anger, seen as potential direct blow up at Zeus considering Zeus sent Hermes. Hermes puts Kalypso in her place finger wave by emphasizing that she dare not violate a direct order from Zeus or he will punish her.

Question 20

When we first see Odysseus…

Answer 20

He is weeping, crying, groaning in pain, and visibly in anguish over his forced exile on Ogygia Isle at the hands of Kalypso.

Question 21

After Calypso tells Odysseus she is setting him free for home…

Answer 21

Odysseus is instantly sceptical. Does not believe her and thinks that she intends to cause him more harm. Why would she suddenly want to send him home after keeping him seven years? So certain of this that he voices this to Kalypso. Odysseus is the self-proclaimed “master of guile”, he has tricked so many that he has become sceptical of everyone and their intentions. Makes Kalypso swear to the gods that she does intend to send him home without any catches. Swearing to gods is unbreakable oath unless you wanted to be directly punished by them.

Question 22

Kalypso’s Insecurity

Answer 22

The post break-up “what do they have that I don’t moment” moment. Very apparent moment of intense insecurity. Strange for a goddess. Why should you want to go home to your wife when I am a literal goddesss? Odysseus replies that “it’s not her, it’s him”. Odysseus, ever the strategist, “will not fall for the dichotomy”. Not you vs. her, it’s here vs. home.

Question 23

Odysseus out on the Raft from Ogygia Isle

Answer 23

Raft is destroyed by a violent series of waves and he is very nearly drowned. Poseidon is responsible for this as he is still very much angry at Odysseus for the blinding of his son Polyphemos.

Question 24

Ino

Answer 24

A sea nymph that saves Odysseus. He is very sceptical when she offers him her veil that prevents drown of harm as he swims to Skheria. Again, Odysseus is the master of guile, so can’t be made to trust anyone himself.

Question 25

Odysseus’s Decision on the Raft

Answer 25

Odysseus does what he feels is smartest and stays on what is left of the raft until he cannot anymore. Still pensive and calculating even in such a desperate situation and still cautious of help from the divine. Eventually made to swim for Skheria. Prays for safety, but also continues to swim while doing so. Shows the tension between the concepts of free will and destiny.

Question 26

Moment of Self-Possession

Answer 26

Odysseus is nearly slammed up against a ragged grouping of rocks to his death. He considers his death is near and begins to panic slightly before Athena bestows on him the gift of self-possession (control of emotions in highly stressful situations). He is able to hold onto the rocks, the fleshed being ripped from his hands, before he gets a break and the tide turns pushing him inland to a river.

Question 27

After Finally Reaching Land on Skheria…

Answer 27

Odysseus has two options. Stay by the river and sleep and die of cold and exposure or climb a surrounding slope and sleep in the forest’s underbrush where he risks being eaten by the animals of the forest. Two bad situations, has to pick the better of the two. Chooses to go into the forest because it is a certainty that he will freeze if he doesn’t, not certain that he will be eaten by predators. Life is a struggle bus (hungry, cold, tired, in pain), but still thinking analytically.

Question 28

Beginning of Book Six

Answer 28

Athena visits Nausikaa, King Alkinoos’s daughter in the guise of “the shipman Dymas’s daughter” who is a good friend of Nausikaa. She tells Nausikaa to go to the river to wash the family linens (clothes in her Hope chest). This is presumably so that Nausikaa will spot Odysseus.

Question 29

Hope Chest

Answer 29

Clothing hand sewn in ancient Greece. Part of dowry when girl is married off. So, the fact that she is washing clothes of one is a visual indicator that she is unwed.

Question 30

As Odysseus hear Nausikaa and the other girls…

Answer 30

He wonders if they are savages and strangers to courtesy or if they are civilized people that observe the gods. Really trying to figure out if they will extend xenia if he approaches them.

Question 31

Odysseus approached Nausikaa “like a mountain lion”…

Answer 31

Points to Odysseus’s royalty or high status and grace. Stalking, calculated, and careful. Obviously powerful, but has great control. Questions himself if he should hug her knees (in suplication) or not. Decides that he does not want to become “the creepy naked guy that tried to kidnap Nausikaa”.

Question 32

Nausikaa and Odysseus’s Interaction: Odysseu’s Side

Answer 32

Nausikaa does not run away like the other girls because she is given bravery (“a bold heart”) by Athena. Odysseus opens by comparing Nausikaa to Artemis, a safe choice as there is nothing sexual about this comparison (as there would be with Aphrodite) and perfect for the setting as Artemis is the goddess of the hunt and they are in the woods. This is a test to see if she observes the gods. She smiles, so she must be civilized. Use of code words here. Continues to extend compliment and carefully misdirects to make mention of his status as a military commander (humble brag whilst also letting her know he too is civilized). Uses pathos when explaining to Nausikaa everything that has happened to him. Odysseus has seen the hope chest as this point, so knows she is unmarried. Uses this to his advantage by blessing her in all the ways she desires: a home, a husband, and harmonions converse with him.

Question 33

Nausikaa and Odysseus: Nausikaa’s Reply

Answer 33

Nausikaa first mentions Zeus, the rule of xenia. Gives him clothes and makes sure that he is bathed. Thinks that he is “the heaven’s people” after he is bathed and dressed and wishes she had a husband like him. Gives Odysseus key intelligence in that he should walk behind her carriage and enter the palace seperate from her so as to keep people from talking and from angering Alkinoos. More important key intelligence given she says to address, Arete, the queen as society is very patriarchal so he never would have figured that the queen being convinced is the key.

Question 34

Odysseus is able to pass through town unseen because…..

Answer 34

Athena cloaks him in a veil of sea fog. Athena also guides him to the palace of Alkinoos disguised as a little girl.

Question 35

Alkinoos and Arete Before Marriage

Answer 35

Arete was Alkinoos’s biological niece (daughter of Alkinoos’s brother Rhexenor).

Question 36

The Palace of Alkinoos

Answer 36

A civilized paradise. Costly because it it made of bronze, gold, silver, embroidery, and linen. Garden/orchard never stops growing, yields year round (dried grapes, fresh grapes, squashed grapes). Alkinoos is of an unparalled wealth and thus in a good position to give Odysseus great xenia.

Question 37

After entering the hall…

Answer 37

Odysseus makes a speech giving the only thing that he has: blessings. Wins the Phaiakians over with his impressive speech skills. Sits in the hearth after his speech because it is a humble position, abases himself, and has nothing so it shows his desparation. Most importantly, hearth is the heart of the home. He takes refuge in a sacred spot and gods themselves will punish violence here.

Question 38

The First to speak after Odysseus sits in the hearth was…

Answer 38

Ekheneous, the eldest of the Phaiakians and an oracle. Suggests that Alkinoos extend xenia and offer Odysseus supper.

Question 39

Alkinoos First Acts

Answer 39

Extends xenia by offering supper and sitting Odysseus in the chair of his favorite son, Laodamas (which is right beside Alkinoos). Implies the importance of Odysseus as a guest in the home, highest esteem to the practice of xenia. Alkinoos’s real power through actions and not words as he does all this with relatively little in the way of speech.

Question 40

Arete and Odysseus’s First Encounter

Answer 40

Arete does not question her husband in the public as he is the king, but behind closed doors she has questions for Odysseus. She opens with pointed questions (opening of an attack) asking him where he got the linens (knowing that she knitted them for Nausikaa’s hope chest). Ultimately questions him of his name and how he met her daughter. Odysseus distract and diverts from the question, hesitant of revealing his name.

Question 41

Alkinoos and Odysseus converse about Nausikaa…

Answer 41

Alkinoos is a little upset with his daughter, detailing that she should have just brought Odysseus straight to him. Odysseus replies by doting on Nausikaa (what parent doesn’t want to hear good things about their kids) “Look how well you’ve raised her” that she extended xenia as the gods demand. Continues to depend Nausikaa to Alkinoos as a way of complementing Alkinoos.

Question 42

Alkinoos’s Offer

Answer 42

Alkinoos offers Odysseus Nausikaa’s hand in marriage. Unsurprising because Nausikaa and Alkinoos have talked about her desire to marry as soon as possible. Though Alkinoos has only known Odysseus for a few hours, he still makes this offer. Shows how good Odysseus is with his speech.

Question 43

Athena Aids Odysseus with the Phaiakians By…

Answer 43

Pouring out her grace upon him, making him appear more muscular and more beautiful before the Phaiaikians. This is a glory culture so muscle will definitely help, but beauty aids in getting aid from others and having people’s attention.

Question 44

To honor Odysseus, Alkinoos…

Answer 44

sacrifices twelve sheep, eight tuskers (boar), and a pair of oxen for a feast. Even though Odysseus is still nameless to him, Alkinoos is extending an extreme example of xenia. Odysseus still guarding identity because of what happened with Kyklops.

Question 45

Demodokos

Answer 45

The minstrel/storyteller that first sings a song of a minor quarrel between Akhilleus and Odysseus in front of Agamemnon before the war between the Trojans and the Danaans. Then later sings the song of the Trojan War and the infedility of Ares and Aphrodite.

Question 46

Odysseus’s Reaction to the song of the quarrel between he and Akhilleus

Answer 46

He cries. He realizes that he has achieved glory. On the edge of nowhere, people know his name and his greatest act of guile in the Trojan Horse. Brings up some PTSD from the war and his long journey and dredges up grief at just how long he has been away.

Question 47

Odysseus and the Athletic Contest

Answer 47

Refuses to participate. Does not want to partake and show up his hosts. If he wins, he risks offending host. If he loses, he risks losing respect. A situation with nothing to gain, the wisest thing to do is not to participate.

Question 48

Seareach

Answer 48

Champion wrestler with a big, arrogant mouth. Insults Odysseus by goading him into partaking in the games. Calls Odysseus a business man (great insult to be a merchant at this time) and calls him an old boat. This opposes Odysseus’s glory as a sailor, stripping Odysseus of all his glory.

Question 49

Odysseus Responds to Seareach by….

Answer 49

Odysseus is of the knowledge that he will eventually have to reveal his identity, but this is not the way he wants to. Even so, the Greeks are of a vengeful culture and Seareach basically stripped him of all his accomplishments, so there is absolutely no way he is letting this go. He throws the largest stone on the field as a discusi, while still wearing his heavy cloak, and it still goes markedly further than all the other discus that had been thrown. He visibly handicaps himself twice, so there can be no doubt of his athletic prowess.

Question 50

Odysseus’s Speech after the Discus

Answer 50

Claims is better than any other living man with a bow, whilst still conceding mastery of bow and arrow to the men of old. This softens the brag and makes it believable. Claims that he will take on anyone in any contest without fear or hesitation, but makes it very clear that he will not fight Laodamas (champion boxer) for he is his host’s son, and who would be dumb enough to risk offending their host by punching his son in the face.

Question 51

Laodamas

Answer 51

Alkinoos’s most beloved son. A prince. The champion boxer of the Phaiakians.

Question 52

Alkinoo’s Response to Odysseus’s Challenge…

Answer 52

Points out that its clear that Odysseus has proven his strength and is capable of combat. Acknowleges that Seareach greatly insulted him. All conducted publically.

Question 53

Demodokos’s Second Song

Answer 53

Sings of an affair between Aphrodite (married to Hepheastus) and Ares. Brings up theme of adultery. Greek belief to ties between love and war acknolwedge here. Hepheastus becomes embodiment of vengeance in actions of displaying the caught Aphrodite and Ares in the act. Another gesture to the vengeful nature of Greek culture.

Question 54

Alkinoos tells the princes to give Odysseus what?

Answer 54

Each of the twelve princes must give Odysseus a cloak and tunic, and a bar of gold. Cloaks and tunics woven by hand so very, very valuable. These gifts will show the wealth of the Phaiakians. The cloaks can fit into one chest, so it will be easier to travel with them than any other gifts whilst still allowing for the presence of extreme value.

Question 55

Seareach’s Apology Gift to Odysseus

Answer 55

A broadsword of clear bronze and gold. Acknowledgement of Odysseus as a warrior, a warrior about to go on a voyage without a weapon.

Question 56

Alkinoos’s Very Special Gift to Odysseus

Answer 56

A wine cup of gold intaglio. Something that is close to Alkinoos and will be used back on Ithaka when Odysseus is celebrating. Glory culture, so every time Odysseus uses this wine cup, Alkinoos’s great generosity will be remembered. Glory is a way to be remembered.

Question 57

Nausikaa’s Final Conversation with Odysseus

Answer 57

She asks him to remember her. To which, Odysseus says that he will invoke her as if she were a goddess for the rest of his life because he is so grateful for how she helped him.

Question 58

Odysseus and Demodokos

Answer 58

Odysseus gives Demodokos a sharing of his pork at dinner. Odysses is “tipping the band” by giving him this share of food. Because of this, it is understandable that he can make a request for a song about the Trojan Horse in the Trojan War. He cries again as he hears the song. He is mourning his homeland and times past. As Odysseus will introduce himself following the song, the song also serves as his own personal song intro/theme song.

Question 59

Odysseu’s Grand Name Reveal to the Phaiakians

Answer 59

“I am Laertes son, Odysseus. Men hold me formidable for guile”. Describes Alkinoos’s banquet as the “flower of life”. Being a good guest by being thankful and giving honor back to his host. Pledges friendship to Allkinoos. Though guile (cunning in the service of deception) might normally be considered a negative, the impregnable walls of Troy were beaten by Odysseus’s ultimate act of guile and this allows for Odysseus to call himself this without being viewed negatively.