World Literature - The Odyssey

Summary of Book 14

Odysseus goes to Eumaeus his swineherd who takes him in and tells him reminiscent stories of his master and odysseus predicts he'll see his master again soon, swineherd puts him up for the night and odysseus says he comes from crete and fought in the war with odysseus and heard that he was still alive

Summary of Book 17

Odysseus goes to the palace and is treated horribly by the suitors. Penelope wants to talk to him but he doesn't want the suitors to see him go to Penelope's room so he stays. Eumaeus leaves.

Summary of Book 13

Odysseus leaves with Alcinous's crew and gifts and falls asleep and remains asleep even as they reach Ithaca and place him on shore with all of his belongings, they go back but poseidon is pissed at them for helping odysseus so he turns their ship to stone and it sinks right in front of their harbor (prophecy) so they vow to not help strangers very much after that. Meanwhile, odysseus wakes up and thinks he was left by the sailors in a strange land because athena covers it in mist but she appears to him as a shepherd and says it's ithaca and then he refuses to give his identity until she gives hers and she does and tells him it's payback time for the suitors. She turns him into an old beggar.

Summary of Book 20

Odysseus spends the night worrying that he and telemachus are too outnumbered by the suitors, Penelope is distraught over missing her husband and having agreed to choose a new man, odysseus hears her all distraught and asks zeus for a good omen and he gets a clap of thunder.

Eumaeus

Odysseus's swineherd

Explain the concepts of Oikos and Polis and how they may be applied to the odyssey

Oikos = the home, the domestic area in which aristocratic women were allowed to venture. Polis = public arena in which most aristocratic men spent their time. We rarely encounter female mortal characters outside of the home and when we do (such as nausicaa) they are surrounded by handmaidens. Women have power in the Oikos - Helen and Penelope are strong but appear only in their homes; Nausicaa tells Odysseus to beseech her mother instead of her father in her home.

Summary of Book 23

Penelope has slept through the whole fight. When she sees odysseus she fears that the gods are playing a trick on her so she orders her maid to move her bridal bed (which can't be done) and so odysseus freaks out at her and she knows it's him so they get "reacquainted" and then he tells her the whole story. The next day he goes with telemachus to Laertes

What incident in Odyssey suggests that Penelope may well be her husband's superior in trickery and perhaps also in intelligence?

She knows it's him and he reveals himself and they're alone together for the first time, and yet she doesn't open her arms in acceptance. She tests him, tricks him by mentioning moving the bed in their room or something. And he becomes enraged because he (and she) knows that the bed is rooted to a tree, and cannot be moved, something that no suitor or imposter would know. So she holds back and is patient, and tests to be certain through trickery.

Describe Odysseus's encounter with the Sirens and discuss its thematic implications

Sirens sit on island and sing to ships passing by - songs are specific to the men sailing by, offer praise to elevate ego, promote sexuality, provides temptation that no man who hears them can resist (to stay forever with them on their island until the man dies). Odysseus (always curious) has himself bound to the ship but listens - he struggles with the temptation yet makes it through proves that despite the savageness that the war tuaght him, deep inside of him is the desire to journey home more than any other temptation he encounters

Summary of Book 1

Starts 10 years after Trojan war ends, Odysseus is with Calypsos, suitors are with Penelope in Ithaca, Telemachus assumes dad is dead. Then Athena goes in form of Mentor and convinces Telemachus to go search for news of dad.

Summary of Book 16

Telemachus goes to Eumaeus who suggest odysseus stay in the palace but telemachus is afraid of what the suitors would do to him so off the swineherd goes to tell penelope of telemachus's return while telemachus and odysseus have some father-son bonding time. Plot to overthrow suitors by going in disguised while telemachus hides all extra weapons. Suitors want to kill telemachus, which pisses penelope off

Summary of Book 3

Telemachus goes to Pylos (Nestor), but Nestor has no info on Odysseus, recounts his own side of the trojan story, him staying with menalaus and Odysseus going with agamemnon, tells story of agamemnon's demise, Nestor sends Pisistratus (his son) to accompany telemachus to Sparta, athena reveals herself through changing into an eagle and stays to protect crew.

Summary of Book 2

Telemachus holds assembly with the suitors and yells at them for destroying his home instead of asking Penelope's dad for her hand in marriage, story of Penelope's shroud for Laertes weaving trick, soothsayer prophesies Odysseus's imminent return from eagles, but the suitors laugh it off, Athena gets a crew for Telemachus and he doesnt' tell the household of his departure.

Summhttp://quizlet.com/edit/870204/ary of Book 4

Telemachus lands in Sparta, Menalaus and Helen are celebrating their children's marriages, Menalaus tells trojan horse tale, and then the next day about his own homeward journey and about how he learned during that journey that odysseus was alive but trapped with calypso. Telemachus returns to Pylos to set sail for Ithaca, but the suitors hear about this and want to ambush him, Penelope freaks out, but Athena sends her phantom sister to reassure her.

Summary of Book 19

That night while the suitors sleep, o & t remove the weapons as planned. Telemachus goes to bed and penelope comes down to question odysseus about her husband, who is clearly able to describe himself perfectly - so perfectly, in fact, that she weeps. Reluctantly agrees to a bath where eurycleaia bathes his feet and sees his scar and realizes it's him but athena distracts penelope so penelope cannot find out yet. Penelope decides to have the ax contest.

When Telemachus says that his father was born for pain, what is the poem saying?

That odysseus was born with the ability to deal with or profit from such pain/trouble

Discuss the statement that Penelope may well be considered the director of the scene in which her husband established his identity and begins his open battle against the suitors

The ax contest that allows odysseus to reveal himself to the suitors is Penelope's idea. Maybe she subconsciousl knows that Odysseus has taken the form of the old beggar - taking it upon herself to initiate the destruction of the suitors. Also, I wouldn't dismiss an underlying conviction that no suitor could stand up to the strength and skill of her husband, and so a contest like this would prove to both her and the men who court her that the contest is impossible to win (except for odysseus himself).

Summary of Book 5

The gods meet to decide Odysseus's fate, Athena convinces them, Hermes goes to tell Calypso that she has to let him go, she begrudgingly does and helps him build a raft, he makes it all the way to phaeacia when poseidon spots him and gets pissed that he's alive and going home, goddess Ino saves him with a belt, Athena helps too, Odysseus makes it to shore

Antinous

The most arrogant suitor, leads campaign to kill telemachus, not once portrayed sympathetically, first to die

Eurycleia

The old maidservant who nursed odysseus and telemachus

Odysseus as an epic hero

The poem makes sure that we know that Odysseus left Ithaca as a good man, but not a perfect man.

Melanthius

Treacherous goatherd who supports the suitors

T/F: Telemachus repeatedly syas of his father, "the man was born for pain."

True

T/F: The Odyssey is largely believed to be orally derived

True

What is one example of an epic simile in The Odyssey?

When Odysseus is described as weeping like a woman leaning over her dying husband about to go into slavery.

Describe a moment in the odyssey that proves that the gods don't just help helpless men

When Odysseus is hanging on, with the winds threatening him as well as Charybdis threeatening him, he struggles to take charge. The gods him him but he calculates and thinks and saves himself too. His own action are first. He gets himself to the point where the gods COULD save him.

Specify what is distinctive about Athena's birth and discuss briefly the implications of her unusual birth.

Zeus swallowed Athena's mother while pregnant and Athena was born by sprouting out from his skull. Grew up without a mom, contributing to her gravitation to male figures (non-sexually) and the cagey wit that she has in common with odysseus. Also, she embodies male figures more often than not. Also, sprouts from his skull = her wit, intellect, cunningness.

Aside fro being a minor goddess, how is Circe also described at times?

a witch

What are the connections between Demodacus and Homer?

both we blind bards

In the early books of the odyssey, penelope is portrayed as:

grief-stricken over her husband's absence but by no means unresourceful

Who does Nausicaa want Odysseus to go to?

her mother

In his conversation with Athena, Zeus asserts that men _____

make their lot twice as hard as it needs to be

The prinicpal thematic significance of Odysseus's identifying himself to Polyphemus as Nobody

odysseus goes to troy a decent man but becomes corrupted by war, so he loses the rights to his own name because he's a changed man. he has to regain the rights to his name through his journey home and since he meets polyphemus in the beginning, he hasn't yet done this. Also, his family and friends at home in Ithaca all believe that he is dead and so to them he's also Nobody

Summary of Book 22

odysseus shoots a second arrow through antinous and then reveals himself while philotius locks front doors and eumaeus locks women's quarters, telemachus goes to get weapons doesn't lock the door so a suitor goes in and gets weapons too but the second time around he gets caught. Athena comes along but watches, waiting for odysseus to prove himself before she steps in, which she does eventually and the battle ends soon after that. Then he calls out the women and asks about their loyalty; the disloyal ones have to clean out the house (bodies, blood, etc.) and then he sends them outside for telemachus to execute. He wants them to die by sword but telemachus chooses to hang them (a more disgraceful death). After all of this, odysseus has the house cleansed.

Telemachus says of his father, the man was born for ____

pain

Who is Helen?

the msot beautiful woman in the world, dominant in marriage with Menelaus, smart

What are some examples of Odysseus not being perfect?

the poisoned arros that he got at Athena's embodiment's town, he's vulnerable when he gets to Troy. Corruption. Even loses the favor of the gods (not just Poseidon).

What does Calypso promise Odysseus if he stays?

unaging immortality

Who was Demodacus?

A bard in Phaeacia, blind, inspired by muse

Summary of Book 8

Alcinous calls assembly to discuss seeing odysseus off, and then plans to have a feast that night. At the feast demodacus (blind bard) sings of achilles and odysseus at troy, odysseus weeps, games begin, odysseus declines participation because he's tired from his trials, young athlete insults him, his pride gets in the way and he agrees to the challenge, winning the discus and then challenging any phaeacian to any other competition as well. Gets heated until Alcinous has dancers come in for entertainment and more feasting, demodocus sings again of ares and aphrodite, then odysseus is showered with gifts. Odysseus asks the bard to sing of the trojan horse and he weeps again, alcinous asks him who he is.

Where does Odysseus's epiphany occur?

At his last stop (Phaeacia) before home

Who is the goddess who intercedes with Zeus on Odysseus's behalf at the beginning of the odyssey?

Athena

____ inspires the maturing Telemachus to embark on a voyage to gain information about his missing father:

Athena

Summary of Book 6

Athena appears to Nausicaa in a dream, tells her to go bathe in the river the next day to appear more fetching to the men, she goes and nakedly plays with her hand maidens when naked odysseus appears and convinces her to help. She makes him look presentable and then has him trail her to the palace, and tells him to approach her mom

Summary of Book 7

Athena disguised as young girl stops Odysseus on the way to King Alcinous, helps him to the palace without being harassed, makes it there safely and is greeted kindly by the king and queen. Queen recognizes his clothes as nausicaa's and she questions him, he tells her the whole story, says it was his idea to go alone to the palace, alcinous is impressed and offers odysseus nausicaas hand in marriage

Summary of Book 15

Athena to Sparta, tells telemachus in a dream that he has to get back to ithaca asap to prevent the suitors from marrying his mom and she warns him of the ambush and tells him to go straight to eumaeus first, leaves the next day but not before helen can interpret an eagle swooping down on a goose as odysseus returning and swooping down on the suitors, so they go back to pylos and he quickly gets his crew together when suddenly theoclymenus (famous prophet and criminal) begs to be taken in and telemachus agrees. meanwhile odysseus tests eu's hospitality by saying he won't bother him by staying longer or he'll earn his keep by working for the suitors but the swineherd refuses. Eumaeus tells his story: son of a king, pirates come and his maid goes with them and brings eumaeus, and laertes gets a hold of him and raises him. Telemachus reaches ithaca.

Summary of Book 12

Back to Aeaea, buries elpenor (crewman), sleeps with circe, she gives him advice: first sirens, plugs ears, binds himself to mast to resist them, Schylla and charybdis next, schylla takes 6 men, then to helios' island and he wants to avoid it but is convinced to let his crew rest, enough provisions to last for a month but the weather is unrelenting and they get hungry, he goes off and naps, crewmen eat the cattle, zeus makes storm that consumes entire crew but odysseus, back to charybdis, narrowly escapes, and eventially lands in ogygia, calypso's island

The principal thematic significance of Odysseus's refusal to accept _____'s offer of unaging immortality

Calypso's offer; at first seems to go against Achilles' advice to live life to its fullest/value life but really, death is a part of life so to live without fear of the ultimate sacrifice isn't really living. Also, immortality is a stasis especially without aging and so it's the opposite of what achilles said. So odysseus is choosing life and to value it by turning down Calypso; he's choosing a life that's more honorable than a god's.

What's the reason behind telling the story of Ares and Aphrodite?

Comparing Odysseus to Ares later on in a description of the war which sounds like O is getting the highest possible compliment but because of the shame brought onto Ares in the story, it throws off the level of the compliment.

Summary of Book 21

Contest: String O's bow and shoot it through 20 axes, telemachus makes the first attempt and almost strings it but falls short, meanwhile odysseus gathers eumaeus and philotius the cowherd and reveals his identity to them and asks them to help him and telemachus fight and they agree. They get back inside as eurymachus tries and fails to string the bow which pisses him off and odysseus asks for a try - the suitors object because they fear that he will succeed but he gets his shot and succeeds immediately.

T/F: Circe turns most of Odysseus's crewmen to stone

F: Circe turns a number of Odysseus's crew into pigs.

T/F: Because Odysseus slaughters the suitors when he returns home, he hasn't changed/learned

F: He doesn't kill the innocent; Ancient greece is a different time. In fact, later on with the suitors' families, he's told to stop or Zeus will be angry, and he stops.

T/F: Penelope puts off the suitors by telling them she can't remarry until after the death of her aged father

F: Penelope puts off the suitors by tellin gthem she can't remarry until after she finishes a shroud for her aged father in law.

T/F: When Polyphemus first encounters Odysseus and his men, he asks them if they are Greeks or Trojans.

F: Polyphemus asks if they are, essentially, decent men or if they are pirates/marauders

T/F: When Odysseus first encounters the undisguised Athena, she tells him that she could never desert him permanently because she finds him sexually attractive

F: She does tell Odysseus that she could never desert him permanently but it's not due to sexual attraction (she's not attracted to any male, mortal or not). She instead says it's because she sees in him certain things about herself; they're both quick-witted and cagey.

T/F: All of the female servants were punished

F: The loyal were rewarded, the unloyal had to first clean and then were killed (punished)

T/F: Charybdis and Schylla are male

False

Summary of Book 11

Follows all of circe's instructions, attracts souls of dead: dead crewman begs for burial, Tiresias who says they're punished by poseidon for polyphemus & says o. will return home but must not touch the cattle of helios unless he wants to endure more suffering and lose his whole crew, to his mom about how she died of grief, then lots of famous heroes, then back to reality asks phaeacians to let him sleep, they want him to keep going and they ask about heroes from troy so he talks about agamemnon, achilles, ajax who refuses to speak, heracles, king minos, a lot of people being punished in different ways, then a mob comes asking for news of their relatives and he gets scared, runs back to the ship, and sails away

Summary of Book 10

From cyclops to Aeolus, Odysseus gets gift of winds, get in sight of ithaca only to have a shipmate mistake the wind for fortune and release it, back to aeolia, aeolus refuses to help them because he thinks they must be cursed by the gods, to laestrygonians who are cannibals, only odysseus' ship escapes the boulders the giants throw at them, to aeaea (circe's home), turns men to pigs, hermes tells odysseus to take drug to counteract circe's powers and tells him how to trick her, she turns crew back and he becomes her lover for a year, crew eventually urges him to leave, circe tells him to go to the land of the dead to talk to tiresiaas, the next morning they find a dead crewman who had gotten drunk and fallen off the roof,

What is Odysseus's epiphany?

He weeps over the song that the bard (Demodacus) sings, realizing how many women he's put in this position of weeping over dying men going into slavery. His moral awakening.

What was the story told of Ares and Aphrodite?

Hephaestus was a shaggy, ugly god of "technology" who limped, married to Aphrodite who cheated on him with Ares and got caught

Summary of Book 24

Hermes leads suitors to hades, agamemnon and achilles argue over their death, suitors recount to them what happened. Odysseus goes to Laertes and doesn't reveal himself right away; instead he brings his dad to tears over grief and pain and so he finally admits his identity. So they have lunch. The suitors dads want revenge so they go to him but Athena stops them, only one dies, and peace is restored

Summary of Book 18

Irus comes along and picks a fight with odysseus who beats him to a pulp in a boxing match thanks to athena's bulking him up a bit, one suitor is nice to him afterwards so out of pity odysseus warns him to leave because odysseus will return soon but he doesn't leave so he dies along with them (later on), Penelope comes down looking gorgeous, suitors get all riled up along with odysseus and telemachus diffuses a fight.

The realm of ___ is Telemachus's first stop on his voyage

Nestor

Can gods turn weak men intro strong men?

No, you have to prove yourself as formidable first

Summary of Book 9

Odysseus begins his tale: from troy to Ismarus (city of cicones) which they plunder, to the lotus-eaters that make some lose all thoughts of getting home, then to cyclops land, find a cave full of goats and cheese and milk, it's polyphemus's and he returns, odysseus gets him drunk on wine, the whole "nobody" incident, blinds him with the sharpened staff, escape under sheep the next day, calls to land once they escape and reveals his name, polyphemus has his dad (poseidon) curse odysseus