The Odyssey, Part I
Ninth Grade Lit Study Packet
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epic- a long narrative poem about the deeds of gods or heroes
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epic hero- a larger-than-life figure from history or legend
o the hero undertakes a dangerous voyage
o demonstrates traits that are valued by society
 ex: courage, loyalty, honor
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conflict- a struggle between opposing forces
o conflicts can occur:
 between a character and nature (man vs. nature)
 within a character’s mind (man vs. himself)
 between characters (man vs. man)
P.981 begins with Homer, who is credited with the first telling of The Odyssey, asking a Muse for help in
telling the story of Odysseus
Muse- any one of the nine goddesses of the arts, literature, and the sciences; the spirit that is thought to
inspire a poet or other artist
According to this introduction by Homer, Odysseus has many qualities that make him a hero
- he has “weathered many days and nights…at sea”
- he has “a deep heart”
- he fought for the noble purpose of saving his own life and bringing “his shipmates home”
Which act led to this epic journey of Odysseus?
The journey begins after Odysseus leads the plunder of Troy.
plunder- to take goods by force; steal
Sailing from Troy
P.983-984
When this section begins, Odysseus has departed from the goddess Calypso’s island
- It has been 10 years since the end of the Trojan War
He arrives in Phaeacia, ruled by Alcinous
Alcinous offers a ship to Odysseus and asks him to tell his story
Odysseus begins by bragging that he is famous for his “guile” which makes him effective in peace and
war
 guile- craftiness; cunning
Explains that his home is in Ithaca (an island off the west coast of Greece)
He has been detained by Calypso (sea goddess who loved Odysseus)
Describes adventures on Ismarus
 Odysseus’ men were greedy and mutinous (rebellious)
o They killed the men
o Enslaved the women
o Butchered sheep
o Attracted the attention of the army of Cicones
 This army was trained to fight on horseback or on foot
 “They came with dawn over that terrain LIKE the leaves and blades of spring.”
 This is an example of a SIMILE- a comparison that uses the words LIKE or
AS
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Many of Odysseus’ men were killed on this island
The Lotus-Eaters
p.984-985
Zeus sent a storm against Odysseus’ ships
The sails cracked so they found shelter on a nearby island
“a third Dawn came with ringlets shining” – This is an example of PERSONIFICATION
o personification- giving human qualities to inhuman objects
 Dawn (daybreak- beginning of morning) is described as a young girl
 This reference is repeated in the next section as well
After the calm, they put the masts back up and let the breeze take them away from this land
The current took the ships back out to sea
For 9 days the ships drifted on the sea in dangerous winds
On the 10th day they landed on the coastline of the Lotus-Eaters
Odysseus and his men needed fresh water
Odysseus sent three men to learn what “race of men that land sustained”
(he wanted to find out more about the men on this island)
The Lotus-Eaters did not want to harm the men; they gave the men Odysseus sent lotus-flowers to eat
o The lotus flowers were sweet and “honeyed”
After eating this plant, the men wanted to stay on this island forever and they forgot about their homeland
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Odysseus had to tie them up in the ship in order to get them to leave the island
o It was wise of Odysseus to only send three men to find out about the Lotus-Eaters
 IF all of his men had met with the Lotus-Eaters and eaten this plant, they would
never have had a desire to return home to Ithaca and their families
Some experts have claimed that the tale of the Lotus-Eaters is actually an ancient warning against
drug use.
The Cyclops
p.986-999
Cyclopes- plural form of Cyclops- a race of giants with one eye in the middle of their forehead
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After making a meal of wild goats captured on an island offshore, they cross to the mainland. There they
immediately come upon a cave full of sheep and crates of milk and cheese. The men tell Odysseus to grab some
of the food and hurry off, but he decides to stay a little longer.
o Odysseus’ curiosity leads him to ignore the good advice from his men. He knows it would be wise to
grab the food and leave, but he is too curious to see the “cave man”
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The cave’s inhabitant soon returns—it is the Cyclops Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon. Polyphemus is nice to
the men at first, but he soon turns angry and evil. He eats two of Odysseus’ men and imprisons Odysseus and the
rest in his cave for future meals.
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Odysseus wants to take his sword to Polyphemus right then, but he knows that only Polyphemus is strong
enough to move the rock that he has placed across the door of his cave. Odysseus then creates a plan for escape.
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The next day, while Polyphemus is outside pasturing his sheep, Odysseus finds a wooden staff in the cave and
hardens it in the fire.
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When Polyphemus returns, Odysseus gets him drunk on wine that he brought along from the ship.
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Polyphemus asks Odysseus his name. Odysseus replies that his name is “Nobody”
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When Polyphemus becomes drunk from the wine Odysseus gave him, Odysseus and a group of his men drive
the red-hot staff into his eye.
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Polyphemus wakes with a shriek, and his neighbors come to see what is wrong, but they leave as soon as he calls
out, “Nobody’s killing me”
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When morning comes, Odysseus and his men escape from the cave, unseen by the blind Polyphemus, by
clinging to the bellies of the monster’s sheep as they go out to graze.
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Safe on board their ships and with the flock of sheep on board as well, Odysseus calls to land and reveals his
true identity.
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With his former prisoners now out of reach, the blind giant lifts up a prayer to his father, Poseidon, calling for
vengeance on Odysseus.
o Polyphemus asks Poseidon:
 to keep Odysseus from ever returning to his home
 if it is destiny that he will return home- he hopes that it will be a long time with many dark
years before this happens
 to make Odysseus lose all companions and return under strange sail to bitter days at home
The prayer from Polyphemus to Poseidon is an example of FORESHADOWING- a hint of what is to come. As we
continue reading, we will see how difficult it is for Odysseus to return home.
p.990 Example of Personification
“When the young Dawn with fingertips of rose lit up the world..”
Again, Dawn (the beginning of the morning) is described with human characteristics (humans have
fingers)
The Land of the Dead
p.999-1004
Achaeans- Odysseus and his men
Aeolus- ruler of the winds
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The Achaeans sail from the land of the Cyclopes to the home of Aeolus.
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Aeolus presents Odysseus with a bag containing all of the winds, and he stirs up a westerly wind to guide
Odysseus and his crew home.
o Within ten days, they are in sight of Ithaca, but Odysseus’s shipmates, who think that Aeolus has
secretly given Odysseus a fortune in gold and silver, tear the bag open.
o The winds escape and stir up a storm that brings Odysseus and his men back to Aeolia. This time,
however, Aeolus refuses to help them, certain that the gods hate Odysseus and wish to do him harm.
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the Achaeans arrive in a land of CANNIBALS
o Odysseus and his remaining men flee toward their ships
o the Laestrygonians (the cannibals) destroy all ships except the one Odysseus is in
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From there, Odysseus and his men travel to Aeaea, home of the beautiful witch-goddess Circe.
o
Circe turns many of the men into swine (pigs)
 Odysseus is protected by a magic herb
o He demands that Circe turn his men back to their human forms.
 Circe is in love with Odysseus
 Odysseus and his men live with her in luxury for a year.
o Odysseus asks Circe for the way back to Ithaca.
 She replies he must sail to Hades, the land of the dead, to speak with
the spirit of Tiresias, a blind prophet who will tell him how to get
home.
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Odysseus pours libations and performs sacrifices as Circe earlier instructs him to do to attract the souls of the
dead.
o The first to appear is that of Elpenor, the crewman who broke his neck falling from Circe’s roof.
 He begs Odysseus to return to Circe’s island and give his body a proper burial.
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Odysseus then speaks with the Theban prophet Tiresias, who reveals that Poseidon is punishing the Achaeans
for blinding his son Polyphemus (the Cyclops)
o He foretells Odysseus’s fate—that he will return home, reclaim his wife and palace from the wretched
suitors, and then make another trip to a distant land to appease Poseidon.
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He warns Odysseus not to touch the flocks of Helios (the Sun) when he reaches the land of Thrinacia;
o If he does bother the cattle belonging to Helios, he won’t return home without suffering much more
hardship and losing all of his crew.
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When Tiresias departs, Odysseus calls other spirits toward him.
o He speaks with his mother, Anticleia, who updates him on the affairs of Ithaca and relates how she died
of grief waiting for his return.
The Sirens
p. 1005-1007
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Odysseus returns to Aeaea where he spends one last night with Circe.
She describes the obstacles that he will face on his voyage home and tells him how to handle them.
As he sets sail, Odysseus passes Circe’s advice on to his men.
They approach the island of the lovely Sirens, and Odysseus, as instructed by Circe, plugs his men’s
ears with beeswax and has them tie him to the mast of the ship.
o He is the only person to hear their song flowing forth from the island, promising to reveal the
future.
o The Sirens’ song is so seductive that Odysseus begs to be released from his fetters, but his
faithful men only bind him tighter.
Scylla and Charybdis
p.1007-1010
Scylla
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Charybdis
Once they have passed the Sirens’ island, Odysseus and his men must navigate the straits between
Scylla and Charybdis.
Scylla is a six-headed monster who, when ships pass, swallows one sailor for each head.
Charybdis is an enormous whirlpool that threatens to swallow the entire ship. As instructed by Circe,
Odysseus holds his course tight against the cliffs of Scylla’s lair.
As he and his men stare at Charybdis on the other side of the strait, the heads of Scylla swoop down
and gobble up six of the sailors.
Odysseus rows the boat away as he hears the men she has captured screaming for him.
The Cattle of the Sun God
p.1010-1017
Odysseus next comes to Thrinacia, the island of Helios (the Sun). He wants to avoid it entirely, but the outspoken
Eurylochus persuades him to let the tired crew rest there.
 A storm keeps them stranded here for a month.
o At first the crew is content to survive on its food and supplies in the ship.
 When these run out, however, Eurylochus persuades the other crew members to disobey
Odysseus and slaughter the cattle of the Sun.
 They do so one afternoon as Odysseus sleeps.
o When the Sun finds out, he asks Zeus to punish Odysseus and his men.
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Shortly after the Achaeans set sail from Thrinacia, Zeus kicks up another storm.
o The ship is destroyed and all of the men are killed in the waves—except Odysseus.
 Odysseus barely survives.
 The storm sweeps him all the way back to Charybdis, which he narrowly escapes for
the second time.
o Floating on broken parts of the ship, he eventually reaches Ogygia, Calypso’s
island.
Odysseus here breaks from his story, stating to the Phaeacians that he sees no reason to repeat to them his
account of his experience on Ogygia.
End of Part I