The Odyssey
Part 1 - The Wanderings
Invocation of the Muse
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Most epics begin with a prayer.
To whom is this prayer offered?
Why is it offered?
What does the first section of the text tell
us?
The Muse
● The Odyssey, like many epics, begin with a
prayer or invocation of the muse
● The Muse is one of 9 daughters of Zeus who
inspire people to produce music, theater,
dance, poetry and the arts
● The invocation of the Muse tells us who our
hero is, where he currently is, and what is
to befall him in the coming epic.
Books 1-4
● Book 1 opens with the invocation of the
Muse.
● The rest tell us about Odysseus' son,
Telemachus, who by the time Odysseus
returns with be 22 years old.
● Telemachus has been on his own journey to
try to find his father after his 10 year long
absence from Ithica
Book 5 - Calypso
● What sort of island is the Island of Calypso
● What details are we given about the place
that Odysseus has been made captive
● How is Odysseus behaving when we finally
meet him at line 78
● Does this description make you think of
heroics?
● What are his thoughts toward his wife
Penelope?
● Hermes is sent by Zeus to demand that
Calypso release Odysseus
● Odysseus is racked with sorrow that every
moment he spends on the island, is one less
moment with his wife, Penelope
● Calypso agrees to let him go, but not
without one more promise of immortality
Odysseus' answer...
● "My lady godess, there is no cause for
anger. My quiet Penelope--how well I
know--would seem a shade before our
majesty, death and old age being unknown
to you while she must die. Yet, it is true,
each day I long for home, long for the sight
of home..."
Books 6-8
● What impression of yourself do you get of
Odysseus from his description on page 895,
line 126?
● In the presence of King Alcinious, Odysseus
weeps at hearing the description of his lost
companions
● "Our lives we had, but not our friends."
Book 9 - The Lotus Eaters
● Still talking to King Alcinous - Odysseus
recounts their traveling to the island of the
lotus eaters
● Some of his men are offered sweet lotus
plants and in doing so forget everything
about their mission to return home.
● Odysseus has to tie them to their rowing
benches in order to keep them from leaving
The Cyclops
● Odysseus continues to recount his travels to
King Alcinous
● Once again, Odysseus will use his
intelligence and wisdom to outsmart the
great giant Cyclops.
● Why is Odysseus associated with wisdom?
● Identify some details in lines around line
225 that give characterize the Cyclops.
● What does the Cyclops ask Odysseus in the
stanza beginning with 243?
● Odysseus has an early opportunity to the
Cyclops, but he hesitates... why?
● Odysseus arrives on the land of the Cyclops
● Giants have no faith, live by no laws, and
rarely believe in the power of gods
● The Cyclops crushes two of the men "caught two in the hands like squirming
puppies to beat their brains out, spattering
on the floor"
● Odysseus can't kill Polyphemus because of
the giant boulder covering the door.
Odysseus's plan to escape
● He fashions a club out of an olive branch
● He then convinces Polyphemus to drink
wine, leaving him intoxicated.
● Odysseus tells him his name is "Nohbdy"
● Odysseus and his men wait for the giant to
fall asleep from his drunkenness and then
stab him with their pike in the eye.
● When Polyphemus cries out to the other
Cyclops, he cries out "Nohbdy tricked me"
● Polyphemus opens the gate, and the men
slip by him hiding underneath his rams
● Odysseus then loads the rams onto the ship
and leaves shore.
● As he leaves, he shouts back and taunts the
monster from the ship
● His men ask him if that is a good idea, and
he cries out "If ever mortal man inquire how
you were put to shame and blinded, tell
them Odysseus, raider of citites, took your
eye"
Questions
● How does Polyphemus respond to this?
● Was Odysseus' plan heroic?
● Was it wise for Odysseus to taunt the
Cyclops and reveal his true identity?
● Do you feel sorry for the Cyclops?
● Did the Cyclops underestimate Odysseus?
Why?
The Witch Circe
● Odysseus and 23 men land on Aeaea
● Circe is sitting at a loom, singing.
● She serves all the men, except Eurylochus,
a dish of cheese and barley poisoned with a
substance that turns them all into swine
which makes them "lose desire or thought
of [the] fatherland."
● Eurylochus runs back to the ship to get
Odysseus who confronts Circe and, with
help from Hermes, gets her to return his
men to their human form
● Circe then invites Odysseus to stay and
feast, which he does, for many seasons.
● What events have repeated themselves
during this section?
○ Hermes helps Odysseus
○ The men eat something that makes them forget
home (like the lotus eaters)
○ Odysseus is invited to wine and dine with a goddess
and does so
● When Odysseus wants to leave, Circe tells
him he must descend to the land of the
dead to speak to the blind prophet
Teiresias.
The Land of the Dead
● Odysseus descends into the land of the
dead to learn his destiny from the blind
prophet Teiresias.
● What do you think is significant about the
prophet being blind?
○ Indicates that he has "insight"
● Odysseus must confront the notion of
mortality while in the underworld
● He encounters heroes fallen before him,
including Heracles (Hercules) and Achilles.
● He also encounters his mother. He is
saddened to see her because he did not
know she was dead
The Prophecy
Line 620 "Anguish lies ahead"
● Odysseus will find his home in disarray and
must slay the men trying to pursue his wife
and eat his cattle.
● He then must make a sacrifice to Poseidon
to atone for his misdeeds.
The Sirens: Scylla and Charybdis
● Circe then gives Odysseus a string of
prophetic advice ● The Sirens: Harpies whose songs lure men
to their island where they meet their
deaths
○ Odysseus' men are to plug their ears so as to not
have to listen to the songs
○ Odysseus himself may listen, but only if he is tied
to the ship
Caught between Scylla and Charybdis
Scylla: Odysseus must avoid Scylla and the
beast that lives there - has 12 legs and six
heads
Charybdis: Must also avoid this, a beast that
sucks in water 3 times a day and if
encountered will sink the ship.
● She then warns them not to be tempted to
eat any of Helios' cattle
● Who is Helios?
○ Sun God
Odysseus chooses not to share all the prophesy
with his men for fear that they will panic and
run away...
Do you agree with this strategy?
Was it the right decision?
How does that actual voyage go?
The Cattle of the Sun God
● Over and over again, Odysseus is warned
not to touch the cattle on Helios' island.
● Odysseus falls asleep and his men sacrafice
the cattle
● Odysseus curses the gods for allowing him
to fall asleep
● As punishment, Zeus destroys their ship and
all of Odysseus' men die