The Odyssey
BOOKS 5-9 SUMMARIES
By Erin Salona
BOOK 5: CALYPSO, THE SWEET NYMPH
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Athena pleads to the gods
and Zeus at Mount
Olympus to release
Odysseus held captive by
the immortal nymph
Calypso
Calypso is the daughter of
the Titan Atlas and was
forced to live on the island
Ogygia as a punishment for
siding with her father and
the Titans during the War
of the Titans.
BOOK 5
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Zeus sends Hermes, “the
wayfinder” messenger
god, to secure Odysseus’s
release
Calypso bore Odysseus
two children, Nausithous
and Nausinos. Calypso is
also called Atlantis.
Odysseus spends7 years
with her.
BOOK 5
Calypso is found singing and weaving & many
birds & plants surround her
 Calypso promises Odysseus immortality if he
stays with her
 Hermes tells Calypso she must relinquish
Odysseus
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 *This
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is the first time the reader meets Odysseus
He is found crying; he misses his home
BOOK 5
Odysseus told Calypso she was more beautiful
than his wife, but he misses Penelope
 Odysseus has lain with Calypso every night
 Calypso feels insecure when Odysseus tells her
this, and she warns him of the many dangers at
sea he must face
 Poseidon will make sea travel dangerous for
Odysseus since he is upset with him
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BOOK 5
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Poseidon creates a storm
and destroys Odysseu’s
raft
Athena and another
nymph help Odysseus
arrive on the island of
Sheria, home of the
Phaecians.
After 20 days at
sea,Odysseus lands on
Sheria and falls asleep
under a pile of leaves
BOOK 6: THE PRINCESS NAUSICAA
At night, Athena visits the Phaeacian princess,
Nausicaa, in a dream and urges her to wash her
clothing.
 When Nausicaa wakens, she takes a mule-cart
and her maids, and they wash her clothing in pools
by a river.
 They spread the wet clothing along the beach,
then wash themselves and play a game in the
nude.
 For once, femininity is not used for seduction
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BOOK 6
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Odysseus, naked himself, wakes up when he hears the
girls.
He approaches them, but his dirty, wild appearance
frightens all of them away but Nausicaa.
He asks if she is mortal or a goddess, and praises her
surpassing beauty.
He asks for her help in directing him to town and
providing him clothing.
Nausicaa gladly agrees, and directs her maids to tend to
him. Odysseus is modest, however, and wants to bathe
in privacy.
BOOK 6
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Odysseus cleans up, with
Athena making him even
more handsome, and the
maids give him food and
drink.
Nausicaa directs him to
walk behind her cart with
her maids on the way to
town, but warns him that
if people in town see him
with her, they will gossip
that he is her future
husband.
BOOK 6
Nausicaa asks Odysseus to hide behind some
trees near the city wall when they enter, then to
ask direction later to the palace of her father King
Alcinous.
 There he will find her mother Arete, whom he
should ask for help; if she likes him, she will help
him home soon.
 They head to town and pass Athena's grove, where
Odysseus prays to Athena for hospitality from the
Phaeacians.
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BOOK 7: KING ALCINOUS’ PALACE
After he waits for Nausicaa to go to her father
Alcinous’ palace, Odysseus makes his way alone
and encounters Athena disguised in the form of a
little girl.
 Odysseus asks her for directions to the palace,
and she leads him there while shrouding him in
mist so no one can see him.
 Odysseus needs Athena’s protection, because
unlike most Greeks, the Phaeacians do not like
strangers.
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BOOK 7
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Odysseus meets King
Alcinous and Queen Arete,
Nausicaa’s parents.
King Alcinous asks
Odysseus if he is a god
Odysseus shares some of
his troubles
King Alcinous has a banquet
for Odysseus and agrees to
help arrive home
He offers Odysseus his
daughter Nausicaa to marry
if he will stay on the island
BOOK 8: THE SONG OF THE MINSTREL
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Demodocus, the blind
minstrel—singer/ storyteller is called.
Odysseus asks him to
sing a song about the
Trojan horse (a song
about himself)
Remember: nobody
knows Odysseus’s
identity
BOOK 8
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Demodocus sings about
the fighting during the
Trojan War
Odysseus cries
Alcinous demands to
know Odysseus’s
identity
Homer ends the book in
suspense.
BOOK 8
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The legend that Homer
was blind - generally
discredited now - may
have its roots in the
appearance in this book
of the blind bard
Demodocus. Homer - and,
apparently, those who
believe Homer was blind takes the idea that lack of
visual sight leads to
increased mental insight.
BOOK 9: THE LOTUS EATERS & THE CYCLOPS
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Odysseus reveals
himself to King Alcinous
as Laertes’ son
Odysseus tells of his
misadventures with his
crew
This story is in
flashback– Odysseus
tells it
After 9 days of drifting,
they stop on the Land of
the Lotus Eaters
BOOK 9
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The lotus plant causes
feelings of laziness and
dreaminess
Odysseus sends 3 of his
men to check out the
land; they never return
because they eat the
lotus with the Lotus
Eaters
Odysseus finds the 3 men
and ties them under their
boat benches.
He tells the others not to
eat the Lotus or they
won’t want to go home
Odysseus makes his men leave
the Lotus Eaters
BOOK 9
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Odysseus and his men sail away
They land on the Cyclops’ island
Odysseus’ curiosity leads him to
the Cyclops’ cave (the result of
the encounter explains
Poseidon’s anger toward
Odysseus)
Odysseus and his men are
sitting inside the Cyclops’s cave
around the fire when he comes
inside.
The Cyclops has one eye in the
center of his head
BOOK 9
The Cyclops leads his rams and ewes outside
and covers the cave opening with a huge rock.
 He milks his ewes.
 He asks for “the strangers” identities
 The Cyclops’ name is Polyphemus
 Odysseus explains who they are and that they
were blown off course
 Odysseus tells him that he should be
hospitable or suffer the wrath of Zeus
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BOOK 9
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The Cyclops says he is not
afraid of Zeus and has
more power than he does.
Odysseus says Poseidon
broke up their ship (a lie)
The Cyclops picks up two
of the men, bashes their
brains in, and eats them!
Odysseus decides not to
try and kill the Cyclops
because they won’t be
able to leave the cave
BOOK 9
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In the morning, the Cyclops
eats 2 more men for
breakfast!
He leaves his cave with his
sheep and places the slab
over the opening
The men make a 6 foot
pointed stake while he is
gone.
4 men & Odysseus decide
to poke the Cyclops in the
eye
BOOK 9
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When the Cyclops returns
at night and closes the
cave opening, he eats 2
more men.
Odysseus gives him a
bowl of strong wine
Cyclops asks his name &
Odysseus replies
“Nohbdy”
Cyclops falls asleep & the
men put the stake in his
eye
BOOK 9
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Cyclops begins to wail &
call for nearby Cyclopes
He calls out: “Nohbdy
tricked me, Nohbdy’s
ruined me!”
Of course, “nobody” helps
the Cyclops.
Odysseus ties his men
under the rams so they
can leave the cave when
the rams do
Cyclops pats each ram as
it leaves but doesn’t feel
the men
BOOK 9
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Odysseus yells out to
Cyclops once he is on his
boat.
The Cyclops throws a
boulder in front of the boat.
Odysseus calls out his real
name to Cyclops.
Cyclops throws another
boulder which hits their
boat and slows them down.
Cyclops asks Odysseus to
come back so they can be
friends.
BOOK 9
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Odysseus goes too far
when he tells the Cyclops
that he would hurl him to
hell (hubris)
The Cyclops calls out to
his father Poseidon and
asks him to prevent
Odysseus from ever
seeing his family and
wishes that all of his men
are killed on the journey.
BOOK 9 COMMENTARY
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The Polyphemus episode is important; we learn much
about Odysseus as a leader - both his strengths and his
flaws.
Odysseus is prone to rash decisions. First, he makes the
mistake of wanting to meet Polyphemus even as his
men warn him against it.
But he makes another error when he taunts Polyphemus
not once but twice. This second mistake is what creates
his problem with Poseidon, as he foolishly reveals his
name and invites the wrath of the Poseidon, god of
earthquake - and subsequently dooms his shipmates.