The Odyssey
Group 1: Books1-4
By: Firaas, Cameron, Stephen, Jacob
Book 1
- Poseidon has stopped Odysseus from returning home to Ithaka. This is a result
of Odysseus poking Polyphemos’s eye out (Polyphemos is Poseidon’s son)
- Odysseus is being held on an island by a nymph named Kalypso
- Zeus refuses to send Hermes to the island to tell Kalypso to release Odysseus
- Athena goes into disguise as Mentes, and goes to Ithaka
- When she arrived there were many suitors and Telemachus
- the suitors are eating Odysseus’s food and trying to get with his wife Penelope
Book 2
- Telemachus arranges a meeting with all of the Ithakan men
- He talks about how the suitors invaded his house, ate his food,
drank his wine, and tried to win mom over (Penelope)
- Penelope stalled getting married (because if you were a queen and your
husband died you were required to remarry) by weaving a funeral shroud for
Laertes, Odysseus’s father, and then undoing her work at night
- Antinoös, a suitor, told Telemachus that he either had to get rid of his mom
or choose a suitor husband
- Zeus sends two eagles to attack the city’s people; seen as an omen by
Halitherses that Odysseus is still alive
- Telemachus begins his expedition to Pylos, where he wants to gather news on
his father
Book 3
• Telemachus and company arrive in Pylos and arrived to
see a sacrifice to Poseidon in progress.
• Athena advises him to seek out Nestor who had fought
with his father
• Telemachus wishes to discover what happened to his
father.
• Nestor tells him about the argument over sacrificing or
not after troy had fallen.
• Telemachus describes his situation with the suitors and
Nestor proposes that the gods might aid him and tells
him to learn from the lesson of Agamemnon who
stayed away from home too long.
Book 3 continued
• Nestor suggested to Telemachus to visit
Menelaus and provided transportation and
sent one of his sons.
• They then start off to Sparta
Book 4
• They arrive to Lacedaemon(where Menelaus rules). A
double wedding feast is going on for his son and daughter.
• Menelaus tells them of his sorrow for those that were lost
during the war, most of all Odysseus.
• Helen, wife of Menelaus and igniter of Trojan War, walks in
and recognized Telemachus as the son of Odysseus.
• She had placed a potion of sorts in their drink to cheer
everyone up and she recalled her experiences with
Odysseus in Troy.
• Telemachus relents to him his situation with the suitors and
Menalaus
Expresses his disdain.
Book 4 continued
• Menelaus then shares his story about how he was
stranded without wind because he had not made
adequate sacrifice.
• He captured Proteus who tells him what to do to return
home. He is told that Odysseus is a prisoner on
Calypso’s island.
• Meanwhile, back in Ithaca, the suitors find out what
Telemachus has done and go after him with plans of
killing him.
• Telemachus starts to return home.
• Penelope weeps and Athena tells her that Telemachus
will be safe.
Book I
Question 2:
Why has Odysseus not yet return home from the Trojan War?
Answer:
Calypso (his lover) would not let him leave
because her love was too strong for Odysseus.
Book 1
Question 5:
What words were used to describe the suitors?
Answer:
The suitors were very disrespectful people.
They would not listen and treat people like
trash.
Book II
Question 12:
Why does Telemakhos call the men to assembly?
Answer:
It was to show that Telemakhos is
coming of age. Also, Athena insisted
that he hold the assembly.
Book II
Question 14:
What sign does Zeus send to the assembly, and
what is it’s meaning?
Answer:
Zeus sends two eagles to the assembly.
Book III
Question 16:
Where does the action in Book III take place?
Answer:
The action in Book III takes place in Pylos.
Book III
Question 19:
What happens at the homecoming of
Agamemnon?
Answer:
Agamemnon comes home and is killed by his
wife Aigisphos. His wife and another guy rule
the kingdom of Mykene until 8 years later.
They get killed by the son of Agamemnon.
Book IV
Question 23:
What is the setting of Book IV?
Answer:
The setting of Book IV is SPARTA!!!
Book IV
Question 29:
Identify the leading men of the suitors.
Answer:
The main leading man of the suitors is AntInoös.
Odysseus
Please turn to Pages:37-39
Analysis of the characters
Telemachus
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Son of odysseus
Devoted to his mother and his family
Young and still developing
Influenced by Athena to go on his quest
Shares traits of his father that are referred to
on many occasions
Athena
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God, daughter of Zeus .
Appears in many different forms
Goddess of wisdom
Carries favor for Odysseus and his son.
Sets Telemachus on his quest
She appreciates the wisdom of Odysseus.
Penelope
• Wife of Odysseus
• Left at home fighting off suitors
• Refuses to pick a husband with a small hope
of Odysseus being still alive.
• Depressed due to the constant barrage of the
suitors and the degradation of Odysseus’s
estate.
• Worried for her son.
Helen
• The original cause of the Trojan war.
• Has been returned to Menelaus after the war.
• First to mention the resemblance between
Telemachus and Odysseus.
• She knew Odysseus in the past when he
infiltrated Troy.
• Respects Telemachus because of father.
Theme/relevance/evidence
• A Theme was that was formed in these
chapters is the statement that humans may
always blame the gods for good and bad
things even when the gods have nothing to do
with it.
• This is relevant to an idea of self-reliance
• “My word, how mortals take the gods to task!
All of their afflictions come from us, we hear.
And what of their own failings? (pg. 2)
Motifs
• Loyalty of Penelope to Odysseus
• Bravery of Telemachus in traveling to hear
word on his father.
• Loyalty of Menelaus to Odysseus in helping his
son
• Endurance of Penelope in keeping the suitors
at bay
What establishes The Odyssey as an epic?
1. Odysseus, the epic hero, holds legendary importance because he fought
in the Trojan War and has not returned home after ten years since the battle
has ended; he is missed by many people and almost everyone liked him.
2.The setting takes place in many different areas of the world. Through just the
first four books, Telemochas has been to Pylos and Sparta, which is two days
away by horse.
3. We know the hero, Odysseus, has already engaged in battle in the Trojan
war.
4. Supernatural forces are at work: Poseidon cursed Odysseus to wander around
the ocean for ten years because he poked out the eye of his son who was a
cyclops, Athene who turned into an eagle to watch over Telemochas’s crew while he
went to Sparta, and Athena sent the image of Iphthime to Penelope while she was
sleeping, who then told her Telemochas would return safely.
5. A formal speech has already been made; when Telemochas arrives at Pylos.
6. The story starts in media res or “in the middle of things” with Odysseus unable to
return home. It also calls upon a Muse.
Hero’s Journey
Call to adventure: Odysseus has been forbidden to go home due to
the fact that he poked out the eye of Poseidon’s cyclops.
Additional Questions:
What role do the gods play? What kind of relationships do they have
with humans?
What do the humans do to please the gods? Provide examples.
Who is Athena? Why is she helping Telemakhos?
Who started the Trojan War?