Summaries of Books II, III and IV from The Odyssey
Book II “A Hero’s Son Awakens”
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Inspired by the encouraging words of Mentes, Telemakus now has the courage to set
sail to speak to both Nestor and Menelaus regarding news of his father.
He wants to stop the suitors’ desecration of the kingdom and speaks out against them
The nastiest of all the suitors, Antinoos, chides Telemakus in public and criticizes
Penelope for keeping the suitors waiting for over four years. She tells them that she will
pick a new husband when she is finished weaving a tapestry, but one of Penelope’s
maids tells Antinoos that every night Penelope unravels what she has created so that
the tapestry will never be complete. (this indicates the loyalty of Penelope of but the
disloyalty and lack of moderation of the female servants)
Athena (as Mentes) helps T prepare a ship with provisions and a crew of 20 men.
The suitors disparage T once again, and this time he curses them and says he will bring
them doom upon his return.
Book III “The Lord of the Western Approaches”
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Athena (as Mentor) gives T courage to set foot on the new land and carry on with his
mission to ask Nestor is he has word of his father
They are warmly received and treated hospitably
T lets Nestor know he needs closure to this saga and would find any information helpful
Nestor says:
-this brings up bad memories of nine years of fighting during the Trojan War
where many men were lost, but your father was an excellent man and war
strategist.
-explains he was very close friends with Odysseus but what happened is that
some men decided to follow Menelaus (who wanted to leave Troy immediately
after the war) and other wanted to follow Agamemnon (who wanted to stay and
make sacrifice to the gods)
-Odysseus captained a ship but his was lost at sea
T explains the troubles in Ithaca and Nestor tells him to fight back against the suitors,
especially since he has the goddess Athena on his side (just like Odysseus did)
Reveals the story of Agamemnon being killed by his own wife, how Menelaus (A’s
brother suffered when he learned the news) and how T should fight back for the insult
against his family
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Nestor’s advice: don’t stay too long away from Ithaca because the suitors can do more
damage now that you are not there
Nestor advises T to make a sacrifice to the gods in order to receive safe passage for the
rest of his trip; T does so
Leave to go to Sparta to talk with King Menelaus
Book IV “The Red-Haired King and his Lady”
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T is given a warm welcome in Sparta; introduced to King Menelaus and his wife Helen
Menelaus tells his story of how he fought in the Trojan War, was shipwrecked in Egypt
after the war and made a fortune there, finally made it home after 7 years to learn that
his brother was killed by the wife and that brother’s two children took revenge to kill
their mother
Talks of his friendship with Odysseus- he loved him like family; what a brave warrior he
was; how smart he was; he kept all the other soldiers in line and came up with the idea
for the Trojan Horse; disguised himself and snuck into the Trojan camp to let Helen
know she would be rescued soon
Menelaus says that Odysseus is shipwrecked on an island being held captive by the
nymph Kalypso (he was told this by one of the gods named Proteus- a ruler of the
ocean)
BACK IN ITHACA: the suitors get word that T set sail and is trying to find out about dad.
Antinoos (the jerk) is angered by this news and swears revenge on T. He gets men
together and a boat and sets sail. His plan is to ambush T at sea and kill him
Penelope is told by a servant what the suitors are doing, wants Odysseus’s dad to know
b/c maybe he can help, make prayers to Athena to help her son. Athena sends a vision
of Penelope’s sister (Iphthime) to her in a dream telling P that Athena will protect T, so
she need not worry