The Odyssey
Homecoming
• Nostos (Return, or Homecoming)
• Invocation (1.1-25).
Primary vs. Secondary Epic
• Primary Epic:
– No single author (each is a product of the oral
tradition)
– Written down after centuries of oral
transmission — e. g., Beowulf and The Iliad/
The Odyssey
• Secondary Epic:
• A single, gifted poet such as Virgil or Milton composes
a work that imitates a folk epic. The Aeneid and
Paradise Lost, for example, involved considerable
research and have the style of earlier epics.
Large Narrative Units
1) The Telemachy (adventures/wanderings of
Telemakhos, Odysseus’ son) (Books 1-4)
2) The Homecoming of Odysseus from Troy
to Ithaka (Books 5-8, 13.1-13.187)
3) The Great Wanderings of Odysseus
(narrated by Odysseus himself)
(Books 9-12)
4) Odysseus on Ithaka (Books 13.187-24).
Narrative/Cultural Elements
• Important epithets: resourceful Odysseus,
thoughtful Telemakhos, circumspect Penelope
(careful).
• Recurring themes: xenia (foreigner, the sacred
guest); metis (tricky intelligence).
• Role of the gods: much diminished from the Iliad.
Poseidon hinders Odysseus, Athena helps him;
other minor deities help or hinder him.
• Odysseus’ timeline: 10 years fighting at Troy, 10
years trying to get home. (wandering hero)
The Situation in Ithaka
• Odysseus’ oikos
(family) is in big
trouble. Over 100
aristocratic men are
besieging his wife and
eating up his wealth.
• Penelope mourns for
her lost husband.
Function of the Telemachy
• Book 1 sets up important themes that we will see
throughout the epic:
Homecoming (nostos)
Family (oikos)
Hospitality (xenia)
Marriage
Why do bad things happen to
good people?
• In the Odyssey, Zeus sounds the theme of human moral
responsibility.
“Oh for shame, how mortals put the blame on us gods, for
they say evils come from us, but it is they, rather, who by
their own recklessness win sorrow beyond what is given.”
Context of the quote: Zeus is thinking about Aigisthos, whom
he had warned not to kill Agamemnon, but who had done
so anyway, thus bringing about his own murder by Orestes
(Agamemnon’s son).
The Return is Set in Motion
• Hermes goes to Kalypso to tell her to let
Odysseus go as Athena travels to
Telemakhos in disguise.
• Athena characterizes the suitors.
• The first four books set up Odysseus’
eventual return and need for revenge.
Telemakhos’ Speech
• What does Telemakhos think has happened to his
father?
• What does the disguised Athena tell Telemakhos
he must do?
Book 2
• Archetype! Telemakhos must leave
boyhood behind and become a man before
his father returns. The story of how a boy
grows up and becomes a man has remained
since The Odyssey in the form of a principal
story type in Western literature.
• In Book 2, we get the assembly of the
Ithakans and the departure of Telemakhos.
How to be a King (or not)
• This is the first assembly called in 20 years.
Telemakhos throws down scepter, bursting into tears (86-90)
We hear of Penelope’s trick (demonstrates her metis).
Telemakhos threatens divine retribution against the suitors
(omen of eagles fighting).
Halitherses predicts Odysseus’ return and the slaughter of the
suitors.
Suitor response: 2.119-137.
Book 3: Telemakhos in Pylos
• Athena has appeared three times
so far to help Telemakhos;
while Odysseus is lost at sea,
she never appears.
• What are the people doing in
Pylos when Telemakhos
arrives?
• How does Telemakhos react
when the boat lands? What
does Athena tell him to do?
(3.15-29)
• How do the Pylians receive
him?
Nestor’s Speech
• Nestor sings his own nostos
(homecoming), the sorrow of
the Greeks at Troy, and what
happened to Agamemnon (2nd
mention in the epic, mentioned
briefly twice then told in full at
274-337).
• Nestor tells of Odysseus’ close
relationship with Athena (235241).
• Nestor holds out the example
of Orestes, a young man raised
without his father, who
nevertheless was “man
enough” to kill his father’s
killer. What does he imply?
Nestor’s Advice
• What does Nestor tell Telemakhos to do
next?
• When does Telemakhos realize that Mentor
was really Athena? (3.402-3.412)
Book 4: Telemakhos in Sparta
• What are the Spartans
doing when
Telemakhos arrives,
and how do they
receive him? Why is
this important?
Tales of Odysseus
• Helen slips a drug that
dulls pain into the
wine.
• Who tells tales of
Odysseus, and what
kinds?
Helen (O. in disguise as
beggar in Troy)
Menelaos’ Tale
• To counter Helen’s
claim to have helped
Odysseus in his
Trojan-killing,
Menelaos praises O.
for keeping the Greeks
inside the horse from
responding when
Helen imitated their
wives’ voices!
Menelaos’ Nostos Tale
• Parallels Odysseus’ tale
on a smaller scale.
• He tells us info he
received from Proteus
(Ancient of the Sea):
Death of Lesser Ajax (Aias)
Death of Agamemnon (3rd
time, from Proteus’ p.o.v.)
Odysseus’ fate on Kalypso’s
island.
The Plot Thickens . . .
• What gift does
Menelaos offer
Telemakhos? What
does Telemakhos ask
for instead? What does
this tell us?
• Meanwhile, back at
the ranch: what are the
suitors planning?
Book 5: Odysseus & Kalypso
• Motif: woman as hinderer
• Hermes tells her to let
Odysseus go; she allows
him to build a raft and sail
off.
• Poseidon notices him,
sends a storm, shipwrecks
him.
• Odysseus is rescued by
Ino-Leukotheia.
A Man Returns from the Dead
• In mythic terms, the Odyssey is the story of a man
who returns from the dead. Odysseus is trapped at
the ‘navel of the sea,’ where our world meets the
next. Kalypso’s name means ‘concealer,’ and
Hades, the ‘unseen,’ conceals the dead
underground.
• Kalypso’s offer of eternal life = an eternal death
for a man who loves experience & his family (his
oikos; this is not a romance).
Book 6: Nausikaa & the
Phaiakians
• Odysseus returns to
life on the island of
Skheria.
• What does Athena tell
Nausikaa to do?
• How do Odysseus &
Nausikaa meet?
• How does Odysseus
show his metis here?
Odysseus’ Predicament
• What does Athene do
to Odysseus?
• Is Nausikaa a good
host?
• What does Nausikaa
tell Odysseus to do?
Book 7: In the Phaiakian Palace
• Alkinoos and Arete
have a special
relationship. Queen as
judge.
• The Phaiakians are
conducting a ritual
when Odysseus
arrives.
• Odysseus begs Arete
for a ride home.
Arete & Alkinoos
• Arete and Alkinoos
are good hosts,
honoring and helping
Odysseus. Alkinoos
wishes that Odysseus
could marry Nausikaa.
Book 8: Phaiakian Games
• Disguised Athena
rouses the Phaiakians
to go learn about
Odysseus.
• Alkinoos calls an
assembly, tells of
Odysseus’ request for
passage home,
announces a feast.
The Song of Demodokos
• Of what does the bard
sing?
• How does Odysseus
react?
• When Alkinoos
notices this reaction,
what does he do in
response?
Tension at the Games
• When one of the
Phaiakian young men
challenges and insults
Odysseus, Alkinoos
summons Demodokos
again, who sings of
the love between Ares
and Aphrodite (tale of
a deceptive wife!).
Leavetaking
• The Phaiakians give Odysseus gifts of friendship
(stuff to take back to Ithaka to restore his wealth &
honor).
• Nausikaa says goodbye to Odysseus - he replies
gently (8.457-468).
• What song does Odysseus ask Demodocus to
sing? How does he react when he hears the song?
• Alkinoos asks Odysseus his identity and story
(8.535-586).
Books 9-12
• In these books the 3 major themes of
identity, homecoming, and hospitality
dominate in almost every episode.
The Wanderings of Odysseus
• In chronological order:
Departure from Troy
1) Kikonians
7) Underworld
2) Lotus-Eaters 8) Sirens
3) Cyclopes
9) Skylla & Kharybdis
4) Aiolos
10) Herds of Helios
5) Laistrygonians 11) Phaiakia
6) Circe
Return to Ithaka
Odysseus’ Thoughts
• He comments on the two
goddesses who wished to
marry him:
They “could never persuade
the heart in me. So it is
that nothing is more sweet
in the end than country &
parents ever, even when
far away one lives in a
fertile place, when it is in
an alien country, far from
his parents” (9.33-36).
Odysseus Gets Himself Into
Trouble
• In Book 9, Odysseus tells
us how Poseidon came to
hate & persecute him.
• Odysseus takes one ship
to explore the richness of
the Cyclopes’ island.
• The 12 men who
accompany him into
Polyphemos’ cave beg to
take some cheese and run;
Odysseus refuses because
he wants rich gifts.
The Cyclopes
• Do not follow Zeus’
laws, do not abide by
the rules of xenia.
• One would know this,
even if Odysseus
didn’t tell us at once,
by Polyphemos’
immediate questions:
“Who? Where? Why?”
Odysseus’ Metis
• In this pivotal event,
Odysseus shows both
his strength and his
weakness (metis vs.
greed).
• How does Polyphemos
learn Odysseus’
name? Who is
Polyphemos’ father?
Book 10
• Aiolos & the bag of
winds.
• This story shows us
how Odysseus’ men
don’t trust him.
• When they sail within
sight of Ithaka, he falls
asleep and they open
the bag.
Laistrygonians
• In this episode,
Odysseus loses all but
one ship and crew of
men.
Circe
• Circe, daughter of
Helios, is a powerful
sorceress.
• With the help of
Hermes, Odysseus
turns her into a helper.
He lives with her for a
year until his men
prod him to leave.
Circe’s Help
• Circe tells Odysseus
he must visit Hades to
consult Teiresias, &
gives him directions.
Book 11: The Underworld
• Odysseus draws the
shades to him by
animal sacrifice (they
are drawn to the
blood).
• He meets Elpenor,
who had died but
remained unburied.
Requests burial.
Other Shades
• Odysseus speaks with
Teiresias, who tells him
not to harm the herds of
Helios; if he does so, he’ll
return home with nothing
to find the suitors courting
Penelope. Tells him to
take a journey after his
nostos to appease
Poseidon. Teiresias
foretells Odysseus’ death.
Antikleia
• Odysseus asks his mother
how she died, about his
father and son, and about
Penelope.
• She responds to his
questions in reverse order,
knowing perhaps he is
most worried re what
Penelope is up to; the tale
of her death, placed last, is
more powerful. She died
of grief for him.
Odysseus Learns What it is Like
to be Dead
• In a scene that greatly influenced later
Western literature, Odysseus tries to hug the
shade of his mother:
“Three times I started toward her, and my
heart was urgent to hold her, and three times
she fluttered out of my hands like a shadow
or a dream, and the sorrow sharpened at the
heart within me” (205-208).
Parade of Famous Women
• Persephone sends the shades of the wives
and daughters of princes for Odysseus to
question (a mini-catalogue).
• We get a break, here: the Phaiakians are
astounded at Odysseus’ ability to tell a tale he is a great aoidos. Although he says he’d
like to rest, they beg him to continue. They
want to know if he met Trojan War heroes.
Trojan War Heroes
• Odysseus meets the psyche of Agamemnon,
who, weeping and wailing, tries to embrace
him.
• Agamemnon himself tells the tale of his
own nostos. He tells Odysseus that a bad
nostos will not happen to him, because of
Penelope’s virtue; yet warns him to watch
out, nevertheless.
The Shade of Achilles
• Achilles, together with his friends
Patroklos, Antilochus and Aias, stops to
speak with Odysseus.
• Odysseus tells him: “No man before has
been more blessed than you, nor ever will
be.”
• Achilles responds shockingly.
Achilles’ Take on Death
• “Never try to console
me for dying. I would
rather follow the plow
as thrall to another
man, one with no land
allotted to him and not
much to live on, than
be a king over all the
perished dead.”
Achilles’ Worries
• Achilles expresses worry about his father
and son.
• Odysseus tells Achilles that his son fought
bravely and was alive when he left Troy.
About Peleus, he knows nothing.
• Odysseus tries to make up with Aias,
blaming their fight on Zeus, but Aias
refuses to speak with him.
Tour of Famous Sinners
• Odysseus sees the
punishments of men
who offended against
the gods.
• He also sees the image
of Herakles (his
mortal bits), who
actually resides with
the gods on Olympus.
Book 12: Female Monsters
• Odysseus returns to
Circe, who tells him
about the dangers that
lie ahead and how to
survive them.
• The Sirens represent
the power of song and
the danger/price of
knowledge.
Odysseus Craves Knowledge
• Wanting to hear the
Sirens’ song,
Odysseus instructs his
men to tie him to the
mast, while they
themselves have wax
in their ears.
• To hear the Sirens
usually means death.
Skylla & Kharybdis
• These monsters have
become part of our
own cultural
vocabulary, used to
express the situation
of being between a
rock and a hard place.
Circe’s Warning
• Circe tells Odysseus that
Kharybdis is death for all,
but that Skylla will kill
only six as the boat passes.
• Skylla and Kharybdis
seem to be the
mythological
representation of the
perilous straits of Messina
between Italy’s boot &
Sicily.
Cattle of Helios
• Folktale motif of the violated prohibition. Helios
hardly ever appears in myth, except as a witness to
oaths. Perhaps Homer got this tale type from the
Egyptians.
• Tale of the “Shipwrecked Sailor” survives from
the second millenium BC, in which a sailor lands
on the island of Ra, the sun god.
• 350 cattle may stand for the roughly 350 days of
the year.
Central Motifs
• Odysseus falls asleep in the hills as his men eat the
cattle, just as he fell asleep on board the ship while
his men opened the bag of winds.
• His men fear death by hunger when they are
stranded on the island; they kill and cook the
cattle.
• Horrible omens: the skins crawled, the meat
bellowed. The men feast. When the wind stops,
they set sail, only to be shipwrecked by a storm.
Odysseus Alone
• Surviving by clinging to the keel, Odysseus
lands on Kalypso’s island, where he is held
for 7 years.
• Odysseus finishes his tale, leaving his
audience “stricken with silence, held in
thrall by the story.”
Book 13
• The Phaiakians give Odysseus a wealth of gifts,
making up for the lost Trojan booty.
• They give Odysseus magical transportation back
to Ithaka; he falls asleep onboard.
• They leave him asleep near a cave of the nymphs
with his gifts, at dawn by an olive tree.
• As punishment, Poseidon turns the ship to stone
just as it reenters the Phaiakian harbor. He forbids
them from having any further interaction with the
outside world.
Ithakan Geography
• Homer shows a good grasp of the lay of land in
Ithaka:
He describes the harbor bounded by 2 steep
headlands, and just off it a cave of the nymphs this matches well the modern harbor of Vathy on
eastern Ithaka.
In another cave near the harbor, pieces of 13 bronze
tripods were found, which seem to have been set
up on the late 9th c. BCE. In the 3rd c. we know
the cave was a shrine to Odysseus.
Athene
• Odysseus meets Athene, disguised as a
youth.
• Odysseus begins his “lying tales,” set in a
post-heroic world, featuring everyday acts
of treachery, murder, piracy, and commerce.
• Narrative patterns in the rest of the Odyssey:
disguises, recognitions, revelations,
reunions.
Why does Athene love
Odysseus?
• 13.287-310; 330-344.
• Athene helps him hide the Phaiakian gifts
and together they sit down to plot the
suitors’ destruction.
• Athene uses her divine powers to make
Odysseus look like a beggar before she
leaves to fetch Telemakhos from Sparta.
Book 14: Odysseus & Eumaios
• In Book 13, we saw the reunion of Odysseus and
Athene, and the disguise of Odysseus.
• Book 14 is all about the start of Odysseus’ testing
of the Ithakans. Eumaios the swineherd is first.
• Is Eumaios a good host? What does Odysseus
learn from him? What does Odysseus tell
Eumaios, and how does Eumaios react to it?
• What object is Odysseus trying to get from
Eumaios?