Background: Greek Mythology
http://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanisMnemosyne.html
The Odyssey opens with Homer seeking inspiration from one of the nine Muses, Calliope. “Muse Calliope was
the superior Muse. She was accompanying kings and princes in order to impose justice and serenity. She was
the protector of heroic poems and rhetoric art. According to the myth, Homer asks from Calliope to inspire him
while writing Iliad and Odyssey, and, thus, Calliope is depicted holding laurels in one hand and the two Homeric
poems in the other hand. The Nine Muses have been inspiring artists since the antiquity.”
MNEMOSYNE was Titan goddess of memory and remembrance and the inventress of language and words.As
a Titan daughter of Ouranos (Heaven), Mnemosyne was also a goddess of time. She represented the rote
memorisation required, before the introduction of writing, to preserve the stories of history and sagas of myth.
In this role she was represented as the mother of the Mousai (Muses), originally patron goddesses of the poets
of the oral tradition.
Finally Mnemosyne was a minor oracular goddess like her sister-Titanes. She presided over the underground
oracle of Trophonios in Boiotia.
The Titanis Mnemosyne was sometimes described as one of three Elder Titan Mousai (Muses), who preceded
the nine daughters of Zeus as goddesses of music.
MNEMOSYNE MOTHER OF THE MUSES
Hesiod, Theogony 915 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or C7th B.C.) :
"And again, he [Zeus, after lying with Demeter] loved Mnemosyne with the beautiful hair: and of her the nine
gold-crowned Moisai (Muses) were born."
Hesiod, Theogony 53 ff :
"Them [the Mousai] in Pieria did Mnemosyne, who reigns over the hills of Eleuther [in Pieria, near Mount
Olympos], bear of union with the father, the son of Kronos [Zeus], a forgetting of ills and a rest from sorrow.
For nine nights did wise Zeus lie with her, entering her holy bed remote from the immortals. And when a year
was passed and the seasons came round as the months waned, and many days were accomplished, she bare
nine daughters, all of one mind, whose hearts are set upon song and their spirit free from care, a little way
from the topmost peak of snowy Olympos."
The Odyssey Study Guide
Please answer the following questions as you read. For each answer, summarize the information from the text
in YOUR OWN words and write PAGE NUMBERS to help you find the scene in the book.
BOOK 1:
1.
Describe the setting of the opening scene (first page). What can we learn about Odysseus’ description?
2. Who are the Muses? Why does Homer need inspiration from one to launch his story?
3.
Where is Poseidon when the book opens?
4.
Why does Athena feel badly for Odysseus?
5.
How does Zeus feel about Odysseus?
6.
What does Athena say she will do to help Telemachus?
7.
What disguise does Athena take in Ithaca?
8.
How does Telemachus treat Athena (disguised) when she first enters Ithaca?
9.
What is the first prophecy of the book?
10. What does the disguised Athena tell Telemachus to do the following morning? List three things.
11. How does Athena leave that makes Telemachus aware that she’s a goddess?
12. How are the suitors described? Who are they, and who seems like the leader? Why?

Despite his own problems, Telemachus sees Mentes (Athena in disguise) waiting at the gate and immediately
welcomes him, takes his spear, offers him a chair and a footstool. Shortly after, a servant brings water for hand
washing and another brings bread, another offerings of meat, and another wine. (13) Greek value =
hospitality! As we read, note how hospitality is used and areté = moral virture; person of the highest
effectiveness; all of the abilities and potentialities available to humans; strength, bravery, wit.
BOOK 2
1. List the two reasons Telemachus calls the assembly.
2. Describe Penelope’s predicament; how has she delayed marrying one of the suitors and what Greek
values does she provide an example of?
3.
According to the suitors, how is Penelope different from other women?
4.
What OMEN is evident in Book 2? Describe how Halitherses and Eurymachus interpret this omen?
What does this tell you about both characters?
5.
What does Mentor (Athena in disguise) say to the people of Ithaca about decency and order?
6.
Telemachus feels afraid to embark on his journey and stand up to the suitors in this chapter: describe the
scene in which he asks Athena for help.
7.
Who is Euryclea and what is her relationship to Telemachus?
8.
Describe in what way Telemachus begins to “become a man” in this chapter, taking control of his
father’s house.
9.
Where is Telemachus headed at the end of Book 2 and HOW has Athena helped him?
Book 3
1.
What is going on in Nestor’s kingdom when Telemachus arrives?
How does Athena, disguised as Mentor, help Telemachus in Ch. 3?
2.
For what does Nestor praise Telemachus?
3.
Who does the most talking in this chapter? About what?
4.
Why doesn’t Nestor know anything about what happened to Odysseus?
5.
Athena, in the form of Mentor, speaks about what the gods are and are not able to do for humans; what
are the gods able to do? What are they unable to do?
6.
If Menelaus and Nestor were sailing home from Troy together, why did Menelaus reach home much
later than Nestor did?
7.
What does Nestor urge Telemachus to do next? Why?
8.
How does Nestor learn that Telemachus’ companion is a goddess?
Book 4
1.
What is going on at Menelaus’ palace when Telemachus arrives?
2.
What does Menelaus caution Telemachus against? What Greek value does this show?
3.
What does Telemachus do when Menelaus starts to talk about his old friend, Odysseus?
4.
Who is Peisistratus? Why is he there?
5.
In their private meeting, what does Menelaus tell Telemachus?
6.
How did Menelaus finally get home after Troy? What Greek value does this show?
7.
What has Melelaus heard about Odysseus from Proteus?
8.
What are the suitors, Antinous and Eurymachus, planning while Telemachus is at Menelaus’?
9.
What does Penelope doing while Telemachus is gone? What does she learn in her dream?
Book 5
1.
Who is Hermes and what is his mission?
2.
Who is holding Odysseus captive and how does he feel about it?
3.
Describe Calypso’s home.
4.
How long did Odysseus fight in the Trojan War?
5.
When Poseidon stirs up the winds and causes trouble for Odysseus, what does Odysseus wish? How
does this relate to Greek values?
6.
Who helps Odysseus throughout book five? How? Be specific.
7.
What happens to Odysseus at the end of Book 5?
Book 6
1.
What disguise does Athena take to talk to Nausicaa?
2.
Based on Athena’s words to Nausicca AND Odysseus’s flattery of Nausicca, what is valued in Greek
women? What are women expected to do/not do?
3.
As he emerges from the bush, to what is Odysseus compared? What does this reveal about what is
valued in Greek men?
4.
Odysseus won’t bathe in front of the girls. What does this tell us about his values?
5.
Why won’t Nausicaa let Odysseus ride in her cart?
6.
Identify and explain ONE archetype in book 6.
7.
List ways in which hospitality is displayed in book 6.
Book 7
1.
What is the archetypal significance of the description of the land of the Phaeacians?
2.
Give one example of proof that Queen Arete and King Alcinous display Greek values.
3.
Give one example of Odysseus’ arête in book 7.
Book 8
1.
How does Athena play a role in the beginning of book 8? (Connect this to a Greek value.)
2.
Describe the bard and his song? What is the significance of the song he sings and how does Odysseus
react?
3.
Name two reasons Odysseus cries in this chapter. Explain by connecting his tears to Greek values,
Homeric Hero traits, or arête. NOTE: Answer this question after reading all of book 8.
4.
How does Euryalus insult Odysseus on page 82 and what lesson does Odysseus teach Euryalus about
assumptions?
5.
Identify two different epithets which describe Odysseus in this book. What do these tell us?
6.
Does Odysseus respond to the young nobles with arête or hubris? How do we know?
7.
What is the significance of the bard’s songs in this chapter?
8.
What does Odysseus tell Nausicaa? Connect this to a Greek value or arête.
We will discuss major themes and literary devices for Books 9-24. Locate one direct passage for each book
below. Please review additional study guide notes and lecture notes. You will have opportunities to work on
your paired project in class. Please print the project information on our class website.
Books 9-12 –
Major Themes:
Literary Devices:
Characters:
4 Direct Passages:
Books 13-16 -
Major Themes:
Literary Devices:
Characters:
4 Direct Passages:
Books 17-20 -
Major Themes:
Literary Devices:
Characters:
4 Direct Passages:
Books 21-24 -
Major Themes:
Literary Devices:
Characters:
4 Direct Passages:
The Odyssey Author/Context
Most scholars agree that the time period in which the events in the Odyssey took place was about 1200 B.C.E.
Similarly, most scholars believe that the Odyssey was not written down until somewhere between 800 and 600
B.C.E. During and prior to this time period, there was a strong oral poetic tradition which involved traveling
poets called rhapsodoi. These poets performed to audiences all over Greece. They sang the lines of epic
poems while playing the lyre. Homer is believed to have been one of these poets. The modern understanding is
that the story of the siege of Troy, an integral part of Greek mythology, was not created by a single man. The
tale of Odysseus' journey home is a common theme of this tradition, called the nostos--homecoming. The epic
form of this tale as we know it is most likely the synthesis of several oral traditions. The twenty four books of
dactylic hexameter we now know as the Odyssey have been transmitted with various textual variation since
about 300 B.C.E.
The two Homeric epic poems (Iliad and Odyssey) have very different stories each focused on its own hero.
One is of war and honor (Iliad) and the other is of a long journey home and revenge (Odyssey). Both stories,
however, share common themes that make them unmistakably part of the same culture and tradition.
The oral poetic tradition thrived before the advent of writing. The people who lived in and around Greece at
this time lived primarily in rather isolated city-states. Frequent festivals were held where singers and poets
would compete for prizes. Out of this tradition comes the poet Homer whom tradition maintains was born on
an island bordering the Ionian Sea. Homer not only composed the two epics that now bear his name, but he
also composed numerous hymns. He is often coupled with the archaic poet Hesiod who wrote the Theogony
and Works and Days. While his works are on a different subject matter than Homer's, the two authors share
many similarities. Both authors are said to have sung their works throughout the Greek mainland. The
recitation of the Iliad was recorded as one of the early events at the Olympic games.
A critical debate exists about who is the true author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, or if a single author can even
be credited for these works. The debate is not entirely based on the institution of writing, but it is also based
on historical and linguistic analysis of the text. Homeric Greek is, in fact, a dialect unto itself. The Greek texts
possesses many dialectical variants. The subject matter of the texts, specifically the understanding of warfare
and description of phalanxes, calls into question the historical authenticity of its authorship. These works bear
such a myriad of different traits that it is almost impossible to conceive of it as the work of a single individual.
The subject matter of Odyssey, while vastly different from the Iliad, not only maintains the same characters
and relationships, but it uses many of the same expressions as those found in the Iliad.
The classical belief, however, is that there was a man named Homer who codified the oral tradition of the
siege of Troy. [This oral tradition was recorded by others and became the more standard text which we
possess today. I would suggest deleting this line; its meaning is unclear] Although there are still many
manuscript variants, the format and the story have remained the same. Through the centuries the Homeric
epics have influenced writers and philosophers from many different countries. Every generation, poets and
scholars try their hands at translating Homer from ancient Greek into modern languages. According to Oskar
Seyffert:
"[T]he Homeric poems remain unsurpassed as works of art, which have had an incalculable influence not
only on the development of literature and art, but also upon the whole life of the Greeks, who from the earliest
times regarded them as the common property of the nation, and employed them as the foundation of all
teaching and culture."
Edwards, Mark W. Homer: Poet of the Iliad. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987.
Archaeology and Ancient History of Homer's Trojan War – 8 Articles
http://archaeology.about.com/od/ancientgreece/a/homeric1.html
Scholarly investigations of the ancient Greek bard Homer have included both archaeology and ancient history,
probing into the location and possibility that Homer's Iliad and Odyssey were truly based on history. In your
table groups, using 5 Ws (Who, What, When, Where, and Why) report to the class what you learned
about your article.
TABLE 1:
Heinrich Schliemann and the Discovery of Troy
Heinrich Schliemann, that quintessential archaeologist of the 19th century, claimed to have discovered the real
site of Troy. But did he?
TABLE 2:
The Great Homer Nodding
Literary questions on Homer with answers from Milman Parry, Alfred Lord and Internet experts, and your
About Guide to Ancient History, N.S. Gill.
TABLE 3:
But is Hisarlik Truly Troy?
Schleimann believed that the site of Hisarlik was in fact the ancient city of Troy. But was he right? A
description of the archaeological evidence at Hisarlik.
TABLE 4:
Tale of Troy and Iliad
The basics of Homer's Trojan Tale of the Iliad. From N.S. Gill, About's guide to Ancient History.
TABLE 5:
The Ancient Greek Language - Linear B
Did Homer invent a whole new writing system in Greece? No--but the method by which the ancient written
forms of Greek are being decoded makes fascinating reading.
TABLE 6:
Odysseus the Stranger
Our world could scarcely be more different from The Odyssey's. It's not so much that gods walked and talked
among mortals--although today there are sometimes dire consequences for people claiming to hear divine
voices, but a difference in cultural norms. From N.S. Gill, About's guide to Ancient History.
TABLE 7:
Archaeology of the Iliad: The Mycenaean Culture
Homer's classic tales of war and civilization the Iliad and the Odyssey are set in the culture that archaeologists
call the Mycenaean. Here's a description of the Mycenaeans and how they lived their lives.
TABLE 8:
Homeric Geography
The history of the changing political climate of Greece, from N.S. Gill, About's guide to Ancient History.
Please print these 6 pages and bring to class tomorrow. For each group table, I will provide the article you
will research in class.