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The Odyssey revision
Key words:
Xenia – Rules for the host
1
...
This is shown in
book one when Telemachus rushes to the gates of his mother's house, “ashamed that a
visitor should be kept waiting” and invites Athene, disguised as the Taphian chieftain
Mentes, into his home
...
You must not ask any questions until the visitor has been fed and is comfortable
...
Telemachus shows this when he says “You can tell us what has brought you
here once you have has some food
...
You have to offer a visitor a seat equal to, or better than, your own; it would be disrespectful
for a host to sit on a ornate chair while giving the visitor a broken wooden stool
...
For himself he drew up an ornate easy-chair” This is a
very good example because Telemachus draws gives her a chair better than his own
...
You must then feed your visitor and let them drink, again offering them the same food, that
you are having, if not better
...
This is a very good example of how the rich would have treated a visitor
...
The host must offer the visitor endless hospitality, meaning they can stay in your house as
long as they need, and you can never throw them out
...

6
...

This shows respect for the visitor, and the gods, and is the last step of the Xenia ritual
...
They must not outstay their welcome; the suitors in the Odyssey have definitely outstayed
their welcome and refuse to leave when Penelope asks them to leave until she marries one
of them
...

2
...

3
...

4
...
It is also the most disrespectful thing a visitor can do, short of actually killing a
member of the host's family
...

Odysseus is always showing his metis, with the ship he made to get off Calypso’s island, with the
marriage bed he made for Penelope
...

Unlike Achilles in the Iliad, Odysseus is not famous for his great strength or courage, but for his keen
ability to deceive and trick others
...
Another example is during the
night before he leaves the island of the Phaeacians, after he has told them his lengthy story, when
he "kept turning his face at the blazing Sun, impatient for it to set, as he was longing to be on his
way"
...

Book 1
...

The poem opens with: ‘Tell me, Muse, the story of that resourceful man who was driven to wander
far and wide after he had sacked the holy citadel of Troy
...
In this epic poem, Athena is Homer’s Muse, and she has taken Odysseus as her
‘favourite’
...
This is because Odysseus blinded his
son, Polyphemus, the Cyclops, which we are told about in detail in Book 9 and outlined around line
70 of Book 1
...
’ (Line 36)
The first time Athene begins speaking, she opens with a triad of flattery of Zeus: ‘Father of ours, Son
of Cronos, King of Kings’
...
(See
xenia essay here
...
’ Zeus is also called Zeus Xenios (god of traveling)… you
don’t ever not do xenia or you will incur the wrath of Zeus
...

Athene predicts Odysseus’ return: ‘The reason for my presence here is this
...
But the gods must be hindering his return, because the good
Odysseus is not dead, but alive somewhere on this earth
...

Athene advises Telemachus to tell the Suitors to ‘leave and go home’ and then to ‘Choose (his) best
ship, man her with twenty oarsmen, and set out to inquire after (his) long absent father’
...

Athene then disappears ‘like a bird through a hole in the roof’ and he realised ‘a god had been with
him’
...
Making decisions must be
men’s concern, and mine in particular; for I am the master in this house
...

‘bright-eyed Athene closed her (Penelope’s) eyes in sweet sleep’
...
‘It is obvious that the gods are teaching you this bold and
haughty way of speaking
...
Heaven grant
that you may never be its king!’ Very insulting!! Cannot say that ever to the guy whose house you
are chilling in!
Eurycleia is introduced; she was bought by Laertes when she was a girl for the price of twenty oxen
...
She now served ‘as torch-bearer to his grandson and she who all of the
household women loved most, for she had nursed him as a child’
...
Calypso
Zeus makes the decision to send Hermes to tell Calypso that ‘The long-enduring Odysseus must now
set out for home’ after seven years
...

They will take him to their hearts and treat him like a god
...
This is how it is ordained that he shall see his friends and come to his high-roofed
house and his native land once more
...


Epic simile:
“From the upper air he dropped to the Pierian range, and from there swooped down on the
sea, and skimmed the waves like a sea-gull drenching the feathers of its wings with spray as
it pursues the fish down fearsome troughs of the unharvested deep
...
Gods are frequently portrayed as
birds- Athene in Book 1 ‘vanished like a bird through a hole in the roof’
...
Inside, Calypso was singing with her beautiful voice as she
went to and fro at her loom, weaving with a golden shuttle
...
Trailing round the mouth of the cavern was a thriving
garden vine, with great bunches of grapes; from four separate but neighbouring springs four
crystal rivulets were channelled to run this way and that; and in soft meadows on either side
iris and wild celery flourished
...
”
Loads and loads of pastoral imagery here, makes her island, Ogygia, even more idyllic to the
audience listening to the poem who would have been first told to those who could neither read nor
write- poor people, however the poem would have been told in instalments, probably in the
evenings once the manual work was done
...
‘When he had dined and refreshed himself, he answered
Calypso’s questions’
...
’
She gets all upset and angry, but then agreed and sent him off, knowing that if she does not, she
may incur the wrath of Zeus
...

They have the last bit of sex before he goes
...
’ She has also given him an adze of polished metal
...
‘he drilled through all his planks, cut them to fit each
other, and fixed this flooring together by means of dowels driven through the interlocking

joints, giving the same width to his raft as a skilled shipwright would choose in rounding out the hull
for a broad-bottomed trading vessel
...

He finished this ship in four days
...

He kept constellation of Orion the hunter on his left side, as Calypso had told him to
...
Probably laughing evilly as he says it
...
He
roused the stormy blasts of every wind that blows, and covered land and water alike with a
canopy of cloud
...
”
Odysseus says ‘Three and four times blessed are those countrymen of mine who fell long ago on the
broad plains of Troy in loyal service to the sons of Atreus’
...
Helen was Menelaus’ wife, and Menelaus enlisted his brother to help
try and get her back from the Trojan Paris, to whom she was promised by Aphrodite in the ‘who is
prettiest’ competition the goddesses have- Hera, Aphrodite and Athene
...
She is also compared to a sea-gull (‘rose from the water like a sea-gull’, ‘like a gull she
dived back into the turbulent sea’) like Hermes is! She tells him to ‘take off those clothes, leave your
raft for the winds to play with, and swim for your life to the Phaeacian coast
...

At first, he planned to ignore her advice, but then Poseidon sent ‘him another monster wave’, so he
cast of his clothes ‘that the divine Calypso had given him (…) wound the veil round his waist and (…)
plunged headlong into the sea’
...

Athene intervenes; she sorted out the winds, ‘bidding them to calm down and go to sleep’ (note
personification of the winds), and ‘she summoned the strong North Wind with which she flattened
the waves in the swimmer’s path’
...

He gets closer, realises it is just sharp rocks, has a “what is the point in life” moment, gets closer,
Athene makes him hold onto a rock with both hands, but then he gets ripped away from the rock,

leaving half his hands behind, and then he sulks a bit, then swims down the coast line and finds a
river! Hooray!
So he prays to the god of said river, says he’s seeking ‘the sanctuary of (their) stream’, begging pity
from him, and saying the very important words:

‘I am your suppliant’
...
’ They grew from the same stem did they? Really?
He makes a bed here and ‘Athene filled his eyes with sleep and sealed their lids – sleep to soothe his
pain and utter weariness’
...

Book 6
...
But now Alcinous leads them, and he is
okay)
...

Nausicaa is introduced- ‘tall and beautiful as a goddess’
...
Athene tells Nausicaa to go and wash her clothes in the washing-pools,
but to take ‘sashes and robes and bright rugs’ too, so she can be married (clearly the aim of the
game)
...

She goes and chats to Alcinous, who allows her to take the mules, a ‘fine high-sided wagon’ too, and
a load of servants, but also her two ladies who she’s buddies with! (Day out AND washing to be
done… two birds with one stone?)
They made the clothes cleaning a game, and vied with each other in their work, then spread them
out for the sun to dry them, and then bathed and rubbed themselves with olive-oil
...
Epic simile again!
“She looked like Artemis the Archeress, coming down from the mountain along the high
ridge of Taygetus or Erymanthus for the joy of chasing the wild boar or the nimble deer, and
the Nymphs of the countryside (daughters of aegis-bearing Zeus) join with her in the sport
...
”
Aw, she’s super pretty!
Their ball falls into the river (Athene’s fault), they all shriek and Odysseus wakes up
...
Or am I by any
chance among human beings who can talk as I do?”
He wonders this about pretty much every new people he comes across
...

He looked pretty nasty, all grimy with salt and the such, so they all legged it, except Nausicaa, who
‘was the only one to stand firm
...

He contemplates whether he should clasp her by the knees and beg for her help or if he should talk
to her from a distance and ask nicely for clothes and help and stuff… he chooses the latter
...

He tells her he was swimming for nineteen days
...

She identifies herself as the daughter of Alcinous, but does not tell Odysseus her name
...

He has his bath, and Athene ‘made him seem taller and sturdier and caused the bushy locks to hang
from his head thick as the petals of a hyacinth in bloom
...
’ So, when he sat down again ‘he was
radiant with grace and beauty
...


Odysseus prays to Athene again, calls her Atrytone (unwearied) and she hears his prayer for help
that ‘the Phaeacians may receive (him) with kindness and compassion
...
The Palace of Alcinous
The book opens with Odysseus praying to Athene in her grove in Scherie, while Nausicaa has retired
to her own apartments
...

Odysseus wanders towards the town, and Athene covers him in a ‘magic’, ‘thick mist’, so no one
sees him
...

Here, Homer reiterates the obsession the Phaeacians have for their ships, which ‘are as swift as a
bird or as thought itself
...
Nevertheless, she is wise
and ‘settles even men’s disputes’
...
Think the
couple in Brave™ (Fergus and Elinor)
...
‘Their fruit never fails nor runs short,
winter and summer alike
...
’ ‘In the garden there are two springs; one flows in channels to all parts of it; the other,
starting next to it, first provides a watering-place for the townspeople and then runs under the
courtyard gate towards the great house itself’
...

The Phaeacians poured ‘libations from their cups to then keeneyed Giant-slayer Hermes
...


This is the benefit of
respecting the gods!
And being special to the
gods‘We are special to them,
like the Cyclopes and the
wild tribes of the Giants
...
Alcinous
then copied these instructions word for word, and is somehow called ‘Mighty’
...


‘Nothing in the world is so shamelessly demanding as a man’s confounded stomach’
...
My loyal companions all lost their lives
...
In the blackness of the tenth night the gods washed
me ashore on Ogygia’
...
Very unusual for the time: unless you are poor you would not share a bed with your
husband/wife and you most definitely would not have if you were the royal family… Their situation is
very odd
...
The Phaeacian Games
Alcinous tells them to get a boat ready, and sort out the ‘fifty-two young oarsmen who have proved
their excellence’ in rowing and stuff
...

Athene loves the bard, Demodocus, although she had ‘mingled good and evil in her gifts, robbing
him of his eyes but granting him the gift of sweet song’
...
Only Alcinous notices his tearsodd, would have thought it would have been Arete
...
”
List of dudes taking part in the games, Homer highlights Euryalus by giving him the longest
description
...
Laodamas won the boxing, and he is Alcinous’ son
...


‘Nothing makes a man so famous during his lifetime as
what he can achieve with his hands and feet
...

Euryalus then insulted him, a GUEST!! (Shit’s going down!!)
‘With a black look (…) Odysseus retorted’  this would be SO awkward to watch, you would be able
to slice the tension with a knife! A really, really big knife
...

Odysseus gets all smart with him: there are two types of men, ‘a man may be quite
insignificant to look at but the gods can grace his words with charm
...
OR you get
the other guy
...
Now you sir are distinguished in appearance – the gods
themselves could not improve it – but you are short of brains’
...

Athene appears, she pretended ‘to be one of the crowd, marked the distance, and spoke out’:
“Look, sir (…) even a blind man could pick out your peg, by feeling it with his hands
...
”
“I am not bad at any kind of manly sport”
For his skills, refer to this essay
...
”

HUGE

difference to Aeneas- he is often compared with Achilles!
The Phaeacians’ skills:
“We can run fast, and we are first-rate seamen
...
”
So to summarise: they like eating, music, dancing, getting dressed, having baths and sleeping
...

Bard sings a song about the Ares-Aphrodite-Hephaestus love triangle, and how Sun catches Ares and
Aphrodite at it, tells Hephaestus, who sets a special trap (very sneaky trap) and they are caught
naked in Hephaestus’ marriage bed
...
Odysseus
compliments Alcinous on his dancing boys, and as a result Alcinous is extra happy
...
Arete is later told to supply a fresh cloak and a tunic
...

Arete addresses Odysseus with ‘words that flew’; Odysseus also addressed Calypso with ‘words that
flew’
...
Such magical things
...

*rolls eyes*
Bard starts singing again, at Odysseus’ request about the sneaky Greeks getting into Troy, and
Odysseus starts crying
...

EPIC SIMILE! Compares Odysseus to a woman when she finds her husband ‘gasping in the throes of
death’ and then she is ripped away from her husband and cruelly thrust into slavery
...
The Cyclops- aka Polyphemus
The cave shenanigans
Initially the men wanted to steal all his stuff
...
’ Odysseus, however, wanted to wait until the Cyclops got there
and maybe gave them some friendly gifts
...
We Cyclopes care nothing for Zeus with his aegis, nor for the rest of the blessed
gods, since we are much stronger than they are
...
(Which, to be
fair, they might be)
...

By the next morning, the Cyclops has eating four out of the twelve men Odysseus took along with
him
...
He will use the Cyclops’ ‘huge staff of
green olive-wood’, he will cut off a ‘fathom’s length’, which will be sharpened to a point and then
hardened in a fire
...

The Cyclops ate two more men (totalling 6/13 dead so far) and Odysseus gave him some of the
amazing wine, undiluted and made him drunk so he fell asleep
...
The Cyclops then says:
“Of all his company, I will eat Nobody last, and the rest before him
...
”
He then fell asleep
...
‘We handled our pole with its redhot point and twisted it in his eye till the blood boiled up round the burning wood’
...
The Cyclops’ eye hissed round the olive stake in the same way that an axe of
adze hisses when a smith plunges it into cold water to quench and strengthen the iron
...
” So the Cyclopes tell him to ‘pray to your father the Lord
Poseidon’, as ‘sickness comes from almighty Zeus and cannot be helped’
...

Odysseus chose the biggest ram, and (the rest of his men had three rams tied together to support
their weight)
...

Odysseus gets cocky and shouts ‘derisive words at Polyphemus’ and enrages the Cyclops who throws
a massive rock at them, which cause a huge backwash ‘swept (them) landward and nearly drove
(them) on to the beach’
...
’
But he did it anyway, saying:
“Cyclops, if anyone ever asks how you came by your blindness, tell him your eye was put out by
Odysseus, sacker of cities, the son of Laertes, who lives in Ithaca
...


“If he is destined to see his friends again, to come once more to his own house and reach
his native land, let him come late, in wretched plight, having lost all his comrades, in a
foreign ship, and let him find trouble in his home
...
They feasted until sundown and they left at dawn, ‘grieving for the dear friends (they) had lost
but glad at (their) own escape from death’
...
Circe –is a nymph
...
’ He and his wife had six sons and six daughters, and Aeolus gave his daughters to his sons in
marriage
...

They stayed there for a month, talking about Odysseus’ journey, until Odysseus asked him for his
help to be going on his way
...
Zeus had put him
in charge of the winds, but Aeolus’ measures were doomed to failure because problems cropped up,
because of their ‘own senseless stupidity’
...
However, Aeolus says
no, with a rather blunt “Get off this island instantly!” as his return shows that the gods are not his
friends
...
For in this land nightfall and
morning tread so closely on each other’s heels’ that they merge into one
...

What if they want to get out though…?
Odysseus did not follow his men in the other ships into the harbour, but parked just around the
corner
...
(2 men, 1 messenger)
They found a strong girl, the ‘daughter of Antiphates, the Laestrygonian chief’
...

The Laestrygonians are cannibals
...

Odysseus says:
“My ship was safe
...
”
Then they got to Circe’s island; saw Circe’s house with smoke in the distance, went back to the beach
with his men and had a meal then sent out an exploring party
...

He then gives his men a heartening speech:
“My friends, we may be miserable, but we are not going down to the house of Hades yet, not till our
time has come
...
”
They feasted all day then the next morning, Odysseus suggests the idea of investigating the ‘wisp of
smoke’ which is Circe’s house, although they do not know this yet
...


Odysseus tells them to man up, and divides his men into two groups (22 men in each)
...

The two leaders shook lots as to who would go off first –Eurylochus goes
...
They did not attack (Odysseus’) men, but rose on their
hind legs to fawn on them, with much wagging of their long tails, like dogs fawning on their master
as he comes from the table for the tasty bits he always brings”
...
”
Then Polites, an apparently authoritative man, suggested they call to Circe, to find out whether she
is a goddess or a woman, and decided that she was bound to help them whatever
...

Circe drugged the men, and then turned them into pigs! So Eurylochus runs back to ‘the swift black
ship’ to tell Odysseus about what happened to his men
...
So Odysseus goes alone, and says he has ‘absolutely no choice’ but to save his
men
...

“Here is a drug of real virtue that you must take with you into Circe’s palace; it will make you
immune from evil
...
She will begin by preparing you a
mixture, into which she will put her drug
...

(…)
When Circe strikes you with her long stick, you must draw your sword from your side and rush at her
as though you mean to kill her
...
You must

not refuse the goddess’ favours, if you want her to free your men and look after you
...
”
Hermes then hands Odysseus moly, a herb with ‘a black root and a milk-white flower’
...
(He’s totally taking one
for the team
...

Circe does xenia now, gives him a bath, rubs him with olive oil, and feeds him (except he doesn’t
eat, because he’s worrying about his men)
...
And they “all wept tears of happiness, till the walls echoed with the mournful
sound”
...

Eurylochus is, understandably, against him
...
“It was this man’s reckless folly that cost them their lives
...

Odysseus was dissuaded from this particular plan, and they suggested that they just
leave Eurylochus behind to guard the ship (but he came anyway, as he didn’t want
to be lonely)
...

They all cried again
...
And says: “Your sufferings have been so continuous
that you have lost all pleasure in living
...
She tells him that he
has to find his ‘way to the Halls of Hades and dread Persephone to consult the soul of Teiresias, the
blind Theban prophet’
...


He will then beach his boat ‘by Ocean’s swirling stream and go into Hades’ Kingdom of Decay
...

Here he has to:
“Dig a trench as long and as wide as a man’s forearm
...

Over all this, sprinkle white barley and then begin (his) prayers to the helpless ghosts of the dead
...

He heads off, but has to leave one man behind –Elpenor who was drunk, and had gone to sleep on
the roof
...

When Odysseus told them that they had to go via the Halls of Hades, his men were ‘heart-broken’
and got all upset
...

Book 11
...

Odysseus gets Perimedes and Eurylochus to babysit the sheep and goats, the sacrificial victims
...
There,
he “poured libations to all the dead, first with a mixture of honey and milk, then with sweet wine,
and last of all with water
...
”
He then “took the sheep and cut their throats over the trench so that the dark blood poured in
...

So Odysseus promises to go back and bury him etc
...
”
Then Teiresias turns up! “With a gold sceptre in his hand” and tells Odysseus to get out the way, and
Odysseus does, “sheathing (his) silver-studded sword in its scabbard”
...
But a god is going to make your journey
hard
...
Even

so, you and your friends may yet reach Ithaca, though not without suffering, if only you
have the strength of will to control your men’s appetites and your own from the moment
when your good ship leaves the deep blue sea and approaches the isle of Thrinicie
...
If you leave them untouched and fix your mind on returning
home, there is some chance that all of you may yet reach Ithaca, though not without
suffering
...
You will find trouble too in your house –
insolent men eating up your livelihood, courting your royal wife and offering wedding gifts
...

But when you have killed these Suitors in your palace, by stratagem or in a straight fight with
the naked sword, you must set out once more
...

And this will be your sign – a very clear one, which you cannot miss
...
Then go back home and make ceremonial
offerings to the immortal gods who live in the broad heavens, to all of them this time, in due
precedence
...
When he
takes you, you will die peacefully of old age, surrounded by a prosperous people
...
”
Odysseus then lets his mother, Anticleia, drink the blood, she tells him that Penelope is still living in
his home, that ‘she has schooled her heart to patience, though her eyes are never free from tears
as the slow nights and days pass sorrowfully by’
...

He tries to hug her but fails, because she is a ghost
...
Of course, Odysseus feels
the need to question each and every one of them
...
All of these women have something in common:
either they had sex with a god who is in disguise, or they were duped by disguised people or did
stupid things because of emotions OR they had cool sons
...
Echeneus tells the Phaeacians to listen to the Queen, but also that
Alcinous has the last word and is the one who needs to act on it – patriarchy at its finest
...

Persephone turns up and ‘drove off all the women’s ghosts’
...

He says that Clytemnestra ‘has branded with infamy not herself alone, but the whole of her sex,
even the virtuous ones for all time to come’
...
Reveal a little of your
plans to her, but keep the rest to yourself
...

Icarius’ daughter is far too loyal in her thoughts and feelings
...
She had a baby son at her breast
...
Fortunate young man! His loving
father will come home and see him, and he will kiss his father
...

Whereas that wife of mine refused me even the satisfaction of setting eyes on my son – she killed
me before I could
...
Do not sail openly
into port when you reach your home-country
...
Women, I tell you, are no
longer to be trusted
...
”
Odysseus then says that he has no idea, and then meets Achilles, who tells him ‘do not (…) make
light of death’ “I would rather work the soil as a serf on hire to some landless impoverished peasant
than be king of all these lifeless dead”
...

Odysseus then witnesses the torture of Tityus, who assaulted Leto as she made her was ‘across the
pleasant plains of Panopeus’, of Tantalus and Sisyphus
...
Scylla and Charybdis
Odysseus and co go back to Aeaea, and bury Elpenor
...
She then tells him where he will go next
...
They
bewitch men as they sit “in a meadow piled high with the mouldering skeletons of men”
...
But, if he

wishes to listen, he must “make them bind (him) hand and foot on board and place (him upright by
the housing of the mast”, and if he begs “and command(s his) men to release (him), they must add
to the bonds that already hold (him) fast”
...
One leads to “sheer cliffs which the blessed
gods know as the Wandering Rocks”
...

In the other direction, there are two rocks
...
Half way up the rock is “a murky cavern” which “is the home
of Scylla, the creature with the dreadful bark”, although her bark is “no louder than a new-born
pup’s”
...
Up to her waist she is sunk
in the depths of the cave, but her heads protrude from the fearful abyss, and thus she fishes from
her own abode, groping greedily around the rock for any dolphins or seals or any of the larger
monsters which Amphitrite breeds in the roaring seas
...

The other of the two rocks is shorter, “and the distance between them is no more than a bowshot”
...
Below this, Charybdis sucks the dark waters down
...

Odysseus has to call to Cratais, Scylla’s mother who “will prevent her from pouncing out again”
...
If he hurts the cattle that belongs to the Sun-god:
Circe predicts “the destruction of (his) ship and (his) company
...
”
Circe finishes, and sends them on their way, with “a favourable wind”
...

Odysseus orders his men to set him free “gesturing with (his) eyebrows”
...

They then go past Scylla and Charybdis, and ‘while all eyes were of Charybdis as the quarter from
which (they) looked for disaster, Scylla snatched out of my ship the six strongest and ablest men’
...

Odysseus then remembers the words of Tiresias and Circe ‘who had been so insistent in warning
(him) to avoid this Island of the Sun’
...
Odysseus gives in to the majority
vote and they go on the island, on the condition that they only eat the food that Circe has provided,
and don’t eat any oxen or sheep on the island
...

Once the food ran out, Odysseus went inland to pray about the situation, and fell asleep
...
He argued that they should
‘round up the best of the Sun’s cows and sacrifice them in honour of the immortals who live in the
broad sky’, and if they ever reach their homeland they would build a temple to the Sun-god
...

Odysseus was appalled when he smelled the roasting meant and the Sun-god told Zeus to ‘take
vengeance on the followers of Odysseus son of Laertes’ or he will only shine in Hades
...
The hides began to crawl
about; the meat, roast and raw, bellowed on the spits; and a sound as of lowing cattle could be
heard’
...

When they were definitely out at sea ‘Zeus brought a sombre cloud to rest above the hollow ship so
that the sea was darkened by its shadow’ which then turned into a wind that hit them ‘with
hurricane force’
...

On the tenth day of drifting, he landed on Ogygia
...
Odysseus Lands in Ithaca
...
Alcinous decrees that in addition to the clothing and
gold ornaments, Odysseus should be given a large tripod and a cauldron
...

Odysseus, however, was anxious to leave
...
They made the
journey in one night, and in early dawn, they landed on Ithaca
...
They then left him asleep in
the cave and went back to Scherie
...

The Phaeacians resolve not to help any travellers again
...
Athene arrives in the disguise of a young shepherd ‘with all the delicate beauty that marks
the sons of kings’
...
(He) had killed Idomeneus’ son, the great runner Orsilochus, who was
faster on his feet than any living man in the whole island of Crete
...
’
“In the world of men you have no rival in judgement and argument
...
He is banned from telling anyone who he
is and he must endure in silence and submit to the indignities that will be put upon him
...

She tells him first to go to the ‘swineherd in charge of (the) pigs’ ‘by the Raven’s Crag and at the
Spring of Arethusa’, to find out about everything, while Athene goes and retrieves Telemachus from
Sparta, in Menelaus’ palace
...
And she
changed his clothing into a shabby cloak and tunic, filthy rags grimy with smoke
...
”
And they go their different ways
...
In Eumaeus’ Hut
...
He is MANLY and RESOURCEFUL!
“He found him sitting in the porch of his hut in the farmyard, whose high walls, perched on an
eminence and protected by a clearing, enclosed a fine and spacious courtyard
...
” (wild pear is prickly) “Outside
he had fenced the whole length on both sides with a closely set stockade made of split oak which
he had taken from the dark heart of the logs
...
The boars slept outside the yard and of these there were far fewer, since their
numbers were constantly reduced by the frequent banquets of the courting noblemen, for whom
the swineherd used at regular intervals to send down the pick of his fatted hogs
...
They were guarded every night by four dogs, as savage as wild beasts,
trained by the master swineherd
...

Eumaeus, mid story about Odysseus, wanders off to get two young pigs, and slaughters them
immediately, and cooked it, then ‘encouraged (Odysseus) to eat’
...

Odysseus has to convince Eumaeus that he knows Odysseus… Eumaeus is not convinced, and
laments for his lost master
...

Odysseus tells Eumaeus who he ‘is’
...

They have a feast with Eumaeus’ men, and Odysseus gets the nicest bit- how nice
...

As they are going to bed, Odysseus manages to get a warm cloak off Eumaeus by feeding him a lie
about Odysseus and cloaks, and Odysseus is given a cloak to sleep with
...
He then wrapped himself in a good
thick cloak to keep out the wind, picked up the fleece of a big full-grown goat, and finally took a
sharp javelin with which to ward off dogs and men
...
”
Book 16
...

While Odysseus and Eumaeus were making their breakfast, Telemachus turns up!
“Like a father welcoming back his son after nine years abroad, his only son, the apple of his eye for
whom he has sacrificed much, the admirable swineherd through his arms round Telemachus the
godlike youth and showered kisses on him as though he had just escaped from death
...

Telemachus sends Eumaeus to tell Penelope, and to get Penelope’s housekeeper to send tell Laertes
that he is back
...

Once Eumaeus is gone, Odysseus tells Telemachus who he is and he takes a fair bit of convincing!
Even after “Athene touched him with her golden wand” and made him look hot
...

They formulate a plan!
Steps of plan:
1
...
Later Eumaeus will bring him ‘down to the city disguised as a wretched old beggar’
3
...
When Athene prompts Odysseus to make a move, he will nod
5
...
When the Suitors question him, he should make up a plausible story such as he was saving
them from the smoke or moving them out of the way in case the Suitors should drink too
much and get into a fight
...
He should leave 2 sets of fighting stuff for himself and Odysseus
8
...

Together they ‘will discover what the attitude of the women is’ and ‘sound out one or two of the
men-servants, to find out which are loyal’
...
‘Antinous, Eupeithes’ son’
addressed them
...
That was very sneaky Homer!
Anyway, Antinous incites the other Suitors into thinking that they HAD to kill Telemachus because he
will incriminate the Suitors and have them thrown out
...

Amphinomous (who’s name means both, or double law- he’s fair and just) is liked by Penelope,
‘because he was a man of principle’
...
The Suitors agreed with Amphinomous, who has the most balanced point of view
...
She points out how Antinous’ father sought refuge in Odysseus’ palace when he was in
danger, and she commands him to ‘put an end to al this and make the rest obey’ him
...
“These
encouraging words were on his lips, but death for Telemachus was in his heart
...

Book 19
...

Odysseus and Telemachus are in the hall, and are plotting how to get rid of the Suitors
...

Melantho who is sleeping with Eurymachus, renews her abuse of Odysseus and Odysseus turned on
her ‘with a black look’ (last person he glared at was Euryalus when he told him he was wrong) and
has a go at her
...

Penelope and Odysseus then sit down for a chat, she says how much she misses him etc
...
She confesses that she devises tricks to deceive the Suitors:

1
...
She would then undo her work at night, and did this for 3 years, but
on the 4th year her unfaithful maids caught her and told the suitors, who forced her to
complete it
...
She asks for
proof of ID, as it were
...

Odysseus tells her that Odysseus is close by, and will return soon
...
She recognises a scar he has just above the knee, obtained when he was hunting
a boar when he was young
...

Penelope asks Odysseus to interpret a dream she has had
...
The eagle then tells her not to be afraid
for the geese were her suitors and the eagle is her husband, now home to kill them all
...
”
She tells Odysseus that she is planning to make them all do a test, one that only her husband would
be able to win
...
But they also have to string
the bow, which will be quite tricky
...

Book 21
...

Penelope is prompted by Athene ‘to confront the Suitors in the palace with the axes of grey iron that
were to be a test of their skills and the instruments of their destruction’
...
Iphitus was killed by Heracles shortly after
...
She tells
Eumaeus and the cowherd to stand up the axes, and they both cry a bit, Antinous has a huge go at
them and tells them they are ‘snivelling peasants’
...

The first to try is Leodes, son of Oenops who ‘always sat by the great wine-bowl in the far corner’
and ‘abhorred the Suitors’ recklessness, and their conduct filled him with indignation’
...


All the men give it a go, but they are not strong enough, Antinous and Eurymachus hold back
though
...

He reveals himself to them by showing them his scar above his knee
...
When the Suitors refuse to let him
2
...

3
...

4
...

When Odysseus wanders back to the hall, Eurymachus is trying, and he fails
...

Antinous suggests that they give up for the day and make a sacrifice of the very best goats to Apollo,
the great archer, and they all agree with this plan
...
His request ‘enraged’
them, and Antinous turns on him, finishing with ‘don’t attempt to compete with men younger than
yourself’
...
Eurymachus defends their principle, and Penelope tells them to stop
being stupid and to let him have a go
...
Telemachus tells Penelope to go to her quarters,
getting her out of the way of the fighting
...
He then proceeded to shoot the bow
through all twelve axes
...

Book 22
...

Book 22 opens with Odysseus killing Antinous, and the battle begins
...

“It has not dawned on the fools that the fate of all of them was sealed
...


“’You dogs!’ he cried
...
So you fleeced my household;
you raped my maids; you courted my wife behind my back though I was alive – with no more fear of
the gods in heaven than of the human vengeance that might come
...
’”
Eurymachus tries to avoid fate and says that they will all leave and will ‘each bring a contribution to
the value of twenty oxen, and repay (him) in bronze and gold, till (his) heart softens’
...

Realising that they are all going to die, Eurymachus says:
“Let’s stand and fight! Draw your swords; hold up the tables to keep off his murderous shots, and
advance on him all together
...
”
Odysseus sends an arrow at him as he had charged at him with ‘his sharp two-edged sword of
bronze’
...
”
He then ran out of arrows, ‘slung a shield of fourfold hide over his shoulder, put a strong helmet on
his heroic head with the horsehair plume nodding menacingly above, and finally picked up two stout
spears tipped with gleaming bronze
...
As Melanthius was going again, Eumaeus saw him, and Odysseus
sends him and Philoetius to catch him, ‘bind Melanthius’ hands and feet behind his back
...

Homer then addresses the audience as Eumaeus
...

She darts to the smoky main beam of the hall in the shape of a swallow
...

Odysseus and co throw spears back, all hit
...

Odysseus and co throw again and all hit their targets
...


Odysseus kills Leodes, the priest of the Suitors, mid sentence while he is trying to avoid death- good
effort!
Odysseus spares Medon the herald and Phemius, the mistrel as Telemachus says they are both
innocent
...

12/50 have been disloyal and showed a distinct lack of respect to Eurycleia and Penelope! :O
He orders the disloyal servants to be brought to him, and they are to start carrying out the dead,
then tot ‘clean the tables and (…) fine chairs here with sponges soaked in water’
...

Telemachus devised the execution: he took a cable and suspended it, then made nooses and hung
the women from it, while Homer compares them to ‘long-winged thrushes or doves (getting)
entangled in a snare’
...

Odysseus then purified the hall with sulphurous fire as the death has made the hall impure
...

Book 23
...

Eurycleia spends ages convincing Penelope that Odysseus is, in fact, home, and the gods have not
‘deranged’ her
...

She tells Penelope that she would have been glad to see him ‘spattered with blood and gore like a
lion’
...

“If I’m misleading you then kill me in the cruellest way you can
...
”
Then Telemachus spoke out and has a go at her, saying her ‘heart was always harder than flint’ and
this is apparently shown by her reluctance to return to a man who may be her husband ‘who had
just returned to her in his native land after twenty wearisome years’
...
(And this plan works
...
, Odysseus is washed and rubbed with oil by Eurynome and Athene
sneakily enhanced his appearance from head to foot
...

Penelope tests Odysseus- subtly asks Eurycleia to ‘move the great bed outside the bedroom that he
himself built and make it up with fleeces and blankets and brightly coloured rugs’
...
METIS! She sees this as ‘infallible proof’ and runs to him,
throwing her arms around his neck, and begging him to understand her scepticism
...

He tells Penelope about his last mission from Teiresias, and then, ‘blissfully they lay down on their
own bed’
...

Then, after ‘they had enjoyed the pleasure of love, (they) turned to the pleasure of talk’ while
Telemachus, Eumaeus and Philoetius slept in the hall
...

In the morning, Odysseus goes to his father, and resolves to make up for lost resources by raiding
and making the people of Ithaca contribute
...
Meanwhile “Odysseus fixed his splendid
armour round his shoulders, woke up Telemachus, the cowman and the swineherd, and told them
all to pick up their arms (… and…) Athene hid them in darkness and soon led them clear of the
town
...

Odysseus’ route
...
Six men from each ship die here
...

Ten days later, they got to the country of the Lotus-eaters
...

Caught some goats, had lunch with the wine they nicked from the Cicones
...

The 13 men went to the Cyclops’ cave
...

Telepylus, home of the Laestrygonians
They got to Circe’s island next-Aeaea
...

They reach the furthest parts of the deep-flowing River of Ocean, where the Cimmerians live, always
in darkness
...

Goes back to Aeaea to bury Elpenor
...

Goes to Thrinacie
Leave Scherie
Gets to Ithaca! HOORAY!

Character

Homeric Epithet

Odysseus

Resourceful Odysseus (metis)
Cunning Odysseus
Admirable Odysseus
Wise Odysseus
Patient Odysseus
Good Odysseus
Long-enduring Odysseus
Lion-hearted Odysseys
Valiant Odysseus
The stalwart good Odysseus
Ingenious Odysseus
Nimble-witted Odysseus
Great-hearted Odysseus
Subtle Odysseus
Shrewd Odysseus
Sacker of cities
Fool-hardy Odysseus
Heaven-born son of Laertes
Glorious Odysseus
Master of stratagems
Illustrious Odysseus

Athene

Zeus

Hermes

Atlas
Calypso
Dawn

Telemachus
Eurycleia
Menelaus
Tithonus
Penelope
Sea
Ino
Alcinous
Nausicaa
Aphrodite
Ares
Hephaestus
Poseidon
Eurylochus
Circe
Persephone

Best of masters
Inventive Odysseus
Steadfast good Odysseus
Master-strategist
Pallas Athene
Bright-eyed Athene
Lady of the bright eyes
Daughter of Aegis-bearing Zeus
Warrior daughter of Zeus
Athene of the flashing eyes
Son of Cronos
Olympian Zeus
Gatherer of the clouds
aegis-bearing Zeus
of the Black Clouds
Zeus the Cloud-gatherer
Zeus the Wise Counsellor
The keen-eyed Giant slayer
The Giant-killer
Hermes of the golden wand
The Guide
Malevolent Atlas
With the plaited tresses
The divine goddess
The wise goddess
With the rosy cheeks
Rosy-fingered Dawn
With her beautiful tresses
...

Dread Persephone
August Persephone

Agamemnon
Achilles
Amphitrite
Charybdis
Eumaeus
Telemachus
Heracles
Eurymachus

Holy Persephone
Illustrious Agamemnon
Son of Atreus
King of men
The great runner
Blue-eyed
Dread Charybdis
Good swineherd
Honest swineherd
Admirable swineherd
Godlike youth
The lion-hearted Son of Zeus
Hero of the mighty labours
The godlike warrior

Quiz questions:
1
...
What ‘inept remarks’, other than the suggestion that he is a ‘novice at sport’ infuriate
Odysseus?

3
...
After Odysseus landed in Ithaca, what help and advice did Athene give him before he
reached Eumaeus’ hut? Make three points
...
What did Eumaeus do immediately after Odysseus arrived at his hut? Give two details
...
How had Odysseus overcome Circe’s attempts to use her magic on him? Give three details
...
Later in Book 10, what does Circe tell Odysseus that he must do before he can return to
Ithaca? Give two details
...
How do Odysseus and Telemachus deal with the serving-women in the scene that follows
this passage? Give three details
...
)

9
...


10
...


11
...
How did Athene help Odysseus reach Alcinous’ palace after he left Nausicaa? Give three
details
...
Which event does Odysseus take part in during the games Alcinous holds and who helps
him?



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