The Odyssey by Homer

1
The Odysseyby Homer

• Introduction Notes

2
The Overview

• The adventures of Odysseus on his way home to
  Ithaca after the Trojan War
• 10 years at war, 10 years returning home
• Opens on Ogygia where Calypso has imprisoned
  Odysseus for seven years

3
The Overview

• Odysseus son Telemachus wishes to stave off his
  mother Penelopes suitors
• He turns to Nestor in Pylos and Menelaus in Sparta

4
The Overview

• On Zeus orders, Calypso releases Odysseus
• Ody is shipwrecked on the Phaecian Island of
  Scheria
• Nausicaa
• But before we go there. . .

5
Odysseus wanderings before landing in Ogygia

• Ciconians
• Lotus-eaters
• Cyclops
• Aeolus
• Laestrygonians

• Circe
• Hades
• Scylla and Charybdis
• Helios
• Ogygia

6
Odysseus Pre-Odyssey Feats

• Had convinced Tyndareus to create the suitor-pact
  for Helen
• Feigns madness to avoid the Trojan War
• Exposes (!) Achilles
• Wins Achilles armor
• Conceives of the Trojan Horse
• Steals the Palladium
• Tricks Philoctetes into returning to kill Paris

7
Odysseus Pre-Odyssey Feats

• Achilles COURAGE
• Odysseus INTELLIGENCE

8
Odysseus Pre-Odyssey Feats

• Odysseus is known for his clever tricks
• His actions are believable and achieved through
  wit and cunning
• But what is the down side to being a clever liar?

9
The Power Players

• Agamemnon, great warrior
• Orestes, avenging son
• Clytemnestra, adulterous wife
• Agiesthus, wifes lover

• Penelope, faithful wife
• Telemachus, faithful son

10
The Power Players

• Menelaus, king of Sparta
• Helen, his wife, whom he does not kill, so
  arrested is he by her beauty

• Nestor, wise old ruler
• Petsistratos, his princely son

11
The Power Players

• Antinoös, chief suitor to Penelope
• Eurymachus, chief suitor to Penelope

• Calypso, who has made Ody a kept man for seven
  years
• Athena, so enamored of Ody that she forgives him
  for stealing the Palladium