DOCSLIB.ORG

Odyssey, Part I, Typed Notes

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Odyssey, Part I, Typed Notes 1. Calypso *She compelled Odysseus to lie with her each night. *Hermes, the messenger god, is sent by Zeus to free Odysseus from Calypso. *Odysseus finally is able to leave Calypso and her island even though she tempted him with the possibility of immortality. *He was on her island for a total of 7 years. *As Odysseus departs, Poseidon makes a horrible storm to give him even more difficulty on his journey. *He then crashes and falls into a deep sleep. 2. "I Am Laertes' Son" *Odysseus is found by King Alcinous' daughter *He joins them for a great feast in their hall *Odysseus identifies himself and tells of his adventures thus far. *He specifically discusses his time with Calypso, Circe, and his battle with the Cicones. *He also tells them of a horrible storm raised by Zeus that causes them to drift for nine days. 3. Lotus Eaters *Odysseus tells of him and his men landing on the coastline of the Lotus Eaters. *These "people" didn't seem to be harmful, just offering Odysseus and his men to eat of the sweet lotus plant (symbolism)? *When his men partook of this plant, it made them forget all about their hopes of returning to Ithaca. *Odysseus had to forcefully take these men from this island and strap them down unwillingly. 4. "The Cyclops" *The giant Cyclops (Polyphemus) imprisons Odysseus and his men. *Odysseus lies to him that his ship has been destroyed. *He watches as Polyphemus snatches up two of his men and devours them. *Odysseus realizes that he can't kill Polyphemus or else they would be trapped there forever. *Polyphemus kills two more men. *Odysseus works to sharpen a wooden stake and hid it. *Odysseus tempts him with wine and Polyphemus partakes and becomes intoxicated. *Odysseus tells him that his name is "Nohbdy"--why? *Odysseus and his men work together to use the stake to blind the Cyclops. 4. Cyclops (cont.) *Polyphemus screams in pain and other Cyclopes come and ask him who has hurt him. *Polyphemus replies that "Nohbdy" hurt him--so they left--clever trick on Odysseus' part. *Then, Odysseus devises another clever plan to escape the cave. He ties his men under the sheep so that the blind Polyphemus will not realize they are escaping. *They flee to their ship and Odysseus yells back at him about his true identity. *Polyphemus throws a huge boulder down the hill toward Odysseus and his crew. *Polyphemus prays to his father Poseidon that Odysseus doesn't get back to Ithaca, but if he does, it takes a long time and his homecoming will not be sweet. He wants him to have many more battles / obstacles before and after he reaches his homeland. 5. Circe *They arrive at Circe's island, Aeaea. *She is a witch / sorceress. *Her singing and music are very enchanting, almost hypnotic. *She then turns Odysseus' men into swine (pigs). *Hermes gives him "moly" that will help reduce Circe's power. It works and she frees his men, and Odysseus stays with her and feasts on meat and wine for "several seasons." *Circe commands Odysseus to visit the "Land of the Dead." 6. The Land of the Dead *Odysseus arrives in the Land of the Dead and follows Circe's commands as to how to summons Teiresias--the blind prophet. *Teiresias appears and provides Odysseus with a warning and prophecy: 1) You will encounter Helios' herd of cattle--both you and your men should leave them alone--don't bother the cattle! 2) You alone will finally get back to Ithaca, your homeland, but you will experience much anguish beforehand. 3)When you finally arrive there, your house will be in disarray. 4) You will eventually have to make sacrifices to Poseidon. 7. Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis *Odysseus is still speaking in King Alcinous' court. *Circe warns Odysseus about Scylla, Charybdis, and the Sirens. *Her advice is for his men to put beeswax in their ears, so they cannot hear the Sirens' hypnotic song. She also advises that they tie him down so that he is not lured to his death by their song. *She also tells him to go closer to Scylla (the 6-headed monster) than to Charybdis. She says it's better to sacrifice 6 of his men than for all of them to die in the deadly whirlpool. *She also advises him NOT to bother Helios' cattle! *He does as she instructs and indeed they make it through the Sirens and six of his men are devoured by Scylla. 8. "The Cattle of the Sun God" *Odysseus is still telling his story in King Alcinous' court. *He talks about how terribly hungry and desperate his men have become on this island. *Eurylochus is the one who came up with the plan to kill the sun god's cattle as a sacrifice (while Odysseus was sleeping). *Helios vows revenge. *Odysseus and his men leave--Zeus sends a thunderbolt to destroy Odysseus' ship and crew. *This is how Odysseus ends up alone on Calypso's island and in King Alcinous's court..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Odysseus, Athena, Nausicaa, Alcinous, A
    / . Book VII Reading Guide — Scene: lhe island of Scheria, land of the Phaeacians. Characters: Odysseus, Athena, Nausicaa, Alcinous, Arete I low are the Phaecians portrayed in the opening lines otthe book? (p. 179, lines 5, 12) What qualities is Arete known for? (p. 181) What does the description of Alcinous’s palace suggest about the Phaeacians’ relationships with the gods? (p. 182-183) I low does Odysseus approach Arete? (p. 184) l-low does Alcinous act as a host? (p. 185-186) What decision does Aicinous make about aiding Odysseus’s voyage home? (p. 189) “Calypso” “Nausicaa” Mv name is Calypso I \valkcd the ocean daily \nd I have lived alone I prayed to every deity I live on an island linallv the ocean gave me \nd I waken to the dawn \vhat it should never take away A long rime ago I watched him struggle with the sea You were just like a god I knew that he was drowning You stepped out from a cloud And I brought him into me but by the ftrst thing you said Now today I knew I’d never share your bed Come morning light lie sails away Couldn’t we possibly be each other’s? After one last night Isn’t there a somewhere to be lovers? I let him go. Why did you have to be for another? Why can’t I come with you as a lover? My name is Calypso My garden overflows ! walk back long the ocean Thick and wild and hidden I watch where your footsteps have been Is the sweetness there that grows Should I trust the gods of destiny My hair it blows long or throw myself into the sea? As I sing into the wind My name is Calypso Couldn’t we possibly be each other’s? And I have lived alone Isn’t there a somewhere to be lovers? I live on an island \Vhy did you have to be for another? [tell of nights Why can’t I come with you as a lover? Where I could taste the salt on his skin Salt of the waves And of tears And though he pulled away I kept him here for years I let him go.
    [Show full text]
  • From the Odyssey, Part 1: the Adventures of Odysseus
    from The Odyssey, Part 1: The Adventures of Odysseus Homer, translated by Robert Fitzgerald ANCHOR TEXT | EPIC POEM Archivart/Alamy Stock Photo Archivart/Alamy This version of the selection alternates original text The poet, Homer, begins his epic by asking a Muse1 to help him tell the story of with summarized passages. Odysseus. Odysseus, Homer says, is famous for fighting in the Trojan War and for Dotted lines appear next to surviving a difficult journey home from Troy.2 Odysseus saw many places and met many the summarized passages. people in his travels. He tried to return his shipmates safely to their families, but they 3 made the mistake of killing the cattle of Helios, for which they paid with their lives. NOTES Homer once again asks the Muse to help him tell the tale. The next section of the poem takes place 10 years after the Trojan War. Odysseus arrives in an island kingdom called Phaeacia, which is ruled by Alcinous. Alcinous asks Odysseus to tell him the story of his travels. I am Laertes’4 son, Odysseus. Men hold me formidable for guile5 in peace and war: this fame has gone abroad to the sky’s rim. My home is on the peaked sea-mark of Ithaca6 under Mount Neion’s wind-blown robe of leaves, in sight of other islands—Dulichium, Same, wooded Zacynthus—Ithaca being most lofty in that coastal sea, and northwest, while the rest lie east and south. A rocky isle, but good for a boy’s training; I shall not see on earth a place more dear, though I have been detained long by Calypso,7 loveliest among goddesses, who held me in her smooth caves to be her heart’s delight, as Circe of Aeaea,8 the enchantress, desired me, and detained me in her hall.
    [Show full text]
  • The Concealed Threat of Odysseus to the Phaeacians
    Danger and Deferral: The Concealed Threat of Odysseus to the Phaeacians The Phaeacian episode of the Odyssey clarifies Odysseus as a hero of homecoming and hospitality, despite his fame as city destroyer and wandering hero. However helpful the Phaeacians may be in Odysseus‟ nostos, they become apparent victims of Poseidon's wrath as foretold in Nausithous‟ prophecy, wherein their island is to be covered by a great mountain (Od. 8.569 et alia; μέγα δ᾽ ἧμιν ὄρος πόλει ἀμφικαλύψειν) as a result of their painless conveyance of strangers (Od. 8.566, πομποὶ ἀπήμονές). The verb ἀμφικαλύπτω is heavily associated with recurrences of this prophecy but remains unconnected to the related and unexplored contexts of Odysseus‟ arrival to Scheria and Demodocus‟ introduction of Odysseus by way of the Trojan horse. I argue that a phraseological confluence of destructive images alerts the traditionally astute audience that Odysseus, not Poseidon, presents the greater danger to Scheria. Moreover, this destructive expectation is characteristically suspended and deferred by the poet in the unresolved conclusion of the Phaeacian episode, leaving the audience to question Odysseus‟ heroic identity, a revelation that is developed and delayed up to the poem‟s telos. The verb ἀμφικαλύπτω, for its implication in the destruction of the Phaeacians, lies at the intersection of two complex interpretive issues: Homeric theodicy and manuscript variation. In terms of theodicy, critics, both ancient and modern, have debated the appropriateness of the seemingly honorable Phaeacians‟ annihilation (Friedrich 1989, Allan 2006), and a significant manuscript variant attributed to Aristophanes of Byzantium at Od. 13.158 even suggests an alternate negation of the destruction (Friedrich 1989, Nagy 2002, Marks 2008).
    [Show full text]
  • Close Reading of Book Nine, “In the One­Eyed Giant’S Cave,” Pp
    Book Nine Handout The events in Books Nine through Twelve are flashbacks being told to the Phaeacians by Odysseus himself. The events of these books reveal how the trials Odysseus faces develop his character from the end of the Trojan War through his time with the Phaeacians. Activity 1: Text Structure One feature of the epic is beginning in the middle of the story (in medias res). Study the graphic below so that you will ​ ​ understand the text structure. What is the effect of Homer’s choice concerning how to structure a text and the events within it? ​By beginning in the middle of things, the reader’s interest is piqued. It seems strange that such a famous warrior should be crying for home. Knowing how Odysseus’s men ended up creates suspense, compelling the reader to continue in the story. Activity 2: Close Reading of Book Nine, “In the One­Eyed Giant’s Cave,” pp. 211­214 Read the opening passage of Book Nine, which is reprinted for you below. Some lines have been removed, but the line numbers follow the original text. Follow the instructions below as you annotate: 1. For your first reading, define the terms that have been bolded for you. Write a synonym or definition directly above the bolded word. 2. For your second reading, use a handbook of mythological terms, the glossary of terms in the back of your text, or the Internet to look up background information for the shaded terms. Write the explanation directly above the term. 3. Finally, use the questions on the right side of the text to guide you as you record your insights and impressions about the text.
    [Show full text]
  • Hephaestus the Magician and Near Eastern Parallels for Alcinous' Watchdogs , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 28:3 (1987:Autumn) P.257
    FARAONE, CHRISTOPHER A., Hephaestus the Magician and Near Eastern Parallels for Alcinous' Watchdogs , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 28:3 (1987:Autumn) p.257 Hephaestus the Magician and Near Eastern Parallels for Alcinous' Watchdogs Christopher A. Faraone s ODYSSEUS enters the palace of the Phaeacian king he stops to A marvel at its richly decorated fa9ade and the gold and silver dogs that stand before it (Od. 7.91-94): , ~,t: I () \, I , ")" XPVCHLOL u EKanp E KaL apyvpEoL KVVES l1CTav, C 'll I 'll ovs'" ·'HA-.'t'aLCTTOS' ETEV~" EV LuVL?1CTL 7rpa7rLUECTCTL oWJJ.a <pvAaCTCTEJJ.EvaL JJ.EyaA~TopoS' ' AAKWOOLO, a'() avaTOVS'I OVTaS'" KaL\ aYl1pwS'')',' l1JJ.aTa 7raVTa.I On either side [sc. of the door] there were golden and silver dogs, immortal and unaging forever, which Hephaestus had fashioned with cunning skill to protect the home of Alcinous the great­ hearted. All the scholiasts give the same euhemerizing interpretation: the dogs were statues fashioned so true to life that they seemed to be alive and were therefore able to frighten away any who might attempt evil. Eustathius goes on to suggest that the adjectives 'undying' and 'un­ aging' refer not literally to biological life, but rather to the durability of the rust-proof metals from which they were fashioned, and that the dogs were alleged to be the work of Hephaestus solely on account of their excellent workmanship. 1 Although similarly animated works of Hephaestus appear elsewhere in Homer, such as the golden servant girls at Il. 18.417-20, modern commentators have also been reluctant to take Homer's description of these dogs at face value.
    [Show full text]
  • World of the Hero: Homer's Odyssey
    World of the Hero: Homer’s Odyssey Pavlos Avlamis [email protected] FOCUS: The contrast between the civilised, human, Greek world (Ithacan books 13-24, and ‘Telemachy’ 1-4) and the world of the ‘adventures’ (bks 5-12) This is a central conceptual and structuring device in the poem, attention to which helps enrich appreciation of: • Literary technique (structure, plot, language) • Cultural context • Characterisation and ‘heroism’ [The above three intersect with a variety of OCR’s aims for WotH] I will: 1. Set up the contrast between civilisation and its opposite in the poem. 2. Show some ways in which the Odyssey’s fictional worlds have been contextualised from the external context of the poem (cultural context) and from within the poem (plot, poetics). 3. Suggest further reading (electronic access to selections of material to follow). The Odyssey is divided between three worlds: 1. The ‘wild’, uncivilised world of the adventures ‘out there’ (bks 5: Calypso/Ogygia, and bks 9-12: the adventures between the storm that follows the departure from Troy and Odysseus’ arrival on Ogygia) 2. The civilised Greek world of Ithaca and other cities (Pylos, Sparta) in books 1-4 and 13-24. 3. The in-between world of the Phaeacians (bks 6-9 and beginning of 13) which combines elements of both worlds and is at once both a familiar community and a strange one. The Phaeacians transport Odysseus from the mythical world to human reality. What makes the world of the adventures non-human? • physically monstrous characters (Scylla, Cyclopes, etc), • lack of agriculture • no sacrifices • no cooking – cannibalism [think: Polyphemus] • no hospitality (think: Polyphemus, but also the suitors back home [reversal]) The story of the Odyssey: Man returns from war but his boat is blown away by storm.
    [Show full text]
  • Lecture 37 Welcome to LLT121 Classical Mythology
    Lecture 37 Welcome to LLT121 Classical Mythology. When last we left our heroes, the Homeric heroes of the Trojan War, which was really fought right around 1200 BC, I was discussing the concept of nostos or return home. I was being hassled. I was being haxed. I was being brutalized emotionally and intellectually by somebody who took exception to my remark that nobody actually won the Trojan War. Nobody did. Oh yeah, the Greeks got to sack the city, all right. There’s no denying that. Look at what happened to the Greeks when they went home. Let’s take Agamemnon, for example. What happened to him? He got killed. By who? That is pretty bad. What happened to his wife? Their son killed her. That was all right, because he’d killed her. Nope, he’s no winner. Menelaus—Mr. Helen—he actually did get back together with Helen. He took Helen back. They got on a ship and they were going to sail back to ancient Greece, but they were blown away by a storm and wound up living for seven years in ancient Egypt. I say ancient Egypt because even to the ancient Greeks, ancient Egypt was very, very ancient. Nestor made it home in one piece, too. Does anybody have a guess why Nestor made it home in one piece? Okay, go on and build on that thought, Jeremy. Well, yes and no. Oh, give me a break. Go back home. That isn’t bad. It isn’t right, either. I think, in his heart of hearts, Homer empathized with the old guy who talks just about forever.
    [Show full text]
  • Homer in Virgil
    Anthós (1990-1996) Volume 1 Number 3 Article 5 6-1992 Homer in Virgil Thomas Kerns Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/anthos_archives Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, and the Ancient Philosophy Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Kerns, Thomas (1992) "Homer in Virgil," Anthós (1990-1996): Vol. 1 : No. 3 , Article 5. Available at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/anthos_archives/vol1/iss3/5 This open access Article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). All documents in PDXScholar should meet accessibility standards. If we can make this document more accessible to you, contact our team. HOMER IN VIRGIL Thomas Kerns fter studying Virgil's Aeneid one can A surmise. that Virgil understood Homer's epics, and that he wanted to incorporate both The Odyssey and The Iliad within The Aeneid. Although Virgil drew upon a large .array of predecessors including Lucretious, Appolonious, Homer, and Plato (to name a few), I believe that the biggest influence was Homer. It can also be said that Virgil did not just imitate Homer, but that he transformed his works to make them the base of his own poem (Knauer 402). In this essay, I will show how Virgil has made use of Homer's epics, their structures and units of action, and a few select characters that Virgil deemed important enough to imitate in a related yet diverse fashion to benefit his own poem and intent.
    [Show full text]
  • BOOK 9 Calypso Alcinous Laertes Circe Zeus Lotus Eaters
    Main Characters in the Odyssey BOOK 9 Who are they? Visual Calypso A sea goddess who lives on the island of Ogygia She tries to keep Odysseus on the island and stop him from going home Alcinous The king of the Phaeacians Odysseus tells King Alcinous his adventure stories Father of Odysseus Laertes father and son A goddess and enchantress Circe who lives on the island of Aeaea She has mystic powers and turns men into pigs Zeus The chief of the Greek gods and goddesses Father of Athena and Apollo Inhabitants of a land Odysseus visits The men ate the flower and did not want to Lotus Eaters return to the ship Odysseus forces the men to return to the ship Cyclopes A group of one-eyed giants Odysseus and his men poke the eye out of Polyphemus Polyphemus – the one eyed giant using a 6 foot stake The god of the sea, Poseidon earthquakes, and horses; father of the Polyphemus who battles Odysseus Book 10 Tiresias of Thebes A blind prophet whose spirit Odysseus visits in the underworld Book 12 Sirens Creatures, part woman and part bird, whose songs lure sailors to their deaths. Scylla 6 headed sea monster who devours sailors Charybdis A dangerous whirlpool of water personified as a female sea monster The sun god Helios who pastures his cattle on the island of Thrinacia Books 21-23 Telemachus The son of Odysseus son of Odysseus goddesses Muse of music, poetry, and literature Odysseus Main Character = Odysseus conquers many difficulties to achieve his goal to return to his wife and homeland .
    [Show full text]
  • Julia Roberts- Mythomemology for the Odyssey
    Julia Roberts Epic Mythomemology (The Odyssey) Book 1 of The Odyssey The book starts with an invocation of the Muses. All the survivors from Troy return home safely, expect Odysseus. Trapped in the cave of the nymph Calypso, the goddess keeps Odysseus hostage longing for him as her husband. All the Gods has empathy for Odysseus. but Poseidon is enraged by Odysseus for killing the Cyclops Polyphemus . The God’s assemble in meeting, (except Poseidon who travels to the Ethiopians) and Zeus finds issue with the way the mortals always blame the Gods. Athena tells Zeus to let all those mortals die, but to help Odysseus, the man with a cursed fate. Zeus decides to work out a plan with the Gods to bring Odysseus back- disregarding the anger of Poseidon. Athena proposes for Hermes to go to Ogygia Island to the nymph Calypso and release Odysseus, while she goes to the house of Telemachus to send the young prince off to learn more about his father’s journey home. The Gods agree, and Athena goes off to the home of Telemachus disguised as Mentes, an old friend of Odysseus. Athena, as Mentes, makes a prophecy to Telemachus that his father is really alive and making plans for a journey home. Telemachus tells Mentes of the misfortunes of his family and the suitors who are trying to court his mother. Mentes tells Telemachus to drive the suitors out of his home, send his mother to her father’s home to arrange a new marriage (if she wishes), and to sail out in quest to find news of his father.
    [Show full text]
  • The Rebirth of Odysseus , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 25:1 (1984) P.5
    NEWTON, RICK M., The Rebirth of Odysseus , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.5 The Rebirth of Odysseus Rick M Newton F THE MANY supplication scenes in Greek literature which have Oreceived close examination, the Odysseus-Arete episode in Od­ yssey 7.133-206 has attracted considerable attention. Two rea­ sons may be suggested. First, Homer himself lavishes a large share of attention on the scene, presenting a highly detailed account of the ritual of hiketeia: Odysseus crouches before the queen and grasps her knees, then sits at the hearth, and is finally raised by Alcinous, who escorts him to a seaU Other supplication scenes contain some of these steps, but few other accounts-and no other Homeric account-in­ clude them all. When Thetis supplicates Zeus in Iliad 1.493-530, for example, she clings to the god's knees, but Zeus does not lift her by the hand. In Iliad 24.468-517, to cite another example, Priam kneels before Achilles, kissing the hands of the man who has murdered so many of his sons. Achilles responds by lifting the aged king from his knees. But there is no mention of Priam's occupying Achilles' hearth. The closest parallel to Odysseus' supplication is found in Thucydides 1.136: Themistocles places himself at the feet of the Molossian queen and takes his place at the hearth, holding the king's infant son.2 When King Admetus returns from abroad and finds Themistocles, he raises the suppliant by the hand.3 Homer's account in Odyssey 7 is noteworthy, then, for the fullness of its description.
    [Show full text]
  • Odyssey Reading Breakdown – English I Pre-Ap
    ODYSSEY READING BREAKDOWN – ENGLISH I PRE-AP Book 1 Athena Inspires the Prince OMIT Books 2-4 Summary : Telemachus calls an assembly and announces his intention to sail abroad in search of news of his father. Athena, now disguised as Mentor, an old family friend, helps him procure a ship and a crew. They sail to Pylos, where they are entertained by Nestor, who then sends Telemachus, accompanied by his son Peisistratus, overland by chariot to Sparta to visit Menelaus. Menelaus welcomes Telemachus and entertains him but does not yet know his identity. When Menelaus mentions Odysseus, Telemachus begins to weep. Menelaus and Helen begin to recount the wiles of Odysseus – how he dressed as a beggar to infiltrate the walls of Troy, how he devised the idea of the Trojan Horse. Menelaus recounts his own journey home, saying that he had to capture Proteus, the Old Man of the Sea, while stranded in Egypt. Proteus tells him that Odysseus is alive, but imprisoned by Calypso. With renewed hope, Telemachus and Peisistratus return to Pylos to set sail for Ithaca. When the suitors discover that Telemachus has set sail, they prepare an ambush for him at sea. Book 5 Odysseus – Nymph and Shipwreck OMIT Book 6-7 Summary: The Phaeacian princess, Nausicaa, goes tothe river to wash her clothes after Athena visits her in a dream and encourages her to do so. Odysseus awakens and encounters Nausicaa and her companions. Athena makes him look very handsome after he washes, and Nausicaa begins to fall in love with him. Nausicaa tells him how to reach the palace and how to approach Queen Arete.
    [Show full text]