Focus Questions Reading Guide for Odyssey 16-20

Reading Guide for Odyssey 16-20

Reunion. Man’s Best Friend. Swineherd & Goatherd & Beggar. (In)active Penelope? Gathering Allies.

Setting(s): Ithaca Focus Questions

1. Temptations Consider the representation on female characters (mortals, divinities, and monsters) in the first half of the Odyssey. Are there consistencies among the different categories? What temptations and assistance do they offer Odysseus? In what why do you think they prepare for how we are to understand the events on Ithaca in the second half of the Odyssey? Washing of Odysseus' feet. Detail of an Attic 2. Noble Swineherd How did Eumaeus come to be a slave? Note those moments Red-figure skyphos (440 BCE) when he serves as a surrogate father for Telemachus.

3. Dogs (are outstanding) Notice how the dogs react to Telemachus when he approaches Eumaeus’ hut. How did they react to Odysseus? This is a subtle point but it introduces a highly charged scene in which Odysseus must witness his own son treating one of Odysseus’ slaves as a father, while Odysseus must look on silently. Note the simile used to describe Eumaeus when he greets Telemachus? This description, of course, is apt for Odysseus, who, like the reader, must simply observe the touching scene.

4. Plotting Vengeance Why is Telemachus reluctant to accept Odysseus into his house? Read Odysseus’ response carefully. How close does he come at this point to revealing that he is Odysseus?

5. Revelation When Odysseus tells Telemachus that he is his father, notice exactly the way he describes himself. How does Odysseus convince Telemachus that he has come home at last? Notice the simile used by the narrator to describe the tears of the father and son: it is another example of a reverse-simile.

6. Wicked Goatherd Notice the juxtaposition of Eumaeus’ care in outfitting Odysseus and Melanthius’ abuse. What fate does Melanthius predict for Odysseus at the hands of the suitors (the footstools will be significant later in the story). What happens when Melanthius attempts to push Odysseus off the path? If you are familiar with the myth of Oedipus, this scene should remind you of a critical moment in that story. Why doesn’t Odysseus kill Melanthius?

7. Dogs (make me sad) As Odysseus and Eumaeus are about to enter the palace, they encounter Odysseus’ dog Argus (“Swifty”), who is lying on a pile of filth outside of the palace. What is significant about his reaction to the arrival of Odysseus? How does Odysseus react to seeing Argus? Think about how this scene relates to the trials Odysseus has endured, his status as he returns to his household, and the state of Odysseus’ house.

8. Lying Tales When Odysseus addresses Antinoos, he fabricates another tale about how he became a beggar. What does Odysseus say that provokes Antinoos into hurling the stool at him? What effect does this have? (Compare this to Melanthius’ assault on the road. ) Who do the suitors fear the beggar may be? Does this affect their culpability?

9. Battle of the Beggars Why does Irus assail Odysseus? How does Odysseus respond? Note how Odysseus’ response is more appropriate to an aristocratic host than a destitute beggar. Why is this a dangerous moment for Odysseus? Compare to the competitions in Iliad 23 and Odyssey 8. Do you see any similarities between Polyphemus the Cyclops and Irus the beggar? 7. In what ways can you connect Odysseus' disguise as a beggar with the themes of "a man" and re-establishing his name and fame? In what ways can you connect his disguise with the themes of "the book of the belly"—gifts, greed, hunger, eating?

10. Penelope Compare Penelope’s appearance before the suitors in Book 18 to Helen’s appearance on the wall in Iliad 3. In Book 19, notice the contrast the narrator establishes between Penelope’s reaction to the mention of Odysseus–illustrated by a rare simile–and Odysseus’ internal and external reaction to her grief. Does Penelope know or suspect that the beggar is Odysseus? What do you think? Would she have proposed the test at the end of Book 19 if she did not think Odysseus had returned?

11. Suitors Misbehaving When Eurymachus insults Odysseus, what trials does Odysseus propose? Notice how he moves from the domestic to the martial. Odysseus’ mention of war is important: remember that the suitors know nothing of true battle.

12. Eurykleia In Book 19, why does Odysseus request an old maid to bath him? Does he know that Penelope will select Eurycleia? Remember that Eurycleia helped to raise Odysseus. Does Odysseus make a mistake here? Note that Eurycleia already notices a resemblance between the beggar and Odysseus (lines 393f.). Why does the narrator include the story of Odysseus and the boar? Key Characters

Athena

Telemachus

Peisistratus

Menelaus

Helen

Theoclymenus

Eumaeus

Odysseus [Book 16]

Antinous

Amphinomus

Penelope

Eurymachus

Melanthius [Book 17]

Irus [Book 18]

Eurynome

Melantho

Eurycleia [Book 19]

Philoetius [Book 20]

Ctessipus

Agelaus

Theoclymenus