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The Odyssey. Background. Ithaca, home of Odysseus. Odysseus’ familial relationships:. Son of Anticlea and Laertes (or Sisyphus) Husband of Penelope Father of Telemachus. Odysseus woos Helen. He knows he has no chance, as he is not rich enough
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Odysseus’ familial relationships: • Son of Anticlea and Laertes (or Sisyphus) • Husband of Penelope • Father of Telemachus
Odysseus woos Helen • He knows he has no chance, as he is not rich enough • He gives Tyndareus, father of Helen, a good plan (make all the suitors swear to support whatever decision Tyndareus makes and protect Helen should someone else attempt to take her • Tyndareus, in return, puts in a good word for him with Penelope’s father
Little does he know that his simple plan will have such a profound impact on his life Paris and Helen
When Paris takes Helen, Menelaus calls on all the former suitors to fulfill their pledge. Palamedes and Menelaus come to fetch Odysseus. Not wanting to leave his wife and young son, Odysseus feigns madness by plowing the seashore.
Palamedes nearly kills Odysseus’ young son, Telemachus, when he throws him in front of the plow. Odysseus turns aside the plow and reveals his sanity.
Odysseus never forgives Palamedes and gets revenge during the war. • Who is Palamedes? Palamedes is the son of Nauplius and Clymene, and is a grandson of Poseidon. His name means “clever”. • He is credited with various inventions, including coinage, measures and weights, some letters of the Greek alphabet, and pessoi (checkers) • Odysseus gets revenge by placing gold in Palamedes’ tent and forging a letter from Priam to Palamedes stating he would give him the same amount of gold planted in Palamedes’ tent in exchange for Palamedes’ betrayal of the Greek camp. Palamedes is killed.
Because Agamemnon had offended Artemis, she sends contrary winds keep the Greeks from sailing from the port of Aulis to Troy.
Calchas, the Greek soothsayer, tells the Greeks that Artemis will only be appeased by the sacrifice of a virgin – Agamemnon’s daughter Iphigenia.
Odysseus suggests that they tell Clytemnestra, wife of Agamemnon, that her daughter is to be married to Achilles.
The sacrifice of Iphigenia appeases Artemis, and the Greeks are able to sail to Troy.
Odysseus suggests to the Greeks that they abandon Philoctetes on Lemnos (stinky wound)
At Troy, Odysseus increases his reputation for being wily.1. Raid against Rhesus at night – kills Rhesus and takes his horses.2. Enters Troy in disguise and steals the Palladium.3. Comes up with the idea for the Trojan Horse.
Only Maron, priest of Apollo is spared. • He gives them 12 amphorae of wine, which will come in handy later.
The next stop brings them to the land of the lotus-eaters, called the Lotiphagi
Some of Odysseus’ crew tasted the fruit, and thus forgot everything and only wanted to stay and continue eating. They had to be dragged back to the ships.
Odysseus and his men land on Sicily, where the cyclops Polyphemus imprisons Odysseus and 12 of his men. He eats two of Odysseus’ men the first day, and four the next.
The blinding of Polyphemus – Odysseus and his men give Polyphemus some of Maron’s wine. He gets drunk and they poke his eye out. The other cyclopes hear him but don’t help because he yells “No one is killing me!”
Later, Polyphemus rolled the stone away from the entrance of the cave to let his sheep graze.
Odysseus and his men escaped by clinging to the bellies of sheep.
“I am Odysseus!” As Odysseus left, he shouted his real name to Polyphemus
Polyphemus asked Poseidon to curse Odysseus, and Poseidon sent stormy winds to hinder Odysseus’ trip home.
“No one will keep me from returning home!”Odysseus’ arrogance doesn’t help matters.
Odysseus and his men arrive in Aeolia, land of Aeolus, King of the Winds. Here Aeolus gives Odysseus a bag which contains all the winds except the one which will blow him home. Odysseus refuses to tell the men what is in the bag. They assume it is gold, and just before they reach Ithaca, they open the bag and are blown far from home.
After 7 days of travel from the island of Aeolus, Odysseus and his men land on the island of the Laestrygonians. The Laestrygonians were a tribe of giant cannibals, ruled by their king, Antiphates. The capital city was Telepylus, founded by Lamus, a son of Poseidon and Gaea. There was a good harbor there, and the night was especially, and strangely, short.
Antiphates’ daughter led the embassy of Odysseus to her father. He promptly picked up one of Odysseus’ men and ate him! The others fled, with all the Laestrygonians in hot pursuit! The Laestrygongians hurled rocks at the ships, destroying 11 of the 12, and then they speared the floundering sailors like fish. Only Odysseus’ own ship survived, as he had wisely anchored it at the entrance to the harbor.
Odysseus and his men reach Aeaea, the island of the enchantress Circe.
Only Eurylochus and Odysseus are not turned into swine – thanks to Hermes and his Holy Moly.
Odysseus stays with Circe for a year. She bears him a son, Telegonus.
Odysseus meets a lot of heroes, beautiful women, etc. • He meets his mom, who has died from longing for him, Agamemnon, and even Heracles. • He meets Achilles, who says it’s better to be a slave on earth than king of all the dead
Tiresias and Odysseus* suitors* avoid Scylla and Charybdis* don’t eat Helios’ cattle* carry an oar around until someone asks if it’s a winnowing fan and then make a sacrifice to Poseidon
