The Odyssey
reading report… thing.
Introduction:
The Odyssey is an epic poem in 24 books most commonly written by the ancient Greek poet Homer. The poem is the story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, who wanders for 10 years (although it technically doesn’t cover the full ten years in action) trying to get home after the Trojan War.
Iliad:
Often the Illiad and the Odyssey Are mistaken for eachother even though they’re in technicality two different stories just continuing eachother.
History
Epics such as the Iliad and the Odyssey emerged from an oral tradition in which poets, or bards, performed epic narratives before audiences, with fixed written texts appearing later down the line. The written texts used various literary devices such as formulaic epithets and repetition which helped performers memorize the poem and adapt during their recitation. For centuries, Homeric epics formed part of the educational foundation of the Greek world throughout the classical age and helped shape a broader Panhellenic cultural identity.
Who is Odysseus
Odysseus was the legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in that same epic cycle.
As the son of Laërtes and Anticlea, husband of Penelope, and father of Telemachus (Acusilaus, and Telegonus). Odysseus is renowned for his intellectual brilliance, guile(sly/witt) and versatility, and he is thus known by the epithet Odysseus the Cunning. He is most famous for his nostos, or (homecoming), which took him ten eventful years after the decade-long Trojan War
Personal favorite parts!
-In Homer's epic, Odysseus lands on the island of the Cyclopes during his journey home from the Trojan War and, together with some of his men, and enters a cave. When the giant Polyphemus returns home with his flocks, he blocks the entrance with a great stone and, scorning the usual custom of hospitality, eats two of the men. The next morning, the Cyclops kills and eats two more of Odysseus' men before leaving the cave to graze his sheep.
-On Odysseus's return, disguised as an old beggar, he finds that Penelope has remained faithful. She has devised cunning tricks to delay the suitors, one of which is to pretend to be weaving a burial shroud for Odysseus's elderly father Laertes and claiming that she will choose a suitor when she has finished. Every night for three years, she undoes part of the shroud, until Melantho, a slave, discovers her subterfuge and reveals it to the suitors
Ending
Other readers, however, have pointed out that Book 24 ties up a crucial loose end: the grief of Odysseus’s father, Laertes. By saving Odysseus’s reunion with Laertes until last, The Odyssey suggests that no relationship—not even the relationship of husband and wife—is more important than the bond between father and son. The Odyssey takes place in a patriarchal world where the best thing a man can do is pass his fame as a warrior (and the wealth he has plundered) on to a male heir. This patriarchal warrior code originally drove Odysseus to leave Penelope’s side, in order to win fame and spoils at Troy.
At the same time, however, the ending undermines the patriarchal warrior code. Laertes’ joy at being reunited with his son is contrasted with the rage and grief of the suitors’ fathers, who have lost their own sons at Odysseus’s hands. Odysseus is powerless to prevent further bloodshed: only Athena’s divine intervention brings peace to Ithaca.
Summary of the story
-The story begins in the middle of the plot, with friction brewing between Telemachus and Penelope's 108 suitors. With Telemachus then leaves Ithaca in search of news of his father.
-Accompanied by Athena in disguise, Telemachus visits King Nestor in Pylos first. He then goes to Sparta, where Menelaus and Helen tell him about Odysseus's wartime feats.
-Meanwhile Odysseus has been held captive by the nymph Calypso for seven years on her island. After Zeus orders his release, Odysseus reaches Scheria on a raft.
-On Scheria, Odysseus tells King Alcinous about the encounters that have prevented him from getting home from the war. How he triggered Poseidon's wrath after blinding his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus.
-Odysseus talks about the lost men and ships to the Laestrygones, how he saved his men from Circe, sailed past the Sirens, lost more men to Scylla, and ultimately lost his remaining ship and crew to Charybdis.
-Odysseus sails home from Scheria and is reunited with Telemachus. Penelope, whose weaving ruse has been discovered, gives the suitors an archery challenge.
-The suitors fail to string Odysseus's bow and shoot an arrow through 12 axes.Odysseus, disguised, succeeds. He reveals himself and slays the suitors, finally recovering his throne and family.