Homer's epic poem The Odyssey describes Odysseus' long journey home after the Trojan War. He encounters many obstacles, including being held captive by the nymph Calypso for 7 years. With the help of the gods Athena and Hermes, he escapes and faces trials like battling monsters, avoiding deadly whirlpools and resisting the song of the Sirens. After 10 years of wandering, he finally returns home in disguise and defeats the suitors who have been vying for his wife Penelope's hand.

1. Homer’s Odyssey Review

2. WHO WAS HOMER?
• Not much is known about Homer
• He was a blind man who may have been from the
island of Chios, which was the home to a guild of
poets.
• However, several wealthy towns claimed that Homer
had lived in their cities as a beggar.
• His verses were first put into writing around 700 BC.
• The verses were probably significantly older than
this, because prior to this time, traveling bards were
paid to sing Homer’s songs.

3. Mythos and Logos
Mythos: The complex of
beliefs, values, attitudes, etc., characteristic
of a specific group or society
Logos: Logos is the Greek root word from
which the English logic is derived. So, it isn’t
surprising that, in speaking, logos is often
equated with “logical reasoning” or “an
argument based on reasoning”.

4. Myths are?
Colorful stories that tell about
the origins of humans and the
cosmos. Attitudes towards
myth vary greatly. Some regard
it as a source of spiritual
growth, while others see only
falsehood. Some see in myth
the distinct character of
particular cultures, while others
see universal patterns. Some
regard myth as "contemporary"
and "alive", while others think
of it as "ancient" and/or "dead."

5. Odysseus’ Journey

6. Odysseus’ Journey

7. Athena, the Goddess
In Greek literature, the gods play an immense
role in the lives and fates of the mortal dwellers
of the earth. Mortals recognized Athena's active
role as an influence and intercessor with others.
This is what made Athena so "popular" with the
Greek people. In the Odyssey by Homer, Athena
has an incredible relationship with Odysseus.
Athena demonstrates throughout the Odyssey
that she is a goddess of action just as Odysseus
is a man of action.

8. WHAT IS AN EPIC?
An "epic" is a long narrative poem about
the deeds of a mythical hero, often in
elevated language and originally in oral
forms before being set down in writing.

9. THE HERO
• The ancient Greek concept of
a hero was different from our
own culture's. the ancient
Greek hero was a religious
figure, a dead person who
received cult honors and was
expected in return to bring
prosperity, especially in the
form of fertility of plants
(crops) and animals, to the
community. The hero is also a
literary figure & the key part
to the narrative of the hero's
life is that he/she undergoes
some sort of learning trial.

10. SETTING: From Troy in Asia Minor across the islands
of the Mediterranean Sea (near Italy) and back to
Ithaca, Greece, sometime in the Bronze Age.

11. SETTING: Much of the action in the Odyssey takes place
on the sea, where Odysseus must battle against the
storms of the sea god, Poseidon, but the last third of the
story is set in the town and countryside of Ithaca.
Mount Olympus - A mountain in Greece, which is
home to many of the gods and goddesses.
Ogygia: Calypso’s island, where Odysseus is held for seven years.
The Underworld: The land of the dead. Odysseus travels here to speak
with Teiresias, the dead, blind prophet. While there, he converses with
many other "shades," including his war buddies and his mother.
Aeaea - The island home of the enchantress Circe.
Aeolia - A floating island home of Aeolus, king of the winds.
Ithaca - The island kingdom of Odysseus. Off the west coast of
mainland Greece.
Troy - A kingdom that was destroyed by the Greeks in the Trojan War. It
is located on the western coast of Asia Minor.
Thrinacia - Island home to the cattle of the sun god, Helios.
Sparta - The kingdom of Menelaus, located on the Peloponnesian Peninsula.
Capri - Island home of the Sirens.

12. After the Greeks tricked the enemy into
bringing a colossal wooden horse within
the walls of Troy, Troy was destroyed.
Now it was time for Odysseus and the
other Greeks to return to their kingdoms
across the sea. Here begins the tale of
the Odyssey, as sung by the blind
minstrel Homer and the Muses.

13. The supreme gods on Mount Olympus.
urged on by Athena, the goddess of
war, decide that Odysseus has been
marooned too long on the island of the
nymph Calypso.

14. Meanwhile, assuming Odysseus is
dead, suitors pursue his wife Penelope.
His son Telemachus calls an assembly to
ask for help, and Zeus sends an omen of
the suitors' doom. Afterwards Telemachus
sets sail for the mainland to seek news of
his father.

15. Telemachus consults King Nestor, who tells him
what he knows of the Greeks' return from Troy:
"It started out badly because of Athena's anger.
Half the army, your father included, stayed
behind at Troy to try to appease her. The rest of
us made it home safely -- all except
Menelaus, who was blown off course to
Egypt, where he remained for seven years. Seek
advice from Menelaus."

16. Menelaus tells what he learned of Odysseus. He
was advised by a goddess to disguise himself
and three members of his crew in seal pelts and
then pounce on the Old Man of the Sea. They
held him down while he transformed himself into
various animals and shapes and he gave them
news of their companions. Menelaus learned
that Odysseus was presently being held against
his will by the nymph Calypso.

17. Zeus sends his messenger Hermes to
Calypso's island. Though the goddess isn't
happy about it, she agrees to let Odysseus
go.

18. But Poseidon
destroys the raft on
which he sets sail by
lashing the sea into a
storm with his
trident. Odysseus
barely escapes with
his life and washes
ashore days
later, half-drowned.
He staggers into an
olive thicket and falls
asleep.

19. Odysseus awakens to the sound of maidens
laughing. Princess Nausicaa of the Phaeacians has
come down to the riverside to wash her wedding
dress. Now she and her handmaids are frolicking
after the chore. Odysseus approaches as a
suppliant, and Nausicaa is kind enough to instruct
him how to get the king's help in returning to his
home. Odysseus follows her into town.

20. Odysseus goes right up to the queen and
puts his case to her and asks for her help.
King Alcinous knows better than to refuse
hospitality to a decent petitioner. He
invites Odysseus to the banquet which is
in progress and promises him safe
passage home after he has been suitably
entertained.

21. The next day is declared a holiday in honor of
the guest, whose name the king still does not
know. An athletic competition is held, with foot
races, wrestling and the discus. Odysseus is
invited to join in but begs off, prompting
someone to suggest that he lacks the skills.
Angered, he takes up a discus and throws it with
such violence that everyone drops to the
ground.

22. That night at a banquet, as the court bard
entertains with songs of the Trojan War,
Odysseus is heard sobbing. "Enough!"
shouts King Alcinous. "Our friend finds this
song displeasing. Won't you tell us your
name, stranger, and where you hail
from?"

23. My name is Odysseus of Ithaca, and here is my
tale since setting out from Troy. We visited the
Lotus Eaters, and three of my crew tasted this
strange plant. They lost all desire to return
home and had to be carried off by force.

24. On another island we investigated a cave
full of goat pens. The herdsman turned
out to be as big as a barn, with a single
glaring eye in his forehead. This Cyclops
promptly ate two of my men for dinner.
I will be eating
you next Eat me and you will eat
“Nobody.” all of the magic
contained in my head.

25. We were trapped in
the cave by a
boulder in the
doorway that only
the Cyclops could
budge, so we
couldn't kill him while
he slept. Instead we
sharpened a pole
and used it to gouge
out his eye.

26. We escaped by clinging to the
undersides of his goats.
the gigantic one-eyed
(Cyclopes) son of Poseidon
hurls boulders at Odysseus’
ship as he and his men pull
away from the island.

27. Next we met the Keeper of the
Winds, Aeolus, who sent us on our way
with a steady breeze.

28. He'd given me a leather
bag, which my crew
mistook for treasure.
They opened it and
released a hurricane
that blew us back to
where we'd started.

29. We ended up
among the
Laestrygonians,
giants who
bombarded our
fleet with
boulders and
gobbled down
our shipmates.

30. The few survivors put in at the island of
the enchantress Circe. She entertained my
men and then, with a wave of her
wand, turned them into swine.

31. Hermes the god gave me an herb that
protected me. Circe told me that to get
home I must travel to the land of Death."

32. Odysseus did as Circe
instructed, bleeding a
sacrificed lamb into a
pit. He held all the
other shades at bay
until Tiresias, the
prophet who had
accompanied them to
Troy, had drunk from
the pit.

33. Tiresias, warned him about the journey home
and to beware of Scylla (six headed serpent)
and Charybdis (Giant Clam/Whirlpool) He also
instructed Odysseus to stay away from Helios
the Sun God’s sacred cattle.
Tiresias, the blind prophet tells Odysseus that
he can get back to his home of Ithaca if he
follows the constellation Orion's brightest star

34. While in Hades, Odysseus encounters the ghost of
his dead mother, Anticleia who has taken her own
life. While Odysseus may have grappled with death
before, the loss of his mother, whose death he had
not been aware, devastates him. Anticleia warns
Odysseus that the suitors are trying to steal his
world and take his wife Penelope from him forever.
He must return to his home of Ithaca with caution.

35. At sea once more they had to pass the
Sirens, whose sweet singing lures sailors to
their doom. Odysseus stopped up the ears of
his crew with wax, and he listened while
lashed to the mast, powerless to steer toward
shipwreck.

36. Next came Charybdis, who swallows the
sea in a whirlpool, then spits it up again.
Avoiding this they skirted the cliff where
Scylla exacts her toll. Each of her six
slavering maws grabbed a sailor and
wolfed him down.

37. Finally they were becalmed on the island of
the Sun. Odysseus’ men disregarded all
warnings and sacrificed the Helios, Sun
God’s cattle, so back at sea Zeus sent a
thunderbolt that smashed the ship.

38. Odysseus alone survived, washing up on the
island of Calypso. When Odysseus finished his
tale, King Alcinous ordered him sped to Ithaca.
In joy Odysseus kissed the ground. Athena
transformed him into an old man as a disguise.
Clad in a filthy tunic, he went off to find his
faithful swineherd, as instructed by the goddess.

39. Eumaeus the swineherd welcomes the
bedraggled stranger. Odysseus makes up an
elaborate story about his origins. That night
the hero sleeps by the fire under the
swineherd's spare cloak, while Eumaeus
himself sleeps outside in the rain with his
herd.

40. Athena summons Telemachus home and tells
him how to avoid an ambush by the suitors.
Following Athena's instructions, he proceeds to
the farmstead of Eumaeus. There he makes the
acquaintance of the tattered guest and sends
Eumaeus to his mother to announce his safe
return.

41. Athena restores Odysseus' normal
appearance, enchancing it so that
Telemachus takes him for a god. "No god
am I," Odysseus assures him, "but your
own father, returned after these twenty
years."

42. Later they plot the suitors' doom.
Concerned that the odds are fifty-to-
one, Telemachus suggests that they might
need reinforcements. "Aren't Zeus and
Athena reinforcement enough?" asks
Odysseus.

43. Disguised once more as an old
beggar, Odysseus journeys to town. At
Athena's urging Odysseus begs food from
the suitors.

44. One man, Antinous, refuses to give him
even a crust. He even hurls his footstool
at Odysseus, hitting him in the back. This
makes even the other suitors nervous, for
sometimes the gods masquerade as
mortals to test their righteousness.

45. Penelope takes kindly to the stranger and orders
her maid Eurycleia to bathe his feet.
Eurycleia, notices a scar above the hero's knee.
Odysseus had been gored by a wild boar when
hunting on Mount Parnassus as a young man.
The maid recognizes her master at once but
Odysseus silences her lest she give away his plot
prematurely.

46. Penelope now appears before the suitors. In her
hand is Odysseus’ bow. "Whoever strings this
bow," she says, "and sends an arrow straight
through the sockets of twelve ax heads lined in
a row -- that man will I marry." The suitors take
turns trying to bend the bow to string it, but all
of them lack the strength. Odysseus asks if he
might try.

47. The suitors refuse, fearing that they'll be
shamed if the beggar succeeds. But Telemachus
insists. Odysseus strings the bow and sends an
arrow through the ax heads. At a sign from his
father, Telemachus arms himself and takes up a
station by his side.

48. Antinous, ringleader of the suitors, dies when
Odysseus puts an arrow through his throat. The
goatherd sneaks out and comes back with
shields and spears for the suitors, but now
Athena appears. She sends the suitors'
spearthrusts wide, as Odysseus, Telemachus
and the two faithful herdsmen strike with volley
after volley of lances. They finish off the work
with swords.

49. Penelope still won't accept that it's truly her
husband without some secret sign. She tells a
servant to make up his bed in the hall. "Who
had the craft to move my bed?" storms
Odysseus. "I carved the bedpost myself from the
living trunk of an olive tree and built the
bedroom around it." Penelope rushes into his
arms.

50. The next morning Odysseus goes to the
vineyard where his father, old King
Laertes, labors like a peasant.
Meanwhile, the suitors’ kin have gathered
at the assembly ground, where Antinous’
father fires them up for revenge.

51. Odysseus, his father and Telemachus
meet the challenge. But the fighting stops
right there. Athena tells the contending
parties to live together in peace down
through the years to come.