This lecture covers the second half of Homer's Odyssey, focusing on Odysseus's return to Ithaca as he seeks revenge on the suitors and reunites with his wife Penelope. Odysseus must disguise himself and endure abuse to kill the suitors. Penelope provides the final obstacle by doubting his identity, but recognizes him through a secret about their bed. The lecture concludes by discussing the enduring influence and relevance of the Homeric epics through history.

1. Odyssey, Lecture 3
This lecture covers the second half of the epic, Books 13-24, following the
adventures of Odysseus on Ithaca as he completes his return. First, he
must avenge himself on the suitors, then reunite with his wife, Penelope.
Odysseus is able to affect his vengeance only by behaving in a manner that
is un-Iliadic in the extreme: He disguises his true identity, plays the role of
a beggar, and even suffers abuse at the hands of the suitors. The killing of
the suitors clears the way for Odysseus’s reunion with Penelope, but she
herself provides the final obstacle and reveals herself as the only character
in the epic able to outwit the master strategist.
We conclude this discussion of the Odyssey with some comments on the
continuing power and relevance of the Homeric epics through the ages.
Returned to his home on Ithaca by the Phaeacians, Odysseus suffers
anonymity and even abuse in order to achieve his final goal, the removal of
the suitors and a return to his rightful place as head of his household.

2. • Odysseus consistently hides his identity through lies and disguise.
• His lie to Athena in Book 13 sets the stage for the later recreations of his
biography, to the swineherd, to the suitors, to his wife, and even to his father. This
behavior might make us wonder about the stories he told the Phaeacians.
• Athena disguises Odysseus as a beggar, setting him up for abuse and disgrace.
Lovis Corinth, Odysseus's Fight with the Beggar , 1903

3. • The first adventure Odysseus relates, the encounter with the Trojan allies, the Cicones, just after he
leaves Troy, serves as a final real-world experience before he is, so to speak, blown off the map.
• The brief episode with the Lotus Eaters introduces the subtle nature of some of the threats to
Odysseus’s return: not all are necessarily dangerous.
Lotus Eaters, Paul Thomas

4. • His first stop back on Ithaca is
at the lowly hut of his loyal
swineherd, Eumaeus.
• Here, we see here an example
of proper hospitality, even in
straitened circumstances.
• Telemachus comes to the
swineherd’s hut, rather than
the palace, after his journey.
Father and son are reunited.
• Together, they plot their
course of action, and
Odysseus warns Telemachus
that they will have to suffer
abuse.
Odysseus as a
beggar in Ithaca

5. • At his palace, Odysseus tolerates what would seem
to be intolerable for a Homeric hero: physical and
verbal abuse from servants and suitors in his own
house.
• A goatherd reviles him.
• The suitors pelt him with furniture.
• Another beggar (ill-advisedly) tries to thrown
Odysseus out of the palace, but Odysseus crushes
his neck with a single blow, taking care not to kill
the poor beggar.
• The female servants abuse him as well.
• Later, he recalls past trials as he calls up patience in
the face of the abuse. Odysseus and Euryclea, by Christian Gottlob Heyne

6. • The poem builds, in a number of ways, toward
Odysseus’s need for revenge. The poet carefully
fosters sympathy for and scorn for the
opponents.
• The gods, especially Athena, have been calling
for revenge since the start of the epic.
• In the latter half of the epic, clear distinctions
are drawn between those who are loyal to
Odysseus and those who are not.
• Often, in keeping with themes that run through
the epic, we can distinguish the good from the
bad on the basis of their observance of (or
inattention to) proper forms of hospitality.
• The few characters who do not fall into this
neat division of good and bad, such as the
singer Phemius and the herald Medon in Book
22, serve as pointed contrasts. They are spared
because they were forced to serve the suitors. Charles Baude
Athena watching as Telemachus kisses Odysseus

7. • Penelope sets up a
challenge for the
suitors: whoever can
string Odysseus’s bow
and shoot an arrow
through a line of ax
heads will win her
hand in marriage.
• No suitor can even
string the bow.
• The disguised
Odysseus is given a
turn. He, of course,
strings the bow and
shoots the arrow
through the axe
heads.

8. • Odysseus then slaughters
the chief suitor.
• The description of the
death emphasizes the
setting in the dining hall,
reminding us of the
suitors’ terrible breach of
xenia.
• With the help of his son
and a few loyal servants,
Odysseus slays the rest of
the unarmed suitors.
• The brutality of the scene
takes us back momentarily
to the world of the Iliad,
but most readers find
themselves cheering on
the killers.

9. • After killing the suitors,
Odysseus’s next obstacle is
Penelope’s suspicion.
• In the context of other
recognitions, her stubbornness
is particularly notable.
• Telemachus needed no proof.
• The old dog Argus, in an
unusually poignant scene, saw
right through the disguise, then
died of joy.
• The serving woman Eurycleia
recognized the scar on
Odysseus’s thigh.
Odysseus Recognized by Eurycleia

10. • But Penelope’s reluctance allows the poet to set
up the final test, one that reveals much about
Penelope and her relation with Odysseus.
• She tests Odysseus by asking the serving woman
to move Odysseus’s own bed into the hall for
him. Only she and Odysseus know that the bed
is immovable, built around the trunk of an olive
tree.
• His enraged response reveals that he is indeed
Odysseus and that Penelope, alone in the epic,
has tricked him.
• Penelope’s reference to the bed draws attention
to its immovability, thereby underlining her own
faithfulness during Odysseus’s absence.
• Once she has revealed her treachery and the
two retire to bed, the reunion—and Odysseus’s
return—seems complete.
• In the final book, considered spurious by some
readers since antiquity, Odysseus is reunited with
his father and makes peace with the families of
those he slaughtered in his palace.

11. • The Homeric epics were central to the
ancient Greeks, serving as a foundation for all
education, and have remained influential in
Western literature ever since.
• The Homeric poems were for the Greeks a
primary source of myth, religion, and morality.
• Papyrus finds from the period of Greek
occupation of Egypt show the extent of
interest in the Iliad and the Odyssey. By far,
the greatest numbers of literary papyri are
copies of Homer’s poems.
• Quotations of Homer appear in widely
different genres, and the poems could be
turned to for information on a wide variety of
subjects.
• Direct Homeric influence is apparent in the
tragedy and comedy of 5th century Athens.
The tragedian Aeschylus claimed that all of his
plays were slices from Homer’s banquet. Odysseus and the Contest of the Bow. Wyeth

12. • Latin literature began with a translation of the Odyssey into Latin, and since then,
we have a continuous stream of works that respond to the Homeric epics.
• The epic poetry of Dante and Milton clearly show its indebtedness to Homeric
epic, even if through the intermediary of Virgil’s Aeneid.
• More generally, in authors as varied as Tennyson, Joyce, and Walcott, Homeric
themes continue to appear throughout literature.
Odysseus kills the suitors at the feast

13. • Themes
• Importance of proper behavior as host and guest
• Improper: Polyphemus, Laestrygonians, Suitors
• Proper: Aeolus, Phaeacians, Eumaeus
• Tensions between Odysseus and his men
• Disobedience: Cicones, Aeolus, Oxen of the Sun
• Foolhardiness: Polyphemus, Circe
• Deception: Scylla and Charybdis