Odyssey Key Content

Book 1

Suitors treat Penelope appallingly (O revenge)

Poor Xenia must be punished - sitting on hides of sheep they slaughtered

Eurymachus pries into the identity of Mentes

Penelope drives Odysseus Nostos

Penelope reflects traditional Greek values

Calypso keeps him trapped for 7 years

Book 5

Athene gets Odysseus off Ogygia

Zeus sets Odysseus free

Calypso good and bad xenia prevents his Nostos

Athene doesn’t step in during Poseidon’s storm

Book 6

Nausicaa helps Odysseus - clothes and directions

Nausicaa saves his life allowing him to share his story and thus self evaluate

Book 7

Petitions Arete for Xenia and doesn’t make any demands - good Xenia

Denies Alcinous proposal cos still wants to return to Penelope

Asks for help to return ASAP when petitions Arete

Odysseus good xenia to the Phaeacians helps him get home (an aid for Nostos)

Arete rebirth

Arete gets Alcinous to give ships and gifts

Book 8

Doesn’t reveal name to Phaeacians even tho could get glory after Demodocus sings ‘The Quarrel of Odysseus and Achilles’

Throws discus for glory

Crying when reminded how long away from home in Trojan Horse stratagem ballad

Book 9

Polyphemus (horrors of journey - gripping passage)

Odysseus invites himself into Polyphemus’ home and eats his food

Reveals his name to Polyphemus cos he wants glory

Stays behind at Polyphemus’ cos wants gifts creating tension

revealing name to Polyphemus means Poseidon revenge

Polyphemus eats many men

Odysseus didn’t need to stop and raid the Cicones but was his choice

Book 10

Circe gives Odysseus advice about the journey ahead - how to get around the sirens and warns about the cattle

Laestrygonians (horrors of journey - gripping passage)

Scylla/Charibdis (horrors of journey - gripping passage)

Odysseus tries to stab Circe when she invites him in

Time - Aeolus and the bag of wind gift which the crew open giving plot

Laestrygonians sink all but one ship - Odysseus parked his outside the harbour

Crew open wind bag sending them all the way back to Aeolia

Circe turns the crew into pigs

Book 11

Reignites Odysseus’ Nostos (Teiresias prophecy, talking to Anticlea reminds of family, seeing Achilles shows him Kleos and glory are meaningless)

Creates tension (Agamemnon’s warning, the ghosts surrounding them, knows about the suitors at home)

Character development (attempts reconciliation with Ajax, sees what happens to men in Underworld yet still refuses immortality, see his human side when sad talking to Anticlea)

Horrors of journey - gripping passage (Teiresias, Agamemnon, Achilles)

Book 12

Scylla eats 6 of his strongest men

Crew eat the cows resulting in a massive storm from Zeus in retribution killing them

Zeus traps them on the island as a test for Odysseus

Book 13

Athene helps Odysseus make a plan to defeat the suitors

Phaeacians Xenia includes gifts allowing him to replace what he lost coming back from Troy

Book 15

Eumaeus helped raise Telemachus

Book 16

Suitors reveal they tried to kill Telemachus

Eurymachus gives dishonest speeches when says they would not try to kill Telemachus

Good xenia to Eumaeus lets O find out more about the suitors and get into the palace

Book 17

Eumaeus gets Odysseus into the palace

Melanthius insults Odysseus as a beggar in the town

Antinous verbally abuses and critiques Eumaeus for bringing the beggar to the palace

Antinous refuses to give food to Odysseus

Antinous threatens to send Odysseus to Egypt if he begs from him

Book 18

Suitors mistreat Odysseus as the beggar (Eurymachus and Antinous footstool)

Antinous honours the bet by giving Odysseus a lamb after the battle with Irus

Antinous admires Penelope’s beauty

Amphinomous toasts O after the battle

Amphinomous gets the suitors to agree to leave after one last drink thus adhering to Ts request

O gives Amphinomous a way out by saying if he leaves now he will be spared

Book 19

Telemachus gets rid of the swords

Eurycleia keeps Odysseus’ secret

Eurycleia helped raise Telemachus

Melantho betrays Penelope

Eurycleia gets the women away from the battle

Penelope delays the suitors so Odysseus can return

Book 21

Telemachus and Eumaeus advocate for Odysseus to get the bow

Journey of the bow builds tension - gripping passage

Antinous as pious cos wants to make a sacrifice to Apollo to help with the bow challenge

Book 22

Athene helps Odysseus battle the suitors as a bird

Disloyal maids who slept with suitors hanged

Divine intervention - gripping passage

Melanthius getting weapons for suitors - gripping passage

Eurycleia points out the disloyal servants

Book 23

the bed test

Athene elongates the night to allow P+O to spend more time together