The Odyssey Exam

Odysseus

king of Ithaca, master trickster, travels all around trying to return to Ithaca, encounters monsters and such, given hospitality by many people on this travels, comes up with false but laced with truth backstories of who he is when he goes to these different places

Penelope

Odysseus’ wife, has been waiting for Odysseus to come back for years but she has been courted by many suitors for the entire time he was gone; possibly more of a trickster than Odysseus when she causes him to lose composure over their marriage bed

Telemachus [Telemachos]

son of Odysseus and Penelope, goes on a quest to find information about his father, helps his father take back their home from the suitors, coming of age story

Athena [Athene]

goddess of wisdom and war, helps Odysseus and Telemachus on their journeys, directly will intervene to help them

Zeus

king of the gods, decides that Odysseus can finally come home, god of supplication and hospitality, he punishes those who are reckless

Poseidon

god of sea, earthquakes, and monsters; Odysseus wounds Polyphemus and then Poseidon wrecks the rest of Odysseus’ journey

Hermes

god of thieves and messengers, Hermes goes to tell Calypso that it is time for Odysseus to return home, psychopomp for the suitors to the Underworld

Calypso [Kalypso]

sorceress that keeps Odysseus with her for many years, loves him, she and Odysseus have relations but Odysseus misses home and Penelope

Nausicaa

daughter of Alcinous and Arete, princess of Phaeacians, helps Odysseus after he is shipwrecked on Scheria the home of Phaeacians, getting ready for marriage, coming of age

Arete

queen of Phaeacians, mother of Nausicaa, wife of Alcinous; Odysseus supplicates himself to Arete when he comes to Scheria not the king, seen as more of an equal to the king rather than subservient and has a lot of wisdom and good judgement, offers hospitality to Odysseus

Alcinous [Alkinoos]

king of Phaeacians, father of Nausicaa, husband of Arete; asks Odysseus to tell the story of his journey and gives him resources to help him get back to Ithaca

Cyclops / Polyphemos [-us]

son of Poseidon, captures Odysseus and his crew and begins to eat his men, loses his eye to Odysseus during their escape

Circe

daughter of Helios and Perse, sorceress, turned Odysseus’ men into pigs but then he gets her to turn them back into humans, Odysseus and his men stay on her island for a year, she gives them valuable advice for their journey after they go to the Underworld

Antinous [Antinoos]

main suitor for Penelope, plots to kill Telemachus, most arrogant and disrespectful, Odysseus kills him first

Eurymachus [Eurymachos]

other suitor for Penelope, deceitful and manipulative, tries to blame his behavior on Antinous but gets killed

Aegisthus [Aigisthos]

lover of Clytemnestra, kills Agamemnon, killed by Orestes

Agamemnon

husband to Clytemnestra, killed by Aegisthus after returning from Troy, death is avenged by Orestes

Clytemnestra [Klytaimestra]

Agamemnon’s wife, Aegisthus’ lover, mother of Orestes, plots to kill Agamemnon when he returns from the Trojan War

Phemius [Phemois]

bard in Odysseus’ palace

Pisistratus [Peisistratos]

son of Nestor, helps Telemachus when he goes to Sparta

Proteus

“old man of the sea,” reveals to Telemachus that Odysseus is alive and stranded on Calypso’s island

Halitherses

Ithacan elder and prophet that interprets the signs from the gods, two eagles sent by Zeus in Book 2 and sees that as Odysseus coming back soon

Demodocus [Demodokos]

blind bard in Phaeacia who tells a story of the Trojan War and his friends who all died, made Odysseus die

Eurycleia [Eurykleia]

nurse to Odysseus and Telemachus, very loyal to him and his family, identifies Odysseus by a scar on his leg from his youth

Anticleia [Antikleia]

dead mother of Odysseus, meets Odysseus in the Underworld and tells him she died of grief, gives him information about what is happening with Penelope and Telemachus

Aeolus [Aiolos]

rules of the winds, gives a bag of wind to Odysseus as a gift, his crew opens the bag and it blows them completely off course when they can see Ithaca (recklessness)

Eurylochus [Eurylochus]

loyal companion to Odysseus, he plants the idea to the crew to kill the cattle of the sun god which leads to the death of all of his companions, doesn’t go into Circe’s house because he thinks its dangerous and that begins a divide between Odysseus and the crew, recklessness, foil for Odysseus?

Elpenor

part of Odysseus’s crew, youngest member, gets drunk and falls off of Circe’s roof and dies, meets in Underworld with Odysseus

Teiresias

blind prophet that Odysseus meets in the Underworld and gives him a bunch of prophecies to help him on the journey

Tityos, Tantalos, Sisyphos

criminals that are being eternally punished in the Underworld by the gods, don’t get on the gods’ bad side

Achilles [Achilleus]

meets with Odysseus in the underworld, tells him about how he wishes he could have one more moment of life instead of glory

Ajax [Aias]

warrior from the Iliad, rejects being dead and doesn’t want to see Odysseus

Sirens

mythical creatures who lure men to their deaths with their song, Odysseus is tied to the mast only so he can hear them sing but not go to his death

Skylla [Scylla] and Charbdis

Skylla: monster with 6 heads that kills some of Odysseus’ crew

Charbdis: big whirlpool that Odysseus’ ship avoids at the expense of the 6 who die from Skylla

Odysseus wants to avoid both the monsters to save all of his crew but he is unable to

Helios / Hyperion

sun god, owned cattle that Odysseus’ crew slaughtered and he killed all of them and then Odysseus was stranded on an island for years

Ithaca [Ithaka]

Odysseus’ homeland, where he is trying to return to the entire story

Pylos

kingdom of Nestor, Telemachus goes there to get information about his father

Sparta (Lacedaemon, Lakedaimon)

home of Melenaus and Helen, Telemachus goes there to learn about the whereabouts of his father

Aiaia (Circe’s island)

mythical island that is Circe’s home, magic rich land, Odysseus and his crew are there for a year while on their journey

Scheria (Phaiacians’ home)

not a real place, final stop of Odysseus’s journey before he returns home

Egypt (Melenaus’ travels)

place of past adventure and wealth, shows where the Greeks traveled to

honor and glory

Odysseus: earns through intelligence, trickery, and endurance; outsmarts Polyphemus, survives Scylla and Charybdis, resisting temptations, and restoring justice in Ithaca

Telemachus: travels to Pylos and Sparta to look for his father, standing up to the suitors, growing into a courageous and respected man

Suitors: dishonored Odysseus’ hospitality and no honor or glory

supplication

Odysseus supplicates Queen Arete in book 7: asks the queen for shelter and help getting home, supplicates the Queen instead of the King which shows she holds power

Odysseus supplicates Nausicaa: does not touch her knees because he is naked and dirty, so it does it from a far, she offers him help and clothing

Leodes supplicates Odysseus: suitor that supplicates during the slaughter of the suitors because he says he tries to stop the suitors, Odysseus kills him anyways

What is the significance of hospitality and guest-friendship in the Odyssey?

Good

King Alcinous and Queen Arete: supplicates and asks for help to get home, feed him and entertain him and then ask him his story after he has been cared for, cements an alliance, allows opportunity to tell stories

Nester and Menelaus: lavishly welcome Telemachus, properly hosting him to honor Zeus, civilized behavior

Eumaeus the Swineherd: he is a poor servant but still offers Odysseus food and shelter because he comes to his house, moral character, survival

Bad

Suitors: take all the resources of Ithaca

Cyclops: the crew takes all of his stuff, and then he retaliates and eats some of the men

Laestrygonians: cannibals

How does the theme of “recklessness” frame and structure the story of the Odyssey?

Zeus warns that humans will become prey to their recklessness and it will be their downfall (crew and suitors)

Crew went against the word from the gods and slaughtered the cattle and they all perished, opened the bag of wind and blew them entirely off course

Suitors disrespected Odysseus’s palace and his family, so Odysseus exacted revenge on them and killed them all

Odysseus also is reckless when he openly taunts Polyphemus just because he can, and that gets his crew killed

Aegisthus takes Clymnestra as his lover, knowing that Agamemnon is her husband, even though he kills Agamemnon he gets killed by Orestes

Is recklessness a deep moral of the story?

Moral test for people to pass, the suitors and crew do not because they constantly go against the will of the gods and disrespect customs important to greek culture, Odysseus (mostly), Penelope, and Telemachus are respectful and make good decisions and exercise restraint and do not act recklessly

hubris in the Odyssey

Suitors think they will win over Telemachus and Odysseus, suitors throw objects at Odysseys when he is disguised as a beggar, Odysseus and his crew demand hospitality from the Cyclops even though they came into his home uninvited

crew and suitors are punished and justice is doled out to them for this hubris: Odysseus killed the suitors, but did he go too far when he punished the servants for sleeping with the suitors when he was gone?, crew was killed because they slaughtered the cattle and stole from the cyclops

folktale and “magical” elements and items

Magical world and travel: Sirens, Skylla, Charybdis, Cyclops, Phaeacians

Helen’s drug

catalogue poetry = Catalogue of Women in Underworld

oral tradition, shows that women were also important in this story because they were included in this like the Catalogue of Ships in the Iliad

What kind of afterlife does ancient Greek culture, as represented by the Odyssey expect?

Hermes guides the souls of the dead to the Underworld where they stay forever, but there is not a lot of solace for the people there, Achilles would rather be the poorest man alive than be king of the dead even though they honored him when he died, the dead in Books 11 and 24 have two different modes of consciousness which could suggest there are is a different author for each of those parts

Does trickery represent a different kind of heroism in the Odyssey?

Is Odysseus a good leader and hero?

Odysseus is always introduced with some sort of trickery epithet, but he tends to make the right decisions: Athena helps disguise Odysseus so he is able to get into the palace to get revenge on the suitors, outwits enemies instead of overpowering them, Odysseus returns home to restore order not to conquer a new place either

Odysseus is clever and thinks on his feet, overcomes all of the trials he faces, good leader; however, shows hubris when he taunts the Cyclops when he doesn’t need to, doesn’t share information with his crew when he should

Penelope is also tricky when she tricks the suitors and Odysseus, and she is seen as a good person even though she is tricky

ancient interpretation of Homer

Thucydides: story with historical truth, but take with a grain of salt

Plato: fake, incompatible with Greek values

Porphyry: allegory (Cave of Nymphs), more so stoic philosophers

Lucretius and Heracleitus: symbolic, explains afterlife

Eumaeus [Eumaios]

Odysseus’s faithful swineherd, very respectful, lives in poverty but he still respects the gods by offering hospitality to Odysseus and he honors the gods

The Suitors

group of young men who have been in Odysseus’ home for the last 9+ years and have been stealing his resources and food for that time and have been vying for Penelope’s hand in marriage

Amphinomus [Amphinomos]

suitor who is the most mild tempered out of all the suitors, Penelope would’ve preferred to marry him if Odysseus didn’t come back, Odysseus warned him to leave but he didn’t because he felt like he couldn’t escape fate, Telemachus killed him

Argos

Odysseus’ old dog, he was neglected while he was away, but when Argos saw/smelled Odysseus in disguise he recognized him and wags his tail, he dies shortly after he sees his master for the last time

Melanthius [Melanthios]

Odysseus’ disloyal goatherd, supports the suitors by bringing them goats, mocks Odysseus when he is there in disguise, tries to arm the suitors in the final battle, mutilated and dismembered for his betrayal

Melantho

disloyal handmaid to Penelope, supports the suitors, lover to Eurymachus, insults Odysseus when he comes in as a beggar, betrayal really hurts Penelope, symbolized the breakdown of order in his household, killed for betrayal

Philoetius [Philoitios]

Odysseus’ loyal cowherd, shows Odysseus hospitality and reverence when he is disguised as a beggar

Leodes

suitor who was a priest of Apollo, mind tempered and not like the other suitors, supplicated to Odysseus in the final battle but Odysseus killed him anyways

Medon

herald for the suitors, reluctant to serve, but he is spared

Laertes

Odysseus’ father, aged and grieving man who has been waiting for Odysseus to come home, but they are reunited when he finally returns