Odyssey Review Books 1-8, Epic Conventions

Queen Arete

Odysseus hugs her knees and begs for help

Ogygia

The beautiful Island home of Calypso

Penelope

“wove the mighty cloth and then by torchlight unwoven it”

Zeus

Gives his daughter permission to help Odysseus

Eurymachus

Suitor, kinder than most

Poseidon

“Prevents Odysseus from reaching home, but does not kill him”

Laertes

The aging father of Odysseus

Phaeacians

Known for fast ships, welcome the stranger, Odysseus.

King Alcinous

King of Phaeacia, asks Odysseus to tell of his wanderings

Eurycleia

Odysseus’s trusted slave, aids Telemachus

Antinuous

Leader of suitors, cruel to Telemachus

Calypso

Beautiful sea nymph who says, “You male gods always become angry when a goddess takes a lover”

Hermes

God who delivers the news that Calypso must release Odysseus

Ithaca

Island home of Odysseus

Athena

goddess of war and wisdom, tells Telemachus he “must not stick to childhood”

Nausicaa

Phaeacian princess who helps Odysseus

Nestor

King of Pylos, meets with Telemachus

Menelaus

Ling of Sparta, married to Helen, meets with Telemachus

Helen

Queen of Sparta, cause of the Trojan War

Epic Simile

A direct comparison that extends over several lines, compares something fantastic to something mundane (common)

Invocation

“Tell me about a complicated man”

Call for muse’s help in storytelling

Meter

Dactyllic Hexameter

Rhythmic pattern of the lines in the Odyssey

Stock Epithet

Odysseus, the Lord of lies

an appositive describing a character

Epic Digression

A story in the epic that does not further the plot

Descent into the underworld

The lowest point for the hero of an epic

In medias res

Beginning a story in the middle of the action

Epic battle

Long descriptive battle scenes

Sparta

Home to Menelaus, destination for Telemachus

Pylos

Home to Nestor, destination of Telemachus

Poseidon

Who says, “He has almost reached Phaeacia, where it is his destiny to flee the rope of pain that binds him now. But I will goad him to more misery, till he is sick of it”?

Trojan Horse

What was “dragged inside the citadel” and “filled up with men”