THE ODYSSEY

CHARACTERS
• Odysseus: the protagonist of the Odyssey. Odysseus is strong, courageous and wise and fought
among the other Greek heroes at Troy and now struggles to return to his kingdom in Ithaca.
Odysseus is the husband of Queen Penelope and the father of Prince Telemachus.
• Telemachus: Odysseus’s son.
• Penelope: wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus.
• Athena: daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom.
• Poseidon: god of the sea. Poseidon is Odysseus’ enemy and despises him for blinding his son,
the Cyclops Polyphemus and constantly hampers his journey home.
• Zeus: king of gods and helps Odysseus.
• Kalypso (i.e. ‘the one who conceals, p. 186): the nymph who falls in love with Odysseus when
he lands on her island-home of Ogygia.
 SUMMARY
• Ten years have passed since the fall of Troy and the Greek hero Odysseus, inventor of the Trojan Horse, still has
not returned to his kingdom in Ithaca. A large group of suitors who have overrun Odysseus’s palace and his land
continue to court his wife Penelope and plan to assassinate the young prince Telemachus in order to be able to
take full dominance over the palace.

• However, Odysseus is still alive. The beautiful nymph Calypso, possessed by love for him, has imprisoned him
on her island, Ogygia for 7 years after he rejected her. He longs to return to his wife and son, but he has no ship
or crew to help him escape.

(Odysseus’ tragedy was being away from his family for 10 years, while his land was being possessed and his family
enslaved.)

• On Mount Olympus, Zeus sends Hermes to rescue Odysseus from Calypso. Hermes persuades Calypso to let
Odysseus build a ship and leave. The homesick hero sets sail, but when Poseidon, god of the sea, finds him
sailing home, he sends a storm to wreck Odysseus’s ship. Poseidon despises Odysseus for blinding his son, the
Cyclops Polyphemus. Athena, who has always been a supporter of Odysseus intervenes to save Odysseus from
Poseidon’s wrath. Odysseus lands at Scheria, home of the Phaeacians, and is warmly welcomed by the king and
 SUMMARY
• When the Phaeacians return to Ithaca, Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, hides in the hut of his faithful swineherd,
Eumaeus. Then, he encounters his son Telemachus, who has returned from Pylos and Sparta despite the suitors’
ambush. Odysseus and Telemachus devise a plan to kill the suitors and regain control of Ithaca.

(10 years Trojan war, 7 years trapped by Calypso, 3 years going back home: total 20 years)

• When Odysseus arrives at the palace the next day, still disguised as a beggar, he is abused and insulted by the suitors.
The only person who recognizes him is his wife Penelope who suspects the beggar to be her long-lost husband. So,
Penelope organizes an archery contest and promises to marry any man who can string Odysseus’s great bow and fire an
arrow through a row of twelve axes—a feat that only Odysseus has ever been able to accomplish. At the contest, each
suitor tries to string the bow and fails. Odysseus steps up to the bow and, with little effort, fires an arrow through all
twelve axes. He then turns the bow on the suitors. He and Telemachus, assisted by a few faithful servants, kill every
last suitor.

• Odysseus reveals himself to the entire palace and reunites with his loving Penelope [Athena grants permission to
Aphrodite to beautify Odysseus (secret of the bed)], so that his wife would recognize him and he would be handsome
again. ). He travels to the outskirts of Ithaca to see his aging father, Laertes. However, they are suddenly attacked by
the vengeful family members of the dead suitors. Laertes successfully kills the enemy and puts a stop to the attacks.
With his power secure and his family reunited, Odysseus’s long ordeal comes to an end.
 TERMS AND ANALYSIS
• Cosmos:
- From TROY, Asia Minor (Turkey) to Ithaca, Greece
- Island, Ogygia
- Scheria, home of the Phaeacians.
• Moira:
- Odysseus’ moira is to go back to Greece to be reunited with his family
• Arête:
- Odysseus invented, came up with the idea of the Trojan horse
- Odysseus is also humble: “I came to serve, not to be served”.
• Hubris:
- Odysseus blinded Poseidon’s son, the Cyclope
- Odysseus rejected Calypso’s love
• Hamartia: (hypothetical)
- if Odysseus had accepted Calypso’s love and stayed with her on the island, he would have caused an error in action,
reversal of action, and had gone beyond his moira because he would have become immortal
- if Odysseus hadn’t obeyed Zeus in leaving the island, he would have gone beyond his moira of returning with his
family.
 CHARACTERISTICS
OF TRAGIC HERO
• Wise : invented the Trojan horse + “I came to serve, not to be
served.”
• Comely: Secret of the bed.
• Strong/ Courageous: fought for 10 years in the Trojan war.
• Firm/ Resolute: It took him 20 years to go back home, and he never
gave up.