Odyssey Summary 1
Odyssey Summary
From:
Book I
Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns
Driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy.
Many cities of men he saw and learned their minds,
many pains he suffered, heartsick on the open sea,
fighting to save his life and bring his comrades home.
But he could not save them from disaster, hard as he strove -
the recklessness of their own ways destroyed them all,
the blind fools, they devoured the cattle of the Sun
and the Sungod blotted out the day of their return.
"Launch out on his story, Muse, daughter of Zeus,
start from where you will - sing for our time too.
Thus begins the great, epic poem the "Odyssey" by Homer. In this introductory paragraph, Homer calls for the muse of poetry to help him in reciting properly the story of brave Odysseus. It is, as the paragraph reads, the tale of a man who has overcome many experiences since the Trojan War in his journey to reach home.
The tale opens with a divine council on Mount Olympusled by Zeus. All the major gods and goddesses are present except Poseidon, who is visiting the land of the Ethiopians. Zeus is speaking to the story of Aegisthus, the murderer of Agamemnon, when Athene interrupts him. The bright-eyed goddess reminds her father of poor Odysseus being separate from his family. She suggests that the gods resume their former friendship with him, and send Hermes immediately to Calypso, ordering her to free Odysseus. She points out that while Poseidon is bitter because Odysseus has blinded one of his sons, yet he can still be made to submit to the combined will of the other gods. Zeus and the other gods acquiesce to this suggestion, and Athene disguises herself as a mighty warrior to go see Telemachus, the son of Odysseus.
When Athene arrives at Ithaca, she finds that the palace of Odysseus is overrun by a horde of suitors trying to court Penelope, wife of Odysseus, and ravaging his property by holding feasts. Athene identifies herself asMentor, a Taphian chieftain and an old friend of Odysseus, and is welcomed by Telemachus. The two sit down to dinner and Telemachus apologizes for the behavior of the suitors. He asks Athene for news of his father, if there was any. Athene tells him that Odysseus is alive and that he will eventually return home to regain his throne and punish the suitors. Athene admonishes that he call a meeting of the Assembly at which he can give the suitors notice to leave his house and also announce his intention of sailing off to Pylos and Sparta to seek news of his father. Furthermore, Athene points out, if Odysseus is dead, then it is time for Telemachus to take responsibility by claiming his inheritance and punishing the suitors. The goddess then departs.
Book II
The next morning Telemachus calls together the Assembly. At the meeting Telemachus declares that he has not called together the Assembly for any civic danger or necessity but to officially denounce the suitors who have wasted his father's wealth on the pretext of courting Penelope. The gathered Assembly is quiet for a few moments before Antinous, one of the most insolent suitors, verbally attacks Telemachus. Antinous argues that Penelope is leading on all the suitors, but refuses to choose one of them, thus preventing them from selecting other wives. Eurymachus, another suitor, later adds that the suitors will not leave until Penelope selects one of them. Telemachus then proposes that he be given a ship and crew to search for news of his father. He asserts that if Odysseus is really deceased he will conduct a funeral ceremony and coerce his mother to choose a new husband. On the other hand, if he finds out that Odysseus is still alive then he will no longer accept the suitors at his house. Mentor, an old friend of Odysseus, then rises to speak and praises the wisdom of Telemachus, but other suitors harass him and the Assembly disperses.
After the dispersal of the Assembly Telemachus goes to the seashore and prays to Athene for help. She appears to him as Mentor and together they plan to get a ship despite the opposition of the suitors. Then Telemachus goes home and tells his old nurse, Eurycleia, of his plans and orders her not to tell his mother of his leave for as long as possible so she will not worry about him. At the same time, Athene, disguised now as Telemachus, searches through the town pulling together a crew and procuring a ship. Returning to the guise of Mentor, she then joins Telemachus again and they, with the crew load the ship. At nightfall, they set sail and start off to Pylos to seek information from King Nestor about Odysseus.
Book III
When Telemachus and his crew, accompanied by Athene in the guise of Mentor, reach Pylos they find King Nestor and his sons on the beach offering sacrifice to Poseidon. Telemachus and Athene are received graciously, and are invited to the palace for dinner.
Telemachus identifies himself after eating, and explains to King Nestor why he has come to seek him. King Nestor then goes into a long-winded speech about the Trojan expedition. He says that after the war a dispute arose between Agamemnon and his brother, Menelaus. The army, then, divided into two groups and sailed homed separately. Well, Odysseus started off with Nestor, but another quarrel took place at Tenedos, and Odysseus left to join Agamemnon. This was the last time Nestor had seen him. After some more talk about the arrivals home of the other heroes, King Nestor suggests that Telemachus goes to see Menelaus about his father since he is the one who has the most recent information on him. Telemachus and Mentor agree. Later on, Telemachus accepts to stay for the night.
In the morning, Nestor supplies Telemachus with a chariot and has Peisistratus, his youngest son, accompany him to Sparta to see Menelaus.
Book IV
There is a great feast in progress, celebrating the impending weddings of the king's sons and daughters, when Telemachus and Peisistratus arrive at the palace of Menelaus in Sparta. They are welcomed to join the feast.
During the course of conversation, while eating, Menelaus refers to Odysseus several times. When Telemachus hears this he begins to weep. Queen Helen then joins the feast and notices how Telemachus resembles his father. She mentions to her husband, and then Peisistratus then introduces himself and Telemachus. Feeling that it would not be good to talk about sad memories during the feast, Menelaus decides to discuss Telemachus' business tomorrow morning.
The next day Menelaus and Telemachus havea private meeting about his father. Menelaus says that when he was blown off course down to Egypt he encountered Proteus, the Old Man of the Sea, whom he forced to give him information. Proteus told him of the happenings and whereabouts of his fellow comrades from the Trojan War. He told him of all the people who made it home, and he told him about Agamemnon being killed by Aegisthus. Then Proteus informed him that Odysseus is still alive and on the island of the nymph Calypso. Telemachus thanks Menelaus for his helpful information and leaves.
Meanwhile, on Ithaca, the suitors discover that Telemachus has left. So they decide to prepare a ship and kill Telemachus when he sails into Ithaca. Penelope finally finds out about Telemachus going on his voyage when her servant told her. She then becomes even more overcome by grief and locks herself in her room. That night Athene sends a dream in which Penelope's sister appears to her and tells her that Telemachus is safe.
Book V
When Hermes arrives at Ogygia, Calypso's island, he finds Odysseus sitting on a bench and weeping for his family. Hermes delivers his message to Calypso about releasing Odysseus. Calypso becomes indignant upon hearing this, but consents because she nows she cannot defy the gods. After Hermes disperses, Calypso tells Odysseus that he is free to leave. With her aid he builds himself a small boat and eagerly sets sail for home.
As this is taking place, Poseidon returns from the land of the Ethiopians and notices Odysseus. He becomes enraged and creates a tempest. Amid the storm, Odysseus' small boat capsizes and breaks apart leaving him clinging to a piece of wood floating in the deep sea. Athene then sees him, and with the aid of a sea nymph, helps him reach the island of Phaeacia. Overly exhausted, he stumbles on shore and falls asleep among some olive bushes.
Books VI-VIII
The next morning Odysseus is found by Princess Nausicaa and some of her maids while doing the palace laundry near the river. They give him food to eat and clothes to wear and direct him to the city. Odysseus goes to the palace of King Alcinous and Queen Arete, where he is received with great kindness and generosity. The king and queen promise to help him to travel to Ithaca. After a couple days of resting there, at a banquet of the Phaecian nobility, Odysseus reveals his true identity and tells the story of his adventures during the nine years after the fall of Troy.
Book IX
Odysseus starts off on telling his story at the time when he and his men leave Troy. After splitting off from the other groups, Odysseus' fleet came upon the land of the Cicones. Here the men raided the towns of riches and the woman. Odysseus warned his men not to over-do-it, but his men did anyway by taking the women to the beaches to party. Meanwhile the Cicones called upon their neighbors to help them fight the intruders. While Odysseus' men were partying on the beach they were attacked. They fought back, but were ultimately defeated, suffering heavy losses.
The fleet sailed south, and was blown off CapeMaleas by a severe storm. They kept sailing on until they came upon the country of the Lotus-Eaters. The inhabitants of this strange land were amiable, but those of Odysseus' men who ate of the lotus, a local plant, quickly lost all memory of home and duty. Odysseus and his men who did not eat the plant dragged the men who did eat it back to the ship and sailed on.Moving westward, they eventually came to the island of the Cyclops. Leaving most of his men in a sheltered cove, Odysseus with only one ship landed on the island and he, with a party of twelve, went ashore. The group wandered until they came to a huge cave, outfitted with a shepherd's equipment, and they went inside to await the owner. After a while, a huge Cyclops named Polyphemus came back to the cave, driving in his flocks before him, and pushed a gigantic rock in front of the entrance into the cave. When Polyphemus noticed the Achaeans in his cave, he immediately picked up two of them, smashed them against the ground, and then ate them raw. Odysseus tried to outsmart the cyclops by talking to him, but his efforts were in vain. In the morning Polyphemus killed two more of the Achaeans and took his flock outside, and rolling the enormous boulder back in front of the entrance.
Odysseus and his men knew that if they killed the giant in his sleep then they could not remove the rock to get out of the cave, so Odysseus devised a clever plan and they sharpened and hid a long olive pole. When Polyphemus returned to the cave that evening, Odysseus gave him some wine with a special ingredient that would make the cyclops sleep heavily. Before Polyphemus fell asleep he inquired of Odysseus' name. The wily Achaean answered, "Nobody." When the cyclops slept, Odysseus and his men took the olive pole and stabbed Polyphemus in the eye with it. The giant awoke screaming with rage and pain, but futilely fumbled for his assailants. His cries attracted his neighbors, but when he told them that "Nobody" was responsible for his eye, they assumed that it was an act of the gods, and returned to there homes.
In the morning Polyphemus opened the cave to let out his sheep to graze. Odysseus and his men tied themselves to the bellies of the sheep and slipped by the cyclops without him even knowing it.
Upon reaching their ship again, the Achaeans set sail at once in great terror. While still near the island, Odysseus foolishly shouted to Polyphemus, bragging about his exploit. The giant frantically hurled giant boulders in the direction of his voice, nearly hitting the ship on several occasions. Then even more foolishly, Odysseus announced his true identity. With that Polyphemus called upon his father, Poseidon, to punish the man who had harmed him.
Book X
After a few days time of sailing, Odysseus and his men came to an island of the name of Aeolus. The island was home to the king of the winds. The Achaeans were greeted with hospitality, and when they were ready to depart from the island, Aeolus, the king, gave Odysseus a large leather bag which held all the adverse winds which would drive his ships off course. Then they set sail and in ten days were in sight of Ithaca.
While Odysseus slept, his men began to think that the bag that Odysseus received from Aeolus contained treasures which he was going to hoard to himself. So they decided to open it. When they did they were blown away from Ithaca and back to the island of Aeolus. King Aeolus refused to give them forgiveness and banished them from the island. The Achaeans were forced to leave the island without any wind so they had to use the strength to move the ships by oars. Several days past until they came to the island of the Laestrygonians. These vicious cannibals attacked the unsuspecting visitors, and all the ships except Odysseus' were sunk. The lone surviving ship sailed on until it reached the island of Aeaea, the home of the goddess Circe.
After staying on the beach for a couple of days, Odysseus sent half his men under the command of Eurylochus to explore the island. Shortly afterward Eurylochus came back alone and told them of what happened to the others. The men where lured into a lavish palace where a beautiful woman lived. There they were fed and entertained. Then when the woman waved a wand they all transformed into pigs. He alone had stayed outside because of his suspicious nature, and so he escaped.
This weird tale, scared the rest of the men, but brave Odysseus set out alone to rescue his men. On the way there he encountered Hermes, messenger of the gods. Hermes gave him instructions on how to act with the enchantress, and he also gave him a magic herb called Moly with which to protect himself from her powers.
When Odysseus came to the palace, Circe received him graciously and then attempted to bewitch him, but with no avail. He soon overcame her and when he threatened her life, she returned his men to human form. After these events, Circe recognized Odysseus as someone whose eventual arrival on her island was predicted and whose acquaintance she longed for. The two soon became lovers and he and his crew stay for a year at her home.
After this year, Odysseus' men start to yearn for Ithaca again. They remind Odysseus of his home, and he holds Circe to an old promise to help him return home and she agreed. However, she pointed out to him, in order to have a safe voyage he must first go to Hades to consult the spirit of the prophet Tiresias. She gave him full directions for his journey and provided him with provisions and animals to sacrifice. And so, Odysseus and his men set sail once more.
Book XI
Following the instructions given to him by Circe, Odysseus and his men sailed to the end of the world. Here they made libations to the dead and offered prayers and sacrificed a ram and a black ewe. At once a horde of dead souls began to emerge out of Hades attracted by the odor of the fresh blood. Odysseus held off the horde with his sword, until Tiresias came.
The blind sear advised Odysseus about his return home. He admonished the hero of the various dangers that still awaited him on his journey home and how he would finally arrive at Ithaca unknown and friendless. After some more difficulties, he would re-take his rightful place as master of his house and island. Tiresias went further to tell him that his wanderings would not end until he was able to regain the favor of Poseidon. After he achieved that, he would lie out a long and tranquil life.