Odyssey

C

Odysseus Recounts His Adventures

Beginning at his departure from Troy, Odysseus gives an enthralling description of his encounters with many strange peoples and monsters: the vengeful Cicones; the Lotus-eaters with their memory-erasing food; the gigantic, one-eyed Cyclops who ate members of Odysseus’s crew; Aeolus, king of the winds, on his floating island surrounded by a wall of bronze; the cannibal Laestrygones; the enchantress Circe who can turn men into animals by her magic potion and with whom Odysseus stays for a year; the ghosts in the underworld; the Sirens with their spellbinding song (which Odysseus resisted by having himself bound to the mast of his ship as he sailed past, having filled the ears of his companions with wax); the impossible passage between Scylla and Charybdis, the ravenous sea monster and the voracious whirlpool; the sacred cattle of the Sun that prove fatal to his crew; and finally, when Odysseus had lost all his ships and companions, the kindly Calypso on her lonely island.

Odysseus’s narrative delights the listening Phaeacians far into the night. They give him generous gifts and send him homeward on a swift ship. After a deep sleep Odysseus finds himself in Ithaca, after almost 20 years of absence.

D

The Return of Odysseus

Athena meets him and warns him of the dangerous situation in his palace: The suitors, now insolent and impatient, will probably kill him if he returns openly. She disguises Odysseus as an old beggar and sets off to bring Telemachus home from the mainland. Odysseus goes to the farm of the gentle swineherd Eumaeus, who, without penetrating his disguise, treats him kindly. Odysseus’s dog, though old and too weak to rise, recognizes his master’s voice.

Telemachus arrives and eventually with Athena’s help recognizes his father. They make plans for the destruction of the suitors. Telemachus goes to the palace; Odysseus follows later still in disguise. He is roughly treated by some of the servants and suitors and has to fight with the beggar Irus.

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Odysseus then converses with Penelope and deceives her with a fictitious story. The nurse Eurycleia recognizes Odysseus by a scar on his leg, but he prevents her from informing anyone else. Penelope tells Odysseus, whom she still does not recognize, about a strange dream she has had about the death of the suitors, and announces that she will hold a competition to decide which of the suitors is to marry her.

E

Odysseus Revealed

The next day Penelope orders Telemachus to introduce the trial of strength and skill: Whoever is able to string Odysseus’s mighty bow and shoot an arrow through the handle-holes of a row of axe heads shall marry her. Many suitors try and fail; Odysseus succeeds. He throws off his disguise, leaps on the threshold of the hall and, joined by Telemachus and two loyal servants, slaughters the suitors. Later Penelope, after determining that this man is her long-lost husband (she cleverly devises her own test of his identity), accepts him with joy.

The next day Odysseus goes to see his aged father, Laertes. But the relatives of the suitors pursue him, and Odysseus, aided by his father and son and some loyal servants, resists. Athena, with the approval of Zeus, intervenes to establish peace and prosperity in Ithaca again.

III

The Characters

Though in language, style, meter, and characterization the Odyssey closely resembles the Iliad, in setting, atmosphere, and mood it is often more like a folk tale or a romantic novel than a heroic epic. The central figure, Odysseus, is a true hero; but his chief exploits are no longer on the field of battle or in military council, but among magicians, monsters, and domestic enemies. Here resourcefulness is as important as strength, cunning as necessary as courage, but he must learn to use his cunning and strength appropriately. Odysseus’s wife Penelope has as heroic a struggle as her husband to maintain her loyalty and affection and the integrity of her house during Odysseus’s long absence. Homer makes it clear that she is as resourceful and intelligent as her husband. Telemachus grows up under Athena’s guidance and helps Penelope fight off her suitors.

There are many vivid portraits among the minor figures: faithful servants like Eumaeus and Eurycleia; Laertes, a kind of rural Priam; the ghost of Anticleia, full of yearning for her lost son; the arrogant leaders of the suitors; the tender Calypso; the sinister and beautiful Circe; the naive, savage Cyclops; and kings, queens, princesses, sailors, servants, ghosts, magicians, monsters—a teeming world half magical, half realistic. The gods on the whole are more principled and concerned with morality than in the Iliad; Athena is a figure of some charm. In contrast with the tragic ending of the Iliad, the Odyssey concludes with a vision of justice: The righteous are rewarded, the unjust are slain, and the last word is with the gods.

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