THE MAIN CHARACTERS
ODDYSEUS TELEMACHUS PENELOPE CIRCE POSEIDON
WEEK 6
THE ODYSSEY BY HOMER
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The hero of The Odyssey goes on one of those
dangerous and long journeys, coming across many
obstacles and fighting for his life numerous times
before being able to return home after 10 years!
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STUDY GUIDE
• Most likely written between 750 and 650 B.C.,
• It is an epic poem about the wanderings of the Greek hero Odysseus
following his victory in the Trojan War
• The Odyssey has been so influential that its primary theme -- the desire for
home -- may be the most important one in modern narratives
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STUDY GUIDE
• There has been fervent debate, especially since the 19th century,
over the authorship of both poems. Some scholars maintain that
they are the work of multiple writers, while others believe that
both are the product of a blind bard named Homer.
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STUDY GUIDE
• One likely theory is that the illiterate Homer had memorized
heroic stories that had been passed down through the ages and
altered them slightly when he sang them to audiences and
strummed a simple stringed instrument for musical
accompaniment.
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STUDY GUIDE
• Someone else then cobbled together Homer's various narratives
and wrote down first The Iliad, then The Odyssey, most likely on a
papyrus scroll. The stories were then copied, and undoubtedly
evolved, over time, helping explain particularly the uneven final
third of The Odyssey.
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THE ODYSSEY
HERE’S HOW THE
STORY GOES..
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THE ODDYSEY
By Homer | 750 and 650 B.C.
Ten years have passed since the fall of Troy, and the
Greek hero Odysseus still has not returned to his
kingdom in Ithaca. A large and rowdy mob of suitors
who have overrun Odysseus’s palace and pillaged
his land continue to court his wife, Penelope. She
has remained faithful to Odysseus.
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THE ODDYSEY
By Homer | 750 and 650 B.C.
Prince Telemachus, Odysseus’s son, wants
desperately to throw them out but does not have
the confidence or experience to fight them. One of
the suitors, Antinous, plans to assassinate the young
prince, eliminating the only opposition to their
dominion over the palace.
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THE ODDYSEY
By Homer | 750 and 650 B.C.
Unknown to the suitors, Odysseus is still alive. The
beautiful nymph Calypso, possessed by love for him,
has imprisoned him on her island, Ogygia. He longs
to return to his wife and son, but he has no ship or
crew to help him escape.
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THE ODDYSEY
By Homer | 750 and 650 B.C.
While the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus debate
Odysseus’s future, Athena, Odysseus’s strongest
supporter among the gods, resolves to help Telemachus.
Disguised as a friend of the prince’s grandfather, Laertes,
she convinces the prince to call a meeting of the assembly
at which he reproaches the suitors.
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THE ODDYSEY
By Homer | 750 and 650 B.C.
Athena also prepares him for a great journey to Pylos and
Sparta, where the kings Nestor and Menelaus, Odysseus’s
companions during the war, inform him that Odysseus is
alive and trapped on Calypso’s island. Telemachus makes
plans to return home, while, back in Ithaca, Antinous and
the other suitors prepare an ambush to kill him when he
reaches port.
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THE ODDYSEY
By Homer | 750 and 650 B.C.
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 has harbored a bitter grudge against Odysseus
since the hero blinded his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus,
earlier in his travels.
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THE ODDYSEY
By Homer | 750 and 650 B.C.
Athena intervenes to save Odysseus from Poseidon’s
wrath, and the beleaguered king lands at Scheria, home
of the Phaeacians. Nausicaa, the Phaeacian princess,
shows him to the royal palace, and Odysseus receives a
warm welcome from the king and queen. When he
identifies himself as Odysseus, his hosts, who have heard
of his exploits at Troy, are stunned.
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THE ODDYSEY
By Homer | 750 and 650 B.C.
They promise to give him safe passage
to Ithaca, but first they beg to hear
the story of his adventures.
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THE ODDYSEY
By Homer | 750 and 650 B.C.
Odysseus spends the night describing the fantastic chain
of events leading up to his arrival on Calypso’s island. He
recounts his trip to the Land of the Lotus Eaters, his battle
with Polyphemus the Cyclops, his love affair with the
witch-goddess Circe, his temptation by the deadly Sirens,
his journey into Hades to consult the prophet Tiresias,
and his fight with the sea monster Scylla.
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THE ODDYSEY
By Homer | 750 and 650 B.C.
When he finishes his story, the Phaeacians return
Odysseus to Ithaca, where he seeks out the hut of
his faithful swineherd, Eumaeus. Though Athena has
disguised Odysseus as a beggar, Eumaeus warmly
receives and nourishes him in the hut.
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THE ODDYSEY
By Homer | 750 and 650 B.C.
He soon encounters Telemachus, who has returned
from Pylos and Sparta despite the suitors’ ambush,
and reveals to him his true identity. Odysseus and
Telemachus devise a plan to massacre the suitors
and regain control of Ithaca.
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THE ODDYSEY
By Homer | 750 and 650 B.C.
When Odysseus arrives at the palace the next day,
still disguised as a beggar, he endures abuse and
insults from the suitors. The only person who
recognizes him is his old nurse, Eurycleia, but she
swears not to disclose his secret.
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THE ODDYSEY
By Homer | 750 and 650 B.C.
Penelope takes an interest in this strange beggar,
suspecting that he might be her long-lost husband. Quite
crafty herself, Penelope organizes an archery contest the
following day 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.
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THE ODDYSEY
By Homer | 750 and 650 B.C.
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.
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THE ODDYSEY
By Homer | 750 and 650 B.C.
Odysseus reveals himself to the entire palace
and reunites with his loving Penelope. He
travels to the outskirts of Ithaca to see his
aging father, Laertes.
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THE ODDYSEY
By Homer | 750 and 650 B.C.
They come under attack from the vengeful family
members of the dead suitors, but Laertes, reinvigorated
by his son’s return, successfully kills Antinous’s father and
puts a stop to the attack. Zeus dispatches Athena to
restore peace. With his power secure and his family
reunited, Odysseus’s long ordeal comes to an end.
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THE ODYSSEY
THE IMPORTANT
CHARACTERS
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ODYSSEUS
I’m the protagonist of The Odyssey. I fought among the
other Greek heroes at Troy and now struggles to return to my
kingdom in Ithaca. I’m the husband of Queen Penelope and
the father of Prince Telemachus. Though a strong and
courageous warrior, I am most renowned for my cunning. I’m
a favorite of the goddess Athena, who often sends me divine
aid, but a bitter enemy of Poseidon, who frustrates his
journey at every turn.
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TELEMACHUS
I’m Odysseus’s son. An infant when Odysseus left for Troy,
I’m about twenty at the beginning of the story. I’m a
natural obstacle to the suitors desperately courting my
mother, but despite my courage and good heart, I initially
lack the poise and confidence to oppose them. My
maturation, especially during my trip to Pylos and Sparta in
Books 3 and 4, provides a subplot to the epic. Athena
often assists me.
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PENELOPE
I’m the wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus. I
spend my days in the palace pining for my husband who
left for Troy twenty years earlier and never returned.
Homer portrays me as sometimes flighty and excitable but
also clever and steadfastly true to her husband.
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ATHENA
I’m the daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom,
purposeful battle, and the womanly arts. I assist Odysseus
and Telemachus with divine powers throughout the epic,
and I speak up for them in the councils of the gods on
Mount Olympus. I often appear in disguise as Mentor, an
old friend of Odysseus.
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CALYPSO
I’m the beautiful nymph who falls in love with Odysseus
when he lands on my island-home of Ogygia. I hold him
prisoner there for seven years until Hermes, the messenger
god, persuades me to let him go.
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CIRCE
I’m the beautiful witch-goddess who transforms
Odysseus’s crew into swine when he lands on my island.
With the help of Hermes, Odysseus resists my powers and
then becomes my lover, living in luxury at my side for a
year.
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POSEIDON
I’m God of the sea. As the suitors are Odysseus’s mortal
antagonists, I’m his divine antagonist. I despise Odysseus
for blinding my son, the Cyclops Polyphemus, and
constantly hampers his journey home. Ironically, I’m the
patron of the seafaring Phaeacians, who ultimately help to
return Odysseus to Ithaca.
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ZEUS
I’m the king of gods and men, who mediates the disputes
of the gods on Mount Olympus. I’m occasionally depicted
as weighing men’s fates in my scales. I sometimes help
Odysseus or permits Athena to do the same.
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ANTINOUS
I’m the most arrogant of Penelope’s suitors. I lead the
campaign to have Telemachus killed. Unlike the other
suitors, I never portrayed sympathetically, and I’m the first
to die when Odysseus returns.
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EURYMACHUS
I’m a manipulative, deceitful suitor. My charisma and
duplicity allow myself to exert some influence over the
other suitors.
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AMPHINOMUS
Among the dozens of suitors, I’m the only decent man
seeking Penelope’s hand in marriage. I sometimes speak
up for Odysseus and Telemachus, but I was killed like the
rest of the suitors in the final fight.
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EUMAEUS
I’m the loyal shepherd who, along with the cowherd
Philoetius, helps Odysseus reclaim his throne after his
return to Ithaca. Even though I didn’t know that the
vagabond who appears at my hut is Odysseus, I gave the
man food and shelter.
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EURYCLEIA
I’m the aged and loyal servant who nursed Odysseus and
Telemachus when they were babies. I’m well informed
about palace intrigues and serves as confidante to my
masters. I keep Telemachus’ journey secret from Penelope,
and I later keeps Odysseus’ identity a secret after I
recognized a scar on his leg.
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MELANTHIUS
I’m the brother of Melantho. I’m a treacherous and
opportunistic goatherd who supports the suitors,
especially Eurymachus, and abuses the beggar who
appears in Odysseus’s palace, not realizing that the man is
Odysseus himself.
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MELANTHO
I’m the sister of Melanthius and maidservant in Odysseus’s
palace. Like my brother, I abused the beggar in the palace,
not knowing that the man is Odysseus. I’m is having an
affair with Eurymachus.
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POLYPHEMUS
I’m one of the Cyclops (uncivilized one-eyed giants) whose
island Odysseus comes to soon after leaving Troy. I
imprisoned Odysseus and his crew and tries to eat them,
but Odysseus blinds me through a clever ruse and
manages to escape. In doing so, however, Odysseus
angered my father.
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LAERTES
I am Odysseus’s aging father, who resides on a farm in
Ithaca. In despair and physical decline, I regained my spirit
when Odysseus returns and eventually kills Antinous’s
father.
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TIRESIAS
I’m a Theban prophet who inhabits the underworld. I met
Odysseus when Odysseus journeys to the underworld in
Book 11. I showed Odysseus how to get back to Ithaca and
allows Odysseus to communicate with the other souls in
Hades.
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NESTOR
I’m the King of Pylos and a former warrior in the Trojan
War. Like Odysseus, I am known as a clever speaker.
Telemachus visited me in Book 3 to ask about his father,
but I knew little of Odysseus’s whereabouts.
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MENELAUS
I’m the King of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon, and
husband of Helen, I helped in leading the Greeks in the
Trojan War. I offered Telemachus assistance in his quest to
find Odysseus when Telemachus visits him in Book 4.
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HELEN
I’m the Wife of Menelaus and queen of Sparta. My
abduction from Sparta by the Trojans sparked the Trojan
War. My beauty is without parallel, but I am criticized for
giving in to my Trojan captors and thereby costing many
Greek men their lives. I offered Telemachus assistance in
his quest to find his father.
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AGAMEMNON
I am the former king of Mycenae, brother of Menelaus, and
commander of the Achaean forces at Troy. Odysseus
encountered my spirit in Hades. I was murdered by my
wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus, upon my
return from the war. I was later avenged by my son
Orestes. Our story is constantly repeated in The Odyssey to
offer an inverted image of the fortunes of Odysseus and
Telemachus.
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NAUSICAA
I’m the beautiful daughter of King Alcinous and Queen
Arete of the Phaeacians. I discovered Odysseus on the
beach at Scheria and, out of budding affection for him,
ensures his warm reception at my parents’ palace.
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ALCINOUS
I’m the King of the Phaeacians, who offers Odysseus
hospitality in my island kingdom of Scheria. I heard the
story of Odysseus’s wanderings and provides him with safe
passage back to Ithaca.
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ARETE
I’m the Queen of the Phaeacians, wife of Alcinous, and
mother of Nausicaa. I’m intelligent and influential.
Nausicaa tells Odysseus to make his appeal for my
assistance.
END OF PRESENTATION!
