Odysseus, king of Ithaca, has been struggling to return home from the Trojan War for many years. With the help of Athena, the tale begins with Zeus sending Hermes to free Odysseus from the island of Calypso. Meanwhile in Ithaca, suitors seeking the hand of Odysseus's wife Penelope have overstayed their welcome. Telemachus, Odysseus's son, embarks on a journey to search for news of his father. He learns from Nestor and Menelaus that Odysseus was last seen trapped on Calypso's island. Back on Ithaca, Odysseus slays the suitors upon his return home with the help of Telemachus, Athena, and

1. Submitted by:
Valdriz, Adrian Rex S.
LIT 213 MATH12FB1
Submitted To:
Mrs. Sarah Cruz

2. The tale begins on Mt. Olympus where Athena
draws Zeus' attention to Odysseus whose journey
has been halted on the island of Calypso. Zeus
sends Hermes to have Odysseus released and
Athena goes to Ithaca. In Ithaca she assumes a
disguise and convinces Telemachus to go on a
journey seeking news of his father. Telemachus
calls an assembly announcing that the suitors who
have besieged his house and have eaten his food
for years are in the wrong. He goes to see Nestor
at Pylos and Nestor does not know anything recent
about his father. Nestor advises him to go to Sparta
to see Menelaus. When he gets to Sparta, Menelaus
tells him that the last thing he heard about
Odysseus was that he was trapped on the island
of Calypso. They feast together and talk into the
night.

3. Athena reminds Zeus to send Hermes to Calypso
and he tells her that Odysseus may leave but under
strict conditions: he has to build his own raft.
Calypso isn't happy about the command and
Odysseus has problems believing her. Once he has
built his raft, she gives him food and sends him off.
He sails for seventeen days and then his raft is
destroyed by Poseidon. He is aided by a nymph and
floats for two days to land. He is found by Nausikaa
and told to go to the house of her father Alcinous.
Alcinous hears part of his tale and secures passage
for him back to Ithaca. There are athletic games
and feasts at which a minstrel sings. The minstrel's
songs make Odysseus cry and this makes Alcinous
even more curious about his situation. Alcinous
asks Odysseus if any of his relatives died at Troy
and Odysseus begins his tale.

4. He tells them how he left Troy and lost some men
in a botched raiding party. Soon after this they
came near the land of the Lotus eaters where some
of his men were almost lost to the enchanting
flower. Then camethe island of the cyclops.
Odysseus led his men in to investigate and were
trapped by Polyphemus, one of the cyclops. They
had to blind him and sneak out in order to get
away from him. They came to the island ofthe King
of the winds, but when they approached Ithaca
with his gift of the storm winds restrained,
Odysseus men opened the bag of the winds
thinking it was treasure sending them all the way
back to the same island. The king refused to help
them again. They ended up at Circe's island where
the witch turns some of his men into pigs.

5. With the help of Hermes, Odysseus resisted her
magic and impressed her. His men were restored
and they remained on her island for a year. When
they left, Circe told them they had to go to the
land of the dead first. At the land of the dead they
spoke with Tiresias who told them how to get
home. They also spoke with many relatives and
dead heroes. After they left the land of the dead,
they returned to Circe's island and then made their
way home. Even though they made it through
Scylla and Charybdis, the men insisted on stopping
at the island where the cattle of the sun were
kept. Here they eventually disobeyed Odysseus and
killed the cattle. This resulted in the destruction of
their ship. Odysseus, the sole survivor, floated back
through the dangers of the sea and ended up on
Calypso's island.

6. Alcinous is moved by Odysseus story and he gives him more
gifts. His men take Odysseus to Ithaca and he sleeps the
entire way. Because of Poseidon's wrath, their ship is turned
into stone when it nears their home harbor. Athena comes to
Odysseus and tells him he is home. She instructs him to
spend a night or two at the hut of the swineherd disguised as
a beggar. She tells him that while he waits she will get
Telemachus to return. Odysseus goes to the house of the
swineherd and tells a long lie about his fall from riches to
rags. The swineherd takes him in and gives him hospitality
but refuses to believe any news about Odysseus. Telemachus
leaves the house of Menelaus with gifts and avoids Pylos so
that he will get home faster. He makes room for a seer in his
ship and departs from his men near the house of the
swineherd as Athena instructed. When they first meet,
Odysseus is still a beggar, but after the swineherd leaves,
Athena has Odysseus reveal himself. They plan out how they
are going to get rid of the suitors. Odysseus is changed back
into a beggar when the swineherd returns.

7. The next day Telemachus returns to his house first
and the swineherd follows with the beggar. On they
way they are mocked by the goatherd. When they
get to the house Odysseus is given food as a beggar
but must withstand the taunts of the suitors. When
he implies that they are generous because they are
giving away somebody else's food, Antinous throws
a stool at him. Odysseus continues to test the
loyalty of people around him. He tells his story to
Penelope and when his old nurse gives him a bath
she recognizes his scar. Penelope tells him that she
willchallenge the suitors to string Odysseus' bow
and shoot it through twelve axeheads. Whoever
does this may marry her. Odysseus is forced to box
another beggar and is rewarded with blood pudding
and wine when he wins. They sleep one night and
the suitors return the next day.

8. When Penelope rises she retrieves the bow and
the axeheads and announces the contest.
Telemachus tries to bend the bow and almost
can, but his father has him stop. None of the
suitors can bend it and Antinous proposes
they carry on with the contest tomorrow.
Odysseus asks for a try and the suitors would
have denied him but Telemachus demanded that
he be allowed. Odysseus strings it and shoots
through the axeheads easily then he begins to
kill suitors. Telemachus joins him with the
cowherd and the swineherd. The goatherd helps
the suitors get weapons, but the other herders
stop him. Athena joins the battle and they
slaughter everyone but the minstrel and the
herald.

9. Odysseus has the bodies piled up and he hangs the
disloyal serving girls. He bathes and approaches
Penelope who does not believe it is him until they
speak ofsecret proof. They sleep together and tell
each other their stories. In the morning, Odysseus
instructs everyone to pretend there is a wedding
feast so that no one will come looking for the
suitors. He goes and finds his father and lies to
him at first but then reveals his identity.
Meanwhile, the town assembles, enraged at
Odysseus' deeds. When the herald tells them that
a god helped him, half of the townspeople calm
down. The others go in search of Odysseus. There
is a brief battle, but Athena stops it and
persuades them to sign a pact which declares
Odysseus the king.

10. Odysseus - The protagonist of the Odyssey. Odysseus 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. Though a
strong and courageous warrior, he is most renowned for his
cunning. He is a favorite of the goddess Athena, who often sends
him divine aid, but a bitter enemy of Poseidon, who frustrates
his journey at every turn.
Telemachus - Odysseus’s son. An infant when Odysseus left for
Troy, Telemachus is about twenty at the beginning of the story.
He is a natural obstacle to the suitors desperately courting his
mother, but despite his courage and good heart, he initially lacks
the poise and confidence to oppose them. His maturation,
especially during his trip to Pylos and Sparta in Books 3 and 4,
provides a subplot to the epic. Athena often assists him.
Penelope - Wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus.
Penelope spends her days in the palace pining for the husband
who left for Troy twenty years earlier and never returned. Homer
portrays her as sometimes flighty and excitable but also clever
and steadfastly true to her husband.

11. Athena - Daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom, purposeful
battle, and the womanly arts. Athena assists Odysseus and
Telemachus with divine powers throughout the epic, and she
speaks up for them in the councils of the gods on Mount
Olympus. She often appears in disguise as Mentor, an old friend
of Odysseus.
Poseidon - God of the sea. As the suitors are Odysseus’s mortal
antagonists, Poseidon is his divine antagonist. He despises
Odysseus for blinding his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus, and
constantly hampers his journey home. Ironically, Poseidon is the
patron of the seafaring Phaeacians, who ultimately help to
return Odysseus to Ithaca.
Zeus - King of gods and men, who mediates the disputes of the
gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is occasionally depicted as
weighing men’s fates in his scales. He sometimes helps Odysseus
or permits Athena to do the same.
Antinous - The most arrogant of Penelope’s suitors. Antinous
leads the campaign to have Telemachus killed. Unlike the other
suitors, he is never portrayed sympathetically, and he is the first
to die when Odysseus returns.

12. Eurymachus - A manipulative, deceitful suitor. Eurymachus’s charisma
and duplicity allow him to exert some influence over the other suitors.
Amphinomus - Among the dozens of suitors, the only decent man seeking
Penelope’s hand in marriage. Amphinomus sometimes speaks up for
Odysseus and Telemachus, but he is killed like the rest of the suitors in the
final fight.
Eumaeus - The loyal shepherd who, along with the cowherd Philoetius,
helps Odysseus reclaim his throne after his return to Ithaca. Even though
he does not know that the vagabond who appears at his hut is Odysseus,
Eumaeus gives the man food and shelter.
Eurycleia - The aged and loyal servant who nursed Odysseus and
Telemachus when they were babies. Eurycleia is well informed about
palace intrigues and serves as confidante to her masters. She keeps
Telemachus’s journey secret from Penelope, and she later keeps
Odysseus’s identity a secret after she recognizes a scar on his leg.
Melanthius - The brother of Melantho. Melanthius is 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.
Melantho - Sister of Melanthius and maidservant in Odysseus’s palace.
Like her brother, Melantho abuses the beggar in the palace, not knowing
that the man is Odysseus. She is having an affair with Eurymachus.
Calypso - The beautiful nymph who falls in love with Odysseus when he
lands on her island-home of Ogygia. Calypso holds him prisoner there for
seven years until Hermes, the messenger god, persuades her to let him go.

13. Polyphemus - One of the Cyclopes (uncivilized one-eyed giants) whose
island Odysseus comes to soon after leaving Troy. Polyphemus imprisons
Odysseus and his crew and tries to eat them, but Odysseus blinds him
through a clever ruse and manages to escape. In doing so, however,
Odysseus angers Polyphemus’s father, Poseidon.
Circe - The beautiful witch-goddess who transforms Odysseus’s crew into
swine when he lands on her island. With Hermes’ help, Odysseus resists
Circe’s powers and then becomes her lover, living in luxury at her side for
a year.
Laertes - Odysseus’s aging father, who resides on a farm in Ithaca. In
despair and physical decline, Laertes regains his spirit when Odysseus
returns and eventually kills Antinous’s father.
Tiresias - A Theban prophet who inhabits the underworld. Tiresias meets
Odysseus when Odysseus journeys to the underworld in Book 11. He shows
Odysseus how to get back to Ithaca and allows Odysseus to communicate
with the other souls in Hades.
Nestor - King of Pylos and a former warrior in the Trojan War. Like
Odysseus, Nestor is known as a clever speaker. Telemachus visits him in
Book 3 to ask about his father, but Nestor knows little of Odysseus’s
whereabouts.
Menelaus - King of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon, and husband of Helen,
he helped lead the Greeks in the Trojan War. He offers Telemachus
assistance in his quest to find Odysseus when Telemachus visits him in
Book 4.

14. Helen - Wife of Menelaus and queen of Sparta. Helen’s abduction
from Sparta by the Trojans sparked the Trojan War. Her beauty is
without parallel, but she is criticized for giving in to her Trojan
captors and thereby costing many Greek men their lives. She offers
Telemachus assistance in his quest to find his father.
Agamemnon - Former king of Mycenae, brother of Menelaus, and
commander of the Achaean forces at Troy. Odysseus encounters
Agamemnon’s spirit in Hades. Agamemnon was murdered by his wife,
Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus, upon his return from the war.
He was later avenged by his son Orestes. Their story is constantly
repeated in theOdyssey to offer an inverted image of the fortunes of
Odysseus and Telemachus.
Nausicaa - The beautiful daughter of King Alcinous and Queen Arete
of the Phaeacians. Nausicaa discovers Odysseus on the beach at
Scheria and, out of budding affection for him, ensures his warm
reception at her parents’ palace.
Alcinous - King of the Phaeacians, who offers Odysseus hospitality in
his island kingdom of Scheria. Alcinous hears the story of Odysseus’s
wanderings and provides him with safe passage back to Ithaca.
Arete - Queen of the Phaeacians, wife of Alcinous, and mother of
Nausicaa. Arete is intelligent and influential. Nausicaa tells Odysseus
to make his appeal for assistance to Arete.

15. Themes:
-The Power of Cunning over Strength
-The Pitfalls of Temptation
Motifs:
-Storytelling
-Disguises
-Seductresses
Symbols:
-Food
-The Wedding Bed