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The Odyssey
The Odyssey is full of epic similes, which is to say similes that are extended, detailed, and may offer multiple points of comparison. For instance, when Odysseus hears the bard Demodocus singing...
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The Odyssey
To answer this question we need to understand that one of the key desires of Odysseus as a character, which is a desire that he shares with all Homeric heroes, is the desire to gain glory through...
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The Odyssey
Odysseus is very proud of the way he used his guile and cunning to help his men escape the evil clutches of the Cyclops Polyphemus. As he recounts the tale of how he engineered this escape from the...
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The Odyssey
The answer to this question can be found in Book V of this epic classic. After being given Jove's message from Mercury, Calypso unfortunately has to relinquish Odysseus and send him onward to his...
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The Odyssey
Repetition is used, first, as a literary device in The Odyssey. Over and over again, Homer repeats phrases such as "rosy-fingered dawn," "bright-eyed Athena," and the "wine-dark sea." The...
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The Odyssey
In these books, Athena does what she can to help Penelope. For instance, Athena enhances her beauty in Book XVIII by surrounding her as she sleeps with the beauty balm used by Aphrodite. When...
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The Odyssey
Odysseus is the wandering hero in Homer's Odyssey. In so many ways, Odysseus is such a smart man, but sometimes he is just a little too smart (or smart-aleck) for his own good. His leave-taking...
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The Odyssey
"To be between Scylla and Charybdis" is a common expression with a similar meaning to "between a rock and a hard place." It refers to being caught between two equally unpalatable alternatives....
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The Odyssey
Odysseus is in many ways the exemplary Greek leader: he is physically very strong and is also highly intelligent and clever, meaning he joins brains and brawn into one package. He often uses his...
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The Odyssey
Odysseus, prior to leaving to fight in the Trojan War, must have had a truly excellent relationship with his wife, Penelope. When he did not return to Ithaca after the war, despite all the other...
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The Odyssey
The Greek epic poem the Odyssey, attributed to Homer, is, along with The Illiad, the oldest extant piece of Western literature. As such, Homer laid the groundwork for all future epic poems,...
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The Odyssey
The ancient Greeks of Homer's time had strict laws of hospitality. Central to this was treating guests with honor and respect. Throughout the Odyssey, Telemachus and Odysseus are repeatedly...
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The Odyssey
In Greek mythology, Teiresias is the renowned Theben prophet of Apollo and advises Odysseus when he visits the underworld. In book 10, Odysseus begs Circe to allow him to go home to Ithaca, and the...
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The Odyssey
Odysseus' meeting with Achilles in the Underworld is perhaps my favorite part of The Odyssey, as it's one of the most thought-provoking moments in the poem. When Odysseus meets Achilles during his...
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The Odyssey
Odysseus talks to his men about how to avoid Charybdis, but he does not tell them about Scylla. He gives them a "pep talk" and reminds them how they were able to escape from the Cyclops. He knows...
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The Odyssey
The Greek word "ᾰ̓νήρ" means "man." This, at its simplest, refers to an adult male, and it is of some significance to oppose "man" to the words "boy" and "woman." Odysseus was well into adulthood...
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The Odyssey
There are numerous instances in the Odyssey in which Odysseus shows his honor. Keep in mind that Odysseus is a proud man. This pride often gets him into trouble. However, it is also a common source...
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The Odyssey
It is true that much of the Odyssey takes place on Ithaca, Odysseus's home. This helps underscore the importance of home as a theme of the poem. Although he sometimes lingers too long in one place,...
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The Odyssey
Odysseus returns to Ithaca as a beggar. The goddess, Athena, has disguised him so that no one will know that he has returned. It behooves him to have the element of surprise when he encounters the...
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The Odyssey
Athena has "showered mist" over all the island so that she can meet with and disguise Odysseus, as well as acquaint him with "every peril" he will encounter now that he has returned home. This mist...
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The Odyssey
Odysseus tests Penelope by assuming a disguise when he returns to Ithaca. Athena uses her power to give Odysseus the disguise. He appears to be an old beggar, and this disguise works perfectly....
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The Odyssey
In Homer's epic poem The Odyssey, the hero Odysseus is well-known for his bravery and cleverness. Most readers notice these qualities in Odysseus very easily because the epic poem focuses so...
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The Odyssey
Another important Greek idea is hubris. In our modern usage of the word, it means excessive ego or pride. In ancient Greece, it meant specifically excessive pride toward the gods. Many tragedies...
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The Odyssey
Typically in a passage analysis, you are taking one segment from the text and trying to figure out what it means. This includes observing its context in the whole of the piece, what the greater...
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The Odyssey
After winning the Trojan War, Odysseus and his men leave Troy for Ithaca, but Odysseus loses men at each of their unintended stops until they are all killed. He loses six benches of men in each...
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The Odyssey
Odysseus tells lies about who he is and his past to each character to test their loyalty and achieve his own ends. It's clear throughout the story that Odysseus doesn't value loyalty because he...
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The Odyssey
Epithets are little nicknames or descriptive phrases that were used by Greek epic poets to tell their listeners about the characters and to preserve the meter of their poems. In Book X, Circe is...
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The Odyssey
Odysseus must describe himself as a beggar because he wants the element of surprise on his side when he confronts the suitors. Remember that Odysseus has already been told that the suitors must...
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The Odyssey
I would argue that Odysseus's journey as a whole is more important than his ultimate destination. The word "odyssey" meaning a personal journey of some kind has passed into common usage. Implicit...
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The Odyssey
Zeus's moral appears to be that one should never defy the will of the gods. In book I, line 55, Zeus mentions that Aigisthos, the murderer of Agamemnon, had been specifically warned by Hermes not...
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The Odyssey
Campbell's idea of the "hero's journey" consists of three basic movements: separation or departure, initiation, and return. Each movement is subdivided into smaller elements (there are thirteen of...
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The Odyssey
Hospitality is one of the central themes of The Odyssey, one which emerges throughout the epic poem. There are numerous examples of hospitality being honored and also abused. Across the course of...
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The Odyssey
In Odyssey 10, the issue of curiosity is more problematic for Odysseus’ men than for Odysseus himself. Early in the book, Odysseus’ men make a colossal mistake when they become curious about the...
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The Odyssey
At Ismarus, Odysseus and his men sack the city, kill the men, and share the "wives and plunder" amongst themselves because Odysseus doesn't want anyone suggesting that he deprived his men of their...
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The Odyssey
This is a good question. Unlike modern books, the Greeks viewed the gods as active agents in society. So, when we come to Homer's Odyssey, we see that Zeus has an important role. For example, Zeus...
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The Odyssey
Plato referred to Homer as "the teacher of Greece." This was actually not intended as a compliment. Plato was suggesting that because the Homeric poems were widely used as school texts, and because...
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The Odyssey
Odysseus as a character personifies what was valued in the ancient male in Greek culture. First, he is very, very strong and a brave warrior, which are the highest attributes a man can possess in...
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The Odyssey
One of Odysseus's biggest weaknesses is his pride. This can clearly be observed getting him and his men into trouble when, after they escape the island of Cyclopes together, Odysseus begins to brag...
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The Odyssey
Certainly, Penelope, Odysseus's wife, is presented as a model of proper female behavior. She is often identified by the epithet "heedful Penelope," which emphasizes her obedience and loyalty to her...
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The Odyssey
The question of why Odysseus slaughters the suitors is an engaging question and one usually taken for granted. Throughout the Odyssey, one big theme that modern readers have difficulty engaging...
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The Odyssey
Penelope is portrayed in Homer's Odyssey as an intelligent and resourceful woman, skilled in her household tasks and loyal to her husband. In many ways, she is an ideal of Greek womanhood,...
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The Odyssey
It really is something that a story that is thousands of years old continues to be popular all these millennia later. It is likely that Homer's The Odyssey is closer to 3,000 years old than 5,000,...
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The Odyssey
Theoclymenus is a seer who is fleeing Argos for killing a man of his own race. He tells Telemachus that the kinsmen of the murdered man seek to avenge themselves on him; this is why he lives in...
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The Odyssey
Although The Odyssey by Homer and Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra are both important literary works, and share in common a narrative of the travels and adventures of a single...
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The Odyssey
While Odysseus is a man of many strengths and talents, he also is prone to a number of weaknesses and limitations. Let's look at some of these. Odysseus's pride gets him into trouble on multiple...
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The Odyssey
Odysseus' Leadership in Books IX-XII He and his men attack Ismarus and sack the city, killing the men and sharing the wives and plunder. In one way, Odysseus is characterized as a good leader...
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The Odyssey
The style/form of the sirens' song is different from the rest of Odysseus's narration because the entire group of sirens sings all at once. They refer to themselves as "we," and they reference...
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The Odyssey
Odysseus demonstrated god-like qualities in The Odyssey through his intelligence and ability to inspire his men. In one instance, he tricked the Cyclops Polyphemus by telling him his name was...
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The Odyssey
Agamemnon's wife, Clytemnestra, conducts an affair with a man called Aegisthus while Agamemnon is away,fighting in the Trojan War. Agamemnon is the commander of the Greek forces. He sacrifices...
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The Odyssey
The first time Odysseus showed his arrogance is when he won the battle at Troy. He yells out to the gods that he doesn't need them. Also, he does not give a sacrifice to the gods for helping the...
