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The Odyssey. The events following Athena’s intervention and the happy family reunion. Telemachus Prepares to Travel. Suitors, especially Antinuous , are angry that Penelope hasn’t chosen a husband yet and that she even tried to trick them
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The Odyssey The events following Athena’s intervention and the happy family reunion.
Telemachus Prepares to Travel • Suitors, especially Antinuous, are angry that Penelope hasn’t chosen a husband yet and that she even tried to trick them • Penelope’s plan: says she will wed when she finishes weaving a death shroud for Laertes, but at night she secretly undid her work • There are bad omens for the suitors, which they ignore • Telemachus sets sail to find word of his father
What Telemachus Learns: • King Nestor explains what he knows of the journey after the Trojan War • Menelaus left immediately, was blown off course, but is now back in Sparta • Agamemnon stayed to make a sacrifice, made it home, and then was murdered by his wife and her new lover • King Menelaus said a minor god told him that Odysseus is alive but marooned on an island
Odysseus and the Phaeacians • Calypso reluctantly gives Odysseus supplies and he leaves her island • Poseidon, enraged that Odysseus is on his way home, causes his boat to wreck and he struggles ashore to the land of the Phaeacians • The Phaeacians are excellent hosts (food, partying, games, stories), and eventually Odysseus tells him his story
After Odysseus Finishes His Story… • The Phaeacians are awed by him and immediately give him presents and more partying before putting him on a well-stocked ship to return him to Ithaca • They drop Odysseus and his new treasure on the coast of Ithaca; Athena disguises Odysseus and tells him to seek out his loyal swineherd
Home at Last! • Eumaeus (swineherd) welcomes Odysseus (who is still disguised) as a guest in his home • Telemachus returns from his journey, and thanks to Athena’s guidance he avoids the suitors’ attempted ambush (this attempt angers Penelope) • Telemachus and Odysseus are reunited! • They plan to kill the suitors
Odysseus Returns to the Palace • Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, heads towards the palace • Goatherd (Melanthius) and Antinuous are mean to Odysseus when he is disguised as a beggar • Argos (faithful dog) and • Eurycleia(nurse) are the only ones • who recognize Odysseus • More bad omens for the suitors, • which they laugh at
The Contest • Penelope, desperate to end the suitors’ destruction of her home, proposes a contest: she will marry the man who can string Odysseus’s bow and shoot an arrow through the sockets of twelve axe heads lined in a row • All fail, except, of course, Odysseus Book 22: Slaughter in the Hall
Family Reunion • Penelope, afraid to believe it is really Odysseus, tests him and he proves who he is • The next day, he goes to see his father (Laertes) • Meanwhile, the family of the dead suitors are angry and want revenge • Laertes kills the ringleader, and then Zeus sends a sign to stop the fighting – peace now.