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The Odyssey begins after the war at Troy is over. This means there is a narrative gap between the final moments of The Iliad when a halt in hostilities has been agreed to so that Hector can be given proper burial rites, and the beginning of The Odyssey when we are told “all the survivors, all who avoided headlong death / were safe at home.” All, that is “But one man alone …” Odysseus remains missing, and his family – his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus – have begun to accept that he is dead. This narrative gap occurs because The Iliad and The Odyssey are part of the larger Epic Cycle, most of which is now lost. Unlike The Iliad, the action of which takes place in a compressed time period of several weeks in the tenth year of the war, The Odyssey begins closer to the end of its narrative, when Odysseus has been missing for years. In fact, Odysseus has been held captive on the island of Ogygia by Calypso for the past seven years. Calypso has tried to convince Odysseus to marry her, but Odysseus remains loyal to his wife, Penelope. Calypso’s insistent urging and Odysseus’ dwindling hope of return have driven him to desire death. The famous incident of the blinding of the cyclops by Odysseus and his men has already occurred. Polyphemus, the cyclops, is the son of Poseidon, god of the seas and earthquakes. For this action, Poseidon, seeks to waylay and punish Odysseus in any way he can.
As The Odyssey begins, we find that Poseidon is absent in Ethiopia where he is receiving religious offerings. His absence provides an opportunity for the other gods who feel sympathy for Odysseus’ plight to gather and discuss a way forward. But the meeting does not begin well. Zeus is troubled that mortals blame the gods for all their problems. In particular, he is angry over the case of Aegisthus who killed Agamemnon upon his return from Troy, despite warnings from the gods that Agamemnon’s son, Orestes, would take revenge. Athena tries to separate that issue from the problem of Odysseus by agreeing that Aegisthus met a just end. She draws attention to Odysseus’ plight, who is being held captive by Calypso, the daughter of Atlas. Calypso wishes to bewitch Odysseus into marrying her. Athena feels that Zeus is siding against Odysseus and does not know why. Zeus denies this. He expresses his admiration of Odysseus and says that it is Poseidon who punishes him over the blinding of his son, Polyphemus, by sending him far off course on his journey home. Zeus calls for the gods to offer their suggestions as to how they might help Odysseus.
Athena suggests sending Hermes to Ogygia Island to command Calypso to release Odysseus. At the same time, Athena will go to the house of Odysseus in Ithaca. Penelope, Odysseus’ wife, is being hounded by many suitors wishing to marry her, and impose upon her hospitality. Athena will encourage Odysseus’ son, Telemachus, to deal with the suitors and then seek news of his father in Pylos and Sparta. Athena flies to Ithaca propelled by her sandals.
Athena arrives at Odysseus’ house disguised as Mentes, lord of the Taphians. She finds the suitors gambling, lounging about, drinking and eating meat. Telemachus watches the suitors, dreaming of the possibility that his father might return and drive them away. Telemachus sees Athena/Mentes and offers hospitality. He leads her into a hall where Odysseus’ spears stand. He seats her at a chair of honour and offers food and wine. As they eat the suitors come into the hall. They take food uninvited and then decide they wish to be entertained with music and dance. Phemius begins to play on a lyre. Telemachus complains to Athena about the suitors’ behaviour, when his father may be dead somewhere. He expresses his belief that the suitors would flee if they saw Odysseus coming. But Telemachus has lost hope that his father will return.
Telemachus next bombards Athena with questions about herself – where she is from, why she landed in Ithaca etcetera, and asks whether she is a friend of his father. Athena introduces herself as Mentes, and says that she is on a trading voyage. She says she is a long-time friend of Odysseus. She says that Odysseus’ father, Laertes, who now lives reclusively on his vineyard with an old servant, would vouch for her. She says she has heard news that Odysseus is alive but that his journey is thwarted by the gods, and that he is being held captive. Athena/Mentes says she has not seen Odysseus since he departed Troy. She predicts he will return to Ithaca. She next asks about Telemachus – whether he is really Odysseus’ son? Telemachus introduces doubt about his parentage. He says he has been told by his mother he is Odysseus’ son. But no man can be certain of his parentage.
Athena enquires about the suitors: whether they are part of a wedding feast or festival? She suggests they are obscene and should provoke outrage. Telemachus sees the presence of the suitors as an indication of the reversal of fortunes his family have suffered. Had Odysseus died in battle or after he returned home, he would have received honours and fame. But with his loss at sea Telemachus feels his family and his own fortunes have suffered and their status is diminished. Telemachus speaks like a victim. He complains that all the nobles from the region are courting his mother for marriage. Penelope feels she can neither accept any offer, nor turn the suitors away. Athena thinks the situation shameful and is certain that Odysseus would get rid of the suitors. She speaks of the time Odysseus presumably visited Mentes, her fictional disguise, looking for poison for his enemies. He refused to give in even when he was denied by Ilus in Ephyra. She says Odysseus would turn this situation into a blood wedding.
Athena urges Telamachus to gather the suitors at daybreak and announce they must leave. She says that if Penelope wishes to remarry, she should return to her family and have a marriage properly arranged. She next suggests that Telemachus should sail to the Peloponnese to visit Nestor at Pylos and Menelaus at Sparta, and ask for news of Odysseus. If there is news that he is alive, Telemachus should wait at least one more year for his return. If he finds that his father is reported dead, he should raise a funeral mound and marry his mother to another man. Once this is done, Athena encourages Telemachus to kill the suitors. She tells him he can no longer be a boy. He must be a man. She speaks of the glory Orestes received for killing Aegisthus, the man who helped his mother, Clytemnestra, kill Agamemnon, his father. If he does this, Telemachus will win himself glory, too.
Athena announces she must go but Telemachus seeks to delay her with a bath and rest, as well as a gift given in hospitality. She says she cannot delay any further and asks that the gift be kept for her return. When she leaves, Telemachus feels emboldened. He feels certain he has just spoken to a god.
Meanwhile, Phemius is playing the lute and singing a song about the return of the Achaeans home from Troy. The song draws Penelope out from her rooms. The song’s theme has brought tears to her eyes. She asks Phemius to stop playing this song and sing another. Strangely, Telemachus defends Phemius’ right to play this song. He tells his mother to harden her heart: that Odysseus was not the only man lost to the war. He orders his mother back to her quarters and tells her that it is the place of men to give orders, not women. Penelope accepts her son’s authority and returns to her bed, weeping, until Athena helps her into sleep.
Next, Telemachus turns to the suitors and criticises them for the pain they cause his mother. He says they can dine this night, but they must leave in the morning.
Euphithes says that only the gods could have given Telemachus the courage to speak as he has. He says he hopes Telemachus never succeeds his father to the throne of Ithaca. Telemachus says that with so many nobles on the island, he is not sure whether he ever will claim his rightful title, but he will remain lord of his own home, nevertheless.
Eurymachus says this will be resolved by the gods. He then deflects from the subject by asking where Telemachus’ mysterious visitor is from, who was neither introduced to them, nor stayed long. Telemachus says Mentes was an old friend of his father, even though he believes that Mentes was a god in disguise. The subject is dropped. The suitors return to their dance and song for the evening.
Telemachus retires from this scene. Eurycleia, an old and faithful slave of his father who nursed him as a baby, lights him to his room. He goes to bed, considering his course of action as he reflects upon all he was told by Athena/Mentes.
Unlike The Iliad, The Odyssey begins in media res – in the middle of things. The Iliad may have begun in the middle (or near end) of the war, but its plot begins at the beginning of the story of Achilles’ rage and his eventual revenge against Hector.
The Odyssey, however, begins around seven years into the events of the overall story. In this respect, The Odyssey is structured and told more like we might expect from a modern novel, with foreshadowing, flashbacks and a non-linear narrative. Initially, the story is told from the perspective of Telemachus, and so the audience is uncertain of Odysseus’ fate.
There are three main movements in the Odyssey:
Telemachus (Books 1 -4): The story is told from the perspective of Telemachus who is uncertain of his father’s fate and undertakes a quest to find him or discover what has happened to him.
The Wanderings of Odysseus (Books 5-12): This is the section of The Odyssey most familiar in popular culture, since it contains the stories of the Sirens, Polyphemus the Cyclops and other adventures. It recounts why Odysseus has been delayed and the dangers he has overcome and the loses he has sustained to make his way home.
Return Home and Revenge (Books 13-24): Most of the second part of The Odyssey describes Odysseus’ return to Ithaca and how he finally overcomes the suitors who have taken over his home and demand to marry his wife.
As The Odyssey opens Homer is tasked with establishing characters who did not appear in The Iliad.
Polyphemus
Polyphemus, the cyclops, is introduced early in this book even though his story will wait until Book 9 to be properly told. His blinding has been the catalyst for the story, in which Poseidon frustrates Odysseus’ efforts to return home for blinding his son:
Calypso
Homer also foreshadows the story of Calypso in Book 1, the beautiful nymph who holds Odysseus captive on her island. However, her story isn’t fully told until Book 5 of The Odyssey. In this first book we learn that she is holding Odysseus captive in order to persuade him to abandon Penelope and marry her. Calypso is specifically contextualised as the daughter of the titan, Atlas, although in other versions of her story she is identified as the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. Atlas supported the rebellion of the Titans against the Olympian gods, the Titanomachy, a ten-year war for control of the cosmos. As punishment for his part in the war Atlas was condemned to hold up the sky on his shoulders. In Homer’s account, Atlas’ punishment is described: “whose shoulders lift on high / the colossal pillars thrusting earth and sky apart.”
This may seem to have little to do with Calypso, herself, but Athena’s argument to Zeus is aimed at garnering support for Odysseus. The gods are enemies of the Titans, and so, by association, Calypso is a potential enemy, too:
Telemachus
Homer has to establish Telemachus as a character, too. As Odysseus’ son he has a lot to live up to, but he is a young man who is still psychologically a child. Athena, disguised as Mentes, tells him, “You must not cling to your boyhood any longer – / It’s time you were a man.” Telemachus hates the presence of the suitors in his house, but his hope of resolving the situation lies in Odysseus’ return: for Odysseus to deal with the issue:
Also:
The objective of Athena’s visit is to encourage Telemachus to take action. She encourages two courses of action: first, that Telemachus dismiss the suitors from his own house. Second, that he undertakes a journey to seek news of his father’s fate.
To achieve this Homer, through Athena, draws a contrast between Telemachus’ immature state and the example of Orestes, who took revenge against his mother, Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus, who murdered his father, Agamemnon, upon his return from the Trojan war. This cycle of murder and revenge is dramatized by Aeschylus, a Greek playwright from fifth century Athens, in his three plays collectively known as The Oresteia. You can read my review of those plays by clicking here. The review also has a summary of each play at the end. Other reviews on this website also discuss elements of this story. If you are interested, you can read the following: The Women of Troy by Pat Barker; Electra by Euripides; Elektra by Jennifer Saint and Clytemestra by Costanza Casati.
Orestes is first mentioned by Zeus as he laments the actions of Aegisthus, who blames the gods for his ill-fate. Zeus describes Orestes as “renowned” for taking revenge. Athena holds Orestes as a model of action for Telemachus:
She tells Telemachus to,
In this way, the first book of The Odyssey sets up Odysseus’ story as a journey to return home and reclaim his life: Telemachus’ story is established as a journey out of childhood into manhood, and to be worthy of the name of his father.
John Flaxman, a British sculptor, was commissioned to produce illustrations for The Iliad and The Odyssey with the intention that they would be engraved and published. Flaxman produced line drawings without colour that became highly popular in the 19th century.
This drawing shows Phemius entertaining the suitors as he sings and plays his lyre. The text beneath the image is taken from Alexander Pope’s translation of The Odyssey published in 1725 and 1726. It reads:
As a point of comparison, these same lines are translated by Robert Fagles as:
Emily Wilson’s translation reads:
E.V Rieu’s translation reads,
He found them listening in silence to a song which their famous bard was singing to them about the Achaean’s return from Troy and the disasters that Pallas Athene made them suffer.
Interestingly, Phemius’ role as a singer and story teller is one traditionally associated with Homer, whose works would have been orally recited for an audience. Phemius sings and tells tales of the Trojan War. Despite the distress Phemius’ song causes his mother, Telemachus defends his right to play:
Phemius does not seek Penelope as a wife, as do the suitors, and Telemachus later defends him to Odysseus, who spares him from death.
Angelica Kauffman (1741 – 1807) was a Swiss painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. She was one of two female painters who was a founding member of the Royal Academy in London in 1768. She mainly painted historical subjects and portraits. Her work often portrayed women as capable and intelligence, sometimes outside traditional female roles.
In this painting we see Calypso and Ulysses (the Roman name for Odysseus), presumably on Ogygia Island where he was held prisoner. Calypso grips Ulysses’ arm to command his attention while she points to the sky. She seems to be swearing an oath to the gods which we can only assume pertains to the subject of her love and desire.
As punishment for his part in the rebellion against the gods, Atlas was condemned to hold up the sky from the earth. Many modern representations of Atlas have him holding the Earth, itself, on his shoulders. This is wrong. The Farnese Atlas, pictured here, is the oldest existing sculpture of Atlas. What he bears upon his shoulders is a celestial globe rather than the Earth. It is a representation of a map of the heavens and the constellations in the sky.
In Aeschylus’ plays collectively known as The Oresteia (Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers and The Eumenides) Orestes returns to his home after a long absence. He and his sister, Electra, plot to kill their mother, Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus, for the murder of their father, Agamemnon. Orestes subsequent trial in Athens and his acquittal represent an early example of judicial practice. Orestes’ acquittal through trial ends the cycle of bloodshed and revenge that has plagued their family for generations. You can read more about this in my review of The Oresteia, which contains summaries of the three plays, by clicking here.
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