Book XXIII--The Trunk of the Olive Tree
|Summary|Characters & Their Lessons|Literary Devices|Symbolism|Connections|Links & References|
Summary
At the beginning of the book, Eurycleia comes upstairs to tell Penelope that Odysseus has come home and killed all of her suitors. Penelope didn’t believe her and thought that the gods have made her into a lunatic. After seeing all of the suitors dead,
Penelope makes an excuse to herself that a god killed all of the
suitors. Even after she
sees Odysseus, she still believes that he isn’t
Odysseus and that the suitors are not dead because of him. The only way she will believe that it is really Odysseus who is standing before her is if he shows her that he knows one of the signs that only they know. While this is going on, Odysseus has Phemius play a dance tune so that no one will suspect that all of the suitors have been killed. To test him after he has done that, Penelope asks Eurycleia to move Odysseus’s bed. Because he is Odysseus and not someone posing as him, he knows that a mortal cannot move the bed unless they get help from a god. That is because it is built on the stump of an olive tree. Only Odysseus, Penelope, and one of the maids know this. Because of this proof, Penelope embraced Odysseus, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. Later that night, Odysseus and Penelope went back to the bed and Penelope told her story. Then, Odysseus told his story. After his long story, they are both exhausted and fall asleep. The next morning, Odysseus tells Penelope that he and
Telemachus are going to see
Laertes and that she shouldn’t talk to anyone.
Characters & Their Lessons
Character: Odysseus
Description:Odysseus is Penelope’s husband and shows up at her house as a beggar and tells Eurycleia to tell Penelope that he is home. Penelope then tests him and he passes her test. That night, he tells her about his true story of his journey. Odysseus confesses to Penelope that he slept with Calypso while he was away. This shows that he was not faithful to his wife. Odysseus in this book seems very patient and has learned that he doesn’t need to make rash decisions all the time. When Penelope first is told that Odysseus has come back and she doesn’t believe it, Odysseus is patient and waits. Early on in the story, such as when Odysseus goes to the Cyclops’s cave and stays there for a while, he made decisions fast and without thinking them through. But, in this decision, he was patient and let Penelope figure out who he was. Odysseus doesn’t follow a normal epic hero because normally the main character in an epic doesn’t change much. But Odysseus did change a lot in mostly his decision-making.
Lesson: Odysseus learns that his wife has been faithful to him the whole time he was away on his journey.
Character: Penelope
Description: Penelope has proven in this book that she is very wise and cautious. She didn’t jump to conclusions right away and embrace Odysseus. She was wise enough to know that she couldn’t just embrace any man who comes walking in claiming to be Odysseus. Penelope is Odysseus’s wife and she is told of Odysseus’s arrival but doesn’t believe it so she creates a test for the man. She tests him and he gives her the answer that she was looking for. She then tells him to go to bed with her and she asks him questions of his journey.
Lesson:First Penelope learns that the man who came to her house is really her husband, who has returned from his journey after 20 years. Penelope also learns that her husband has not been totally faithful to her and that he has slept with another woman while on his journey.
Character: Eurycleia
Description: Eurycleia is the old nurse and is the one who wakes up Penelope to tell her that Odysseus is back. She also reassures her that it is really Odysseus. Eurycleia already knows that he is Odysseus because she saw his scar on his calf.
Character: Telemachus
Description: Telemachus is the son of Odysseus and he knows that his father is home before Penelope does. Penelope doesn’t believe it is really him but Telemachus reassures her. He also seems angry at her for acting rude to Odysseus and not going over to him and talking to him. Then he is asked to leave before Penelope tests Odysseus.
Character: Dawn
Description: Dawn is a representation for the morning or sunrise. It is used at the beginning of each new day.
Character: Athena
Description: Athena is a goddess that gives Odysseus his last gift. The gift makes the night last longer so that the couple can talk about their lives and Odysseus can answer Penelope’s questions and tell her about his journey. After all, they have been apart for 20 years!
Literary Devices
Fiction
The
Odyssey is
fiction.
Setting
The
setting of this book is in
Ithaca.
Poetry
The
Odyssey is written in
poetry.
Protagonist
Odysseus is the
protagonist because he has a problem.
Antagonist
Penelope is the
antagonist in this book because she is making Odysseus prove whom he is therefore creating the problem Odysseus has to solve.
Main Characters
Odysseus, Penelope.
Minor Characters
Telemachus, Eurycleia.
Symbolism
The Wedding Bed
The wedding bed is the main symbol in Book XXIII and one of the main
symbols in the whole book. The bed was built from the trunk of an olive tree and is therefore unmovable. It symbolizes that Odysseus and Penelope’s marriage is strong and unmovable. No one can replace Penelope as Odysseus’s wife and no one can replace Odysseus as Penelope’s wife. It also has symbolism because Penelope used it to prove that Odysseus was who he said he was.
Symbol
The
olive tree is a very symbolic item in this book. The tree represents the marriage of Odysseus and Penelope. Odysseus carved into it and it is still growing out of their home. The goddess Athena also blesses the tree. Odysseus and Penelope’s home is built around this tree to signify their love. In the Odyssey, Dawn represents a new day and in some ways, a new beginning for the characters in the epic.
Connections
Star Wars
The Odyssey is an
epic, and therefore has a connection to many other epics, including modern epics. One example of a modern epic related to the Odyssey is
Star Wars. In the Odyssey, Odysseus realizes that he has been making bad choices and learns to make good choices near the end of the Odyssey. In Star Wars,
Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker) learns that he too had been making bad choices by being on the dark side. When
Emperor Palpatine tries to kill Luke, Darth Vader stops him from doing so. In that one moment, Anakin learned that he had been making bad decisions and changed how he made them. Odysseus did the same, but not in such a drastic way.
Israel
A current event that relates to the Odyssey is fighting going on in
Israel. Israel is surrounded by countries that hate them. In that way, they are like Odysseus. When he was killing the suitors, he only had a couple of men on his side and every one around him wanted to kill him because he was trying to kill all of them.
Marraige
Book XXIII connects to most cultures because married people are supposed to be faithful to each other and it is a bad thing when they are not. In this book, Penelope is faithful but Odysseus isn’t and the idea of that isn’t very good in Penelope’s mind. Although, I am surprised Penelope would sleep with Odysseus after he just told her that he had been unfaithful to her. I bet Odysseus and Penelope’s marriage would not last too much longer if this weren’t a myth.
Mistaken Identity
This book can be compared with events such as mistaken identity. This may also happens with people who appear to be from a certain religion or area when they are really not. I also believe that this has happened in jail when someone is accused of a crime but they really didn’t do it. There are also cases when someone actually commits a crime but they are let free because of lack of evidence. In this book, Odysseus is really the person he says he is but Penelope cannot believe him until he completes his test. Odysseus must prove himself to Penelope.
Links & References
Nobody seems to have any fun links anymore...
This Section By:
Jonathan M., Julia B.
