Book III--The Lord of the Western Approaches
|Summary|Characters & Their Lessons|Literary Devices|Symbolism|Connections|Links & References|
Summary
When Telemachus and Mentor (Athena in disguise) arrive at Pylos, the see a religious ceremony going on for Poseidon. There are dozens of bulls being sacrificed. Mentor/Athena gives Telemachus advice on how to approach King Nestor and what Telemachus should say to him. Peisistratos and Thrasymedes welcome Telemachus and Mentor. Nestor asks Mentor to make a prayer to Poseidon with a golden cup at the feast that they are having for the ceremony. Mentor prays to Poseidon that he can’t hurt Telemachus on sea because Poseidon still wants revenge on Odysseus and Telemachus is Odysseus’ son (see Book IX.) King Nestor then tells the story of the last time he saw Odysseus and the Trojan War. He also adds that he heard that the suitors have taken over Telemachus’ house in Ithaca, and he hopes that Telemachus will have the courage to defend his father like Orestes did for his father.
Telemachus is curious about Agamémnon’s fate, so he asks King Nestor about it. Nestor explains that Aigisthos had seduced and married Klytaimnestra. Klytaimnestra then gave Aigisthos permission to kill Agamemnon. Orestes then returned from exile in Athens and murdered Aigisthos and Klytaimnestra. Nestor tells Telemachus the courage that Orestes had to set a good example for Telémakhos. The next day, King Nestor then sends Pisistratus with Telemachus to Sparta by horseback to go seek help from King Menelaus. Athena changes into an eagle in front of the entire court of Pylos, and sheds the figure of Mentor. She also stays behind in Pylos to look after Telémakhos’ ship and its crew.
Short version of Nestor’s story: He starts out with his stop at Akhians and Priam’s town. The weather was rough, they lost a lot of men and how Zeus made it so difficult for them. He mentions a fight that Athena started, (remember, Athena is sitting and listening as Mentor) between the sons of Atreus. It turned the whole crew against each other. After, Nestor speaks of Odysseus’ bravery and how Telemachus should be brave as well. Telemachus finally gets to speak and he says that he still will not give up on finding his father. Nestor complains about Athena, yet again, and basically tells Telemachus- I heard about the pack of suitors at your house, all waiting to marry your mother. If Athena loved you like Odysseus then your family would not be facing such a dilemma. Telemachus does not believe Nestor in that gods can be that powerful as to kick the suitors out of his house. Athena (as Mentor) replies to Telemachus: You are wrong; a god could save a man by simply wishing it! However, if I were Odysseus, I would rather suffer years at sea than be safe at home. How can you gain experience or progress if you’re always safe! Then Nestor finishes his story and insists that Telemachus and Athena sleep inside and he will take their spot on their ship. As the beds are getting prepared Athena turns into her true identity. Nestor, shocked and embarrassed, immediately invokes her. Then Athena turns into an eagle, watching over Telemachus.
Characters & Their Lessons
Character: Telemachus
Description: Telemachus, humble son of Odysseus, is desperate to find out what happened to his father. Athena gave news to him that Odysseus was still alive. He highly appreciates his father and reaches him with the help of Athena.
Lesson: In this book, Telemachus finds the first piece to his ‘puzzle’. He finally got his first section of information of his father, and he heard it from someone else, which can be important. For example:
Penelope always had faith that Odysseus would come back home, Telemachus did believe her but was starting to lose assurance. Then Athena comes along and tells him that Odysseus still is alive somewhere. This was Telemachus’ alarm clock to get up and do something about the suitors. He was finally starting to take action. The same concept applies to 'completing his puzzle'.
Character: Athena
Description: Athena, goddess of wisdom and daughter of Zeus, aids Telemachus as she helped his father. Athena really feels for Telemachus in that she knows what he’s searching for in himself. For example: In
Book II, Athena states a similarity between Telemachus and his father. Athena knows that her comment will stay with Telemachus throughout his journey. He really respects his father. Therefore, little compliments, such as the one just mentioned, are what make Telemachus stronger and help him live up to his full potential. Athena disguises herself as Mentor (one of Odysseus’ old friends) to help and guide Telemachus along the way. She is extremely clever when she receives the golden cup. She takes advantage of the opportunity that is given to her, and she demands Poseidon to listen to her.
Character: Nestor
Description: The king of Pylos Town, and Odysseus’ old war buddy, Nestor conveys his war story to Telemachus. He assisted Telemachus to get to the next step. His story was Telemachus’ first real piece of useful information that Telemachus hadn’t known yet.
Character: Poseidon
Description: Poseidon is god of the sea. He is found in this book with the town’s people, collecting bulls for sacrifice.
Character:Agamemnon
Description: The King of Argos and the father of Orestes. He was killed by Aigisthos who plotted his death with Clytemnestra.
Character: Aigisthos
Description: Klytaimnestra’s lover who kills Agamemnon and is then killed by Orestes.
Character: Klytaimnestra
Description: She was once the wife of Agamemnon. She gives permission to Aigisthos to kill Agamemnon.
Character: Menelaus
Description: King of Sparta.
Character: Orestes
Description:Son of Agamemnon who takes revenge on Aigisthos and his mother for killing his father.
Literary Devices
Flashback
King Nestor tells the story of Agamemnon’s fate and of the Trojan War to Telemachus.
In Media Res
The Odyssey starts in the middle of the story. Athena prays to Poseidon in book three (the beginning of the book), so he doesn’t hurt Telemachus on sea. The readers don’t really understand why she does until later on in the story. It explains why Poseidon wants revenge on Odysseus mostly in
Book IX.
Symbolism
Eagle
Birds are usually a symbol for strength. Athena acts as the strength for Telemachus to encourage him along the way.
Golden Wine Cup
A
cup is usually the symbol of faith. It is especially associated with the sun. The people of Pylos believed in many gods and that was part of their faith, so they prayed to the gods.
Gold can also mean royalty, strength, and wealth.
Black Bulls
The
bulls can represent self-sacrifice. At the ceremony, these bulls are representing people sacrificing themselves to Poseidon since he is a god. The also are symbolic to a stormy sea.
Seahawk
Symbolizes protection from evil, the servant of the sun, ‘chief’ of all animals, and also the direction up. Athena turned into an eagle and then watched over Telemachus. This ties into the protection from evil.
Connections
Hospitality and Being Poor
In the news there are always clips or pictures of what’s going on in Asian and African territories. Many people living in countries on those continents are less developed and poor. They don’t have electricity; they scarcely have anything so they are more dependent on the spiritual aspects of life. (as are the characters in the Odyssey.) They really rely on the gods to help them in a way. Their hospitality is also similar to the hospitality that the Greeks offer. They give up a whole house for a guest, guests always come first.
Sacrifices
At the beginning of book three there is a ceremony for Poseidon. At the ceremony, the people are
sacrificing dozens of bulls for him. In many cultures around the world they sacrifice animals as a type of ritual, or in this case it is act of worshiping and offering to Poseidon. In Christianity, it is taught that Jesus Christ sacrificed himself for everyone in the world, and Islamic people believe that sacrificing animals will some how help the poor. Many different cultures around the world believe in sacrificing people or animals to show sympathy or worshiping a god. In almost every culture they worship someone or something by sacrificing an animal or a human. Usually, you would only hear about a culture sacrificing a human in some ancient culture like the Aztecs. Many cultures today still sacrifice animals as part of their religion.
Toubled Marraiges
King Nestor explains the story of Agamemnon’s fate, and how his wife cheated on him. Today, you will still find many marriages that have hardships, or one of the spouses will treat the other one harshly. Usually you won’t find stories as dramatic as Agamemnon’s, but there is a
current event on Paul McCartney and how he treated Heather Mills (his almost ex-wife) cruelly. It said that McCartney pushed Heather Mills over a coffee table, pierced her with a broken wine glass stem, and completely embarrassed her in front of business associates, family, and staff. In book three Klytaimnestra cheated on Agamemnon with Aigisthos, and then killed Agamemnon. McCartney treats Mills in awful ways just like Klytaimnestra did to Agamemnon, but Agamemnon’s story was much more intense. Even today people treat there spouses hurtful ways just like they did in
The Odyssey.
Links & References
Click
here for a translation of the whole book.
This Section By:
Emily D., Pernilla A.
