Odyssey Auxiliary: The Ultimate Guide to Homer's The Odyssey

Summary

Athena visits Telemachus in a dream. In the dream Athena warns Telemachus of the suitors plan to murder him, that Odysseus -his father- is coming home, and to check up on his mom before she gives in to one of the suitors. Telemachus packs quickly upon hearing Athena’s voice of wisdom, along with Peisistratos. As gifts of hospitality, Menelaos gives Telemachus a goblet, a wine bowl, and a gown for his bride to be. Telemachus and Peisistratos ride to Telemachus’ ship. Once there, Peisistratus goes back to his home and father, Nestor, while Telemachus sails away and avoids near death. Meanwhile, Odysseus continues testing Eumaios’ hospitality and loyality. The test Odysseus sets up is to see if Eumaios would insist on Odysseus staying with him or if he would let him go out to beg on the streets. Eumaios passes the test. Odysseus then precedes in asking Eumaios about his mother and father -staying in disguise as a beggar, of course-. Eumaios’ answer to this, is very grave and touches Odysseus’ heart. He tells Odysseus that his father is just barely hanging on to life and that his mother killed herself out of grief for Odysseus. Changing the subject, Odysseus asks Eumaios where he came from and how he ended up here. Eumaios begins his story; he was born in Syrie, where the land is fertile and his father is the king. One of his Phoinikian servant met a Phoinikian man who had a ship and crew. They fell in love and the servant asked the man if he could bring her back to her homeland. He agreed and as payment she brought the little boy Eumaios aboard the ship. Fortunately for him, he was bought by Laertes, Odysseus’ father, off the coast of Ithaka. This was the way their conversation continued throughout the night. At the same time, Telemachus arrives ashore on Ithaca. He sends Theoklymenos off with Peiraios to stay there until his home is no longer full of rude suitors. After sending Theoklymenos with Peiraios, Telemachus goes up to where Eumaios lives in order to avoid the murderous suitors.

Characters & Their Lessons
Character: Telemachus
Description: Telemachus is the son of Odysseus. He’s just becoming a man, probably in his twenties. He goes to Pyros on a journey to try to find any information on Odysseus. Often referred to as “The clear headed Telemakhos,” he is clever, honest, and humble. He identifies a strong friendship with Peisistratos in book XV. Athena tells Telemakhos to go home, but she doesn’t just do it plainly. In lines 33-35, she lies to him and tells him basically that Penelope is getting close to Eurymakhos and that Penelope will forget Odysseus and Telemakhos if he doesn’t return swiftly. This is a kind of scare tactic. Telemakhos is partly afraid of what will happen if he doesn’t return home, but he still has time to properly say goodbye to Menelaos and pick up Theoklymenos. He shows that even though he cares a lot about his family, he still has time for others. This shows him becoming more of a patient mature adult, rather than an impetuous young man who wants to go, and go right now.

Character: Athena
Description: Athena is the goddess that helps Odysseus and Telemakhos. She took a liking to Odysseus because of his intelligence and strategy making.

Character: Menelaos and Helen
Description: Menelaos and Helen are the king and queen of Sparta. Helen was stolen away by Paris years ago, which started the Trojan War, and Menelaos fought in the Trojan War. Menelaos was a friend of Odysseus during the Trojan War. He is a most courteous host and provides excellent hospitality to Telemakhos and Pisistratus. When they leave for Ithaka he sends them with golden goblets, vases, and other means of riches.

Character: Odysseus
Description: Odysseus has just come back from the land of the Phaecians and is disguised as an old man by Athena. He is Laertes’ son. He’s the hero of the Trojan War who was detained from home for twenty years by Poseidon. Odysseus is a very proud man and often lets it get the better of him. All the adventures that kids dream of happen to him, although slightly exagerated. Odysseus is really a great liar and trickster. Clever, egotistical, but fatherly ruler of Ithaka he is an infamous war hero of the Trojan War. He is the son of the noble Laertes. He has been voyaging for 19 years having encountered countless obstacles.

Character: Peisistratos
Description: Peisistratos is the son of Nestor and Telemakhos’ companion.

Character: Eumaios
Description: Eumaios is one of Odysseus’ most trusted men. He is very trusting with guests, as he told Old Odysseus his entire story. He is Odysseus’ loyal swineherd and raises his cattle, although the suitors are killing all of them for sacrifice and feast. Eumaios makes the transition from a flat character to a round character in this book. Generally if someone has a very troubling experience as a child, they hold onto that experience for a long time. Eumaios releases his feelings onto a person who, as far as he knows, he met a few days ago. This shows a lot about how trusting Eumaios is. Eumaios probably has a latent feeling of hostility towards his old nurse, and a very strong feeling of gratitude towards Laertes. This story shows why he is such an unquestioning, helpful servant. It explains a lot of why Eumaios is who he is.

Character: Theoklymenos
Description: He is a prophet in exile, found by Telemakhos. He prophises the deaths of the suitors during one of their many feasts.

Character: Penelope
Description: The queen of Ithaka, the wife of Odysseus, and mother of Telemachus. She is very wise and clever.

Character: Peirarios
Description: One of Telemachus’ trusted crewmen who takes in Theoklymenos under Telemachus’ orders.

Literary Devices
Static/Flat Character
Theoklymenos is a static and flat character. He is only there to point out the occasional omen, or to predict the suitors’ doom. Whereas Theoklymenos is static

Round/Dynamic Character
Telemakhos is a character who is round and dynamic. Telemakhos learns the value of friendship in Book XV. Peisistratos helps him “pull the team hard over along the beach till he could rein them in beside the ship,” and in “Unloading Menelaos’ royal keepsakes into the stern sheets,” (253-256) even though he would not be continuing on the journey to Ithaka.

Motivation
Telemakhos’ main motivation to get home is the fact that there are suitors waiting to marry his mother and to kill him. He gets all this information from Athena, who makes up a little of it to get him to get going.

Flashback
We see a flashback from earlier in Eumaios’ life. He was a super-cool prince!! At least, until some lady, her lover, and his friends took him away to be sold into slavery.

Themes
A couple of themes from Book 15 are things such as friendship and understanding/sympathy. Friendship is not only shown by Telemakhos and Peisistratos, but also between Old Odysseus and Eumaios, even when Eumaios thinks that he has only known Old Odysseus for a few days. Understanding and empathy is shown between Telemakhos and Theoklymenos when Telemakhos invites Theoklymenos onto the ship after hearing his story of exile. The same thing occurs after Eumaios tells his story. Old Odysseus empathizes.

Symbolism
Parting
An extraordinary symbol of parting is Peisistratos. He left from his father with his emotions kept inside and was able to help everybody with tasks before he left. The same thing occurred when he had to leave Telemakhos without a proper goodbye. Peisistratos is the best example of being able to deal with parting easily.

Gifts
The marriage gown given to Telemakhos is a symbol of gifts given to a great guest. The robe was handmade by Helen, which only added to the value of the gift. Another gift was the silver wine bowl from Menelaos. It is another heartfelt piece because it was taken from the very treasure room of Menelaos’ house. The treasure room is something that Menelaos and his family has worked for, and for him to give away a piece of his hard work is like him giving away a part of his heart.

Bird Events
There is a great deal of symbolism in the two bird events. In both events a powerful predator (an eagle and a hawk) attack a smaller unsuspecting bird (a goose and a dove). First of all, the eagle is a very powerful animal in the eyes of the ancient Greeks. They believe it to be the lord of the skies (as far as animals are concerned) and because of this they believe it is the animal representation of almighty Zeus. Even in other cultures and mythologies such as Egyptian mythology the eagle is very important. The main god (much like Zeus is in Greek mythology) Ra, lord of the skies, has the head of an eagle. So not only does the powerful animal represent Odysseus, but it also shows that Zeus sent the sign which means he has his support for it. This is a sign that Zeus and the other gods will make sure it comes to pass. We see similar foreboding in book 2. Zeus actually sends two eagles that attack the suitors. What is unique about the event with the hawk and dove is after scattering the dove’s feathers on the ground, the hawk perches on a nearby pillar of rock. The rock represents the throne that Odysseus will resume. Theoclymenus, son of a great prophet, is there to portray these ideas to Telemakhos.

Odysseus' Ship
We also see a lot of symbolism in Odysseus’ ship. The ship was an important concept in Greece. Traveling by sea would usually take days or even weeks. Ships would then become homes to the travelers for these stretches of time. A ship and open sea were the two things needed for a whole new world to open. It would become its own little island, with its own government, rulers, laws, lifestyles and most importantly, menus. The jury is still out on the whole menu part though. Most agree that fish and bread was pretty much it all they could eat. Some of the jury continues to argue however that it was very high quality fish. They simply can’t decide. Seriously though, a ship and open sea was a separate universe to the ancient Greeks. This is why you will often hear someone referring to the ship as a “she”. They feel it is as important as another human being. This significance of ships though isn’t an idea exclusive to the Greeks. Vikings found their ships just as, if not more important as the Greeks did. When a captain died, the Viking would often bury his ship with him believe it or not. Ships were very important parts of ancient culture.

Guidance
Telemakhos is seen pouring wine on the ground as a libation to Athena. The wine on the ground is a symbol of him asking for help. Athena is another symbol of guidance, as she always helps Odysseus and his son through hard times.

Connections
Omens
Many omens happen in Book 15. Most of them involve eagles, the symbol of Zeus. They are interpreted by Helen and Theoklymenos. Omens come up in almost all mythologies, such as Celtic, Sumerian, and Chinese.

The Goddess of Wisdom
This particular goddess shows up in many different forms apart from Athena. There is Sophia, Saraswati, and Minerva, to name a few.

Being Sold Into Slavery
Eumaios was sold into slavery. That kind of thing has happened as recent as the 1980’s.

PSO

Greece has always been known as the land where epic poems were created, also known as the classics. So, what happens when classical music comes into the land of the classics?

This past August, Greece was picked as the number one European Capital of Culture for the year 2006. In order to celebrate the honor, Greece held a karnavali, which usually occurs in winter. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra was then picked to perform in the Roman Odeion, an amphitheater, to help “classicalize” the karnavali. The Roman Odeion is a fairly small amphitheater seating only 1,500 people. It is in the form of a semicircle tightly packed together. This celebration took place in Patras, Greece where the smiles were high and the spirits soaring.

Included in the concert were comedian/actors, singers, famous conductors, and the PSO. The PSO began their section of the concert by making sure the whole orchestra could fit on the stage, which…they didn’t. So, thruss stages were added on each side of the stage to accomidate the large orchestra.

Finally, the PSO’s performance began, but not necessarily as planned. The wind began blowing up a storm and soon the air was full of sheets of music. The PSO tackled down the sheets of music and the concert officially began.

Some of the songs included in the program were:
Brahms’ “Symphony No. 4”, which was the song the PSO and the conductor Slatkin were most worried about, since it had not been completely polished off in reahersals; Strauss’ “Till Eulinspiegels’ Merry Pranks; and Bersteins’ Symphonic Dances from “West Side Story.” To make the audience enjoy themselves even more Slatkin included some Greek folk songs in the mist of grand symphonies. The crowd was so pleased at the performance that they were clapping along with the music. Another amazing performance by the PSO, who were far away from HOME.

War in Iraq
Telemakhos’ (and Odysseus’) journey home can only be related to the present day through troops coming home from the war in Iraq. After long travels, both have gone through hardships (more Odysseus than Telemakhos) and they both have questions unanswered. They come to Ithaka with a different perspective about their home. Yet it is not only Telemakhos that has changed, but also the situation with the suitors has gotten even worse. After all Telemakhos has been through however, he is much more confident and outspoken. Before he left he was timid and afraid of the suitors. Now he has overcome his fears and stands up and speaks his mind for what he believes is right.

Links & References
Learning Check
Some study questions--to read all of them you must be a member of the site. And that costs money. Sigh.

Just For Fun
By now you’re obviously drained. Have some fun. Watch this stick figure version. WARNING: PG(-13)!!

This Section By: Kayleigh R., Annabelle P., Eric P.