Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 426 views

    The Odyssey Summary

    Uploaded by

    Archie French
    Odysseus has been gone from Ithaca for 10 years following the Trojan War. In his absence, suitors have overrun his palace and seek to marry his wife Penelope. Their son Telemachus plans to expel the suitors but lacks the ability. Meanwhile, Odysseus is trapped on the island of the nymph Calypso. The gods debate his fate and Athena convinces Telemachus to call for the suitors' removal. Telemachus learns Odysseus lives and is freed by the gods. Returning home, Odysseus is shipwrecked but saved by the Phaeacians. He tells them his adventures and is returned to Ithaca in disguise. Reuniting with Telemach

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    The Odyssey Summary

    Uploaded by

    Archie French
    426 views2 pages
    Odysseus has been gone from Ithaca for 10 years following the Trojan War. In his absence, suitors have overrun his palace and seek to marry his wife Penelope. Their son Telemachus plans to expel the suitors but lacks the ability. Meanwhile, Odysseus is trapped on the island of the nymph Calypso. The gods debate his fate and Athena convinces Telemachus to call for the suitors' removal. Telemachus learns Odysseus lives and is freed by the gods. Returning home, Odysseus is shipwrecked but saved by the Phaeacians. He tells them his adventures and is returned to Ithaca in disguise. Reuniting with Telemach

    Original Description:

    A thorough summary of The Odyssey - Homer

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Odysseus has been gone from Ithaca for 10 years following the Trojan War. In his absence, suitors have overrun his palace and seek to marry his wife Penelope. Their son Telemachus plans to expel the suitors but lacks the ability. Meanwhile, Odysseus is trapped on the island of the nymph Calypso. The gods debate his fate and Athena convinces Telemachus to call for the suitors' removal. Telemachus learns Odysseus lives and is freed by the gods. Returning home, Odysseus is shipwrecked but saved by the Phaeacians. He tells them his adventures and is returned to Ithaca in disguise. Reuniting with Telemach

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    426 views2 pages

    The Odyssey Summary

    Uploaded by

    Archie French
    Odysseus has been gone from Ithaca for 10 years following the Trojan War. In his absence, suitors have overrun his palace and seek to marry his wife Penelope. Their son Telemachus plans to expel the suitors but lacks the ability. Meanwhile, Odysseus is trapped on the island of the nymph Calypso. The gods debate his fate and Athena convinces Telemachus to call for the suitors' removal. Telemachus learns Odysseus lives and is freed by the gods. Returning home, Odysseus is shipwrecked but saved by the Phaeacians. He tells them his adventures and is returned to Ithaca in disguise. Reuniting with Telemach

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    You are on page 1of 2

    The Odyssey Summary

    The Greek hero Odysseus has not returned to his realm in Ithaca after ten years following the
    defeat of Troy. Odysseus' wife, Penelope, is still being courted by a vast and unruly throng of
    suitors who have besieged his palace and pillaged his land. She has remained Odysseus's
    devoted companion. Odysseus' son, Prince Telemachus, is determined to expel them, but he
    lacks the confidence or experience to do so. Antinous, one of the suitors, intends to assassinate
    the young prince, removing the only obstacle to their control of the throne.

    Odysseus, unbeknownst to the suitors, is still alive. Calypso, a lovely nymph in love with him,
    has imprisoned him on her island of Ogygia. He longs to see his wife and son again, but he has
    no ship or crew to assist him. While the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus discuss
    Odysseus' fate, Athena, Odysseus' most ardent advocate among the gods, decides to assist
    Telemachus. Disguised as a friend of the prince’s grandfather, Laertes, she convinces the prince
    to call a meeting of the assembly at which he reproaches the suitors. Athena also prepares him
    for a great journey to Pylos and Sparta, where the kings Nestor and Menelaus, Odysseus’s
    companions during the war, inform him that Odysseus is alive and trapped on Calypso’s island.
    Telemachus makes plans to return home, while, back in Ithaca, Antinous and the other suitors
    prepare an ambush to kill him when he reaches port.

    On Mount Olympus, Zeus sends Hermes to rescue Odysseus from Calypso. Hermes persuades
    Calypso to let Odysseus build a ship and leave. The homesick hero sets sail, but when
    Poseidon, god of the sea, finds him sailing home, he sends a storm to wreck Odysseus’s ship.
    Poseidon has harbored a bitter grudge against Odysseus since the hero blinded his son, the
    Cyclops Polyphemus, earlier in his travels. Athena intervenes to save Odysseus from
    Poseidon’s wrath, and the beleaguered king lands at Scheria, home of the Phaeacians.
    Nausicaa, the Phaeacian princess, shows him to the royal palace, and Odysseus receives a
    warm welcome from the king and queen. When he identifies himself as Odysseus, his hosts,
    who have heard of his exploits at Troy, are stunned. They promise to give him safe passage to
    Ithaca, but first they beg to hear the story of his adventures.

    Odysseus spends the night describing the fantastic chain of events leading up to his arrival on
    Calypso’s island. He recounts his trip to the Land of the Lotus Eaters, his battle with
    Polyphemus the Cyclops, his love affair with the witch-goddess Circe, his temptation by the
    deadly Sirens, his journey into Hades to consult the prophet Tiresias, and his fight with the sea
    monster Scylla. When he finishes his story, the Phaeacians return Odysseus to Ithaca, where he
    seeks out the hut of his faithful swineherd, Eumaeus. Though Athena has disguised Odysseus
    as a beggar, Eumaeus warmly receives and nourishes him in the hut. He soon encounters
    Telemachus, who has returned from Pylos and Sparta despite the suitors’ ambush, and reveals
    to him his true identity. Odysseus and Telemachus devise a plan to massacre the suitors and
    regain control of Ithaca.
    When Odysseus arrives at the palace the next day, still disguised as a beggar, he endures
    abuse and insults from the suitors. The only person who recognizes him is his old nurse,
    Eurycleia, but she swears not to disclose his secret. Penelope takes an interest in this strange
    beggar, suspecting that he might be her long-lost husband. Quite crafty herself, Penelope
    organizes an archery contest the following day and promises to marry any man who can string
    Odysseus’s great bow and fire an arrow through a row of twelve axes—a feat that only
    Odysseus has ever been able to accomplish. At the contest, each suitor tries to string the bow
    and fails. Odysseus steps up to the bow and, with little effort, fires an arrow through all twelve
    axes. He then turns the bow on the suitors. He and Telemachus, assisted by a few faithful
    servants, kill every last suitor.

    Odysseus reveals himself to the entire palace and reunites with his loving Penelope. He travels
    to the outskirts of Ithaca to see his aging father, Laertes. They come under attack from the
    vengeful family members of the dead suitors, but Laertes, reinvigorated by his son’s return,
    successfully kills Antinous’s father and puts a stop to the attack. Zeus dispatches Athena to
    restore peace. With his power secure and his family reunited, Odysseus’s long ordeal comes to
    an end.

    You might also like