CRITIQUE PAPER IN 21ST CENTURY

from the PHILIPPINES AND THE WORLD

“THE ODYSSEY ”

SUBMITTED BY: JODEN CARTEL

SUBMITTED TO: PRECIOUS GEM FANTIN TABERDO

I.SUMMARRY

Ten years have passed since the fall of Troy, and the Greek hero Odysseus still has not
returned to his kingdom in Ithaca. A large and rowdy mob of suitors who have overrun
Odysseus’s palace and pillaged his land continue to court his wife, Penelope. She has
remained faithful to Odysseus. Prince Telemachus, Odysseus’s son, wants desperately
to throw them out but does not have the confidence or experience to fight them. One of
the suitors, Antinous, plans to assassinate the young prince, eliminating the only
opposition to their dominion over the palace.
ll.

ELEMENT OF THE STORY

CHARACTERS

Odysseus -Odysseus is the husband of Queen Penelope and The father of Prince
Telemachus. Though a strong and courageous warrior, he is most renowned for his
Cunning. He is a favorite of the goddess Athena, who often sends him divine aid, but a
bitter enemy of Poseidon, who frustrates his journey at every turn.

Penelope- Homer Portrays her as sometimes flighty and excitable but also clever and
steadfastly true to her Husband.

Athena-Daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom, purposeful battle, and the womanly
arts. Athena assists Odysseus and Telemachus with divine powers throughout the epic,
and she Speaks up for them in the councils of the gods on Mount Olympus. She often
appears in disguise As Mentor, an old friend of Odysseus.

Calypso- Calypso holds him prisoner there for seven years until Hermes, the messenger
God, persuades her to let him go.

Circe- With the help of Hermes, Odysseus resists Circe’s powers and then becomes her
Lover, living in luxury at her side for a year.

Poseidon-God of the sea. As the suitors are Odysseus’s mortal antagonists, Poseidon is
his Divine antagonist. He despises Odysseus for blinding his son, the Cyclops
Polyphemus, and Constantly hampers his journey home. Ironically, Poseidon is the patron
of the seafaring Phaeacians, who ultimately help to return Odysseus to Ithaca.
Antinous-The most arrogant of Penelope’s suitors. Antinous leads the campaign to have
Telemachus killed. Unlike the other suitors, he is never portrayed sympathetically, and he
is the First to die when Odysseus returns.

Eurymachus-A manipulative, deceitful suitor. Charisma and duplicity allow him to exert
some Influence over the other suitors.

Amphinomus-Among the dozens of suitors, the only decent man seeking Penelope’s
hand in Marriage. Amphinomus sometimes speaks up for Odysseus and Telemachus, but
he is killed Like the rest of the suitors in the final fight.

Eumaeus-The loyal shepherd who, along with the cowherd Philistia, helps Odysseus
reclaim His throne after his return to Ithaca. Even though he does not know that the
vagabond who Appears at his hut is Odysseus, Eumaeus gives the man food and shelter.

Eurycleia-The aged and loyal servant who nursed Odysseus and Telemachus when they
were Babies. Eurycleia is well informed about palace intrigues and serves as confidante
to her Masters. She keeps Telemachus’s journey secret from Penelope, and she later
keeps Odysseus’s identity a secret after she recognizes a scar on his leg.

Melanthius-The brother of Melantho. Melanthius is a treacherous and opportunistic

goatherd Who supports the suitors, especially Eurymachus, and abuses the beggar who
appears in Odysseus’s palace, not realizing that the man is Odysseus himself.

Melantho-Sister of Melanthius and maidservant in Odysseus’s palace. Like her brother,

Melantho abuses the beggar in the palace, not knowing that the man is Odysseus. She
is having An affair with Eurymachus.

Polyphemus-One of the Cyclops (uncivilized one-eyed giants) whose island Odysseus

comes To soon after leaving Troy. Polyphemus imprisons Odysseus and his crew and
tries to eat them, But Odysseus blinds him through a clever ruse and manages to escape.
In doing so, however, Odysseus angers Polyphemus’s father, Poseidon
Laertes-Odysseus’s aging father, who resides on a farm in Ithaca. In despair and physical
Decline, Laertes regains his spirit when Odysseus returns and eventually kills Antinous’s
father.

Tiresias-A Theban prophet who inhabits the underworld. Tiresias meets Odysseus when
Odysseus journeys to the underworld in Book 11. He shows Odysseus how to get back
to Ithaca And allows Odysseus to communicate with the other souls in Hades.

Nestor-King of Pylos and a former warrior in the Trojan War. Like Odysseus, Nestor is
known As a clever speaker. Telemachus visits him in Boo 3 to ask about his father, but
Nestor knows Little of Odysseus’s whereabouts.

Agamemnon-Former king of Mycenae, brother of Menelaus, and commander of the

Achaean Forces at Troy. Odysseus encounters Agamemnon’s spirit in Hades.
Agamemnon was murdered By his wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus, upon his
return from the war. He was later Avenged by his son Orestes. Their story is constantly
repeated in The Odyssey to offer an Inverted image of the fortunes of Odysseus and
Telemachus.

Nausicaa -The beautiful daughter of King Alcinous and Queen Arete of the Phaeacians.
Nausicaa discovers Odysseus on the beach at Scheria and, out of budding affection for
him, Ensures his warm reception at her parents’ palace.

Alcinous-King of the Phaeacians, who offers Odysseus hospitality in his island kingdom
of Scheria. Alcinous hears the story of Odysseus’s wanderings and provides him with safe
passage Back to Ithaca.
B.PLOT

Exposition – In the exposition we have a Trojan war hero named Odysseus who has
been held captive by Calypso (a goddess) for 8 years. When finally let go by the goddess
he builds a sturdy raft and supplied with all his needs he sets sail back home on Ithaca.
But, with his conflict with Poseidon causes his boat to wreck and for him to swim to the
island of the Phaeacians to meet the king and learn the cultures they have. After a while
the Phaeacian start playing the songs of troy and Odysseus starts crying and the king
asks him his troubles, Odysseus replies "I'll tell you about my attempt to return home from
troy.”

Rising Action-The rising action of the poem concerns Odysseus, who, after being freed
from Calypso’s island by Athena, sets out for home, but is shipwrecked by Poseidon, still
angry that Odysseus blinded his son the Cyclops. Odysseus washes up in Phaeacia,
where he tells his hosts the story of his long and arduous journey after leaving Troy. In
this speech we see Odysseus’s character as bold, curious, and confident. Everywhere he
goes he is eager to find out what the locals are like, wanting to know whether they are
“men like us who eat bread,” who will offer Odysseus and his crew the hospitality they
prize. He lingers in the Cyclops’ cave out of curiosity, and makes his men tie him to his
mast, rather than plug his ears, because he wants to hear the song of the sirens. He
repeatedly ignores Athena’s warnings and angers the gods, and they vow retribution but
stop short of killing him, instead promising that they will make his journey home as difficult
as possible.

Climax-The climax of The Odyssey happens when Odysseus finally arrives at Ithaca. He
successfully proves his identity by shooting an arrow through twelve axe handles, a feat
which Penelope’s suitors failed at. After killing all of his wife’s suitors, Odysseus reunites
with his family.

Falling Action -In the poem’s falling action Odysseus is reunited with his wife and father,
and the poem concludes with Athena erasing the suitors’ parents’ memory of the battle,
restoring peace to Ithaca.

Denouement- Finally, Odysseus and Penelope are reunited, but not without a final test
on the part of Penelope to ensure Odysseus’s identity. However, they cannot live happily
ever after just yet—the families of the slain suitors want revenge. The gods finally
intervene, with both Athena and Zeus commanding peace

C. SETTINGS

The Odyssey repeatedly contrasts two kinds of setting: domestic and wild. The poem’s
characters often find themselves in luxurious domestic settings, the palaces of kings and
goddesses. In these locations Odysseus and Telemachus negotiate the subtleties of the
guest-host relationship, and often the sheer wealth and luxury of the settings makes this
negotiation difficult. Telemachus proves his growing maturity when he tactfully explains
that his own homeland is too rocky for the chariot he is offered by the spectacularly
wealthy Menelaus. Odysseus is lulled by the incredible luxury of Circe’s home into wasting
a year on her island. At other times, the poem’s characters find themselves in unknown,
untamed spaces, where they face serious threats. At sea they are threatened by storms
and the wrath of gods and monsters. In unknown lands they face hostile armies.
Odysseus’ most dangerous encounter comes when he mistakes a wild setting for a
domestic one. He seeks out the home of Polyphemus the Cyclops because he expects a
guest-gift, only to find that the Cyclops pays no heed to human laws.

D. POV

This chapter deals with the apparent problem of the end of the Odyssey. The poem could
have ended with Odysseus’ and Penelope’s reunion, but it continues in order to provide
a final statement on tisis. Thus, the transmitted ending should be considered integral to
the poem, against a long tradition that considers it spurious. The final confrontation of the
suitors’ relatives and Odysseus’ allies reveals how the natural course of a tisis narrative
is to incite further tisis. Other illustrations of the open-endedness of tisis in the poem are
also considered. In order for the poem to end, not only must every last suitor die but even
the memory of their slaughter must be erased. The possibility of alternative narratives is
closed off. This radical conclusion is highlighted in a final speech by Zeus in which he
uses strikingly original language to ordain a general amnesia.
E. Conflict

The chief conflict in the poem is between Odysseus’s desire to reach home and the forces
that keep him from his goal, a conflict that the narrator of the Odyssey spells out in the
opening lines. This introductory section, called a proem, appeals to the Muse to inspire
the story to follow. Here, the narrator names the subject of the poem—Odysseus—and
his objective throughout the poem: “to save his life and bring his comrades home.” The
narrator identifies the causes of Odysseus’s struggle to return home, naming both the sun
god, Helios, and Odysseus’s fellow sailors themselves as responsible: “The recklessness
of their own ways destroyed them all, the blind fools, they devoured the cattle of the sun
and the sun god blotted out the day of their return.” The narrator next identifies Poseidon
as one of Odysseus’s main antagonists, as all the gods took pity on Odysseus except
Poseidon, who “raged on, seething against the great Odysseus until he reached his native
land.” Finally, the proem tells us that the Odyssey will be the story of Odysseus’s
successful journey home: “the exile must return!”

F. Theme

The most important theme in the Odyssey is that of hospitality or, as the Greeks called it,
xenia. This translates to something akin to “guest-friendship.” Hospitality is portrayed as
a moral imperative throughout the epic, with a failure to provide hospitality or an attempt
to take advantage of hospitality often inspiring divine punishment.
III.

REFLECTION/CRITIQUE

The part that seemed most relevant to me was when the man in the Odyssey was telling
his story about how he came to be a servant. I watched the video attached to this map
before reading the books, so I was set on seeing it from a slavery standpoint. The story
in the Odyssey of him being taken and sold was as sad to hear, yet fascinating to me. As
for the Iliad, it talked a lot about the battle raging back and forth in front of this ships. I
pondered this for a long time and I am unable to make a connection. It was very detailed
and the constantly referenced the battle up to the ships, and I see how that ties in with
the left half of the map and the repeating of the black ships.