On his way to the palace of alcinous, the king of the phaeacians, odysseus is stopped by a young girl who is athena in disguise. Everyone leaves the underworld a little bit wiser and less a few sacrificial animals. Odysseus names himself and begins telling the story of his long travels after leaving troy. The episode resembles odysseuss encounter with the cyclops, whom he defeats using. He commands his citizens to find a ship and crew to help take odysseus home to ithaca, promising that once a crew is found they will hold a celebratory feast. Check out shmoop s visual take on what its all about. The story of hephaestus and ares is a variant on the parable of the weak outwitting the strong. Summary and analysis book 1 athena inspires the prince. Homers epic poem the odyssey tells the story of odysseus, greek hero of the trojan war, and his adventures at sea during his travel home. Come to another part of the story, sing us the wooden horse, which epeios made with athene helping, the. Odysseus introduces himself and begins his story, starting with the moment his men leave troy. Free summary and analysis of book 8 in homers the odyssey that wont make you snore.
And then check out shmoop s handydandy mythology guides. The notion of hospitality is so strong in the world of the odyssey that guests can even be considered part of ones family. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. Written down sometime between 800 and 600 bce, the odyssey is of the best known and most stupendously awesome works of ancient literaturemake that any literature. When all the shades come crowding in to drink the blood, odysseus freaks out and runs back to his ship.
Composed maybe by a poet named homer maybe, it tells the story of a man trying to make his way home from war. Homer even gives us a metaphor for the poems tone, when he compares odysseus stringing his bow to a singer tuning his lyre book xxi, lines 404411. Here is this stranger, i do not know who he is, come wandering suppliant here to my house from the eastern or western people. Telemachus leaves odysseus at eumaeuss hut and heads to his palace, where he receives a tearful welcome from penelope and the nurse. Homer opens the odyssey with an invocation to the muse of epic poetry and asks for her. Homers epic poem the odyssey tells the story of odysseus, greek hero of the trojan war.
In the beginning of the journey, he and his men sacked the city of the. Alcinous calls his people to the meeting grounds, unknowingly aided by athena, who helps rouse interest. About the odyssey the odyssey summary character list glossary themes quotes and analysis books 14 books 5 8 books 912 books 16 books 1720 books 2124 symbols, allegory and motifs metaphors and similes irony imagery the fractal structure of epics literary elements related links essay questions quiz 1 quiz 2 quiz 3 quiz 4 citations. During the celebration a bard named demodocus tells the legend of a verbal battle between agamemnon and odysseus during the.
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