Barry Stocker
Department of Humanities and Social Science
[email protected]
Faculty of Science and Letters
https://barrystockerac.wordpress.com
TOPICS IN LITERATURE AND SOCIETY.
ITB 213E/CRN 20144
SPRING 2015
NOTES WEEK SIX
Homer
The Odyssey
Books 9 to 16
Book Nine
Odysseus says to King Alkinoos of the Phaeacians that the feast they are having is the
best time to listen to the minstrel who has singing of the Greeks who fought at Troy.
However, he will tell them of his name, his homeland and his many sorrows. He tells them
that his name is Odysseus, that his father is Laertes and he is from the island of Ithaca.
As we will see the issue of telling people your name, etc is a major one in this book of The
Iliad. There are times when it is wise to share this information with a stranger and times
when it is not. Odysseus say his homeland must be beautiful because he refused marriage
to two goddesses, Circe and Calypso, as he was longing for his home and family.
As we shall see he was not so eager to leave Circe, before his men told him they wanted
to leave her island. After leaving Troy he has twelve ships full of men. Their first stop was
in the land of the Ciconians (referred to in Lattimore’s translation as Kikonians), where they
sacked their city near the coast, taking valuable property and women shared out equally.
However, Odysseus’ men wanted to linger on the beach by their ships feasting too long,
despite the warnings Odysseus gave them. The Ciconians organised soldiers from inland
who were batter warriors than those from the city. There is a suggestion here that rough
rural people are better warriors than more sophisticated city people. An idea important to
Vico and others thinking about war and conquest in history.
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The inland Ciconians attack Odysseus and his men on the beaches by the boats
(something like the Trojans attacking the Greeks during the Greek siege of Troy) in a long
battle, in which Odysseus’ men do well at first, but they end up losing men from every ship
and making a forced escape.
Odysseus’ fleet now goes on a route dictated by strong winds sent by Zeus. They then row
for a few days until they reach the land of the Lotus-Eaters. The Lotus-Eaters are friendly
but share food which is so pleasurable it reduces some of Odysseus’ men to a pleasure
induced laziness and longing for the food.
Odysseus has other men force those men back to the ships. They then sail on reaching a
beautiful looking island with a natural harbour. The inhabitants are however dangerous
monsters. They are the Cyclops, sons of the god of the sea and earthquakes, Poseidon.
They live without law, good customs, or institutions, with each ruling over an isolated
family. They are like giant humans with just one eye.
As will see, Vico thought the Cyclops could be taken as a poetic form of the earliest kings
who ruled absolutely over small family communities, unified into very loose communities
which later became states ruled by god-heroes like the Greek and Trojan kings in Homer.
As the Cyclops are close to the gods, wheat, barley and other crops grow naturally and
they have flocks of wild sheep, goats and other animals, enough to satisfy all their needs.
Odysseus and his men walk through the beautiful and flourishing land until they reach a
giant cave home. This time it is Odysseus who creates a dangerous situation and it his
men who are more prudent, trying to restrain him. They collect the cheeses, wines and so
in the cave and are ready to take them away on the ships.
Odysseus wants to stay and enjoy the hospitality guests are entitled to by widely accepted
customs, and does not consider the possibility that his uninvited visit will be not be
welcome. He expects a guest-present as is customary. The Cyclops who owns the cave,
Polyphemus comes back from the fields with his flocks.
When he sees Odysseus and his men, he is not pleased and does not offer hospitality. He
tells Odysseus that since the Cyclops are close to the gods, they do not follow custom and
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are even stronger than the gods so they can ignore the protection Zeus offers to guest. He
asks Odysseus his name.
Since Odysseus has seen this is a dangerous situation, he tells Polyphemus that his name
is No-one. Polyphemus kills two of the men and eats them whole. Odysseus and his men
are now trapped in the cave waiting to be eaten. Odysseus has a plan though. They have
high quality wine with them which was given to Odysseus by a priest of Apollo.
The wine is far stronger than ordinary wine, so that it is drunk diluted with one part of wine
to 20 parts of water. He offers the wine to Polyphemus who says he will give Odysseus a
guest-present in return. The guest-present however is only that Odysseus will be eaten
last. He recognises the wine as something of divine origin and drinks deeply.
Polyphemus falls asleep throwing up the blood and body parts of the eaten men along with
the wine. Odysseus and his men sharpen a large piece of wood and then heat it in the fire
until it is nearly burning. They then drill it into Polyphemus’ one eye blinding him. He wakes
up in great pain and calls out to the other Cyclops in their distant caves.
The other Cyclops ask who is attacking him, and replies no-man, because that is what
Odysseus had told him was his name. Odysseus and his remaining men now hide under
Polyphemus’ giant sheep hanging onto their wool. Polyphemus lets his sheep out and puts
his hands on all of them as they leave to catch Odysseus and his men, if they are leaving.
Polyphemus cannot feel the man underneath the sheep so they all escape. They then run
back to their ship with the sheep. When the ship has sailed out, Odysseus shouts at
Polyphemus to tell him he has been punished for breaking the laws of hospitality, which
forbid eating guests. Polyphemus throws a mountain top at the ship, which only just
misses.
Odysseus sails further out and insults Polyphemus again. His men try to restrain him, but
again he lacks self-control, and tells Polyphemus that he is Odysseus, sacker of cities, son
of Laertes, from Ithaca. Polyphemus says that it was prophesied that he would be blinded
by Odysseus, but he had been looking for a tall man not a little creature like Odysseus.
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We now see how foolish Odysseus was to tell his name to Polyphemus, which he had
earlier concealed. Polyphemus calls on his father, Poseidon, though he seems a bit in
doubt about who his father is, as was the case for Telemachus and Proteus’ daughter. He
asks Poseidon to make sure Odysseus never arrives home.
If it is not possible to stop Odysseus getting back to Ithaca, he asks that at least Odysseus
should arrive late, in a bad situation, and on someone else’s ship. Odysseus and his men
rejoin the main fleet and make sacrifices to Zeus, but this will not counteract the curse
Polyphemus has brought on them from Poseidon, and they sail on sadly.
Book Ten
The ships next arrive at the island of Aeolus (Aiolos) where a king close to the gods lives
on a floating island in a bronze palace. He has six sons married to six daughters. He
entertains Odysseus and his men for a month listening to stories of the Trojan War and the
journey back.
At the end Aeolus gives Odysseus a bag of winds to take him directly to Ithaca by
releasing the right winds for the voyage. Aeolus warns him not to open the bag. Odysseus
stays awake watching over the bag until they are nearly back in Ithaca. They can see the
fires on the island. However, Odysseus is now tired and falls asleep.
Odysseus’ men become curious about what is in the bad, believing it contains valuable
gifts from the places he has visited, which he is concealing from his men. So they open the
bag and the winds in are released, blowing them right back to the Aeolian island.
Odysseus goes to the palace and approaches Aeolus with great embarrassment.
Aeolus is very surprised to see Odysseus again and when he hears the story of why he is
back, he tells Odysseus that he is an inferior creature hated by the gods. Aeolus cannot
help someone who is treated as an enemy by the gods, will not give him another bag of
winds, and sends him on his way.
Odysseus and his men said away and arrive at the land of the Laestrygonians
(Laistrygones), which has a beautiful harbour. Odysseus is cautious and goes with a few
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men to explore. They find a woman by a water well who is a daughter of the Laestrygonian
king who directs them to the palace.
This episode parallels Odysseus meeting Nausikaa and following her directions to the
Phaiacian palace. In the palace they find the Laestrygonain royal couple are giants
(leaving unexplained why the daughter is not a giant). They catch one man to eat so
Odysseus flees back to the boats with his men.
A huge army of Laestrygonian giants appears above the harbour throwing rocks at the
ships and spearing men like fish. All the ships are destroyed apart from that of Odysseus
and many of his men before they escape to sea. They sail on in great sadness until they
reach the island of Aias, which belongs to the minor goddess Circe, daughter of Helios the
sun god.
The men sleep and mourn for two days on the shore. After that they have to eat but are
cautious. Odysseus climbs a hill and sees smoke coming from the palace of Circe but
does not want to get closer. A stag comes close to Odysseus on his way back to the ship,
so he kills that, carries it back and everyone is able to eat well.
Anyway they need to explore the island to eat again. Odysseus climbs a hill again and has
a good look at the island. However, he is very cautious because of the disasters with
Polyphemus and the Laestrygonians. Odysseus and the men decide to select an
exploration party by drawing lots from a bronze helmet.
The men explore unwillingly. They find wolves and lions which behave towards like dogs
expecting food after their owner has been out hunting. Circe finds them and invites them
int the shining palace to eat. One man is suspicious and waits outside. Inside, the men
who are expecting to eat drink drugged wine which turns them into pigs.
They still have the same minds so are very unhappy. Circe takes them outside to pig
enclosures and feeds them acorns. The man outside goes to tell Odysseus what has
happened, but is so shocked he has difficulty in explaining. Odysseus goes to the palace
and meets Hermes Argeiphpontes, the messenger god, on the way disguised as a very
young man with his first beard.
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Hermes explains to Odysseus how to deal with Circe. When Odysseus reaches the
palace, he refuses to eat and drink. Circle tells him that Hermes told her that Odysseus
would visit. She bathes him in apartments, which like those of Calypso mix a natural
setting of caves with beautiful metal objects.
Odysseus persuades Circe to release his men from pig form and to swear an other to stop
such tricks. The men who were transformed into pigs are transformed back into men, and
greet their friends who have come from the ship. Circe bathes all the men. Odysseus
becomes her bed partner and is happy to be on the island.
However, after a year, the men wish to go back to Ithaca, ask Odysseus what is wrong
with him and tell Odysseus that they want to get off the island and start again on the
journey home. Odysseus has forgotten about home, but accepts their request and begs
Circe to let them go. Unlike Calypso, Circe does not want to keep Odysseus longer than
he wants.
Circe advises Odysseus that the next part of the journey must be to the land of the dead
Hades, so he can consult Tiresias on how to get back to Ithaca. Tiresias was a blind
prophet from Thebes who plays an important role in two of the most famous tragedies of
classical Athens: Oedipus the King and Antigone by Aeschylus.
The men are not happy at the idea of travelling to Hades rather than trying to go straight
home. One man rolls of the palace roof while drunk and dies so they all leave in a very
sombre mood, just as when they arrived, and appropriate to a visit to the land of the dead.
Circe advised Odysseus to take a slaughtered ram and female sheep and puts the animals
on his ship.
Book Eleven
Odysseus’ ship enters the land of the Cimmerians, a dark land where it is possible to
ender Hades. The sacrifice of sheep attracts the dead spirits who consume blood.
Odysseus is able to visit Tiresias, ask about the journey home, and then talk to those
others in the hordes of the death he wishes to meet again.
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Tiresias tells Odysseseus that his journey home will be long and he will come back in
difficult circumstances, arriving in a ship not belonging to him. This all fits with the curse
Polyphemus asks Poseidon to impose on Odysseus. His men may be able to return home,
but only if they avoid eating the animals of Helios Hyperion (the sun god) towards the end
of their journey at a spot they will visit.
Tiresias tells Odysseus he will then still have to make his peace with Poseidon. To do so
he will have to make a long sea journey and then go a long way inland until he meets a
man carrying an oar, which will then be part of the appeasement of the sea god. Odysseus
will then return home and die peacefully in old age after a happy part of his life.
Odysseus then meets or see other people in Hades, his mother who had died of grief at
his absence and tells of his father who mourns Odysseus’ absence in a an extreme way
living in a very kingly way. Odysseus then sees famous figures from Greek mythology,
mostly involving the children of the gods.
His story telling is then interrupted by the Phaiacians. Queen Arete says he is deserving of
many gifts for his story telling which shows great balance in character. King Alkinoos
thanks him for his truthful stories, unlike the stories most men tell. He offers to let
Odysseus stay much longer so they can listen to his stories. Odysseus does not take up
this offer, but moves onto the heroes of the Trojan War in Hades, which is particularly
interesting for his audience.
He tells of how he meets the spirit of Agamemnon, who tells Odysseus of how his wife
killed him before he could even see the son the left many years before. He complains of
the wickedness of women, itself building on Odysseus earlier suggestion that the war was
caused by a bad woman, that is Helen of Sparta/Troy.
There is a comparison and contrast between Odysseus’ story and Agamemnon’s as
Agamemnon acknowledges when he says that Penelope is too virtuous to kill her husband
when he gets home. Odysseus then meets Achilles, who says he would rather be the
servant of a very poor man than king of the dead.
The dead are shown to be pure spirt detached from the body at death, unable to touch and
feel, or make any physical contact which makes Odysseus very sad when he tries to
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embrace his mother. Odysseus sees another Greek hero Aias, who avoids talking to
Odysseus because of argument they had in the trojan War about ownership of armour.
Odysseus could try to talk to Aias and repair the situation but prefers to see the famous
dead, including those who are punished by the gods and those who were closest to the
gods like Herakles, who in fact is normally depicted as living with the gods after an
ascension, while those punished have a separate place in Taratarus.
Odysseus wants to keep seeing the famous dead, becomes afraid that Persephone,
goddess of the underworld will send up a Gorgon’s head (head of a monstrous woman
which turns those who look at into stone) so decides to leave and resume his journey. So
the fear of mythical terror takes him from the endless stories in the land of the dead to
more focused gaol driven story of his journey home.
Book Twelve
Odysseus returns with his men to the island of Circe. Circe advises him on the next parts
of his journey. First he will pass the Sirens, monsters with beautiful voices who lure sailors
to their death. The meadow before them is full of the bones of these dead men. Odysseus
can avoid death and hear their beautiful songs if he follows her plan.
Her plan is form to tell his men to block their ears with wax and tie him to a mast. He will
tell them to ignore any request to untie him except to tie his knots even further. Then he
will go to a place with a choice between two dangers. The first danger is the wandering or
roaming rocks, rocks in the sea that are so dangerous only one ship has passed through.
That is the Argos, the ship of Jason and the Argonauts who brought a golden fleece back
from Colchis (the eastern Black Sea) and they only got through the rocks because of
Hera’s support for Jason. The other danger is two dangers, creating a choice of which
danger to come closest to.
There is a another stone, a high cliff, from which the multiple many toothed heads of a
she-monster Scylla prey on sea animals and passing sailors. She will take six of
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Odysseus’ men at her first aggression. If Odysseus stays to fight her, she will take more of
his men and Circe warns him against fighting the gods.
To avoid more than six of his men dying, Odysseus should pray to the mother of Scylla.
The other danger is the monster Charybdis who creates a whirlpool beneath the cliff in
which Scylla lives, which sucks everything down below the water and throws them up
again a few hours later.
Odysseus should completely avoid the wandering rocks and sail between Scylla and
Charybdis, so he is slightly closer to Scylla, who unlike Charybdis will not destroy the ship
and all the men. After that Odysseus and his men will go past the island where the oxen of
Helios Hyperion are.
If they land and kill the oxen, only Odysseus will survive the journey home. If they kill the
oxen all the men will die on the way home, apart from Odysseus who will arrive home
alone, in a bad way, and on someone else’s ship. The oxen are sacred to Helios and he
will receive help from Zeus to punish anyone who harms them.
Things go as Circe suggests. Odysseus hears the Sirens sing of the glory of the Greeks at
Troy, as if they are singing The Iliad. The ship reaches the island of Helios-Hyperion, sun
god. There the ship lands and Odysseus gets an oath from all the men that they will not
touch the cattle.
However, because of winds, they are on the island for months getting hungry and trying to
survive by catching fish and smaller animals. Odysseus prays to the gods, but they send
him to sleep. While he sleeps the men kill and cook the animals. They think if they make
sacrifices to Helios later they may be forgiven.
If they are not forgiven they prefer to die from divine anger than from hunger, which is the
worst way of dying. Odysseus wakes up and discovers what has happened. It is too late
to change the situation. As Odysseus discovers from Calypso later, Helios finds out from a
minor goddess what has happened and tells Helios who complains to Zeus.
The ship leaves a few days later when the winds change. Zeus sends a storm to damage
the ship and then sends lightening to destroy it completely. The remains float back to the
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whirlpool of Charybdis with Odysseus who ties bits together to create a raft before they
reach Charybdis. At Charybdis he hangs onto a tree while the ship is sucked down then
thrown up again.
He the drifts to the island of Calypso after ten days. Odysseus then says he has already
told his story after that point and it is not good to tell the same story twice if it was well told
the first time.
Book Thirteen
The Phaeacians are impressed by Odysseus’ stories. The entertainment now goes back to
the minstrel. The Phaeacians get the ship ready for Odysseus’ trip to Ithaca, which will
take place at night, while he sleeps. The Phaeacians load the many presents from the
aristocracy onto the ship and the men that will row get on board.
The journey takes place smoothly under the guidance of some magic the Phaeacians
appear to have to guide their ships. They leave Odysseus asleep at a quiet place on the
coast of Ithaca associated with nymphs (minor goddesses who live in nature) and an
entrance of the island reserved for the gods.
Poseidon is not pleased that his enemy Odysseus has come home in a comfortable way
surrounded by presents which are greater than any treasure he looted from Troy and then
lost in the voyage home harried by Poseidon. He complains to Zeus who tells Poseidon
that he is free to punish and harass Odysseus further.
Poseidon says he prefers to consult Zeus and then decides to direct his anger at the
Phaeacians who are risking his jealousy anyway by taking any guest anywhere safely and
quickly across the seas that Poseidon rules. Poseidon turns the ship that carried
Odysseus to Ithaca into stone as it approaches the Phaeacian harbour.
The Phaeacians are horrified and remember the old prophesy, mentioned earlier,
according to which Poseidon would grow angry with them, stop their ships from travelling
the seas, and hide their city under a mountain. The Phaeacians now decide to avoid the
last part of the prophecy by ending their carriage of guests.
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They also slaughter cattle as a sacrifice to Poseidon. So Odysseus was the last person to
benefit from the help the Phaeacians gave to strangers. A part of the old world has
disappeared. Odysseus has survived mythological dangers and descent into the
mythological world of the dead full of mythical heroes and seen the last of one mythical
force.
Athene is watching over Odysseus on the beach at Ithaca. decides he should he disguised
from.his wife and others who knew him and that he should not know location, by sending
down a mist (presumably to stop him rushing back to his palace and disrupting the longer
term plan Athene will offer him).
Odysseus wakes up unable to see where he is or see the presents the Phaeacian sailors
have stored carefully for him.He thinks the Phaeacians have robbed him and left him in a
strange land, where he does not know if the people are law abiding and hospitable or cruel
and savage. A problem he has faced continuously in The Odyssey.
He finds the treasure and then Athene appears to him as a very young herdsman.
Odysseus asks the herdsman where he is thinking it may be an unknown land. Athene/the
herdsman says it is a famous land and then gives Odysseus enough information for him to
understand that he is in Ithaca.
Odysseus is very happy but remains very careful. He does not tell the herdsman who he is
but creates a story about being from Crete and escaping from retribution after a murder for
which he was justified, but may suffer. Athene then appears as herself and is impressed by
Odysseus’ caution and capacity for lies, as well as his capacity for giving good advice, the
greatest of all humans.
She says that anyone else would have rushed back to his palace. She explains the
dangers from the Suitors and that Penelope is resisting them. Odysseus realises if he
gone straight back to Penelope, he would have been murdered as soon as arrived home,
as Agamemnon was.
Athene explains that Telemachus has travelled to Sparta, but she will bring him back and
help him avoid the danger from the Suitors waiting in ambush for him in a boat. Odysseus
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complains that she has taken Telemachus away leaving his wealth in the palace
undefended. She explains that the journey was for Telemachus to win a good name.
First he will visit the swineherd (pig herder) who has remained loyal to Penelope and
Telemachus. Athene then changes Odysseus’ as a disguise so that he will appear much
older and much less well formed, and will appear to be very poor and ragged. She then
leaves Odysseus to bring Telemachus back from Lakediamon (Sparta).
Book Fourteen
Odysseus finds the swineherd Eumaios (‘Eumaeus’ is the normal English spelling, as
usual Lattimore uses a spelling that brings us closer to the Greek pronunciation than the
way English versions of the names of Homeric heroes have developed). Eumaeus is very
loyal to Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus.
He avoids the palace because of the dishonest behaviour of the Suitors, consuming the
wealth of the palace and commanding him to bring the best pigs for them to eat. He
praises Odysseus as a kind master and prefers to refer to him as ‘Master’ than use his
name, out of respect and gratitude.
He is very conscious of the laws of Zeus which command hospitality to strangers, even a
ragged vagabond (homeless poor wanderer) as Odysseus appears to be. He offers
Odysseus pork and wine. Wine as throughout Homeric poetry is a deep part of hospitality,
friendship, meals, and relations with the gods.
The cottage of Eumaeus is protected by savage dogs which come close to killing
Odysseus before Eumaeus calls them away. As we will see a bit later, there is another way
in which Odysseus relates to dogs. This incident shows us that Eumaeus is in an isolated
place which needs to be protected from dangerous people.
Odysseus tries to persuade Eumaeus that his master Odysseus will come back within a
year and that he has reliable information about this. Eumaeus says that many vagabonds
get gifts from Penelope for claiming they have information of Odysseus alive. Odysseus
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says that he only hopes for a reward after Odysseus comes back and only in the way he
mentions.
Odysseus (in disguise) also says that Eumaeus can kill him if the predictions are false.
Eumaeus shows his high regard for the moral customs of the time, by saying that he
cannot kill a guest under any circumstances. All this links with a conversation about who
Odysseus is where he comes from, which leads him back to the story of how he heard of
Odysseus’s forthcoming return.
Odysseus claims again to be of noble origin in Crete and claims to be a soldier of some
cunning, which is a real attribute of himself. His complex stories about himself include a
claim to have fought at Troy with the Greek heroes, so again saying something true about
himself, in the midst of lies.
After the Trojan War , Odysseus claims he went back to Crete, then went to Egypt where
he suffers military defeat but becomes a successful servant of the king. He then works ofr
a Phoenicians, a semitic people, that is a people related to Jews and Arabs, in what is now
Lebanon, who were great traders in the ancient world and whose alphabet was the basis
of the Greek alphabet.
The Phoenician is referred to as untrustworthy, suggesting Greek conflict with them at the
time the poems were written down, despite the previous influence. Odysseus then
escapes from a plan to sell him into slavery, during which time a ship he is in is sunk by
Zeus and he floats for nine days, which is really what happened to him after his men
slaughter the Oxen of Helios.
He is given hospitality by the king at the place where he lands (as happened with
Odysseus in the land of the Phaeacians. However, the ship that will take him to another
king on the advise of the king who has looked after him has a crew plotting to sell him into
slavery.
The crew tie him up, but the gods help untie his knots and he jumps of the ship. It is that
escape which led to him being washed up on the shore of Ithaca, as a destitute wanderer
despite his aristocratic origins. In the kingdom where he received hospitality, Odysseus in
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disguise says the king told that Odysseus had visited, had stored treasure from Troy, was
visiting another place, but would soon return to Ithaca.
Odysseus also gets Eumaeus to give him a cloak against the cold by telling a story, he
says is inspired by wine, in which Odysseus gave him a cloak during a cold night waiting
for the Trojans during the war. This leads Eumaeus to give him a cloak as Odysseus had
hoped, but only for the night. Eumaeus says that Telemachus will give him a cloak and
tunic when he returns.
Book Fifteen
Athene visits Telemachus in the night in Lakedaimon (Sparta) while he is sleepless and
speaks to him, telling him to return to Ithaca to stop the consumption of wealth by the
Suitors and avert a marriage to one of them that is supported by Penelope’s family. She
tells him his ships will be guided safely and that he should go the swineherd Eumaues
(who has Odysseus in disguise as a guest).
Telemachus tells Menelaus, King of Sparta that he must leave soon. Menelaus comments
on the virtues of offering hospitality and friendship to the guest who wants to stay and
speeding the departure of a guest who wants to leave. He gives Telemachus a large
dinner before he leaves. Menelaus and Helen give him many gifts.
As Telemachus leaves an eagle appears carrying a goose caught in a farm yard. Birds are
associated with prophecy in ancient Greek culture, and the eagle is associated with Zeus
so this seems to be a major prophetic event. Telemachus himself interprets the event as a
sign that Odysseus is on the way home and is planning revenge on the Suitors.
Telemachus is travelling with Pisistratus, son of King Nestor of Pylos, and passes through
Pylos, but avoids another meeting with Nestor because of his hurry to get home. In Pylos
he meets a man who is a fugitive because of murdering someone in his own tribe. This is
Theoklymenos, descended from characters in Greek mythology and whose father was a
famous prophet.
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Theoklymenos explains his situation to Telemachus who is willing to take him to Ithaca and
seems unbothered by his crime. It will turn out that Theoklymenos (referred to as godlike,
showing that has royal, or at least aristocratic family) has prophetic powers himself.
Telemachus at this point assumes the death of Odysseus though he seemed to think
something different when he saw the eagle.
Back in Ithaca, at the home of Eumaeus, Odysseus tests how much of a friend he is, by
suggesting that he go to the palace to beg from the suitors and offer to do various manual
tasks, at which he is very good. Eumaeus shows his friendship by not taking the
opportunity to get rid of a guest.
Eumaeus warns Odysseus (in disguise) that the Suitors will treat him harshly and have
their own servants who are elegant in appearance so will not want some ragged old man
serving them. Eumaeus makes it clear that he is happy for Odysseus to be his guest and
tells his own story, which shows he has royal origins himself.
Eumeaus was brought up in a royal palace himself in an island with two cities and two
kings. It is a blessed place with no hunger or painful diseases, where people are killed
gently by the gods rather than suffering. Again Phoenicians are associated with trickery
and slave trading, trickery and taking slaves are also part of Odysseus’ life.
A Phoenician woman who is servant in the palace is the lover of a Phoenician sailor. They
conspire to kidnap young Eumaeus and steal valuables from the palace. The woman dies
on the ship, but Eumaeus is nevertheless sold into slavery in a distant land. Fortunately for
him, he is bought by Odysseus’ father Laertes.
Laertes and his wife bring up Eumaeus as part of the family and give him a home when he
becomes an adult. Telemachus lands safely at Ithaca. A falcon, a bird associated with the
god Apollo carries a pigeon it its talons and tears it apart. Theoklymenos shows his
prophetic power, interpreting this event as a sign that Telemachus will become lord of
Ithaca.
16
Book Sixteen
Telemachus reaches Eumaeus’ home where the dogs recognise him and greet him.
Odysseus (in disguise) has great emotion of seeing the son he left twenty years before.
Eumaeus and Telemachus have a relation close to father-son as we see in their emotional
reunion and Telemachus addressing Eumaeus as father, though Eumaeus also shows
deference to him.
Telemachus shows consideration for Eumaeus’ guest, Odysseus in disguise. Telemachus
advises Odysseus not to go to the palace, because of the great bad behaviour of the
Suitors which may lead to a very unpleasant situation for him. He offers Odysseus clothing
and a ship to wherever he wants to go, or help for Eumeaus if Odysseus continues to stay
with him.
Outside away from Eumaeus, Athene changes Odyssesu back to his normal appearance
and he announces himself to his son. At first Telemachus does not believe it, but
Odysseus quickly convinces him. They decide that Odysseus will go back into disguise
and that they will plan revenge on the Suitors.
They agree that he loyalty of the servant women should be tested first, but Telemachus
thinks it is better to wait until after to test the loyalty of the men who are retainers
(followers, dependents) of Odysseus. Telemachus explains that there is a very large
number of Suitors in the palace, it seems to be about one hundred from various families
with some aristocratic status.
Back in the palace, the Suitors meet in assembly, paralleling the assemblies of the Greek
warriors in the Trojan War. They decide to kill Telemachus. The best adviser among them
(so paralleling Odysseus in his intelligence) Antinoos lies to Penelope claiming they will not
harm Telemachus, when Penelope hears of the plan from a loyal servant.
Back at the cottage of Eumaeus, Eumaeus has gone back. He want with the messenger of
Telemachus who passed on news to Penelope. On the way Eumaeus saw a boat landing,
presumably with those of the Suitors who were waiting for Telemachus in ambush in a
ship. Telemachus and Odysseus now known that the Suitors are gathered in force at the
palace and go to sleep.