Odysseus and the Odyssey

Achilles vs. Odysseus

"Speak, Memory—
     Of the cunning hero,
The wanderer, blown off course time and again
After he plundered Troy’s sacred heights. Speak
Of all the cities he saw, the minds he grasped ..."   (Od. 1.1-4)

"He sent me to you to teach you this—
To be a speaker of words and a doer of deeds."    (Il. 9.454-5)

"Son of Laertes in the line of Zeus,
Odysseus the strategist—I can see
That I have no choice but to speak my mind ...
      I hate like hell
The man who says one thing and thinks another.
So this is how I see it ..." (Il. 9.312-18)

Odysseus at Work (Od. 6.149ff.)

"I implore you, Lady: Are you a goddess
Or mortal? If you are one of heaven’s divinities
I think you are most like great Zeus’ daughter
...
And happiest of all will be the lucky man
Who takes you home with a cartload of gifts.
I’ve never seen anyone like you,
Man or woman. I look upon you with awe.
Once, on Delos, I saw something to compare—
A palm shoot springing up near Apollo’s altar.
I had stopped there with the troops under my command
On what would prove to be a perilous campaign ...
...
Show me the way to town, and give me
A rag to throw over myself, some piece of cloth
You may have brought along to bundle the clothes.
And for yourself, may the gods grant you
Your heart’s desire, a husband and a home,
And the blessing of a harmonious life.
For nothing is greater or finer than this,
When a man and woman live together
With one heart and mind, bringing joy
To their friends and grief to their foes."

Adventures with Odysseus

IX  Cicones
   Lotus-Eaters
   *Cyclops

X   Aeolus
   Laestrygonians
   *Circe

XI  [Underworld]
    Elpenor
    Tiresias
    Mother
    Famous heroines
    <"Intermezzo">
    War buddies
    Sinners punished

XII  Sirens
   Scylla & Charybdis
   *Oxen of the Sun

Lessons in Hospitality

Host not hospitable

Host too hospitable Guest attacks/takes advantage of Host Self-restraint/middle course "I sent out a team—two picked men and a herald—
To reconnoiter and find out who lived there.
They went ashore and followed a smooth road
Used by wagons to bring wood from the mountains
Down to the city. In front of the city
They met a girl drawing water. Her father
Was named Antiphates ...
... She showed them her father’s high-roofed house.
They entered the house and found his wife inside,
A woman, to their horror, as huge as a mountain top.
At once she called her husband, Antiphates,
Who meant business when he came. He seized
One of my men and made him into dinner."     (Od. 10.114ff.)

"We came to their city and their fine palace,
And for a full month he entertained me.
He questioned me in great detail about Troy,
The Greek fleet, and the Greeks’ return home.
I told him everything, from beginning to end.
And when I, in turn, asked if I might leave,
And requested him to send me on my way,
He did not refuse ..."  (Od. 10.16ff.)

"So I spoke and the shining goddess answered:
‘Son of Laertes in the line of Zeus,
My wily Odysseus—you need not stay
Here in my house any longer than you wish ...’"   (Od. 10. 508ff.)

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