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The Odyssey Summary Questions And Answers Latest Update
- Course
- Odyssey
- Institution
- Harvard University
The Odyssey Summary Questions And Answers Latest Update
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The Odyssey Summary QuestionsAnd Answers Latest Update
Book 1: Telemachus Fills His Fathers Shoes ANS✔✔ The Bard asks the
Muse to tell the story of Odysseus. The story begins 10 years after the Trojan
War. Odysseus has been trapped in the island Ogygia because the goddess
Calypso has fallen in love with him. Meanwhile back in Ithaca, the suitors
have taken over the palace while courting Odysseus' wife Penelope. Athena
comes down and disguises herself has Odysseus' old friend Mentes and goes to
Telemachus (Odysseus' son) and tells him he needs to tell the suitors to get out
and also that he needs to travel to Pylos and Sparta to seek news of his father.
Book 2: Sneaky Penelope ANS✔✔ An assembly meets the next day and
Aegyptius praises Telemachus for stepping into his father's shoes. Telemachus
then gets up and gives a speech rebuking the suitors for taking over his father's
palace and consuming his food and trying to take his wife. Antinous, one of the
suitors, blames Penelope because he says that she seduces every single one of
them but will not commit to any of them. He reminds the rest of the suitors of
the ruse that Penelope concocted to put off re-marrying. She told the suitors
that she would choose a new husband as soon as she was done weaving a
burial shroud for her father in law, Laertes. But each night she would carefully
undid the knitting that she did that day so that the shroud would never be
finished. As Telemachus is preparing to make his journey, Athena visits him
again disguised as Mentor, yet another friend of Odysseus, and she encourages
him and tells him that his journey will be fruitful. Then Athena disguises
herself as Telemachus himself and goes into town and collects a loyal crew to
man his ship.
Book 3: Telemachus Speaks To Nestor ANS✔✔ Telemachus and
Mentor/Athena arrive in Pylos and witness and impressive religious ceremony
, in which dozens of bulls are sacrificed to Posedion. Telemachus has little
experience with public speaking but Athena gives him the encouragement he
needs to approach Nestor and ask for news about his father. Nestor has no
news about Odysseus but he recounts that after the fall of Troy Agamemnon
and Menelaus got into a fight and Menlaus set sail for Greece immediately
while Agamemnon decided to wait a day and continue sacrificing on the shore.
He tells Telemachus that Odysseus says with Agamemnon. Telemachus then
asks about Agamemnon's fate and Nestor explains that when Agamemnon
returned home another man who had stayed behind seduced and married his
wife and they both devised a plan to murder Agamemnon and carried out the
plan successfully. Then Telemachus sets out for Sparta and Nestor decides to
send his own son to accompany him on his journey. Athena stays behind and
protects the ship and the crew.
Book 4: Telemachus Meets Menelaus ANS✔✔ Telemachus and friend arrive
in Sparta and are happily greeted by Menelaus and Helen. They recognize
Telemachus as Odysseus' son because of the clear resemblance. As they all
feast the king and queen recount all of Odysseus' cunning at Troy. The next
day Menelaus recounts his own journey from Troy and how he got stranded in
Egypt and was forced to capture Proteus, the divine Old Man of the Sea.
Proteus told him the way back home and also informed him of the fates of Ajax
and Agamemnon and also that Odysseus was trapped on Calypso's Island.
Meanwhile, back in Ithaca the suitors learned about Telemachus' journey and
devised a plan to ambush him when he returned. The herald Medon overheard
this and told Penelope. She became distraught at the thought of losing her son
also, but Athena sends a phantom of Penelope's sister to reassure her that
Telemachus is being watched over by a goddess.
Book 5: Calypso Must Release Odysseus ANS✔✔ All the gods gather on
Mount Olympus to discuss Odysseus' fate. Athena gives a speech and it pretty
much convinces everyone that it's time for Calypso to let Odysseus go. Hermes
goes to Calypso and tells her that she must let Odysseus go home. Calypso
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