The Odyssey Overview and Quiz Table of contents

The Odyssey Overview and Quiz

Table of contents • • • The Story of Odysseus Ciconians Cyclops Circe Hades Sirens Scylla and Charybdis Helios’ Cattle Calypso Ithaca

Odysseus

The Journey of Odysseus • The story of the Greek hero, Odysseus, describes his adventures over the course of ten years as he tries to get back to his home and his family. The story starts after the end of the Iliad, the eleven year war between the Greeks and the Trojans. Meanwhile, his wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus, have missed him for twenty two years.

Odyssey Odysseus is returning from… Greece Egypt Troy, or Ilium

The Ciconians • After Odysseus and his men depart from Troy, they are greeted by friendly and calm waters. The ships near land Eurylochus, convincing Odysseus that the gods were on their side, told him to go ashore and loot the nearby city. The crew had landed in Ismara. The city was not at all protected and all of the inhabitants fled without a fight into the nearby mountains. Odysseus and his men looted the city and robbed it of all its goods.

The Ciconians • Odysseus wisely told the men to board the ships quickly but they refused, ate dinner and fell asleep on the beach. The next morning, the Ciconians (also known as the Cicones) returned with their fierce kinsmen from the mountains. Odysseus and his men fled to the ships as fast as they could but they lost many men.

Odysseus

Odyssey The men were forced to flee because… The old women in the village beat them with stale loaves of bread They had too many to fight on such a tiny beach They did not listen to their leader

The Cyclops • A scouting party led by Odysseus lands in the territory of the Cyclops and discover a large cave. They go in and feast on food inside. Unknown to them, the cave is the dwelling of Polyphemus, a one-eyed giant who soon returns. Polyphemus refuses hospitality to his uninvited guests and traps them in the cave by blocking the entrance with a boulder that could not be moved by mortal men. He then proceeds to eat a pair of the men each day, but Odysseus devises a cunning plan for escape.

Polyphemus

The Cyclops • To make Polyphemus unwary, Odysseus gives him a bowl of strong, unadulterated wine. When Polyphemus asks for his name, Odysseus tells him that it is "Nobody" (Outis). In appreciation for the wine, Polyphemus offers to return the favor by eating him last. Once the giant falls asleep, Odysseus and his men take a giant spear, which they had previously prepared while Polyphemus was out of the cave shepherding his flocks, and blind Polyphemus. Hearing Polyphemus' cries, other Cyclops come to his cave and ask what is wrong, what man has put out his eye? Polyphemus replied that Nobody has put out his eye by cunning instead of by direct attack. The Cyclops left, thinking that his outbursts must be madness or the gods' doing.

The Cyclops • In the morning, Polyphemus rolls back the boulder to let the sheep out to graze. Now blind, Polyphemus cannot see the men, but feels the tops of his sheep to make sure the men are not riding them. Odysseus and his men escape, having tied themselves to the undersides of the sheep. Once Odysseus and his men are out, they load the sheep on board their ship and set sail.

Odyssey Odysseus and the crew escape by… Feeding the giant monster Lotus leaves to alter his mood Stabbing Polyphemus in the eye while he drunkenly snoozes Getting the monster so hammered he thinks Odysseus and Co. are sheep…

Circe • The next stop was the island of Circe, where Odysseus sent a scouting party ahead of the rest of the group. She invited the scouting party to a feast, the food laced with one of her magical potions, and she then changed all the men into pigs with a wand after they gorged themselves on it. Only Eurylochus, suspecting treachery from the outset, escaped to warn Odysseus and the others who had stayed behind at the ships. Odysseus set out to rescue his men, but was intercepted and told by Hermes to procure some of the herb moly to protect him from the same fate.

Circe

Circe • When her magic failed he was able to force her to return his men to human form by making her swear the Oath of the Immortals. She later fell in love with Odysseus and he was treated well in her abode. Later, quite reluctantly (reluctant since she did not want to part with Odysseus), she assisted him in his quest to reach his home after he and his crew spent one year with her on her island. On Circe's island, Elpenor, the youngest of Odysseus' crew, got drunk and fell off Circe's roof and died.

Circe and Odysseus

Odyssey Odysseus was able to resist the charms of Circe because… He pushed Elpenor off the roof He had a holy mole on his cheek, which protected him. Hermes gave him a magic herb

Hades • Odysseus wanted to speak with Tiresias, so he and his men journeyed to the River Acheron in Hades, where they performed sacrifices which allowed them to speak to the dead, including his mother, Elpenor, Tiresias, and Achilles. They all gave him valuable advice on how to pass the rest of his journey. Odysseus sacrificed a ram and the dead spirits were attracted to the blood.

Hades

Hades • He held them at bay and demanded to speak with Tiresias, who told him how to pass by Helios' cattle and the whirlpool Charybdis. During the Trojan War Odysseus met a Trojan boy captured by Achilles who was later freed to Troy, named Helios. He didn't remember the name until he heard how to get by Helios, the god.

Odyssey In the Underworld, Odysseus learns… How to make a good lamb stew How Achilles killed Helios How to ensure that he dies a happy old man

Sirens • Circe warned Odysseus of the dangers of these singing creatures who lured men to their death. She advised him to avoid hearing the song but that if he really felt he had to hear then he should be tied to the mast. His men should have their ears stopped with wax and be ordered not to heed his screams.

Sirens

Sirens • Odysseus was so curious he twisted Circe’s words and told the men that Circe had told him that he had to listen to the song. He obeyed her instructions and listened to the song while he was tied to the mast.

Odyssey The Song of the Sirens was dangerous because… It lured men to dash their ships and bones against the deadly cliffs It sounded a lot like a Britney Spears joint It prophesied Odysseus impending death at the hands of Pericles the Lion

Scylla and Charybdis • Odysseus was told by Circe that he would have to sail pass two great hazards. On one side was a whirlpool, called Charybdis who would sink the ship. However on the other side of the strait was a monster called Scylla, daughter of Cratais with six heads who would seize and eat six men. The advice was to sail close to Scylla and lose six men.

Scylla and Charybdis

Scylla and Charybdis • Odysseus initially queried this advice and asked if he could fight Scylla but was told not to. However, he did not dare tell his crew of the sacrifice, or they would have cowered below and not rowed and everyone would have ended up in Charybdis. Six men died and Odysseus said that their cries were the worst thing he had ever known.

Odyssey Odysseus’ men braved the monster and the whirlpool because… They were naturally heroic and brave men Odysseus promised them each fantastic riches Odysseus never told them about the required sacrifice of six human lives

The Sun God’s Cows • Finally, Odysseus and his surviving crew approached an island, Thrinacia, sacred to Helios, where he kept sacred cattle. Odysseus had been warned by Tiresias and Circe not to touch these cattle. Odysseus told his men that they would not be landing on the island. Eurylochus then threatened mutiny and Odysseus unwisely gave in. The men were trapped by adverse winds on the island began to get hungry.

The Sun God’s Cows • Odysseus went inland to pray for help and fell asleep. In his absence Eurylochus incited the men to kill and eat the cattle. The guardians of the island, Helios' daughters, Lampetia and Phaethusa, told their father.

The Sun God Helios

The Sun God’s Cows • Helios complained to Zeus and said that he would take the sun down to Hades if justice was not done. Zeus destroyed the ship with a thunderbolt and all the men save Odysseus perished. Odysseus was swept past Scylla and Charybdis whom he luckily escaped and washed up on Calypso's island.

Odyssey Odysseus did not want to land on the island because… He knew Eurylochus couldn’t turn down a good sun burger He was afraid the men would go cow tipping Tiresias had warned him not to touch the cattle

Calypso and Odysseus

Calypso’s Island • Odysseus washed ashore on Ogygia, where the nymph Calypso, daughter of Atlas. She made him her lover for seven years and would not let him leave, promising him immortality if he stayed. As a result, Odysseus was strongly attracted to her by night yet wept by the shore for his home and family by day. On behalf of Athena, Zeus intervened and sent Hermes to tell Calypso to let Odysseus go. Odysseus left on a small raft furnished with provisions of water, wine and food by Calypso, only to be hit by a storm launched by his old enemy Poseidon and washed up on the island of Scheria.

Realm of Calypso

Calypso’s Island • He was found by Nausicaa, daughter of King Alcinous and Queen Arete of the Phaeacians, who entertained him well and escorted him to Ithaca. While upon Scheria, the bard sings a song of the Trojan war. As Odysseus was at Troy and longed to return to his home, he wept at the song. Alcinous, realising this decided to press Odysseus for his true identity.

Odyssey Calypso was a(n)… Egyptian belly dancer Rich heiress of a hotel fortune Sea nymph

Homecoming • In Ithaca, Penelope was fending off suitors. Odysseus, upon landing, disguised as a beggar by Athena, took the name Eperitus. Odysseus' faithful dog Argos was the first to recognize him in his rags. He had waited twenty years to see his master. Aged and decrepit, he did his best to wag his tail, but Odysseus did not want to be found out, and had to feign ignorance, leading the dog to die. Odysseus was then welcomed by his old swineherd, Eumaeus, who did not recognize him in disguise, but still treated him well. The first person to recognize him was his old wet nurse, Euryclea.

Homecoming • Still in his disguise, Odysseus went to Penelope and told her that whoever could string Odysseus' bow and shoot an arrow through twelve axe-handles would be able to marry Penelope. This was to Odysseus' advantage, as only he could string his own bow. The suitors each tried to string the bow, but in vain. Odysseus then took the bow, strung it, and completed the task. Athena then took off his disguise and, with the help of his son Telemachus, Athena, and Eumaeus, the swineherd, killed all the offending suitors.

Ithaca

Homecoming • Penelope ordered her maid to make up Odysseus' bed, and move it from their bedchamber. Odysseus was astonished because the bed was built into the trunk of an olive tree and thus cannot be moved; he tells her this, and since only Odysseus and Penelope knew this, Penelope accepted that he was her husband. She came running to him hoping that he would forgive her. He forgives her because he could understand why she did it.

Odyssey Odysseus used ______ to overcome the suitors. A banana Courage and cleverness A sword called Excalibur

The End

• Unleash the Harpies and the Furies on the Dunce!

• What fools you mortals be!

• Perfecto!