ENGL220 Odyssey Books X-XIV

Odyssey X

They came next to the island of Aeolus, lord of the winds

Aeolus captured the winds

Put them in a bag, and gave the bag to Odysseus

They were almost home, when Odysseus got sleepy and his crew got curious

They opened the bag, and let loose a storm of wind

They were blown back to Aeolian Island

Believing they were cursed by the gods, Aeolus refused further aid

They sailed to the city of Telepylus on Lamus, land of the Laestrygonians.

Odysseus hides his ship, and they climb steep cliffs to explore the land

They meet a young girl

She takes them to the queen

King Antiphates shows up

He begins killing and eating the crew

Many escape to the beach

They run for the ships

The Laestrygonians throw rocks

Only Odysseus, his ship and its crew, survive

They sail on to Aeaea

Odysseus goes off alone and sees a hut

On his way back to his men, he kills a stag and they all feast

Eurylochus took 22 men into the woods.

When they reached Circe’s house, they found many tame animals

Circe changed men into animals

She had transformed her husband Picus

Into a woodpecker

Daughter of the sun, granddaughter of Oceanus, she was a powerful goddess

She used a potion.

And a wave of her wand

To turn men into beasts.

Eurylochus watched in hiding while the men became swine

Eurylochus ran back to the ship and told Odysseus the bad news

Odysseus vowed to rescue his crew

Odysseus got some help from Hermes

Hermes gave him some holy moly, an antidote to Circe’s potion

Circe welcomed Odysseus and offered him a drink

He drank, but when she waved her wand he pulled out his sword

Circe supplicated and asked him to go to bed with her

Odysseus made Circe swear an oath that she would not harm him.

She swore, and nookie ensued

Then a bath and lunch, but Odysseus wouldn’t eat until his men were men again

So she changed the pigs back into men, younger and stronger than before.

Odysseus and his men stayed with Circe for a year

Odysseus told Circe it was time for him to head home

Circe told Odysseus he would not get home unless he first went to the Underworld and talked to Tiresias

The last night of partying at Circe’s, Elpenor got drunk, fell off the roof, and died.

Odysseus and his men sailed to the land of Hades

Refer to the map on the previous slide for the locations of these events.

1. Troy: After 10 years of siege, the Greek forces capture and destroy the city; then they sail for home with their spoils. Homer's version is told in Iliad.

2. Coast of Thrace: Odysseus and his men destroy and plunder Ismarus, city of the Cicones, but are eventually driven away with losses.

3. Lotus-eaters: Blown off course, Odysseus' fleet lands on shores of North Africa or the island of Jerba, possible locations for the drugged natives.

4. Cyclops: Near Naples are the caves of Mt. Posillipo and the Phlegraean Fields; another possible location for Cyclops is Sicily.

5. Aeolus: Ruler of the Winds, he lives on Stromboli, the Aeolian Island. His gift to Odysseus of a leather pouch, which controls the wild winds, allows the fleet to sail in sight of Ithica, when the crew causes disaster.

6. Laestrygonians: Cape Bonifacio is at the south coast of Corsica, where a race of giants destroy all of the fleet and men except for Odysseus' boat and crew.

7. Circe: This beautiful, sinister goddess lives on the island of Aeaea, now associated with Monte Circeo. With her magic, she enslaves men by turning them into animals. She tells Odysseus that he must enter the Halls of Hades before he can return home.

8. Entrance to the Underworld: Lake Avernus, near Salerno; but Tim Severin interprets the descriptions as resembling locations on the Greek coast. Here Odysseus speaks with the dead and consults the blind prophet Tiresias.

9. Sirens: Isole li Galli in the Gulf of Sorrento are known as the Islands of the Sirens, where Odysseus is tied to the mast of his ship so he can listen to their deadly songs.

10. Scylla & Charybdis: The Straits of Messina contain the narrows where Scylla, monster of the ocean caves, and Charybdis, the whirlpool, challenge passage.

11. Thrinacia: Sicily, island home of the sun-god, Hyperion. Odysseus' remaining crew and boat are destroyed as punishment for killing Hyperion's protected cattle.

12. Calypso: Odysseus is washed up on Calypso's island of Ogygia, present-day Malta. He stays with this tempting goddess 7 years before the Olympian gods relent and let him resume his journey home.

13. Phaecians: Their secluded island, Scheria, is present-day Corfu. These magical sailors escort Odysseus home, after he tells his story.

14. Ithaca: Island home to which Odysseus returns after 20 years away from his faithful wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus.

15. Pylos: Home of King Nestor, with whom Telemachus consults.16. Sparta: Land of King Menelaus, whose wife, Helen, is at the center of the conflict causing the 10-year war with Troy.17. Mycenae: Land of Agamemnon, king of the Achaeans, brother of Menelaus. He was a major leader in the war

against Troy.18. Knossos: On present-day Crete, home of legendary King Minos whose vast constructions let to the legend of the

Labyrinth.

The Odyssey

Book XI

Odysseus and his men sail to Hades

Odysseus enters the underworld

He drinks the blood

Elpinor requests a proper burial

He consults with Tiresias

The ghosts drink blood so they may speak

Odysseus meets his mother

The ghosts of dead Trojan warriors

Odysseus speaks to Agamemnon

And Achilles

He sails back to Circe’s Island

BOOK XII

THE ODYSSEY

Elpinor is properly buried

Circe provides a feast

Circe gives Odysseus advice

She warns him about the sirens

Scylla and Charybdis

And above all, she tells him, do not molest the cattle of the sun

At dawn, Odysseus and his men set sail

Odysseus plugs the ears of his men with wax, and has them tie him to the mast

The sirens call to Odysseus

They tempt him with knowledge

Odysseus struggles, but his bindings hold

They sail away from the dangerous sirens

Odysseus orders his men to steer towards Scylla

In order to avoid the deadly whirlpool of Charybdis

Scylla’s six heads emerge

Each head grabs and devours a member of the crew

Exhausted and demoralized, the men demand to stop and rest on the island of the sun

Odysseus makes the men promise not to molest the livestock on this island

But when supplies run out, the men fear starvation and disobey

They kill the cattle

When the men eat, the meat moves and moos

Lampetia flies up and complains to the sun

Helios vows to destroy the ship

Lightning strikes the ship

Only Odysseus survives, clinging to the keel

Odysseus is carried back to Charybdis

He clings to a fig tree

As his ship is sucked down…

Odysseus gets back on his raft, and floats for nine days until he washes up on Calypso’s island

Odysseus thus ends his tale

Book XIII

Alcinous asks each of his guests to donate a tripod and cauldron to Odysseus

One more day of feast and song

Next morn, Odysseus wishes Arête a special farewell

He goes onboard the Phaecian ship

Nausicaa watches him depart.

The Phaecian sailors put the sleeping Odysseus and his gifts ashore at Ithaca

Athena disguises Ithaca

Athena turns Odysseus into an old beggar

Athena flies off to get Telemachus

Book XIV

Odysseus goes to the hut of the swineherd