The Odyssey

Book 10

Aeolus

Jealousy

• Odysseus’s crew members decide to open the bag of wind saying, “It’s not fair. Everyone adores this man and honors him, no matter where he goes.”

• What’s odd about Odysseus knowing this?

• They think the bag has gold and silver and want their share--they think he’s not sharing the wealth and fame.

Back to Aeolia

• When Odysseus and his men come back to the island of Aeolia (with tails between their legs), Aeolus gives him a hard time.

• And, once Odysseus explains why he was blown back, Aeolus says…

– Of all living men, you are the worst—/So you must leave this island with all speed/ It would violate all sense of what is right/ If I assisted or escorted on his way/ A man the blessed gods must hate. So leave/ You’re here because deathless gods despise you.

• Odysseus is marked by the gods.

• What does it mean to be marked/chosen by the gods? Positive? Negative?

Laestrygonians• After they are forced to leave Aeolia in shame,

Odysseus and crew travel to the land of the Laestrygonians, who are depicted as barbarians:

• “I could see no evidence of human work or ploughing, only smoke arising from the land.”

• Why might people in a foreign land be depicted as barbarians or savages?

Giants…

• Antiphates eats one crew member and the two others run back to the ship. The giant then calls for help from his friends:

• They were “not like men at all, but giants. From the cliffs they hurled rocks down on us, the largest stones a man can lift.”

Circe

• All but one of Odysseus’s ships are destroyed by the Giants.

• He and his remaining crew sail to the island of Aeaea, “where fair-haired Circe lived, goddess with a human voice.”

Circe

• Potions

• Transfiguration

• Wands

• Memory alteration

Divine Help

• “But while I was moving through the sacred groves, on my way to Circe's home, a goddess skilled in many magic potions, I met Hermes of the Golden Wand.” 

After a year in Circe’s bed . . .

• His men convince him that they should be on their way back home

• Odysseus does have a wife and son waiting for him at home, but doesn’t seem too phased by this . . .

• Detour to Hades to consult the shade of the prophet Teiresias.

Questions: The Underworld

• What shades (spirits of the dead) must he consult?

• How is he guided by an obligation to the dead?

• What about the women?