The odyssey by homer facts

In Roman mythology, Odysseus was called Ulysses. It depicted the story 10 years after Trojan War. It narrated how Odysseus had his journey to the home in Ithaca after Troy fell off. Check facts about the Iliad here. It was presumed that Odyssey passed away due to his absence. The Mnesteres was a group of unruly suitors who competed to marry the wife of Odyssey, Penelope.

Telemachus was the son of Penelope and Odysseus. The original version of The Odyssey is written in Homeric Greek. Many people still read the original language. Written by: Homer although some believe that there were multiple authors. Point of View: Narrated in third person. The narrator regularly offers insights into the thoughts and emotions of minor characters, gods and mortals.

Rising Conflict: Odysseus has been held prisoner for seven years, and now must return to his kingdom in order to slay the suitors who attempt to kill his son, marry his wife and take over his kingdom. Theme s : Power of wit over strength; the lure of temptation; the war between objectives and obstacles; the despair of separation; growth or character.

Dactylic hexameter is a rhythmic pattern commonly employed in ancient Greek epic poetry. It consists of six metrical feet per line, with each foot consisting of a long syllable followed by two short syllables. The use of this meter in the Odyssey adds a musical quality to the poem when recited aloud and contributes to its distinctive style and rhythm.

The Odyssey culminates in a satisfying conclusion, with Odysseus finally reuniting with his faithful wife Penelope in their homeland of Ithaca. After enduring numerous challenges and trials, Odysseus reveals his true identity to Penelope, who has remained loyal to him despite the persistent suitors vying for her hand. The epic ends on a note of triumph, as order is restored in Ithaca and Odysseus is reunited with his family.

The Odyssey Facts 1.

The odyssey by homer facts

Afterward, Odysseus and his men landed on a lush, uninhabited island near the land of the Cyclopes. The men entered the cave of Polyphemus , where they found all the cheeses and meat they desired. Upon returning to his cave, Polyphemus sealed the entrance with a massive boulder and proceeded to eat Odysseus's men. Odysseus devised an escape plan in which he, identifying himself as "Nobody", plied Polyphemus with wine and blinded him with a wooden stake.

When Polyphemus cried out, his neighbors left after Polyphemus claimed that "Nobody" had attacked him. Odysseus and his men finally escaped the cave by hiding on the underbellies of the sheep as they were let out of the cave. As they escaped, however, Odysseus taunted Polyphemus and revealed himself. The Cyclops prayed to his father Poseidon, asking him to curse Odysseus to wander for ten years.

After the escape, Aeolus gave Odysseus a leather bag containing all the winds except the west wind, a gift that should have ensured a safe return home. Just as Ithaca came into sight, the sailors opened the bag while Odysseus slept, thinking it contained gold. The winds flew out, and the storm drove the ships back the way they had come. Aeolus, recognizing that Odysseus had drawn the ire of the gods, refused to further assist him.

After the cannibalistic Laestrygonians destroyed all of his ships except his own, Odysseus sailed on and reached the island of Aeaea , home of witch-goddess Circe. She turned half of his men into swine with drugged cheese and wine. Hermes warned Odysseus about Circe and gave Odysseus an herb called moly , making him resistant to Circe's magic.

Odysseus forced Circe to change his men back to their human forms and was seduced by her. They remained with her for one year. Finally, guided by Circe's instructions, Odysseus and his crew crossed the ocean and reached a harbor at the western edge of the world, where Odysseus sacrificed to the dead. Odysseus summoned the spirit of the prophet Tiresias and was told that he may return home if he is able to stay himself and his crew from eating the sacred livestock of Helios on the island of Thrinacia and that failure to do so would result in the loss of his ship and his entire crew.

He then meets his dead mother Anticleia and first learns of the suitors and what happened in Ithaca in his absence. Odysseus also converses with his dead comrades from Troy. Returning to Aeaea, they buried Elpenor and were advised by Circe on the remaining stages of the journey. They skirted the land of the Sirens. All of the sailors had their ears plugged up with beeswax, except for Odysseus, who was tied to the mast as he wanted to hear the song.

He told his sailors not to untie him as it would only make him drown himself. They then passed between the six-headed monster Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis. Scylla claimed six of his men. Next, they landed on the island of Thrinacia, with the crew overriding Odysseus's wishes to remain away from the island. Zeus caused a storm that prevented them from leaving, causing them to deplete the food given to them by Circe.

While Odysseus was away praying, his men ignored the warnings of Tiresias and Circe and hunted the sacred cattle. Helios insisted that Zeus punish the men for this sacrilege. They suffered a shipwreck, and all but Odysseus drowned as he clung to a fig tree. Washed ashore on Ogygia , he remained there as Calypso's lover. Having listened to his story, the Phaeacians agree to provide Odysseus with more treasure than he would have received from the spoils of Troy.

They deliver him at night, while he is fast asleep, to a hidden harbour on Ithaca. Odysseus awakens and believes that he has been dropped on a distant land before Athena appears to him and reveals that he is indeed on Ithaca. She hides his treasure in a nearby cave and disguises him as an elderly beggar so he can see how things stand in his household.

He finds his way to the hut of one of his own slaves, swineherd Eumaeus , who treats him hospitably and speaks favorably of Odysseus. After dinner, the disguised Odysseus tells the farm laborers a fictitious tale of himself. Telemachus sails home from Sparta, evading an ambush set by the suitors. He disembarks on the coast of Ithaca and meets Odysseus.

Odysseus identifies himself to Telemachus but not to Eumaeus , and they decide that the suitors must be killed. Telemachus goes home first. Accompanied by Eumaeus, Odysseus returns to his own house, still pretending to be a beggar, where he is only recognized by his faithful dog, Argos. He is ridiculed by the suitors in his own home, especially Antinous.

Odysseus meets Penelope and tests her intentions by saying he once met Odysseus in Crete. Closely questioned, he adds that he had recently been in Thesprotia and had learned something there of Odysseus's recent wanderings. Odysseus's identity is discovered by the housekeeper Eurycleia when she recognizes an old scar as she is washing his feet.

Eurycleia tries to tell Penelope about the beggar's true identity, but Athena makes sure that Penelope cannot hear her. Odysseus swears Eurycleia to secrecy. The next day, at Athena's prompting, Penelope maneuvers the suitors into competing for her hand with an archery competition using Odysseus's bow. The man who can string the bow and shoot an arrow through a dozen axe heads would win.

Odysseus takes part in the competition, and he alone is strong enough to string the bow and shoot the arrow through the dozen axe heads, making him the winner. He then throws off his rags and kills Antinous with his next arrow. Odysseus kills the other suitors, first using the rest of the arrows and then, along with Telemachus, Eumaeus, and the cowherd Philoetius, with swords and spears.

Once the battle is won, Telemachus also hangs twelve of their household maids whom Eurycleia identifies as guilty of betraying Penelope or having sex with the suitors. Odysseus identifies himself to Penelope. She is hesitant but recognizes him when he mentions that he made their bed from an olive tree still rooted to the ground. She embraces him and they sleep.

The next day, Odysseus goes to his father Laertes 's farm and reveals himself. Following them to the farm is a group of Ithacans, led by Eupeithes , father of Antinous, who are out for revenge for the murder of the suitors. A battle breaks out, but it is quickly stopped by Athena and Zeus. The Odyssey is 12, lines composed in dactylic hexameter , also called Homeric hexameter.

In the Classical period , some of the books individually and in groups were commonly given their own titles:. Book 22 concludes the Greek Epic Cycle , though fragments remain of the "alternative ending" of sorts known as the Telegony. The Telegony aside, the last lines of the Odyssey , corresponding to Book 24, are believed by many scholars to have been added by a slightly later poet.

The events in the main sequence of the Odyssey excluding Odysseus's embedded narrative of his wanderings have been said to take place in the Peloponnese and in what are now called the Ionian Islands. Struck created an interactive map which plots Odysseus's travels, [ 16 ] including his near homecoming which was thwarted by the bag of wind.

Scholars have seen strong influences from Near Eastern mythology and literature in the Odyssey. Gilgamesh reaches Siduri's house by passing through a tunnel underneath Mt. Mashu , the high mountain from which the sun comes into the sky. In , paleontologist Othenio Abel surmised the origins of the Cyclops to be the result of ancient Greeks finding an elephant skull.

Similar stories are found in cultures across Europe and the Middle East. Upon Agamemnon's return, his wife Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus, kill Agamemnon. Agamemnon's son, Orestes , out of vengeance for his father's death, kills Aegisthus. This parallel compares the death of the suitors to the death of Aegisthus and sets Orestes up as an example for Telemachus.

It is because of Penelope that Odysseus has fame and a successful homecoming. This successful homecoming is unlike Achilles , who has fame but is dead, and Agamemnon, who had an unsuccessful homecoming resulting in his death. Only two of Odysseus's adventures are described by the narrator. The rest of Odysseus' adventures are recounted by Odysseus himself.

The two scenes described by the narrator are Odysseus on Calypso's island and Odysseus' encounter with the Phaeacians. These scenes are told by the poet to represent an important transition in Odysseus' journey: being concealed to returning home. After leaving Calypso's island, the poet describes Odysseus' encounters with the Phaeacians—those who "convoy without hurt to all men" [ 31 ] —which represents his transition from not returning home to returning home.

Also, during Odysseus' journey, he encounters many beings that are close to the gods. These encounters are useful in understanding that Odysseus is in a world beyond man and that influences the fact he cannot return home. Throughout the course of the epic, Odysseus encounters several examples of xenia 'guest-friendship' , which provide models of how hosts should and should not act.

Polyphemus demonstrates poor guest-friendship. His only "gift" to Odysseus is that he will eat him last. It is assumed that a king has the means to be a generous host and is more generous with his own property. Odysseus essentially says that while Antinous may look like a king, he is far from a king since he is not generous. According to J. Hainsworth, guest-friendship follows a very specific pattern: [ 36 ].

Another important factor of guest-friendship is not keeping the guest longer than they wish and also promising their safety while they are a guest within the host's home. Another theme throughout the Odyssey is testing. Odysseus tests the loyalty of others and others test Odysseus' identity. An example of Odysseus testing the loyalties of others is when he returns home.

After Odysseus reveals his true identity, the characters test Odysseus' identity to see if he really is who he says he is. This is a difficult task since it is made out of a living tree that would require being cut down, a fact that only the real Odysseus would know, thus proving his identity. Testing also has a very specific type scene that accompanies it.

Throughout the epic, the testing of others follows a typical pattern. This pattern is: [ 38 ] [ 37 ]. Omens occur frequently throughout the Odyssey. Within the epic poem, they frequently involve birds. For instance, bird omens are shown to Telemachus, Penelope, Odysseus, and the suitors. Omens are another example of a type scene in the Odyssey.

Two important parts of an omen type scene are the recognition of the omen, followed by its interpretation. There is no scholarly consensus on the date of the composition of the Odyssey.