Book 20 beggar odysseus settles down to bed on the floor outside of penelopes room, but has trouble falling asleep. He began by singing of achilles and odysseus, and this brought tears to that heros eyes. Summary and analysis of book 22 of homers odyssey themes. The description of the deaths of the servant girls, who are compared to doves or thrushes beating their spread wings against some. For sport, telemachus attempts to string the bow and fails three times. The other suitors are stunned, and odysseus announces what he plans to do to the rest of them. The idea of reading his account of being trapped on a theme cruise the theme is homers odyssey is an attractive one. Nov 11, 2010 i like how the story is split into books, which strike me as being sort of like individual episodes in the tv series of the odyssey. The odyssey study packet 2014 page 2 textbook scavenger hunt read pages 10881103. As the odyssey opens, odysseus is stuck on calypsos.
Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. If its a little much for you, feel free to skip down to the thoughts section. Now that he and his son, telemachus, have begun their plans to get rid of the suitors who have taken over. Women had less power and occupied a subordinate status.
This quality has led some scholars to conclude that homer wrote the odyssey at a later time of his life, when he showed less interest in struggles at arms and was more receptive to a storyline that focused on the fortunes and misadventures of a single man. The poet invokes the muse to help him tell the story of odysseus. In book 22 of the odyssey, who is saved from death and why. Summary and analysis book 22 slaughter in the hall. Justice seems to be based around some divine sense of causeandeffect. Athena pleads with zeus that he be allowed to continue his journey home. He is about to succeed on his fourth try when odysseus privately signals him to back off. The odyssey by homer book 22 summary and analysis youtube. This is a very good prose translation, easy to read, and it is an excellent kindle format, well laid out.
Penelope announces the contest and retrieves odysseus great backsprung bow from a secret storeroom deep in the palace. In book 18, odysseus has returned home and has disguised himself so that penelopes suitors will not recognize him. Book xxii then ulysses tore off his rags, and sprang on to the broad pavement with his bow and his quiver full of arrows. What are three important elements of the plot of the epic poems the iliad and the odyssey.
The odyssey study packet chandler unified school district. The suitors look around for arms but cannot find any weapons. Achilles, son of peleus, athena, daughter of zeus, menelaus, son of atreus, etc. But he relies much more on mind than muscle, a tendency that his encounters showcase. A father and son sail through homers odyssey together. The notion of hospitality is so strong in the world of the odyssey that guests can even be considered part of ones family. Dec 31, 2008 i have this project for english where i have to talk about the theme homer tries to convey in book 22 of the odyssey and i have no idea.
As we begin book 22 of the odyssey, odysseus holds his bow and arrow, rips off his beggar rags, and stands in front of the suitors, who are. Athena once again asks zeus to assist odysseus, and zeus decides to send hermes to help him break free of his captivity by the lustrous calypso. Here is this stranger, i do not know who he is, come wandering suppliant here to my house from the eastern or western people. If so, you know how odysseus feels at the beginning of book 20 in homers the odyssey. The poem is commonly dated to between 800 and 600 bc. In this way, penelope, telemachus, and odysseus restore their innocence. He shed the arrows on to the ground at his feet and said, the mighty contest is at an end. For one thing, it maintains the comic and domestic flavor that many critics find characteristic of the odyssey. In the twentysecond book of homers odyssey, odysseus begins his battle with the suitors.
And demodocus chosen theme that day was the trojan war. This is a special kind of homeric epithet used frequently in the iliad and the odyssey. The internet classics archive the odyssey by homer. He managed to hide them by burying his face in his cloak, though the king heard his sobs. Im reading the odyssey to my son age 4 as bedtime reading im tired of kiddie books, were going to read stuff that daddy can appreciate. Greek society was patrilineal lineage traced through the father and patriarchal ruled by men. In book 22 of homers epic, the odyssey, odysseus gets his revenge on the suitors who were wooing his wife while he was away. Summary and analysis book 22 slaughter in the hall summary tearing off his beggar rags, odysseus boldly catapults himself onto the halls threshold, utters a brief prayer to apollo, and fires an arrow straight through a new target. Literary works dont come much more venerable or influential than the odyssey, a 12,000line poem written in ancient greek and composed sometime in the eighth century b. There may be a lot of justice in the odyssey, but there isnt a court of law to be found. This quality has led some scholars to conclude that homer wrote the odyssey at a later time of his life, when he showed less interest in struggles at arms and was more receptive to a storyline that focused on the fortunes and misadventures of. The goatherd sneaks out and comes back with shields and spears for the suitors, but now athena appears. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.
The fighting of book 22 is the only pitched battle in the odyssey, and while it cannot help but recall the iliad, which abounds in bloodshed, the description remains thoroughly odyssean. Just as odysseus is tempted by the allure of calypso and nausicaa, so are his men tempted by the lure of forgetting that comes with ingesting the lotus. Telemachus sets up the axes and then tries his own hand at the bow, but fails in his attempt to string it. Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in the odyssey, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. The theme of spiritual growth is central to the odyssey, especially as it relates to telemachus and odysseus. One of the questions often asked about a work of literature is whether the principal characters grow or develop as the story progresses. The episode with the lotuseaters shines a light on a recurring theme in the odyssey. Book 5 opens on mount olympus at another council of the gods. Antinous, ringleader of the suitors, is just lifting a drinking cup when odysseus puts an arrow through his throat. These texts have long stood in the loeb classical library with a faithful and literate prose translation by a. The new odyssey brings to mind the original epic with which this book has many parallels.
The works attributed to homer include the two oldest and greatest european epic poems, the odyssey and iliad. Sep 18, 2017 the idea of reading his account of being trapped on a theme cruise the theme is homers odyssey is an attractive one. The she goes to ithaca and sends telemachus on a journey of his own. Penelope gets odysseuss bow out of the storeroom and announces that she will marry the suitor who can string it and then shoot an arrow. Granted, its likely not every contemporary readers favorite work although you probably would have felt differently 2,000 years. Needless to say, odysseus strings it and shoots the first arrow whistling through all twelve axes. Course heros video study guide provides indepth summary and analysis of book 22 of homers epic poem the odyssey. The sirens, scylla and charybdis, the cattle of the sun after we were clear of the river oceanus, and had got out into the open sea, we went on till we reached the aeaean island. Odysseus does have extraordinary strength, as he demonstrates in book 21 by being the only man who can string the bow. How does odysseus choose to punish the various people he thinks have. We learn that poseidon, god of the sea, holds a grudge though we dont know exactly why against odysseus and is making the guys voyage home a pretty difficult one. Whereas the iliad tells the story of the rage of achilles, the strongest hero in the greek army, the odyssey focuses on a man of twists and turns 1.
Book 1 book 2 book 3 book 4 book 5 book 6 book 7 book 8 book 9 book 10 book 11 book 12 book book 14 book 15 book 16 book 17 book 18 book 19 book 20 book 21 book 22 book 23 book 24 themes all themes fate, the gods, and free will piety, customs, and justice cunning, disguise, and selfrestraint memory and grief glory and honor. The greek epic is about odysseus the great tactician of troy trying to get home to see his beloved wife and to see his son and family. This video provides an indepth summary and analysis of the plot, characters and themes of book 22 of homers epic poem the odyssey. The tale begins not with odysseus journeying, but with him trapped at a moment in his journey from troy to ithaca. I like how the story is split into books, which strike me as being sort of like individual episodes in the tv series of the odyssey. Antinous blames penelope for seducing all the suitors but wont commit to one of them. The odyssey is one of the two major ancient greek epic poems the other being the iliad, attributed to the poet homer. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of the odyssey and what it means. Summary and analysis book 21 odysseus strings his bow.
The poem is, in part, a sequel to the iliad, and concerns the events that befall the greek hero odysseus in his long journey back to his native land ithaca after the fall. Complete this assessment to test your knowledge of this climatic event. Tearing off his beggar rags, odysseus boldly catapults himself onto the halls threshold, utters. Odysseus shoots antinous through the throat just as the suitor is about to take a sip of wine. If you can give any supporting evidence quotes or something, i will give you the best answer right away. The king kicks the table and scatters the food on the floor, and the food mingles with antinouss blood. A heros son awakens when the suitors attend the assembly the next day, telemachus scolds the suitors for eating his fathers oxen and sheep as the still continue to court penelope. Odysseus removes his rags, prays to apollo, and then shoots an arrow through antinouss throat. Pylos when ithaca character analysis telemachus he helps his father in battling the suitors and obeys his orders, expressing the similarities between the father and son. Along on the cruise is jay, the authors 81yearold father. The detailed descriptions of the battle and executions are especially effective, realistic, and thorough. Follow along with this guide and respond to the questions as you come across them in the text. I have this project for english where i have to talk about the theme homer tries to convey in book 22 of the odyssey and i have no idea.