Homer, The Odyssey, Books 15, 16
Book 15‑‑
1) How does Athena's message to
Telemakhos re-establish his concern for specific types of events in Ithaca after
our long sojourn with Odysseus?
2) How do you take Meneleus' speech
about "measure is best in
everything"? Consider the
circumstance and what might be
measured speech on such an occasion, given what we know about the
plot at this moment? Is his
performance temperate and in tune with the times?
Compare also the young men's decision upon returning to Pylos.
3) What gift does Helen give
Telemakhos and what theme does it begin to establish (esp. see Athena's message,
above)?
4) When the eagles appear, who is
asked to interpret their behavior and who in fact does so?
What does this mean?
5) Theoklymenos' ancestry is
disclosed in unusually dense detail just as he appears to beg sanctuary with
Telemakhos' crew. Why?
Have you seen any of these names before?
What is his function in this narrative?
You will find other examples of this type scene and type character in the
Icelandic sagas--sometimes the decision to welcome the pursued man to the ship
is a bad mistake. What kind of
decision does Telemakhos make here?
6) Why is Eumaios' story of his
situation unusual in this heroic epic?
There are no characters like him in the Iliad. On the
contrary, the one lower-class character who dares to speak to heroes, the
belligerent Thersytes, is publicly humiliated by Odysseus
for daring to challenge Agamemnon's authority
(Book II). How did Eumaios come to be Laertes' slave, and what is
the poet's narrative strategy in introducing this piece of background material
for him? How does Odysseus evaluate
Eumaios' situation after hearing his tale?
Book 16‑‑
1) Consider the extended simile
which describes Eumaios' joy at Telemakhos' return.
Who should be occupying the roles in the simile and what does it cost one
of them to resist taking his place in it?
2) What does O. request of T. and
how does T. respond? What theme
does this announce and how does O. respond to T's evaluation of the situation in
the hall?
3) How does T. respond to the news
that his father is standing before him?
O. explains his changed appearance by appealing to Athena's powers--how
would you interpret this statement?
4) How many suitors are there (ll.
294 ff.)?
5) T. raises a concern for the
practical interests of gods in the affairs of men (ll. 311-15which later will be
advanced by the philosopher Anaxagoras--what is his position and what issue does
it raise for Homer's audience and for the suitors?
6) According to Athena, what is
Odysseus' plan? Why didn't he just
kill the suitors in the night?
How would you describe the strategy this plan uses?
7) How do Eurymakhos, Antinoos, and
Nisos feel about T's return? Why
does E speak first? What does this
suggest about social relations among the suitors since Book I?
8) Penelope makes a surprisingly
strong attack on the suitors--what do we learn from her and from Eurymakhos'
reply?
9) Why have O and T not told
Eumaios that O has returned to Ithaka?
Book 17‑‑
1) Overall, notice the rapid
changes in scene, like those we began to see in Book 16‑‑why isn't this book
told with more continuity?
2) Penelope's character continues
to emerge as more powerful, more aware of her plight, and more capable of
altering circumstances in this book.
How does the poet indicate her increased status?
For instance, in Penelope's encounter with Telemakhos, with what epithet
is she described?
What does Telemakhos tell her to do, and what
might a perceptive person deduce from this?
How does P react? How does Telemachus' behavior with Penelope reflect his
father's habits?
How does her response to his first question, and her decision to ask the
second, shape your view of her character?
3) When Telemakhos returns to the
hall, his mother sits silently and
"spun a fine wool yarn" (17: 123).
It certainly is a "realistic"
detail of women's occupation in the household (with
weaving). Also, in Greek
mythology, what might this allude to
and what may it mean here?
4) Lines 157‑64 repeat a speech
we've heard in Book IV (Menelaos on p. 63)and one which is commonly found in
The Iliad. What image is
called up, and who first spoke it?
Look for a repetition in a pin
described in Book 19. Later in this
speech, he draws on a set of images
we might call the "iron wedding"
group‑‑the "cold bed," the "wedding with death," and this
passage's "stunning dowry" (172).
How does this strategy enable
you to see two or more images at once?
5) What roles are played here by
the minor characters Theoklymenos and Medon?
6) What are the suitors doing while
waiting for dinner, and how does
this relate to the activities of a man like Odysseus?
In the sixth century, the
rise of city‑states over the megaron‑based
estates led to a city aristocracy in which young men frequently
turned to such behavior.
7) When Odysseus meets Melanthios,
how does the goatherd's behavior
relate to Eumaios' and how does he treat Odysseus?
That is, how can we tell that he has been imagining himself as something
greater than a goatherd? Compare
his speech with Eumaios' and Antinoos'.
What evidence does his
attack on Odysseus reveal, and why doesn't he
notice it? Compare this with
what Nausikaa warns of in Book 6.
Note also the suitor with whom Melanthios allies himself.
8) One of the persistent
type‑scenes in the epic is the
"recognition scene." What are the
key components of the Argos‑ Odysseus scene and upon what is evidence does the
dog know O? What is the
effect of this recognition, and why is it important?
9) How does Antinoos respond to
Odysseus' test of his generosity,
and what elements of the response are thematic?
How do the others in the
hall react?
10) The poet uses a characteristic
litotes (epic understatement) to describe O's eating from his knapsack on
the ground ("lowly table," i.e., no table).
How does this draw our attention by comparison to other meals O has taken
so far?
11) How do Melanthios and Antinoos
work together, and how does Odysseus test both?
How do the various members of the household respond to A's attack on O?
12) When Penelope calls for the
"tramp" to be brought before her,
what does she wish for and what happens at that moment?
Why do these two behaviors
have special significance?
13) Why doesn't Odysseus immediately accept the summons to speak with his wife, and what does this tell you about him?