The OdysseyThe events following Athena’s

intervention and the happy family reunion.

Telemachus Prepares to Travel

• Suitors, especially Antinuous, are angry that Penelope hasn’t chosen a husband yet and that she even tried to trick them– Penelope’s plan: says she will wed when she finishes

weaving a death shroud for Laertes, but at night she secretly undid her work

• There are bad omens for the suitors, which they ignore• Telemachus sets sail to find word of his father

What Telemachus Learns:

• King Nestor explains what he knows of the journey after the Trojan War– Menelaus left immediately, was blown off course, but is

now back in Sparta– Agamemnon stayed to make a sacrifice, made it home, and

then was murdered by his wife and her new lover• King Menelaus said a minor god told him that Odysseus is alive but marooned on an island

Odysseus and the Phaeacians

• Calypso reluctantly gives Odysseus supplies and he leaves her island• Poseidon, enraged that Odysseus is on his way home,

causes his boat to wreck and he struggles ashore to the land of the Phaeacians

• The Phaeacians are excellent hosts (food, partying, games, stories), and eventually Odysseus tells him his story

After Odysseus Finishes His Story…

• The Phaeacians are awed by him and immediately give him presents and more partying before putting him on a well-stocked ship to return him to Ithaca

• They drop Odysseus and his new treasure on the coast of Ithaca; Athena disguises Odysseus and tells him to seek out his loyal swineherd

Home at Last!

• Eumaeus (swineherd) welcomes Odysseus (who is still disguised) as a guest in his home

• Telemachus returns from his journey, and thanks to Athena’s guidance he avoids the suitors’ attempted ambush (this attempt angers Penelope)

• Telemachus and Odysseus are reunited!• They plan to kill the suitors

Odysseus Returns to the Palace

• Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, heads towards the palace

• Goatherd (Melanthius) and Antinuous are mean to Odysseus when he is disguised as a beggar

• Argos (faithful dog) and Eurycleia (nurse) are the only ones who recognize Odysseus• More bad omens for the suitors, which they laugh at

The Contest• Penelope, desperate to end the suitors’ destruction of

her home, proposes a contest: she will marry the man who can string Odysseus’s bow and shoot an arrow through the sockets of twelve axe heads lined in a row

• All fail, except, of course, Odysseus

Book 22: Slaughter in the Hall

Family Reunion

• Penelope, afraid to believe it is really Odysseus, tests him and he proves who he is

• The next day, he goes to see his father (Laertes)

• Meanwhile, the family of the dead suitors are angry and want revenge

• Laertes kills the ringleader, and then Zeus sends a sign to stop the fighting – peace now.