Read Mythology of the Iliad and the Odyssey Online
Authors: Karen Bornemann Spies
Mythology of the Iliad and the Odyssey (12 page)
As rude as the suitors had been, none of them were rude enough to criticize such a task. Little did they know that each night, Penelope picked apart what she had woven during the day. Penelope carried on this scheme for three years until a disloyal servant told the suitors what she was doing. As a result, the suitors pestered Penelope even more to choose one of them to marry. This was the situation when Odysseus landed on Ithaca at the end of his ten years of wandering.
Just before Odysseus had arrived on Ithaca, Athena had sent Telemachus to Pylos and Sparta. There, he learned about leadership from the kings and warriors Nestor and Menelaus. Then, Athena told him he needed to return to Ithaca, for his father was there. She also cautioned him that the suitors planned to ambush him upon his return, so he landed on the opposite side of the island from where they expected him. Then, Telemachus went to Eumaeus’ hut, where the swineherd welcomed him with tears of rejoicing.
Odysseus, still in his beggar’s rags, approached Telemachus. Then, Athena turned Odysseus back into his royal self. He stood before his son in purple robes and shining armor. The two hugged each other and wept tears of joy.
But their celebrating was short, for they had to plan what to do about the suitors. They decided to return to the palace with Odysseus dressed again as a beggar. Their strategy was to wait for the suitors to fall asleep drunk as they did each night. Then, Odysseus and Telemachus would hide the suitors’ weapons, so that they would be defenseless.
Still not revealing his identity, Odysseus entered the palace and begged among the suitors. Some gave him food. However, one of them threw a footstool at Odysseus and threatened him.
Penelope, however, would not allow anyone to be insulted or mistreated in her home. She asked the beggar how he had come to Ithaca and what his reasons were for visiting. He said, “Many years ago, I met your husband in Troy. He spoke so well of you that I knew I would be received in kindness.” He described precisely an unusual brooch, or pin, that Odysseus wore at his neck.
Penelope cried when she heard the description of the brooch, because it reminded her how much she missed Odysseus. As much as he wanted to, though, Odysseus did not comfort her and identify himself, for the time was not yet right to do this. However, he told her that he had heard that Odysseus was in a nearby land, alive and well.
Before retiring for the night, Penelope asked Euryclea, who had been Odysseus’ childhood nurse, to wash the feet of the beggar. Euryclea filled a bronze cauldron with hot water. As she scrubbed the beggar’s feet and legs, she felt a scar on his thigh and recognized it as a hunting injury Odysseus had received as a child. Odysseus warned her not to reveal his identity.
The next day, Athena set in motion the circumstances in which Odysseus would banish the suitors. She gave Penelope the idea that she should set up a contest to choose one of the suitors to marry. Odysseus owned a bow and set of arrows that was so powerful that no one else could use it. It had been stored in a closet while Odysseus was gone. Penelope would marry the suitor who could string the bow and shoot an arrow through a row of twelve axes.
In preparation for the contest, a feast was set up in the dining hall. Telemachus, Eumaeus, and Philoetius, another faithful servant, pretended to help with the preparations. But in reality, they were ready to help Odysseus kill the suitors. Telemachus did not want his mother to witness the bloody slaughter, so he sent her to bed.
The contest began. Not one of the suitors was even able to string the bow. Then, from the corner of the room came the voice of the beggar. “Every man here has had an opportunity to try his hand at this contest, I would like to try my hand at it, as well.”
Of course, all the suitors mocked him. How could an old beggar succeed where none of them had?
Telemachus, on the other hand, knew that once his father held the bow, he could shoot each of the suitors. He stood behind his father and handed him an arrow. Odysseus, of course, shot it through all the axes with absolutely no difficulty. Then, Odysseus stripped himself of all his rags and emptied the quiver, or case, of arrows at his feet. Ready for shooting, he addressed the astounded suitors. “So ends this meaningless contest, for now I shall shoot at another target and hit it, if Apollo grants my prayer.”
Odysseus aimed a deadly arrow at the rudest suitor, killing him with one shot. Telemachus, Eumaeus, and Philoetius joined in the fighting. In no time, the four of them had killed all the greedy, disagreeable suitors.
Finally, Odysseus was able to reveal who he was to Penelope. But she wanted to be sure of his identity. To test Odysseus, she told the servants to remove their bed from the room and put it in the hall.
Odysseus looked at her in surprise. “Penelope, the bed cannot be moved. Not even a god could shift it. I know for I built it myself and built the bedroom around it. Its headboard is an olive tree whose roots are anchored deep in the ground.”
Penelope cried out in joy, for the only people who knew the secret of the bed were Odysseus, Euryclea, and Penelope herself. She rushed to Odysseus, flung her arms around his neck, and kissed him over and over again. Soon the entire palace was filled with rejoicing over the homecoming of the mighty warrior.
Q:
What happened when Poseidon discovered Odysseus sailing on his raft?
A:
He sent a huge storm to destroy it. But Odysseus washed ashore on the island of the Phaeacians.
Q:
How did Athena help Odysseus when he awoke?
A:
She told him that he was safely home in Ithaca. She helped him store his treasure in a cave. Then, she disguised him as a beggar.
Q:
Where did Odysseus go next?
A:
He went to the hut of Eumaeus, his faithful swineherd. Although Eumaeus did not recognize Odysseus in his disguise, he offered him hospitality.
Q:
What was the situation at the palace at that time?
A:
Suitors had come from all over the islands to try to convince Penelope to marry one of them. The suitors wanted the wealth and power that would come from being king of Ithaca. They sat around the palace, eating and drinking, and acting rudely.
Q:
What scheme did Penelope use to try to drive away the suitors? Did this trick work?
A:
She told them she could not marry until she finished weaving a funeral robe for Odysseus’ father. Every night, she picked out what she had woven the previous day. However, an unfaithful servant told the suitors what Penelope was doing. The suitors then pestered Penelope to make a decision to marry one of them.
Q:
Why did Telemachus go to Pylos and Sparta?
A:
Athena wanted him to learn about leadership qualities, which he would need to help his father.
Q:
What was the contest Penelope devised to choose one of the suitors?
A:
She would marry the one who could string Odysseus’ mighty bow and shoot an arrow through twelve axes in a row.
Q:
What happened when the suitors tried to string the bow?
A:
None of them was strong enough.
Q:
Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, then asked for a chance to try. What happened?
A:
The suitors made fun of him. However, he was successful on his first try. Then, he shot another arrow at the rudest suitor, killing him immediately.
Q:
Who joined Odysseus in fighting the suitors and what was the result?
A:
Telemachus, Eumaeus, and Philoetius joined Odysseus in killing all the suitors.
Professor Seth L. Schein compared the two Homeric epics:
Unlike the
Iliad
, the
Odyssey
is not confined to a setting of war and death: its hero journeys far and wide through the real world and lands of fantasy, unreality, and half-reality in his effort to reach home and family. En route, he several times explicitly contrasts himself to those heroes who died at Troy, and on other occasions the poem calls attention both to how he differs from Achilles and the other Iliadic heroes and to how the Trojan War is but a part of the experiences that make him who and what he is.
1
According to Professor Schein, the entire concept of what it means to be a hero differs in the two Homeric epics:
... the
Odyssey
is about what it means to be human. On the other hand, the particular ways in which Odysseus is represented as heroic and human and Ithaca is represented as his home and the source, goal, and scene of his heroism, differ from the ways in which heroism and the human condition are represented in the
Iliad
. In recent years scholars have come to think of these differences as characteristic not only of the poems themselves but of distinct Iliadic and Odyssean traditions within the overall poetic tradition.
2
Professor Barry B. Powell noted that:
In ancient times the
Iliad
was compared to tragedy because of its somber themes and deep personal conflict; the
Odyssey
, by contrast, was compared with comedy because... it has a happy ending in which the family is reunited and the promise of the future is affirmed. The
Odyssey
is a towering artistic achievement, admired and still imitated by artists today.
3
Penelope played an important role in the
Odyssey
. After noting that Odysseus remained faithful to Penelope, scholars Mark P. O. Morford and Robert J. Lenardon observed:
The reunion with his wife is the goal of the epic. Penelope is not a passive figure: she is the equal of Odysseus in intelligence and loyalty, and she is resourceful in fending off the suitors and, equally significant, in choosing her time and method for the recognition of Odysseus. When she finally does recognize him the poet describes her “as fitting his heart” (
thymares
), that is, she is a perfect match for the man who is the “man of many twists and turns” (
polytropos
, an epithet given him in the first line of the poem), the cleverest of the Greeks.
4
Classicist Michael Grant also noted that the
Odyssey
has deep ties with folklore:
The
Odyssey
is cast in the form of an epic. But its basis is a widespread folk-tale: that of the man so long absent that he is given up for dead, yet finally, after he has successfully sought and found his home again, reunited with his faithful wife.
5
Grant commented on the theme of the
Odyssey
:
Finding what is lost, the
Odyssey’s
basic subject, is a powerful theme of the world’s great writers, and one which is very prominent in Greek and Roman mythology. It is the core of Shakespeare’s later plays,
Cymbeline
,
The Winter’s Tale
,
The Tempest
, and
Pericles
. Royalty is what is lost there, and it serves as a symbol of the deeper spiritual search. The power-quest also dominates the mythologies, for example, of North American Indians.... At any rate the Quest was imprinted very early in our human minds and hearts—and the
Odyssey
is its supreme manifestation.
6
adze
—A tool for shaping wood.
ambrosia
—The food of the gods.
arete
—The ancient Greek concept of striving for excellence, a particular goal of heroes.
cauldron
—A large pot.
cosmopolitan
—Having a broader, more world-wide mixture.
epic
—A long poem that tells the deeds of a hero or heroes in elegant, formal language.
fate
—The belief that life’s outcomes are predetermined by the gods.
hubris
—Excessive pride. Heroes in Greek mythology who demonstrated excessive pride often made tragic decisions.
Ilium
—Another name for Troy.
keel
—The bottom of a ship.
kleos
—The Greek word referring to the glory sought by a hero.
lays
—Short narrative poems combined to form longer epics. Some historians believe that the Greek epics were composed of lays.
moly
—The herb that Hermes gave Odysseus to protect him from Circe’s magic.
mythos
—The Greek word for story, tale, or speech.
Nostoi
—The Greek word for returns or homecoming. The journeys of the Greek leaders other than Odysseus were recorded in an epic of this title, which is now lost.
nymph
—A minor goddess or divinity of nature. Nymphs usually dwelled in the mountains, forests, trees, or water. They were often portrayed as young women.
Odusseia
—Greek word meaning the story of Odysseus.
odyssey
—A journey or quest; usually a long, wandering voyage filled with many changes of fortune.
oracle
—A prophet or prophetess who foretold the future.
papyrus
—An Egyptian plant cut into strips and pressed to make a paper-type material.
pestilence
—Disease.
polis
—The Greek city-state, an independent self-governing community.
pyre
—A bed of materials that are collected into a tall pile onto which a body is placed and burned at a funeral.
quiver
—A case for carrying arrows.
sack
—To loot and destroy a city.
theomachies
—Two episodes in the
Iliad
in which the gods fight each other on the battlefield.