1. The Odyssey tells an overarching story about the adventures of Homer, but it also tells the story of the Greek’s ancient world. The narration of the story is that of story-telling. It is essentially the written account of what an ancient Greek might have heard around the campfire. Within the story, is the story of storytellers? At the beginning of the story storytelling is listed as a high virtue: “You are a fine, mart looking fellow; show your mettle, then, and make yourself a name in story” (Homer, 10).
2. When Polyphemus asked Odysseus his name, he responded disrespectfully that his name was nobody. The giant is blind, so was unable to see Odysseus. Odysseus telling Polyphemus his name is rubbing salt in his wounds since his prisoner have been released and now he cannot do anything to recapture them, so he says a prayer to Poseidon, asking for his vengeance.
3. He learns in book V that he will be able to go home. So these are tears of joy. Calypso believes that there is a double standard between the genders of gods since she will not be able to keep Odysseus.
4. He is afraid that if he is helped he will be beholden. This tells the readers that Odysseus values supremely his independence and does not want to be anyone’s slave.
5. Achilles famous line is “I’d rather be a slave on earth for another man some dirt-poor tenant farmer who scrapes to keep alive than rule down here over all the breathless dead (Homer, XI). This establishes an important theme to the book. It is better to be alive an human, with all its perils than to be dead.
6. Odysseus has had bad things happen to him when he has revealed his name. It allowed the Cyclops to put a curse on him. So he opts to keep his name to his self.
7. Argos recognizes Odysseus. He dies happy after seeing his master after twenty years. He left Argos when he was still a puppy, “This was Argos,his master sailed for Troy” (Homer, XVII).
8. Hospitality was very important in the Homeric world, this much is clear by how much stock is placed upon in The Odyssey, “The heart within him scandalized that a guest should still be standing at the doors” (Homer, 130) . One function of hospitality in the book is to distinguish the good, kind characters from the hostile.
Work Cited:
Homer. Ed. Puchner, Martin. The Odyssey. The Norton anthology of world literature. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2012. Print.
