Book Seventeen
Look at Telemakhos. How does he differ from the "boy, dreaming" we first met in Book 1? Notice how his mother reacts to the dramatic change. Does Penelope's quietness (here and elsewhere) denote anything besides her personality? Read the story of Athena and Arachne in Hamilton. There's a lot of weaving going on in this epic--not all of it with wool. (What is "spinning," anyway?)
Have you noticed the economy of the epic? Despite its great length, nothing is wasted. Every character has a function. Did you wonder about Theoklymenos when Telemakhos picked him up? Here he plays an important, if minor, role. Think about it: if the epic is oral in origin, it is not going to have extraneous (look it up) details in it. They'd be too hard to remember. It is a giant jigsaw puzzle, but all the pieces fit.
Things become clearer and clearer toward the end of the epic. The swineherd and goatherd make an obvious contrast. What is Homer saying about "simple people"? Note that, in spite of his twisted shape, Odysseus retains much of his great strength. What do you make of the fact that the goatherd "dotes on" Eurymakhos?
Argos provides one of the most touching scenes in the whole work. Odysseus "comes home" excruciatingly slowly. Scene by scene, he re-integrates himself in his new-old role of master of Ithaka. Here he is welcomed home and says goodbye to the Odysseus he once was at the same time.
Notice that the hall is set up with benches and long tables (just as in Beowulf). These can be stored elsewhere when the hall is used for purposes other than eating. It also makes for total chaos if a battle should break out in the hall--think about it. Athena is never far away. When she "whispers in his ear" unseen, feel free to take it as a sign of Odysseus's good sense or as an actual visitation of the goddess-- whichever you like.
Watch Antinoos carefully. Watch him dig his grave very deep. Odysseus seems to be asking for trouble in approaching him. He clearly knows what he's getting into. (He weaves yet another long tale!) Why does he do it? Remember: Zeus himself protects beggars.
Eumaios shows us that Odysseus is as surpassingly excellent at tale telling as he is at everything. A sneeze means good fortune in many cultures; here Penelope takes it as a sign. Receiving guests means more than swapping gifts and stories with members of the elite; a gracious host inquires about the past and the wellbeing of even a beggar who happens in. Why does Odysseus refuse to talk to her?
Book Eighteen
Look up Iris in Hamilton. Why does Odysseus make the suitors promise not to intervene? Why does Telemakhos restate the oath very clearly, referring to Antinoos and Eurymakhos as "two kings"? What is the purpose of this scene in the context of the heroic stature of Odysseus? in the context of the coming confrontation with the suitors? Does this strike you as good fun?
Odysseus takes pity on Amphinomos and tries to warn him. ("gently bred" = "noble, of the nobility") "No man should flout the [divine] law, but keep in peace what gifts the gods may give." We've come a long way from the Odysseus who sailed from Troy. What does Homer mean, "being by Athena bound there"?
This most elaborate trap--a trap that is physical, emotional, and moral--is set verrry slooowly, bit by bit. Enjoy it. Athena is weaving. As Odysseus plots death at the door, Penelope descends from the upper rooms, "endowed with immortal grace." Between: Telemakhos, who knows his father but does not let his mother know--a man about to become a hero.
Read Penelope's account of Odysseus's leavetaking carefully. Did they embrace each other? Did he say, "I love you! Wait for me! I'll come back no matter what, and then we will never be parted again!")? How much does he love her? Is Penelope clever, or what? She is simply the perfect wife.
Melantho is another example of an ungrateful Ithakan. Every player gets a chance to place him or herself on one side or the other in this deadly game. Why, in heaven's name, does Athena wish "Odysseus mortified still more"? Among Odysseus's skills: he can drive a team of oxen and plow an absolutely straight furrow (look it up)--an important skill in an agrarian society. Amphinomos once again comes across as kindly--or at least sensible.
Book Nineteen
"Studying the ground for slaughter." It was usual to hang your shields and weapons around the walls of the hall. They were handy just in case, they were a badge of honor and wealth, and they were decorative. Eurykleia is important; watch her. Notice that Penelope is banished from her own hall during the day because of the presence of the suitors and can only descend in the evening after they leave.
Now Odysseus gets to weave another story--but he doesn't at first. Why? He lies, yet tells the truth. Notice: "he had this trick--wept, if he willed to, inwardly." This is a very unusual trick for the Greeks; we have perfected it in our men (to the detriment of our society). (kine = cattle; it's an old form of the plural for cow)
"Or did I dream him?" Penelope is as tough as her husband. She has a will like oak, like iron. She is a guileful, as suspicious, as patient as he is. Nevertheless, like Eurykleia, she feels strangely and powerfully drawn to the beggar. Notice the way Homer creates a moment of high tension ("the scar"!), then turns to tell a long story about Odysseus's past while you stew and fret about the problem. When you return to the scene, almost immediately Odysseus is ready to strangle his old nurse--and never doubt for an instant that he would do it! But Eurykleia is much like Odysseus in one way: what is it?
Why, do you think, does Penelope propose this contest now? Does she suspect the beggar's identity? Does she put all the clues together and decide that Odysseus will show up any minute? Is it an act of desperation (she has repeatedly said she is about ready to do something)? Can you envision the contest she is proposing?
Book Twenty
"'Nobody, only guile, got you out of that cave alive.' His rage held hard in leash, submitted to his mind . . ." It is usual for a fighter to spend the night before an important battle awake and planning strategy. What has Odysseus worried? This is a new twist in the plot. Odysseus is utterly self-reliant--so self-reliant that it riles Athena! Be sure to look up Artemis, if you haven't.
Even servants may read the signs, as the frail barley-grinder does. On this morning, Telemakhos is "clear-eyed as a god." Watch him and the nurse exchange information without letting on that they both know who they're talking about. This is called dramatic irony. Eurykleia is "gently," i.e., nobly born. Men are known by their actions, and only secondarily by their social status. How does the cattle foreman stack up? Odysseus has brought wealth (mega-wealth) home with him. How wealthy are his estates in Ithaka?
Now, suddenly, it is "the great hall of the hero Odysseus." What are "tripes"? This is a holy day (origin of the word "holiday") in Ithaka. Why does the mention of Apollo here seem significant? Why must "Laertes' son again . . . be offended"?
What do you make of the fit of laughter Athena sends on the suitors? Why does Theoklymenos refer to it as "terror"? (Penelope can apparently see into the hall below from a room above.)