Homers epic poem the odyssey tells the story of odysseus, greek hero of the trojan war. Book 23 eurycleia goes upstairs to call penelope, who has slept through the entire fight. Penelope gets odysseuss bow out of the storeroom and announces that she will marry the suitor who can string it and then shoot an arrow. Her knees moved nimbly, but her feet trotted along beneath her. Now that the battle has ended and the house has been cleaned, good nurse eurycleia scurries up to penelopes quarters to tell her all that has happened. By the time homers audience encounters odyssey 23, odysseus has revealed his identity to his son, his servants, and the suitors, the latter of whom he has slaughtered while his wife penelope was. The nurse goes upstairs excited by the news and she wakes penelope telling her that her husband has returned. He is about to succeed on his fourth try when odysseus privately signals him to back off. As late afternoon turns to evening, another vagabond, named irus, arrives. Murray 1 but the goodly odysseus lay down to sleep in the forehall of the house. Odysseus lays low for a while, and then finally gets reacquainted with. In book 22 of the odyssey, who is saved from death and why.
Homer lets us know right away that odysseus is being held as a willing sex captive on the island of the goddess kalypso. Around it i built my bedroom, finished off the walls. Odysseus instructs telemachus to gather the weapons and hide them where they will not be readily available to the suitors the next day. The odyssey by homer book 24 summary and analysis youtube. After one recounts the tale, agamemnon contrasts the betrayal he suffered at the hands of his own wife with penelopes steadfast. Calypso reluctantly releases odysseus and he travels for 17 days until he sees land.
Eurycleia goes upstairs to call penelope, who has slept through the entire fight. See a complete list of the characters in the odyssey and indepth analyses of odysseus, telemachus, penelope, athena, calypso, and circe. The first four describe the difficulties faced by telemachus, the son of odysseus. Athena character analysis in the odyssey litcharts. Summary and analysis book 24 peace summary the final book opens with hermes, the traditional guide, leading the souls of the dead suitors to the land of the dead commonly referred to as hades. Homer opens the odyssey with an invocation to the muse of epic poetry and asks for her guidance in telling the story of a man who has experienced many twists and turns of fate and has suffered many hardships. Penelope retrieves odysseus great bow from the storeroom and her maids bear axe heads into the main hall. Find summaries for every chapter, including a the odyssey chapter summary chart to help you understand the book. There was a branching olivetree inside our court, grown to its full prime, the bole like a column, thickset. Penelope doesnt believe anything that eurycleia says, and she remains in disbelief even when she comes downstairs and sees her husband with her own eyes. Find a summary of this and each chapter of the odyssey.
Summary and analysis book 19 penelope and her guest. There they meet achilles and agamemnon, who ask how so many young warriors could have died. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of the odyssey and what it means. Preparation for battle must include intervention by the gods. Chapter summary for homers the odyssey, book 23 summary.
The nurse mentions the telltale boar tusk scar on odysseuss knee, but penelope refuses to believe the story. Penelope doesnt believe anything that eurycleia says, and. As much as penelope would like to believe that her husband has returned and vanquished the suitors, she is cautious and goes to the great. By the time of the odyssey, she is the somewhat matronly queen of sparta and content to be the wife of king menelaus. Years after the end of the trojan war, the greek hero odysseus still hasnt come home to ithaka. Homer, odyssey book 20 theoi classical texts library. Read an overview of the entire poem or a line by line summary and analysis.
Book twentyfour begins with the dead suitors going to hades and telling the other dead souls how so many of them died at once. Book i athena inspires the prince sing to me of the man, muse, the man of twists and turns driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of troy. Be sure you recall these details and more by taking this quiz over book 23 of the odyssey. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. The odyssey books 2124 summary and analysis gradesaver. She brings out odysseuss heavy bow and arrow and tells the suitors they must try to shoot the bow through twelve aligned axe heads. Odysseus goes to talk to his father who doesnt initially recognize him until odysseus shows him the scar and points out all the trees in the garden that laertes gave to. Books 1 2 the odyssey is an epic journey, but the word journey must be broadly understood. Chapter summary for homers the odyssey, book 21 summary. Heres where youll find analysis about the book as a whole, from the major themes and.
By the time homers audience encounters odyssey 23, odysseus has revealed his identity to his son, his servants, and the suitors, the latter of whom he. Book 5 summary in the beginning of book five, the gods discuss what to do with odysseus. In this lesson, we will begin with a brief recap of book 22 of the odyssey. Chapter summary for homers the odyssey, book 2 summary. We have traversed many trials alongside our hero, odysseus. Homers epic poem the odyssey tells the story of odysseus, greek hero of the trojan war, and his adventures at sea during his travel home. Summary and analysis book 23 the great rooted bed summary now that the battle has ended and the house has been cleaned, good nurse eurycleia scurries up.
We still have the families of the suitors to deal with. Book 23 book 24 quotes symbols themes author biography discussion questions. He is a portly buffoon who is a comic favorite of the suitors. Books 512 describe the adventures the hero encounters on his way home. On the ground he spread an undressed oxhide and above it many fleeces of sheep, which the achaeans were wont to slay, and eurynome threw over him a. Check out our revolutionary sidebyside summary and analysis. For sport, telemachus attempts to string the bow and fails three times. As tensions increase, odysseus tries in vain to warn. Book 23 of the odyssey begins after odysseus has cleaned the palace of the foulness of battle and fumigated it. Chapter summary for homers the odyssey, book 22 summary. Penelope announces the contest and retrieves odysseus great backsprung bow from a secret storeroom deep in the palace. Summary and analysis book 18 the beggarking at ithaca.
In book twentythree eurycleia runs up to tell penelope that her husband has returned, and he has killed all the suitors. Book 23 is the next to last book of homers odyssey. Melantho, the disrespectful servant girl who sleeps with eurymachus, confronts the beggarodysseus once more. Summary and analysis book 21 odysseus strings his bow. Penelope tells her not to play tricks on her and eurykleia is surprised that penelope would joke about such a thing. Homer, odyssey book 23 theoi classical texts library.
The odyssey by homer book 23 summary and analysis youtube. The epic focuses, of course, on odysseus s nostos return home or homeward voyage, a journey whose details a greek audience would already know because of their rich oral mythic tradition. Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in the odyssey, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. In book 20 of the odyssey, the omens, dreams, and oozing of blood from the suitors mouth portend the coming clash between odysseus and the suitors, when he will kill them all for disrespecting his. Visit to buy new and used textbooks, and check out our awardwinning nook tablets and ereaders. Eurycleia tells penelope that odysseus has finally come home and killed the suitors. At the urging of antinous, irus picks a fight with beggarodysseus, which he soon regrets. In the twentysecond book of homers odyssey, odysseus begins his battle with the suitors. Book 1 book 2 book 3 book 4 book 5 book 6 book 7 book 8 book 9 book 10 book 11 book 12 book book 14 book 15 book 16 book 17 book 18 book 19 book 20 book 21 book 22 book 23 book 24 themes all themes fate, the gods, and free will piety, customs, and justice cunning, disguise, and selfrestraint memory and grief glory and honor. The final book of the odyssey opens in a different location from the previous chapter, with hermes bringing the souls of the dead suitors to the land of the dead. To assure herself of odysseus identity, penelope tests him. The concluding books to the poem reunite odysseus with his wife and ensure that he will reign happily and peacefully for the rest of his life.
365 1119 630 734 733 275 1121 1147 708 1196 587 94 1491 557 664 478 315 581 1184 172 714 1208 1171 1520 1289 804 796 450 61 887 1215 1309 1422 1406 1491