The Odyssey (Books 1-4) by

Book One: A Goddess Intervenes

verity_dara_web — 2013-12-18 02:38:31 UTC

In Ithaca, suitors are devouring Telemachus and Penelope’s home, and courting Penelope, thinking that they might have a chance to rule the kingdom. Odysseus cannot help his wife, Penelope, or his son, Telemachus because Odysseus is trapped on an island with a nymph, Calypso who has fallen in love with him and will not let him leave.

Athena asks Zeus for permission to speak with Telemachus. When Zeus agrees, Athena travels to Ithaca to speak with Telemachus. Athena shape-shifts into the form of Odysseus's friend, Mentor. She advises Telemachus to call and banish the suitors, because she foretold that Odysseus was still alive and will return to Ithaca soon. Then, she also tells him to make a trip to Pylos and Sparta to ask for news of Odysseus.

Book Two: A Hero's Son Awakens

verity_dara_web — 2013-12-18 02:41:41 UTC

When the suitors attend the assembly the next day, Telemachus scolds the suitors for eating his father’s oxen and sheep as the still continue to court Penelope. Antinous blames Penelope for seducing all the suitors but won’t commit to one of them. He reminds the suitors about a scheme she used to put off her remarriage. Penelope said that she would remarry once she finished a burial shroud for her elderly father-in-law. However, each night, Penelope unravelled the weaving she finished that day, so that the shroud would never be completed. Telemachus refuses to throw his mother out, even though she can’t make a decision on who to be her future husband. Telemachus calls upon the gods to punish the suitors, and shortly after that, a pair of eagles, fighting, appear overhead. Halitherses predicts the eagles’ conflict as Odysseus’ return, and he warns the suitors that there will be a massacre if they do not leave. The suitors think the interpretation is foolish, and the meeting ends in a stalemate.

verity_dara_web — 2013-12-18 02:48:44 UTC

Calypso and Odysseus

verity_dara_web — 2013-12-18 02:48:54 UTC

Athena goes to hep Telemachus in the from of Mentor

verity_dara_web — 2013-12-18 02:49:51 UTC

Athena

verity_dara_web — 2013-12-18 02:50:00 UTC

The goddess of wisdom, war, and intelligence.

Book Three: The Lord of The Western Apporaches

verity_dara_web — 2013-12-18 02:50:41 UTC

When Telemachus and Mentor (Athena) travel to Pylos, they watched a ceremony where many bulls were given as a sacrifice to Poseidon, god of the sea. Mentor gives Telemachus encouragement since Telemachus did not have much experience in public speaking. Telemachus and Mentor go to Nestor and ask about Odysseus. Sadly, Nestor doesn't have any information about Odysseus. However, he recalls that after the Trojan War, a fall-out came between the two brothers, Agamemnon and Menelaus. Nestor stayed with Menelaus who choses to set out for Greece, and Odysseus stayed with Agamemnon, who decided to wait a day.

Afterwards, Telemachus asks Nestor about Agamemnon, and what happened to him. Nestor revealed that Agamemnon came back from Troy to search for Aegisthus, a coward who stayed behind while the rest of the Greeks went out to fight in Troy. Aegisthus tempted (seduced) and then married Agamemnon's wife, Clytemnestra.

With Clytemnestra's consent, Aegisthus murders Agamemnon. Aegisthus would have become ruler of Agamemnon's kingdom, but, Orestes, Agamemnon's son, killed both Clytemnestra and Aegisthus.

Nestor sends his son, Pisistratus to travel with Telemachus to Sparta. Athena reveals her true form by "shedding" her disguise of Mentor and turning into an eagle in front of the whole court of Pylos, and stays behind to protect Telemachus and his crew.

Book Four: The Red-Haired King and His Lady

verity_dara_web — 2013-12-19 02:18:17 UTC

When Pisistratus and Telemachus travel to Sparta, where Menelaus and his wife, Helen are celebrating a double marriage (son and daughter's marriages). Menelaus and Helen welcome and serve Telemachus and Pisistratus before they even know their names, and they soon figure out that Telemachus is the son of Odysseus after Telemachus cries because Menelaus speaks fondly of Odysseus. Helen says to Telemachus that he looks just like Odysseus, and Menelaus recognizes Pisistratus as Nestor's son, and after that, everyone goes back to eating. Helen decides to drug all the mens wine with a brew of forgetfulness, and will help soothe away their sorrows. After she drugs it, she serves the wine and tells fun stories about Odysseus. Everybody enjoys the stories, and since they have been drugged, Telemachus suggests they go to sleep.

In the morning, Menelaus asks Telemachus why he came, and Telemachus tells him about the suitors and everything. Menelaus tells Telemachus another story, and then finally tells him that his father, Odysseus is on the island of Calypso and really wants to get home.

Antinous finds out about Telemachus's journey to Pylos and Sparta, and calls a meeting with all the other suitors. The town-crier, Mendon, hears the news that the suitors are planning to ambush Telemachus and kill him. Mendon tells the news to Penelope, who starts to lament about her loss of Odysseus and the almost loss of her son. Eurykleia, the nurse, feels guilty about hiding the journey from Penelope and begs Penelope to pray to Athena for Telemachos's sake. Athena hears her prayers, and sends a phantom in the form of Penelope's sister, Iphthime, in Penelope's dream, who assures her sister that Telemachus will be alright.

verity_dara_web — 2013-12-19 03:29:44 UTC