The odyssey discussion questions book 1 what do you think is the symbolic meaning of the greek gods and goddesses. What is the importance of odysseuss bed in homers odyssey. Eurynomous cthe only servant that knows of telemachuss voyage 4. Feb 12, 2011 what prophecy does old halitherses give as a result of seeing no. Halitherses, an ithacan loyal to odysseus, reveals the meaning, which foreshadows the epics end and the suitors destruction. The odyssey is a fundamental work in the modern western canon, being the oldest extant piece of western literature, second to the iliad. The people wondered as they saw them, and asked each other what all this might be. Hospitality in homers time was well shown through long travels such as odysseus in the odyssey as well as the guestfriend relationship, known as xenia. Is the ending of the odyssey through athenas intervention a convincing and meaningful way of putting an end. Odysseuss adventures include the visit the land of the lotus eaters, the blinding the oneeyed giant cyclops, a oneyear sojourn with the enchantress circe, a trip to the underworld, sailing past. The furies feature in the works of all three great greek tragedians, aeschylus, sophocles, and euripides. Use of disguises in homers odyssey essay 986 words.
Three whole years she deceived us, seduced us with this scheme. The odyssey books 14 summary and analysis gradesaver. Who was halitherses and what prediction did he make answers. In being mortified that a guest might still be standing at the doors, he shows his humility and servitude towards his guest. It relates historical stories with fantastical elements of myth, legend, and divine intervention. The odyssey is an epic poem that served an educational purpose for those who heard it. Use of disguises in odyssey the characters use of disguises in homers odyssey is a crucial element that helps to catalyze the victory of good over evil. He says he expects that halitherses is going to get some sort of gift from telemachos later for saying all these things. Hearken now to me, men of ithaca, to the word that i shall say. By the time homers audience encounters odyssey 23, odysseus has revealed his identity to his son.
For more on this guy, check out shmoop s guide to hermes. Birds, in the odyssey, are transient messages from the gods. Pay very close attention to the description of the omen of the two eagles that appear to telemachos and the assembled ithakans lines 146176. Wrote the iliad and odyssey blind dont know where he was born. Both halitherses and mentor tried to stop the suitors, but were unable to. Agamemnon and achilles discuss the suitors deaths in hades, and odysseus and. Halitherses article about halitherses by the free dictionary. Zeus sign of the attacking eagles and halitherses prediction of odysseus vengeful return. Unlike telemachos, hes super good at speaking in public. Augurs like halitherses were vital links that connected the gods to mortals, explaining the fate that awaited humans.
A seer named halitherses is able to interpret the omen as a message from the gods that the suitors will be destroyed, but the suitors blithely disregard this omen, much to their own peril. Punishers of wrongdoing in general, the furies were considered protectors of the rights of senior family members, especially mothers, fathers, and elder siblings. He tells the legendary tale of the shroud that penelope wove for the eventual funeral of odysseus father, laertes, the former king now living on a. Homer, odyssey book 2 theoi classical texts library. Study 33 the odyssey 18 flashcards from caroline e. Lord aigyptios, an old man is the first to speak among them. He doesnt seem to have any real personality of his own, but he sure is zeus yesman. How is xenia shown in the first four books of the odyssey. What, according to halitherses, does the attack of the eagles mean in book 2 of the odyssey. As you read, use the chart below to keep track of major and some minor, who play a major role characters in the odyssey. What does it suggest about human behavior and the tragic fate of human individuals. Telemachus rises at dawn and gathers all the achaeans to the meeting grounds.
As halitherses says in book 2, a great disaster is rolling like a breaker toward the suitors heads, and that looming disaster is odysseus about to wreak his revenge. Halitherses, a prophet, interpreted the eagles as an omen signifying that odysseus would soon be returning home, and that great trouble would be in store for the suitors if they stuck around. He with good intent addressed their assembly, and spoke among them. What are the two different interpretations of the omen in the. Telemachus describes to the crowd the disgrace of his household the suitors that. The shroud that penelope weaves for her father in law. Halitherses interprets that odysseus is still alive and sorrow will fall on all men of ithaca. The odyssey is about community, the bow used to restore his home approaches to teaching homers iliad and odyssey, p. Get the entire the odyssey litchart as a printable pdf. After telemachus makes a speech insisting that the suitors leave or they will eventually. That telemachoss journey will fail that odysseus is alive and will return. The odyssey book 1 and book 2 questions yahoo answers. Telemachus wakes at dawn and has criers call the citizens to assembly.
Dueling eagles suddenly swoop near the assembly, which the seer halitherses interprets as a sign of odysseus return. About the odyssey the odyssey summary character list glossary themes quotes and analysis books 14 books 58 books 912 books 16 books 1720 books 2124 symbols, allegory and motifs metaphors and similes irony imagery the fractal structure of epics literary elements related links essay questions quiz 1 quiz 2 quiz 3 quiz 4 citations. But odysseuss return is not the only journey in the odyssey. Early on in the book, two eagles tear each other to death. So halitherses says the suitors a disaster faces the. Apr 21, 2009 he wishes halitherses had died to so he wouldnt be talking like he knows what god wants and anger telemachos. Insolently, antinous, the leading suitor, denies responsibility and puts the blame on that queen of cunning, penelope 2. Athena makes him look particularly godlike and striking. The greeks thought its author homer was from chios or ionia and credited him with both this book and its prequel the iliad, the two masterpieces of greek literature. He reminds the suitors that he had foretold that odysseus would leave for troy, and after many setbacks and losing all his comrades, would return after. Stories from the odyssey behold, his prayer is answered, cried halitherses, a venerable elder, with snowwhite beard, who was skilled in augury. If halitherses continues cajoling telemachos then telemachos will be the first to suffer and halitherses will pay.
Is the interpretation furnished by the prophet halitherses the correct one. The furies appear on greek pottery decoration, typically with wings and either carrying snakes or with snakes in their hair. So halitherses says the suitors a disaster faces the suitors as odysseus will return and fight with them. A prophet and seer of the ithacans who speaks at the assembly before telemachus leaves for sparta and pylos. Menelaos predicts odysseus vengeance on the suitors. Theoclymenus was the son of polypheides and aechme, daughter of haemon, and brother of harmonides. Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in the odyssey, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Dec 17, 2011 old halitherses, a prophet, interpreted the eagles as an omen signifying that odysseus would soon be returning home, and that great trouble would be in store for the suitors if they stuck around. Before she talks to telemachos, athena disguises herself as a wise old man in order to ensure that her words carry weight and are. He asks who called the assembly, since it is only the station of kings to do so. He interprets this to mean that the suitors are in. The odyssey 18 at our lady of lourdes academy studyblue. In homers odyssey, eurymachus, son of polybus, is an ithican nobleman and one of the two leading suitors of penelope, the other being antinous. The odyssey chapters 12 worksheet heres a worksheet to help you evaluate how well students understand chapters 12 of homers epic, the odyssey.
What prophecy does old halitherses give as a result of seeing no. The odyssey tells the story of the adventures of the greek hero odysseus during his 10year journey home after his participation in the trojan war. As soon as rosyfingered dawn appeared, odysseus steadfast son rose from his bed and dressed. In the odyssey homer describes them as the avenging furies and they curse melampus, king of argos, with temporary madness. Halitherses, the elder prophet, argues that the suitors merely got what they deserved for their wickedness, but eupithes, antinouss father, encourages the parents to seek revenge on odysseus. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Assembly and hospitality in the cyclopeia 452 this formula is applied to halitherses, when odysseus and the ithacans are being reconciled after the slaughter of the suitors.
Athena herself takes the shape of a bird on several occasions. Xenia is presented in books 14 of the odyssey through the hospitality telemachus gives and receives, and the response to their hospitality. In book ii, he interprets the two vicious eagles as a sign that odysseus is coming home soon. Halitherses was one of odysseus dear friends back in ithaca, along. The appearance of two eagles in this case may allude to the fact that telemachus joins his father in punishing the suitors. In book 1, telemachus shows examples of good xenia. Nestor suggests that athena will help odysseus if he is still alive. He accompanies telemachos to sparta to see king menelaos. Halitherses was one of odysseus dear friends back in ithaca, along with mentor. Characters marked with are recurring characters who play significant roles throughout the story. Halitherses speech in the assembly piles on blame gratuitously and without sophistication, and athenas tacit support for the exclusive murder of antinouss fathera character introduced only a few lines earlieris bizarre. Telemachus, antinous, eurycleia, eurymachus, halitherses, mentesmentorathena look for.
In greek mythology, halitherses, son of mastor, was an ithacan prophet who warned the suitors of odysseuss wife penelope after interpreting the symbols that. He tells the legendary tale of the shroud that penelope wove for the eventual funeral of odysseus father, laertes, the former king now living on a farm where he grieves his sons absence. This leads to the final conclusion of what the odyssey is all about. In some accounts, his parents were thestor and possibly polymele, and thus, the brother of leucippe, theonoe and calchas. Mentor ba seer who calls the eagle sighting an omen of odysseuss return 3. The odyssey study guide contains a biography of homer, literature essays, a complete etext, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. The odyssey is an epic journey, but the word journey must be broadly understood. Halitherses, an old soldier and prophet, declares to the assembly that this is a sign that odysseus, who hasnt been seen in 10 years, still lives, and that he will be coming back, breeding. The epic focuses, of course, on odysseuss nostos return home or homeward voyage, a journey whose details a greek audience would already know because of their rich oral mythic tradition. How does the prophet halitherses interpret the omen of the eagles that fly over the assembly. Several bird omens foreshadow the final battle between odysseuss men and the suitors. Their small army tracks odysseus to laertes house, but athena, disguised again as mentor, decides to put a. He slung his sharp sword from his shoulder, bound fine sandals on his gleaming feet, and strode from his room like a.
The soothsayer halitherses interprets their struggle as a portent of odysseuss imminent return and warns the suitors that they will face a massacre if they dont. Examples include the shroud that penelope weaves for laertes, the great bow of odysseus, the sea itself, and the island of ithaca. Homers world in the odyssey looms large, and it presents symbols, ranging from specific objects to geographical entities, that are large in their significance. His interpretation of this omen proves accurate, though it is not until almost the end of the epic that the prophecy becomes true. As the scene of the revenge draws closer, the birds that symbolize the suitors become smaller and weaker. Halitherses, a prophet, interprets the omen to mean death for the suitors. There are many possible reasons why hospitality was more prevalent in those times. The use of symbols and symbolism in homers odyssey. So by day shed weave at her great and growing web by night, by the light of torches placed beside her, she would unravel all shes done. The first instance of a prophet is halitherses, who reads the omen of the two eagles flying over the assembled suitors. She stalls them by undoing the work of laertes shroud.
Epics begin in medias res in the middle of things and explore a vast world or universe, generally that involves mythological landscapes such as the home of the. They learn of telemachus journey when noemon comes to ask them if they know when telemachus will return. They are often seen pursuing orestes and on other occasions in the company of either hades or hecate, the lunar goddess associated with witchcraft. Hear me, men of ithaca, and i speak more particularly to the suitors, for i see mischief brewing for them. Athena as mentor hints that judgment on the suitors is to come. The odyssey, written sometime in the 8th century bce although some scholars would place it in the 6th century bce, is an epic poem of more than 12,000 lines organised by scholars in alexandria into 24 books. Each disguise is unique, created for a specific purpose. Their small army tracks odysseus to laertes house, but athena, disguised again as mentor, decides to put a stop to the violence. He reminds the suitors that he had foretold that odysseus would leave for troy, and after many setbacks and losing all his comrades, would return. The odyssey this article relating to greek mythology is a stub.
380 1023 1456 738 1029 640 505 132 132 1427 898 161 170 187 917 1147 353 1024 769 317 509 1340 1043 225 800 111 522 1466 1073 256 318 123 1357 998 1449 1116 829 991