THE ODYSSEY

ODYSSEUS’ JOURNEY
 TROY

Modern Day Turkey.

Odysseus' Journey begins here
 The Island of the Cyclops

Odysseus and his men dock on the island of the cyclops. The
Cyclops who lived there was named Polyphemus and was the son of
Poseidon. Here the Polyphemus eats some of Odysseus' men and comes to
blows with Odysseus himself.
 ANALYSIS
It expresses the ideas about pride and spirit
when Odysseus encounters the cyclops. These were
his words to Polyphemus, “If any mortal man
should ask about the shameful blinding of your
eye, then tell him that the man who gouged you
was Odysseus, ravager of cities”. Odysseus tries to
brag about what he has done instead of being
humbled by the experience.
 Aeolia
(The Island of Aeolus)

After Odysseus and his men left the Island of the Cyclops they
stopped at Aeolia, the island of Aeolus the wind god.
 Aeolus treated Odysseus hospitably and gave him a bag of winds.
The bag had all of the west winds bundled up and was not to be opened
until they get back to Ithaca.
 Odysseus men were curious of what was in the bag and they
thought it was gold that Odysseus was keeping to himself. Odysseus' men
opened it before they reached Ithaca and are left stranded on an island,
that made the journey back home even longer and harder.
 Aeaea (Circe's Island)

They sailed to Aeaea, an island inhabited by the mystical Circe.

On this island Circe plays a trick on Odysseus' men by turning them into
pigs and keeping them there for a year.
 The Underworld (Land of the Dead)

Odysseus and his men head for the Underworld. There they are
looking for a man named Tiresias who will tell them how to get back
home to Ithaca. They find him there and he tells them how to get home.
But, as Odysseus is about to leave the Underworld he notices his moms
spirit. He talks to her for a while to find out how she died and why. He
then heads off to continue his journey.
 The Island of the Sirens

Before Odysseus left Circe’s island she warned him of the Sirens.
She told him that the Sirens are creatures that lure men towards them,
causing the ships to break on the rocks, with their singing. He had to put
beeswax in the oarsman's ears so they did not hear the singing and steer
towards the island. He also had to be tied to the mast of the ship if he
wished to listen and that no matter how much begging was done, his men
could not untie him until they were past the island.
 ANALYSIS
He is the only one to hear their songs and
must be tied to a post in order to keep himself
restrained. Odysseus’ spirit is still weak as he is
still engrossed with the Sirens ability to foretell
the future. The restraints allow him to struggle
with the challenge and become stronger without
being entangled with the evil.
 To get home Odysseus and his men had to pass through two cliffs.
The Scylla lived on one cliff and the Charybdis lived on the other side.
The Scylla is a six headed creature that would take six men from each ship
that passed by. The Charybdis was a whirlpool that lived under the water
and would come up and take all the men and the whole ship.

Scylla and Charybdis

 Odysseus had to decide which cliff he would have his men row by.
He chose to go on the side with the Scylla because losing six men is less
than the whole ship and crew.
 ANALYSIS
Odysseus is a practical warrior, he is
willing to sacrifice some of his men to give the
rest of his crew, and himself a chance to
survive. A less pragmatic man might have tried
to save everybody, and in the process to lose
them all.
The Island of Helios
 Their next stop on the journey was the land of Helios, the sun
god. Odysseus was warned by Tiresias that he should not let his men harm
the cattle. If they were to leave the cattle unharmed they would all return
to Ithaca. If they harmed the cattle they would all die except for Odysseus
and he would return to Ithaca alone. Odysseus ordered his men to leave
the cattle alone. They agree to only eat the food Circe gave them. The
winds end up really bad and they are stuck there for over a month. While
Odysseus goes inland to pray for guidance one of the men says the worst
kind of death is starvation. The man then suggests that they find the best
cattle and sacrifice the cattle to the gods. In doing so they make Helios
very mad. When Odysseus returns and finds what he had done he is
furious with his men. When the winds die down they set off on their
journey again but they get caught in a storm and all of the men die, except
Odysseus
Ogygia (Calypso's Island)

Odysseus ends up at Ogygia where the goddess Calypso lives. He

stays there for seven years. Athena eventually steps in and asks Zeus if he
could let Odysseus go. Zeus has Hermes go to Calypso and tells her that
she must allow him to leave and return home to Ithaca. She tells Odysseus
that he can go and he then sets sail for Ithaca.
 ANALYSIS
Odysseus has everything in Calypso’s
island, except happiness. His spirit is low as he
longs for his homeland. Homer introduces
Odysseus at a low point to emphasize the growth
of Odysseus spirit from beginning to end.
Scheria (Island of the Phaeacians)
 While Odysseus is on his way home to Ithaca, Poseidon, who hates
Odysseus because he killed his son Polyphemus, created a storm that
caused Odysseus’ ship to wreck and he starts to drown. Odysseus washed
up on Scheria the land of the Phaeacians. Princess of Scheria, Princess
Nausicaa finds Odysseus by the riverbank and lets him wash himself up
alone. Nausicaa then brings him to her father, Alcinous. Alcinous is so
impressed by Odysseus that he asks him to take his daughters hand in
marriage. They had dinner the next night and where Demodocus, told the
story of the Trojan horse. This upset Odysseus and he began to break
down. This causes Alcinous to ask him who he is, where he is from, and
where he is going. Odysseus tells Alcinous his whole story and Alcinous
gives him a ship that will take him home the next day. So the next day he
finally heads home to Ithaca.
 ANALYSIS
Odysseus seems to see the light when he
finds out that he will be sailing home. He is
tested first when Poseidon nearly kills him off the
coast of Scheria. Athena allows Odysseus to
experience the storm ,but not die.
 Ithaca

When Odysseus arrived home, he realized that there were many

suitors squatting in his city trying to marry his wife while he was away.
Disguised as a beggar, Odysseus kills all the suitors while Penelope, his
wife, was proved to be faithful while Odysseus was away.
 Disguised as a beggar, Odysseus kills all the suitors while Penelope,
his wife, was proved to be faithful while Odysseus was away.
 The return home was a tough and arduous journey for Odysseus
but the poem ends with him happily back in him homeland with his
beautiful wife and family.
 ANALYSIS
Yearning for her missing husband,
Penelope resists remarriage with strong convictions
and true devotion. She says no to the temptations
of the world. Despite her loneliness, grief, and
sufferings, Penelope remains constant and faithful
to her husband.
 Presented by:

Alexis Nicolle Delgado

Grade 10-Temperance