Questions tagged [the-odyssey]
For questions about The Odyssey, the epic poem by Homer. Use with [homer] and [greek-literature].
22
questions
31
votes
2
answers
18k
views
Was Odysseus considered unfaithful to his wife in the Odyssey?
Penelope is portrayed throughout the story to be virtuous when it comes to men, meaning that she holds out hope for her husband's safety 20 years after she saw him and had no other relationships in ...
- 6,688
31
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Are there any recorded discrepancies between The Odyssey as oral tradition and The Odyssey as Homer transcribed it?
The Odyssey began as oral tradition, and was later transcribed by someone we now call "Homer." Disregarding the Homeric Question concerning the identity of the person who transcribed these works, it ...
user80
24
votes
3
answers
17k
views
How many sailors from Odysseus' crew survived the Odyssey?
It's been a long time since I've read it, maybe 20 years. Of course, Odysseus survives, but does anyone else? How many sailors did he start with, and how many made it home with him (or safely departed ...
- 631
16
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Did Homer base the Iliad and the Odyssey on mythology?
Homer's two epic poems follow the story of the Trojan War through various perspectives. Did Homer make up the stories, or was there some kind of historical/mythological predecessor that he retold (or ...
- 6,688
15
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Why is Nausicaa named 'burner of ships'?
Nausicaa in the Odyssey is the princess of a race of seafarers.
She and her people are beloved of and descended from Posidon/Neptune. Nausicaa herself is directly descended from both sides as her ...
- 2,943
12
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Where was the Odyssean Ithaca?
It's well known that the home of Odysseus, as described in Homer's Odyssey, was the island of Ithaca. There's a modern-day Greek island called Ithaca, and according to Wikipedia:
Modern Ithaca is ...
- 72.6k
11
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Why does the portrayal of fate in the Odyssey differ from that of the Iliad?
In the Iliad, fate and the will of the gods are two distinct concepts. This is shown when Zeus is tempted to save his son, Sarpedon, from his predestined death in battle, though he ultimately chooses ...
- 111
9
votes
1
answer
454
views
In Homer's Odyssey, how can the one-eyed Cyclops have multiple brows?
When Odysseus meets the Cyclops, the text never explicitly states that he has only a single eye. However, the unfolding action in which Odysseus and his crew blind the Cyclops by pushing a stake into ...
- 22.3k
7
votes
2
answers
844
views
Can the Odyssey be consumed independently of the Iliad?
The Odyssey is largely a sequel to the Iliad, both of them being attributed to Homer and describing events which are roughly part of a single overall story (Odysseus first fighting in the Trojan War ...
- 72.6k
6
votes
1
answer
571
views
Why is this line about prophecy in book 2 of the Odyssey thought to be "spurious"?
In my translation of the Odyssey by Emily Wilson, she translates part of a speech concerning prophecy by Eurymachus at the end of book 2 as this:
You know many ancient forms of wisdom,
but if you ...
- 22.3k
5
votes
1
answer
119
views
What are "inward meats" in Homer?
In both the Iliad and the Odyssey there are many mentions of "inward meats," such as:
When the thigh-bones were burned and they had tasted the inward meats, they cut the rest up small, put ...
- 53
5
votes
0
answers
684
views
What are the parallels between The Odyssey and The Time Traveler's Wife?
Author Audrey Niffenegger chose to include an excerpt from The Odyssey at the end of her debut novel The Time Traveler's Wife:
Now from his breast into his eyes the ache
Of longing mounted, and ...
- 22.3k
5
votes
1
answer
307
views
Is there any significance in Shakespeare's use of the name "Laertes" (name of the father of Odysseus) in Hamlet?
Is there any significance in Shakespeare's use of "Laertes" (name of the father of Odysseus) in Hamlet?
Do we associate the name with The Odyssey more strongly than Shakespeare, to whom it was just ...
- 604
4
votes
1
answer
634
views
What manuscript was the first printed edition of the Odyssey based on?
The Wikipedia article about the Iliad says that this work was first printed in Florence in 1488/89.
The Wikipedia article about the Odyssey does not mention when this epic was first printed,
but it ...
- 44.6k
3
votes
1
answer
446
views
What is the difference between the narration of the Fall of Troy in The Aeneid, The Iliad, and The Odyssey?
I have not fully read Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey and I'm only in the Book 3 of The Aeneid. All I know is that in the Iliad, there is the fighting of the Trojan War. In the Odyssey, there is a ...
- 31
3
votes
1
answer
204
views
Why are sea creatures Sirens "in a meadow" in The Odyssey?
The Odyssey offers this description of Sirens from wise Circe:
The Sirens bewitch everybody who approaches them. There is no homecoming for the man who draws near them unawares...For with their high ...
- 4,575
3
votes
0
answers
122
views
Is there any deeper reason as to why Joyce chose the Latin name for Odysseus when he titled Ulysses?
I only learned recently that Ulysses is the Latin version of the Greek name Odysseus. It made me wonder why Joyce chose it over the Greek for his novel Ulysses.
Apparently there's a very prosaic ...
- 22.3k
3
votes
0
answers
4k
views
What does Athena’s statement to Zeus at the beginning of The Odyssey reveal?
I was told to analyze this passage in book 1 of The Odyssey, having read only books 1-4:
And sparkling-eyed Athena drove the matter home: “Father, son of Cronus, our high and mighty king, surely he ...
- 151
2
votes
1
answer
222
views
Who are the '12 children of Aiolos Hippotadês', as introduced in Book 10, The Grace of the Witch, of Homer's Odyssey?
Below is an excerpt of Book 10, The Grace of the Witch, of Homer's Odyssey
We made our landfall on Aiolia Island, domain of the Aiolos Hippotadês, the wind king dear to the gods who never die- an ...
2
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How did the Greeks anger Pallas Athena?
During the Iliad several of the gods take sides in the war between the Greeks and the Trojans. For example, Ares, Apollo and Aphrodite side with the Trojans, while Pallas Athena, Hera and Poseidon ...
- 44.6k
2
votes
0
answers
266
views
Is Odysseus a hero in the Odyssey?
Is Odysseus a hero in the Odyssey? From what I’ve read, the answer seems to be a pretty clear yes. The definition of an Ancient Greek hero seemed to revolve around pure talent and ability to fight. ...
- 151
1
vote
0
answers
68
views
Specificity in ancient depictions of Olympus?
The highest peak in Greece is Mount Olympus, near the northwestern Aegean coast. Was this taken as the literal home of the Olympian gods by worshipful ancient Greeks, or was it merely figurative to ...
- 127