CLA 2100	Lecture Five: Homer II: He Descended into Hell.
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Assignment:Homer, Odyssey, pp. 145-305.

RECAPITULATION

What happens in books 1-13 of the Odyssey?

THEMES

How are the following topics significant to understanding the Odyssey?

• Meals and Bathing.
• Courtesy and the ceremonies of civilization.
• The exemplary tale of Agamemnon (again), but this time told by Agamemnon himself!
• Odysseus and Women
• Stupidity: What role does stupidity play in the action of this great epic?

MEALS

A comparison of the meals Odysseus "shares" with Polyphemus (pp. 153ff.) and with Alkinoos (Alcinoos; pp. 115ff.) reveals differences that offer more than a little commentary on what constitutes civlilization versus barbarism.

Other notable meals include (but are not limited to):

• Calypso's meal with Hermes, p. 84.
• Calypso's meal with Odysseus, p. 87.
• Dinner with Circe, p. 172.
• A bloody feast with the souls of the dead (book 11).
• The feast of Odysseus' men on the cattle of the sun...

WOMEN

Significant female characters encountered thus far include:

• Penelope, Eurykleia (Eurycleia)
• Athena
• Klytaimnestra (Clytaemnestra)
• Helen
• Kalypso (Calypso)
• Nausikaa (Nausicaa), Arete
• Daughters of Aiolus (Aeolus)
• Kirke (Circe)
• Women of Hades, especially Odysseus' mom Antikleia (Anticleia)
• Skylla & Kharybdis (Scylla & Charybdis)
• Seirenes (Sirens)
• Ino

Why does Odysseus prefer Penelope to Calypso, Circe, and Nausicaa?

Great Link for Ancient Images of the Odyssey:

• Prof. Kirk Summer's (of the University of Alabama) slide show on the Odyssey.