Odyssey: Phaeacian Tales

CC 303 Intro to Classical Mythology - Fall 2009
Department of Classics, University of Texas at Austin, Prof. Lawrence Kim

Odysseus (Ulysses), Phaeacians, Nausicaä, Alcinoüs, Calypso,
Lotus-Eaters, Polyphemus, Cyclops, Aeolus, Laestrygonians

1. Odyssey, Books 5-8 (Year 10 of the wanderings)
   • Hermes visits Calypso, who is with Odysseus
   • Calypso will grant him immortality; Odysseus wants to go home.
   • Poseidon gets back and brings up a storm
   • Washed up on the island of the Phaeacians
   • Nausicaä, daughter of Alcinous, king of the Phaeacians
   • The Athletic Games and Feast
   • The bard Demodocus sings of Troy, reveals Odysseus
2. Books 9-11: The Adventures, Part I (3 years)
   1. The Cicones
   • First tension between Odysseus and his men
   2. The Lotus Eaters
      • Drug of Forgetfulness
   3. Polyphemus, the Cyclops
   • "Noman"
   • The blinding of Polyphemus
   • The escape from the cave
   • Polyphemus' curse
   4. Aeolus, Lord of the Winds
      • Gives Bag of Winds; men open it; blown back
   5. Laestrygonians (Man-eating giants)
      • Every ship destroyed except Odysseus

1. Calypso. Arnold Böcklin, 1883. Kunstmuseum, Basel.
2. *Odysseus and Calypso. Max Beckmann, 1943. Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg.
3. Ulysses and Nausicaa. Michele Desubleo. Palazzo Montecitorio, Rome.
4. Odysseus and Nausicaa. Pieter Lastman, 1619.  Alte Pinakothek, Munich.
5. Detail of Odysseus blinding the Cyclops Polyphemus. Protoattic amphora by the Polyphemos Painter, 670-660 BCE. Eleusis Museum, Eleusis.
6. Odysseus in the Cave of Polyphemus. Jacob Jordaens, c. 1660. Pushkin Museum, Moscow.
7. Odysseus bound and clinging to the underside of a ram. Bronze relief cut-out ornament from Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, c. 540-530 BCE. Archaeological Museum, Delphi.