Odyssey: Homecoming and Recognition

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

Ithaca, Eumaeus, Eurycleia, Antinoüs, Penelope, Telemachus

1. Ithaca: Odyssey 13-17
   1. Phaeacians take him to Ithaca
      • Lay him on the shore asleep
      • Phaeacian ship turned to stone by Poseidon
   2. O. disguised by Athena as a beggar
   3. Takes refuge at his swineherd's house (Eumaeus)
   • Pretends to be wanderer from Crete
   • Tells Eumaeus that Odysseus will come home
   4. Reunion with his son Telemachus
   5. Plot to get revenge on the suitors (leader: Antinoüs)
2. Recognition and Revenge (Odyssey 17-24)
   1. Odysseus disguises as a beggar, goes to house
      • Argus, his dog, recognizes and dies
   2. O. fights the other beggar, Irus
   3. Requests audience with Penelope
      • Tells her Odysseus is alive
   4. Eurycleia, the old nurse, recognizes Odysseus' scar
   5. The Contest of the Bow
   6. The Slaughter of the Suitors
   7. Penelope's Test
   8. The End?
   • O. tests his father Laërtes
   • Final showdown with Ithacans
   • Athena brings an end to the battle
3. Themes
1. Importance of proper behavior as host and guest
• Improper: Polyphemus, Laestrygonians, Suitors
• Proper: Aeolus, Phaeacians, Eumaeus
2. Tensions between Odysseus and his men
• Disobedience: Cicones, Aeolus, Oxen of the Su
• Foolhardiness: Polyphemus, Circe
• Deception: Scylla and Charybdis
  

1. *Penelope and the Suitors. J.W. Waterhouse, 1912. Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum, Aberdeen, UK.
2. Odysseus' Feet Washed by Eurycleia. Attic red-figure vase.
3. Odysseus Recognized by Eurycleia.
4. Odysseus and the Contest of the Bow. Wyeth.
5. Odysseus kills the suitors at the feast. Attic red-figure skyphos, c. 440 BCE, from Tarquinia, by the Penelope Painter. Staatliche Museum, Berlin.
6. Odysseus Killing the Suitors. John Flaxman, 1805. Engraving and etching on paper. Tate Gallery, London.