112 pages • 3 hours read
Homer, Transl. Emily WilsonThe Odyssey
Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | AdultA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Books 1-4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Book 1 Summary: “The Boy and the Goddess”
The poet opens with an invocation of the Muses, asking them to sing through him about Odysseus’s trials attempting to return home from Troy. The action then turns to the gods, who debate how to facilitate Odysseus’s return. In Ithaca, Odysseus’s wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, ponder whether Odysseus is still alive and how to deal with the aggressive suitors who have besieged their palace.
Calypso has trapped Odysseus on her island, wanting to keep him as her husband though it is past time for him to have returned home. Angry that Odysseus blinded his son, Poseidon has prevented his return, prompting the other gods’ pity.
While Poseidon is away visiting the Ethiopians, Zeus and the other Olympian gods discuss Aegisthus. They had warned him not to murder Agamemnon, but he ignored them, and Agamemnon’s son, Orestes, murdered him. Athena agrees that Aegisthus deserved to die but asks why Zeus has abandoned Odysseus. Zeus blames Poseidon for Odysseus’s troubles and offers to help plan his return home since he is “more sensible than other humans, / and makes more sacrifices to the gods” (107).
Athena suggests sending Hermes to inform Calypso that she must let Odysseus leave, then goes to Ithaca disguised as Mentes, an old family friend. Telemachus welcomes Mentes-Athena warmly, confiding his troubles with the suitors. She expresses outrage and insists that his father, who Telemachus resembles, will soon return. Mentes-Athena advises Telemachus to call a meeting with the Achaean chiefs and demand that the suitors leave. He should also tell Penelope to return to her father if she wants to remarry and then visit Nestor in Pylos and Menelaus in Sparta to seek news of Odysseus. If he hears that his father is still alive, Telemachus should wait out the suitors for one more year, but if he hears that Odysseus is dead, he should mourn him with the proper rituals and pick a new husband for his mother.
Before Mentes-Athena leaves, Telemachus wants to give her a gift, but she tells him to save it for her return, when they can both give gifts “in fair exchange” (115). She flies back to Olympus, and Telemachus realizes that he has been speaking with a god. She has filled him with confidence and determination.
In the hall Phemius sings of how Athena cursed the Greeks’ journeys home, prompting Penelope to leave her chambers and confront him. She begs him to stop because his song is breaking her heart. Telemachus reminds her that the gods, not the poets, are “to blame for how things are” and that “[m]any were lost,” not only Odysseus (116). He tells her to return to her chambers and leave talk to men, “especially me. I am the master” (116).
After Penelope departs, Telemachus orders the suitors to leave. They are startled, but Antinous quickly recovers, saying that he hopes Telemachus never gains his rightful inheritance as king of Ithaca. Telemachus acknowledges that he may not become king but “shall be at least the lord / of my own house and of the slaves” that his father “seized for my benefit” (118). Eurycleia, a loyal slave who was Telemachus’s nanny, prepares his bedchamber.
Book 2 Summary: “A Dangerous Journey”
In Book 2 Telemachus confronts the suitors in assembly and demands they leave. After they mock him, he prepares to visit Pylos and Sparta, as advised by Athena.
Telemachus’s assembly is the first since Odysseus sailed for Troy. Aegyptius, whose son went with Odysseus and was eaten by Polyphemus, asks if the city is threatened. Telemachus explains that he has called the assembly because he seeks help reining in the suitors, who insist on courting his mother against her will and are devouring his wealth with their incessant banquets and feasting. He acknowledges that he is too young and inexperienced to fight them alone.
Many elders pity him, but Antinous reproaches Telemachus, telling him to blame his mother, not the suitors. She “offers hope to all, sends signs to each,” though “her mind moves somewhere else” (123). She claimed that she would pick a husband after completing a burial shroud for Laertes, Odysseus’s aged father, but each night she unpicked the progress she made. A slave woman revealed this to the suitors. Antinous reaffirms that the suitors will continue their courtship until Penelope selects a husband or Telemachus sends her back to her father.
Telemachus insists that he cannot force her to leave. If the suitors are unhappy, they should leave. He threatens to call on the gods to avenge the suitors’ injustice and warns them that they will die. At that moment, Zeus sends two eagles to swoop over the men. Halitherses, an elder skilled at prophecy, advises the suitors that Odysseus will return soon. Eurymachus dismisses Halitherses, reiterating the suitors’ position: As long as Penelope remains alone in Ithaca, they will continue to court her.
Telemachus ends the meeting, revealing that he needs a ship to sail to Pylos and Sparta. Mentor, to whom Odysseus entrusted his affairs before leaving Ithaca, criticizes the elders for not helping Telemachus rid his father’s palace of the suitors. Leocritus, another suitor, reminds him that they outnumber the elders, and if Odysseus returns, they will outnumber and murder him. Later in the palace, the suitors encourage Telemachus to abandon his idea to seek news of his father. When he threatens them, they mock him, noting how much they will benefit from his death at sea, as they have benefited from Odysseus’s.
Telemachus calls on Athena. She appears as Mentor and advises him on how to prepare for his journey. He returns to the palace and summons Eurycleia to undertake the preparations and keep the journey secret from his mother. Eurycleia is concerned for his safety, but he assures her the gods approve of his plans. Disguised as Telemachus, Athena gathers a crew and borrows a ship from Noëmon. She pours “sweet sleep upon the drunken suitors” (133), collects Telemachus disguised as Mentor, and summons a favorable sailing wind. They quickly set off, pouring libations as they ride the waves.
Book 3 Summary: “An Old King Remembers”
Book 3 recounts Telemachus’s visit with Nestor, who experienced a trouble-free return home from Troy.
When Telemachus and Mentor-Athena arrive in Pylos, he admits to feeling “awkward talking / to elders”; she encourages him to rely on his “wits” and “divine assistance” (136), since he is blessed by the gods. Nestor and his sons welcome Telemachus and Mentor-Athena warmly. After sacrifices and food, Nestor asks the guests who they are. Athena fills Telemachus with confidence so that he can identify himself and ask Nestor if he knows what happened to Odysseus.
Nestor recalls how much Athena cared for Odysseus at Troy. If Telemachus had her support, the suitors would “forget / their hopes for marriage” (142). Telemachus doubts this, prompting Mentor-Athena to remind him that the gods can accomplish anything, except interfere with fate and death.
Nestor tells his return narrative. After nine difficult years, the Greeks finally sacked Troy thanks to Odysseus’s cleverness, but since some of the heroes “had neither sense nor morals” (139), they suffered difficult homecomings. Athena stirred dissension between Agamemnon, who wanted to offer sacrifices before setting off, and Menelaus, who wanted to leave immediately. While Agamemnon stayed behind, Nestor and Menelaus set off together, then separated at Sounion, “the holy cape of Athens” (144). Zeus blew Menelaus’s ships off course, and he ended up in Egypt. Delayed there, he was unable to help Agamemnon or prevent his disastrous homecoming.
Aegisthus had remained behind in Argos when the rest of the men sailed for Troy. He seduced Clytemnestra, who was initially unwilling because “her heart was good” (143), seized control of Mycenae, and murdered Agamemnon when he returned home. Orestes, who had been in Athens, returned to avenge his father. Warning Telemachus not to stay away too long, lest the suitors seize control of his wealth, Nestor advises him to visit Menelaus before returning.
After ending the banquet with libations for the gods, Mentor-Athena and Telemachus prepare to return to their ship, but Nestor insists they stay in his comfortable beds. Mentor-Athena excuses herself, revealing her divinity as she flies off. Nestor exclaims that Telemachus will surely be a hero since the goddess is on his side. Her offers her a prayer, which she hears. He prepares a bed for Telemachus beside Pisistratus, his youngest son. The next day Nestor prepares an elaborate sacrifice and a feast in Athena’s honor, then sends Telemachus to Sparta in one of his carts accompanied by Pisistratus.
Book 4 Summary: “What the Sea God Said”
In Book 4 Telemachus visits Sparta to learn what happened to Menelaus and hear a prophecy that his father will return.
Menelaus warmly welcomes Telemachus and Pisistratus, offering them baths and food. At the table, Menelaus exchanges compliments with Telemachus and Pisistratus and shares how much he misses his wartime friends, especially Odysseus, causing Telemachus to weep behind his cloak. Helen arrives and asks who the two young men are, noting Telemachus’s resemblance to Odysseus. When Menelaus agrees, Pisistratus confirms Telemachus’s identity. Menelaus laments that he and Odysseus were separated, and all weep, until Pisistratus says that they should wait until dawn to mourn. Menelaus commends his wisdom, and they eat. Helen covertly puts into their drinks a drug that takes “all pain and rage away, / to bring forgetfulness of every evil” (159).
Helen and Menelaus each tell a story from the Trojan War that concerns Odysseus. Helen describes how she helped protect Odysseus when he disguised himself to spy on the Trojans in their city. Menelaus’s story contrasts with Helen’s. He describes Helen walking around the Trojan horse, in which the Greek warriors were hidden, and attempting to trick them into revealing themselves by speaking in their loved ones’ voices.
The following day Telemachus tells Menelaus about his problem with the suitors and asks if he knows what happened to Odysseus. Menelaus predicts that Odysseus will return and slaughter the suitors but admits he does not know what happened to his beloved friend. The gods trapped Menelaus on Pharos, an island next to Egypt’s coast, because he failed to sacrifice properly. Eidothea, the daughter of a sea god called Proteus, helped Menelaus escape by revealing how he could trap Proteus and extract information from him, including how to get off the island. Menelaus followed her advice, and Proteus confirmed that Menelaus failed to sacrifice properly and needed to return to Egypt to do so. Proteus also revealed sad news about other Greek heroes, including that Aegisthus murdered Agamemnon and Calypso had trapped Odysseus on her island. After making the proper sacrifices, Menelaus quickly returned home.
Back on Ithaca, the suitors discover that Telemachus has left and are furious. They plan to kill him when he returns, but Medon, a loyal slave, overhears their plot and reveals it to Penelope. She laments how the suitors dishonor Odysseus, a just king who treated them as a loving father would treat his own son. Weeping, she wonders why the gods have cursed her and prays to Athena to keep her son safe. Hearing her prayer, Athena sends a phantom in the guise of Penelope’s sister to assure her that Telemachus will return safely. Meanwhile, the suitors wait by the coast to ambush Telemachus’s ship when it returns.
Books 1-4 Analysis
Epics—and storytelling more broadly—served multiple functions in ancient Greece: they entertained, educated Greek speakers about their mythic past, and conveyed lessons about the divine order and proper mortal conduct. The first four books demonstrate each of these functions. The bard Phemius entertains the suitors by singing a poetic song that communicates pertinent recent events: Athena cursing the Greeks’ return home from Troy. Nestor and Menelaus share stories with Telemachus about their experiences with his father and about their journeys home after the Trojan War. Odysseus narrates his wanderings for the Phaeacians. Notably, the stories often involve characters either offending the gods and being punished or overcoming trials and achieving their desired ends.
The centrality of reciprocity comes into focus in the first four books through the ritual practice of hospitality. Zeus was the god of hospitality; to violate its laws was to dishonor him. Telemachus experiences proper hospitality (xenia in ancient Greek) during his travels, and he practices it at his palace. The ritual made demands of both hosts and guests. The former should meet the latter’s basic needs before making any inquiries, and the latter should not take advantage of the former’s generosity. When host and guest fulfilled their obligations, they became guest-friends, an alliance and promise of reciprocation in the future. Nestor and Menelaus honor these rules with elaborate feasts and gifts for Telemachus, who in turn graciously accepts their generosity and offers prayers for his hosts. The suitors, in contrast, mock, threaten, and abuse their hosts, Telemachus and Penelope.
Proper human conduct is depicted through the contrast between the absent Odysseus and Aegisthus and Agamemnon, who serve as foils for him, as Orestes does for Telemachus. Aegisthus did not obey the gods’ commands and paid with his life. Agamemnon returned home incautiously and also paid with his life. Aegisthus and Agamemnon demonstrate what happens when one disobeys the gods and acts rashly, respectively. Like Agamemnon, Odysseus has a son who could avenge him, but he will not need to because Odysseus does not make the same mistakes as Agamemnon.
The Iliad and the Odyssey are the only epics to have survived complete from archaic Greece, but their narratives are pieces of a larger body of interconnected myths that ancient audiences would have been aware of through poetry and through images. Mythical stories were represented on pottery, sculptures, and textiles. They were a pervasive presence in people’s everyday lives, and one challenge facing modern readers of the Odyssey is putting its narrative into this larger context.
In epic tradition, Odysseus was one of many Greek (Homer’s term is “Achaean”) leaders who joined the war at Troy, a small part of which is narrated in the Iliad. Trojan prince Paris had visited the Greek territory of Sparta, and while its king, Menelaus, was away, Paris stole his treasure and his wife, Helen. To what extent Helen left willingly is an open question, but her choice would not impact the severity of Paris’s offense. Since wives were categorized as their husbands’ property, Paris leaving with Helen constituted theft and a violation of hospitality rules.
While Paris’s violation may seem clear cut, it was not only authorized but also planned by the goddess Aphrodite. Prior to the Trojan War, Paris had been selected to judge a beauty contest among Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena. He selected Aphrodite as the winner because she promised him the love of the most beautiful woman, Helen. Whether Helen acted of her own accord or because she was coerced by Aphrodite is a source of tension in the Odyssey’s Book 4, when she and Menelaus share conflicting stories about Odysseus. The poem continually examines the interconnection of fate and choice but never comes down on one side or the other as the single deciding factor. The Fates and the gods determine human outcomes, but humans can either accept their fates (as Odysseus does) or resist them (as Aegisthus does).
Unlike in the Iliad, the gods do not openly come into conflict in the Odyssey, perhaps representing an evolution of the god-mortal relationship away from direct interference. Zeus waits until Poseidon is far away in Ethiopia to discuss facilitating Odysseus’s return with the other gods. Poseidon prolongs his suffering and makes his journey more difficult, but he ultimately accepts that Odysseus’s successful return is fated. Out of deference for her uncle, Athena does not confer openly with Odysseus until after he has returned to Ithaca but engineers outcomes just outside the frame. In Books 1 through 4 she accomplishes this by prodding Zeus to intervene and ensuring Telemachus makes the right decisions.
Though the poem is called the Odyssey, its eponymous character does not appear in the first four books, other than through references. The gods conspire to ensure his successful return home (nostos in ancient Greek). Penelope and Telemachus lament his absence; the suitors exploit it. Nestor and Menelaus express their affection and respect for him. Odysseus’s absence shapes the narrative, but like the epic’s characters, its audience waits in suspended anticipation to meet him in person.
The narrative’s early focus on Penelope and Telemachus points to the primary units in Homeric epic: household and family. Odysseus is the head of his household and the king of Ithaca, but he is not responsible only for himself. He exists as part of a social body and is as dependent on the loyalty of his wife, son, and slaves as they are on his. Odysseus is repeatedly described as crafty in the text; Penelope demonstrates her like-mindedness through the ruse with the shroud. Her trick enables her to stall making a decision and forces the suitors to wait, until a slave’s disloyalty reveals the ruse to the suitors, bringing the trick to an end. Book 4 ends with an extended description of Eurycleia looking after Telemachus, her loyalty contrasting with the other slaves’ betrayal. In the second half of the poem, Eumaeus’s loyalty will similarly be contrasted with the disloyalty of Melanthius.
Nestor and Menelaus’s households demonstrate varying degrees of harmonious functioning and, subsequently, success. Nestor’s household in Book 3 is an example of a prosperous family that has pleased the gods through proper ritual practice. Menelaus suffered less than other warriors returning home, Odysseus included, but the conflicting stories he and Helen tell about her behavior at Troy betrays the tension in their household. Menelaus’s return narrative foreshadows Odysseus’s but is less fraught with uncertainty and danger.
