112 pages • 3 hours read
Homer, Transl. Emily WilsonThe Odyssey
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Character Analysis
Odysseus
Odysseus is the Odyssey’s titular character, but he is defined as much by his family and place of origin as he is by his individual characteristics. Whenever he introduces himself honestly, he refers to himself as the son of Laertes, from Ithaca. His desire to return home, no matter how difficult and dangerous the journey, represents his desire to reclaim his identity and take his proper place at the head of his household.
As an individual, he exhibits characteristics typical of Homeric heroes: He is brave, skilled in combat, and an effective public speaker. His unique specialties are patience, cunning, and trickery, making him especially beloved to Athena, who is the patron of those skills. He is known for and takes pride in his schemes. The Trojan horse that resulted in the defeat of Troy was his invention, but Odysseus’s pride in his schemes can make him reckless and cruel. His pride in having tricked Polyphemus prompts him to boast foolishly. This leads Poseidon to make his journey more difficult and makes Odysseus at least partly responsible for his crewmen’s deaths. After he returns to Ithaca, he cannot resist testing his aging father, causing him additional grief.
As important as his individual characteristics are, their purpose in the Odyssey is to facilitate his return to Ithaca and defeat of the suitors. Contrary to the Iliad, which focuses on warrior culture and achieving glory through battle, the Odyssey focuses on heroes’ domestic circumstances. Odysseus’s greatest virtue is that he is willing to suffer to resume his proper place as king of Ithaca and head of a loyal, harmonious household.
Penelope
Like Odysseus, Penelope is trapped in a liminal place. She remains in Ithaca, but her position is tenuous. The Trojan War has been over for 10 years, but her husband has not yet returned. She does not want to declare herself a widow, but suitors have camped out in her palace, insisting that she marry one of them. If she does, she will be criticized for disloyalty to her husband, but if she does not, she will be criticized for stubbornly allowing the suitors to consume her son’s inheritance. Navigating the minefield of suitors, expectations, and gossip requires her to be patient, endure calmly, and devise tricks and schemes to prevent the suitors from openly revolting and attempting to take the palace by force. Like Odysseus, Penelope repeatedly demonstrates that she is up to the task.
In Homeric terms, Penelope is the ideal wife because she is her husband’s equal in cleverness and fortitude but does not compete with him for ultimate authority of the household. She protects his interests, believing that he in return will protect her. This is reflected, at the end of Book 23, in Odysseus’s order for her to “go with your slaves / upstairs, sit quietly, and do not talk / to anyone,” though he acknowledges that she is “smart enough / to not need orders” (506). Contrary to modern Western conceptions of marriage, the ideal Homeric union recognizes separate spheres for men and women, with the two ideally working together to create a harmonious whole.
Penelope’s acceptance of this role elevates her to heroic status, as expressed by Agamemnon in Book 24: “Her fame will live / forever, and the deathless gods will make / a poem to delight all those on earth / about intelligent Penelope” (513). The statement is self-referential, as the Odyssey is, at least in part, that poem.
Telemachus
Like both his parents, Telemachus is introduced in a transitional state. An infant when his father left, Telemachus is on the cusp of adulthood, but growing up without his father left him lacking male guidance. In a culture in which men and women’s roles are starkly divided, his father’s absence impacts his confidence and authority. The suitors recognize this and do not see him as a threat. The assembly he calls to publicly disgrace the suitors comes to nothing as the elders pity him but do not interfere in what is essentially a private matter.
Telemachus’s journeys to Pylos and Sparta are meant to spur his emotional growth by presenting him with two challenges: to successfully travel away from and return home, and to learn how to express himself publicly, both important skills for Homeric heroes. Under Athena’s guiding hand, Telemachus achieves both. When he returns to Ithaca, he discovers that his father has also returned, in disguise, and Telemachus’s growth process accelerates as his father steers and provokes him to assume stronger leadership.
A pivotal scene for Telemachus’s growth occurs in Book 21, during the contest of the axes. Still in his disguise, Odysseus picks up the bow, but the suitors are so outraged that he starts to put it back down. He is afraid. Telemachus steps in and insists that Odysseus take a turn, saying, “You will soon see / you have to choose which master to obey. / Though I am younger than you, I am stronger; / watch out” (473). His bold public statement amuses the suitors, and they back down, allowing Odysseus to make his attempt. In one sense, Telemachus is performing a role to allow his father to take control, but it is also a sign that he is prepared to carry his father’s legacy and to add to it, as sons should do in the Homeric world.
Athena
In Homeric epics Athena is a frequent patron of heroes. In the Odyssey her protection extends not only to the traditionally male heroes—Odysseus, Telemachus, and Laertes—but also to Penelope. She engineers Telemachus’s trip to Pylos and Sparta to accelerate his emotional growth and ensures his successful return. She petitions Zeus on Odysseus’s behalf multiple times, intervenes surreptitiously during his wanderings to promote his cause, and confers directly with him after he arrives in Ithaca, planning the suitors’ slaughter and securing his success. She watches over Penelope, inspiring and promoting her plans. Laertes, who appears only in the final book, also benefits from Athena’s patronage, when she allows him a moment of glory battling the suitors’ families.
As the goddess of strategic warfare, crafts, and wisdom, Athena oversees domains important to men and women. She is often depicted in myth as Zeus’s favorite child and helper, testing heroes’ virtue, promoting prudence, and ensuring justice. Her mother was Metis, which means “cunning” in ancient Greek. According to a prophecy, if Metis gave birth to a son, he would be more powerful than his father. When Zeus discovered Metis was pregnant, he swallowed her, absorbing her cunning and essentially making it his own. The daughter she was pregnant with, Athena, subsequently emerged fully formed from Zeus’s head.
By preventing Metis from giving birth to a son who would unseat him, Zeus preserves the Olympian pantheon’s stability and his own power. Athena’s role as Zeus’s favorite child and helper can be interpreted, within the Homeric world, as demonstrating the proper application of women’s intelligence and wisdom. In the Odyssey Athena does not act without first consulting with her father and securing his approval. She is his equal in wisdom but does not compete with him for authority, using her skills and talents to further his aims.
