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44 pages 1 hour read

Rosemary Sutcliff

The Wanderings of Odysseus

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1995

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Character Analysis

Odysseus

Odysseus is the central character of Rosemary Sutcliff’s novel. He is the king of the small island of Ithaca in western Greece, where he lives with his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus. As one of the most important military leaders of the Greeks during the Trojan War, Odysseus helped achieve their victory by devising the scheme of the “Wooden Horse.” Known by the epithet “the Resourceful,” Odysseus’s defining characteristics are his intelligence and cunning, which allow him to devise complex plans for success that contribute to his fame and lore or, more practically, that allow him to escape from difficult situations (for example, imprisonment in the cave of the Cyclops). Odysseus also exhibits a resilience and determination closely associated with ancient Greek heroes. Odysseus’s unwavering desire to return to his home and family drives the plot of Sutcliff’s novel. To reach his goal, Odysseus willingly faces many obstacles on land and sea, and even combats temptation when Calypso offers to make him immortal if he stays with her instead of returning home.

Like any mythological hero, Odysseus has a tragic flaw: hubris. Odysseus’s arrogance and pride often lead him into perilous situations. On the island of the Cyclops, for instance, Odysseus cannot resist the urge to boast that it was he who blinded Polyphemus, leading Polyphemus to ask his father Poseidon to punish Odysseus. Poseidon’s anger follows Odysseus for the rest of the story, delaying Odysseus’s homecoming by nearly a decade—all because Odysseus wanted to gloat. Odysseus’s curiosity sometimes puts him and his men in danger as well; for example, his curiosity gets him and his men captured by the Cyclops, and compels him to risk his life to hear the song of the Sirens.

Also like many mythological heroes, Odysseus has both friends and enemies among the gods. Though Poseidon hates him, Odysseus is the favorite of the goddess Athene, who appreciates the marriage of courage and intelligence that Odysseus embodies. Athene gives Odysseus help at several key points in the story, and Odysseus is wise enough to know that he would not be able to succeed without her.

Telemachus

Telemachus is the son of Odysseus and Penelope. At the time of his father’s return to Ithaca, he is an adolescent beginning to take on the responsibilities of manhood. Telemachus is initially represented as a passive and timid figure. Penelope’s suitors have overrun his home and taken advantage of his vulnerability, wasting his father’s possessions and even attempting to murder him. But Telemachus gradually transforms as he goes out in search of his father, following the guidance of Athene and learning more about the world around him. Thus, when Telemachus returns to Ithaca, the suitors can see “that he was no longer the boy he had been, but a grown man” (86). During the archery contest, Telemachus asserts his newfound role over his mother Penelope as well when he tells her to go to her quarters—Penelope, indeed, is surprised at Telemachus’ behavior, “never before having heard him speak in that way, like the master of the house” (99).

Telemachus finally steps into his place as a man when he helps his father Odysseus kill the suitors. In so doing, he demonstrates that he’s ready to protect what is his (after all, it is his inheritance that the suitors are squandering). His vengeance against the suitors establishes that Telemachus possesses the aristocratic and heroic qualities of bravery and intelligence, and that he is a worthy son to a hero of Odysseus’s caliber. 

Penelope

Penelope is the wife of Odysseus and the mother of Telemachus. In the novel, she remains faithful to her husband Odysseus even when everyone—including herself—believes that he is long dead. She puts off her many suitors for years, refusing to marry one of them even as they all but take over her home. Penelope’s devotion to her family, combined with the domestic skills she demonstrates throughout the story, turn her into an archetype of the ideal ancient Greek wife.

Penelope’s intelligence and cunning mirrors that of her husband. She uses a clever scheme to avoid remarrying, telling her suitors that she will choose a new husband once she completes a shroud for her father-in-law, Laertes, and then secretly unravels her work every night to buy more time. Later, Penelope uses her cunning again when she tests Odysseus to make sure it is really him and not some impostor that has returned to Ithaca.

Athene

Athene, also known as Athena or Pallas Athene, is the ancient Greek goddess of war and wisdom. She loves Odysseus because she sees in him a kindred spirit who possesses both courage and intelligence. Athene helps Odysseus at critical moments in his journey, convincing the gods to let him leave Calypso’s island, sending Telemachus to search for him, and warning him about the suitors when he reaches Ithaca. Athene’s power to help Odysseus is not unlimited, however. As Athene herself explains to Odysseus, she was powerless to help him openly or bring him home sooner because of the anger of her uncle Poseidon, whom Odysseus had angered. While Athene refuse to cross Poseidon, she truly cares for Odysseus and watches over him until he completes his homecoming. At the end of the story it is Athene who establishes peace between Odysseus and the relatives of the suitors, bringing the narrative to a close.

Calypso

Calypso is a nymph who lives on a remote island. After Odysseus is shipwrecked he washes ashore on Calypso’s island and stays with the nymph for seven years. Calypso cares deeply for Odysseus and does not want him to leave, attempting to convince him to stay with her forever and to forget his homecoming. Calypso does, however, agree to release Odysseus when the gods command her to do so, respecting the divine hierarchy. Though she would not have let Odysseus go of her own accord, she provides him with everything he needs when she has no other choice, reasoning that “since [she] must do this at the bidding of the gods whether [she] wills or no, [she] will do it in kindness and with [her] whole heart” (57).

Alcinous and Arete

Alcinous and Arete are the king and queen of Phaecia. When their daughter Nausicaa finds Odysseus on the beach, they treat him with the utmost kindness, acting as ideal hosts. They not only feed and clothe Odysseus but entertain him, give him a place to sleep, and even lavish him with gifts before sending him home. They offer to marry Odysseus to their daughter Nausicaa, tempting him to forget his homecoming as Calypso did and embrace an easier life—a temptation that the heroic Odysseus must once again decline, preferring hardship to ease if it results in his return home.

Circe

Circe, the “enchantress,” is a witch who lives on a remote island. She has the ability to turn human beings into animals, and turns several of Odysseus’s men into pigs before Odysseus forces her to restore them to their previous forms. Circe, divine herself, exists within the divine hierarchy and thus respects the power of the higher gods. She gives hospitality to Odysseus when she realizes that he has received help from Hermes. Circe shows that she can be as generous as she is treacherous, and she entertains Odysseus and his men for a year before they are ready to resume their voyage.

The Cyclops (Polyphemus)

Polyphemus is a gigantic, one-eyed creature (a Cyclops) who lives with the other Cyclops on a remote island. He is the son of Poseidon, the god of the sea. Polyphemus is a savage, uncivilized, and cruel creature. He scoffs at Odysseus’s request for hospitality and boasts that he does not worship any god except his father, Poseidon, since he believes himself stronger than all of them. He lives entirely by animal husbandry, and there is no indication that he knows anything about agriculture, which the novel posits as further indication of his uncivilized nature. For all his bluster, the Cyclops is outsmarted by Odysseus, who blinds him and escapes from his cave with several of his beloved sheep.

Eurycleia

Eurycleia is an elderly female enslaved person in Odysseus’s household in Ithaca. She nursed Odysseus when he was a boy and, like Eumaeus and Philoetius, remains loyal to Odysseus during his long absence. Eurycleia supports Odysseus in his plot against the suitors and keeps his identity secret even from Penelope. It is also clear that Eurycleia loves Odysseus very dearly, as she is one of only two figures who recognize Odysseus in Ithaca despite his disguise (the other figure who recognizes Odysseus is his old dog, Argus) while everybody else, including Telemachus and Eumaeus, only know Odysseus when he reveals his identity to them.

Eumaeus and Philoetius

Eumaeus and Philoetius are two of the loyal enslaved people who help Odysseus deal with the suitors. Eumaeus is Odysseus’s swineherd, while Philoetius is his cowherd. Odysseus’s goatherd Melanthius, in contrast to Eumaeus and Philoetius, supports the suitors, and as punishment he is killed along with them. In addition to being loyal, Eumaeus and Philoetius are brave, helping Odysseus fight against the suitors despite the heavy odds.

The Suitors

The suitors of Penelope are the last threat Odysseus must face before he can complete his homecoming. The suitors represent the dangerous elements that undermine a civilization from within, rejecting law, piety, and all customary rules of respect and hospitality. A few of the suitors, especially Antinous and Eurymachus, demonstrate especially egregious behavior, mistreating Odysseus while he is disguised as a beggar and even trying to murder Telemachus, which turns Odysseus’s killing of the suitors into an act of justice.

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