Slaughter in the Hall

Book 22: Slaughter in the Hall

Please post a comment here, which should be in the form of a reader response essay (1-2 paragraphs) to any of these books: 21, 22, or 23. Post by Friday, 3/2

Chapter 19: Penelope and Her Guest

In this book, Odysseus spends the evening with his wife, without dropping his disguise. He is recognized by his old nurse, Eurycleia, who keeps his secret. There are some wonderful lines of dialogue in this book. For your blog post, please discuss one of the following:

"Destroy, I call it," says Penelope to the beggar who is really her husband. She is referring to Troy. "Odysseus will return, true as the old moon dies and the new moon rises into life." returns Odysseus

"Up with you now, come and wash your master's...equal in years," says Penelope to Eurycleia. This is what we now would call a Freudian slip, or an unintentional truth spoken in error.

Penelope tells Odysseus of her dream, in which an eagle swoops down and kills her twenty geese, an obvious portent -- one of those dreams that are "fraught with truth, for the dreamer who can see them."

She tells Odysseus also of the contest she will set up, in order to choose a suitor. What is the contest, and why does Odysseus press her to begin the contest right away?

Discuss any one of these moments in the book.

Book 15: The Prince Sets Sail for Home

This book of the Odyssey is a bit of a grab-bag. It serves as a transitional passage, and sometimes seems a bit scattered; we witness Telemachus' journey home, his departure from Menelaus and his avoidance of Nestor at Pylos. Telemachus switches traveling companions (Pisistratus goes home; Theoclymenus arrives, complete with convoluted backstory). We have two bird omens (one read by Helen, the other by Theoclymenus, who is a fugitive, a seer, and Telemachus' new BFF). Finally, Telemachus arrives home. In between, we are treated to Eumaeus' own backstory, which involves a scheming woman, a randy sailor, the abduction of a child (young Eumaeus himself), goblet theft, high-seas adventure, and ultimately, the wrath of Artemis.

There are, however, some important moments in this book. What do you make of Athena's visit with Telemachus? She tells him Penelope might marry Eurymachus. Why does she tell him this? She also tells him to steer around the channel islands to avoid the suitors' ambush, and to visit the swineherd first. Why does she direct him there first? Why does she instruct him to send Eumaeus to Penelope, instead of going home first himself? Also, compare Menelaus' sendoff of Telemachus (p. 321, especially line 80) with the fear that Nestor will detain the young prince too long (p. 325). What do you think of Helen reading the bird omen (p. 324-25)? Is this a new view of the queen? Of women? Lastly, feel free to comment on Telemachus' demeanor in this book. Is he more a man upon his return than he was when he departed? Why or why not?

The Odyssey: Book Fourteen

In the beginning of this book, Odysseus dines with his swineherd, and they have a lengthy conversation. The swineherd, unaware of the fact that the beggar in his home is actually Odysseus, tells a story about his master. How do you think it felt for Odysseus to hear this story? How does the swineherd's story of his old master illustrate Odysseus' character? Do you think we might have been wrong about Odysseus? Also, how do you think it felt for Odysseus to go from riches to rags? And what did you think of the story that Odysseus tells the swineherd of his journey home from Troy? Is there an element of truth to this story? How does the fabricated story reflect what actually happened to Odysseus? Finally, Odysseus and the swineherd talked about beggars peddling lies to get gifts. How is this ironic? Feel free to answer any or all of the questions, or talk about something else.

The Odyssey: Book Thirteen

In book thirteen, Odysseus finally reaches Ithaca after receiving great help from the Phaeacians. However, when Poseidon spots Odysseus in Ithaca, he gets angry. Why did Zeus let Poseidon punish the Phaeacians and not directly Odysseus? When Odysseus reaches Ithaca, he did not recognize it at all because of Athena’s mist. Why do you think Athena did this? Odysseus then starts to blame the Phaeacians for deserting him on an "unknown" island; however, Odysseus just doesn’t recognize his own native land. Do you think it is right that Odysseus blames the Phaeacians for sending him to a “no-man’s-land” when it is really Ithaca? At first, Athena disguises herself as a shepherd, but soon enough reveals herself to Odysseus. Why does Athena decide to reveal her true identity to Odysseus? Why now? Why did Athena continue to help and have faith in Odysseus with his journey, while most of the gods turned against him? Athena then decides to transform Odysseus so that no one will recognize him and he can chase the suitors away. How does she disguise him? Do you think it will be successful? Why or why not? Feel free to answer any of these questions or talk about something different.

The Odyssey: Book Twelve

In this book, Odysseus and his crew face two horrible monsters, Scylla and Charybdis, and are able to overcome these physical obstacles. They instead fall to the temptation of the Sun God’s cattle. What do you think this says on the Greeks’ idea of the strength of man? Do you think Eurylochus was justified in challenging Odysseus and convincing the crew to land on Helios’ island? Eurylochus’ justification for eating the Sun God’s cattle was that he would rather die of the Gods’ wrath than of hunger. Which would you choose, slaughtering the cattle and being ensured a quick death, or waiting it out, with the hope that the winds would die down? When Odysseus and his crew pass the Sirens, he plugs his crews’ ears with wax, but has them tie him to the mast so that he may hear the song. This is an example of controlled temptation, but do you think Odysseus was being hypocritical by letting himself give in to temptation with the Sirens but then expecting his crew to stay vigilant on Helios’ island? Feel free to answer any of the above or talk about something completely different. 

The Odyssey Book Eleven

In book eleven, Odysseus recalls of his visit the land of the dead. I found it interesting how the goat's blood was the calling for the dead. Did you? What was its significance? As well, Odysseus comes across dead Tiresias. He tells Odysseus that he will soon come across the Island of Helios. Tiresias advises Odysseus to not touch the sheep. Judging from past events, what do you think will happen? Also, Odysseus sees his mother in the land of the dead. She tells Odysseus of Penelope and Telemachus and there lives back home and how dearly they miss him. Do you think Odysseus' recollection of this this news will effect his journey home? Along with that, how might his encounter with his depressed and lonely comrades affect his journey?

The Odyssey Book 10

In Book 10 of The Odyssey, we see Odysseus reaches Aeolus' island. He is hosted there for about a month. Once he sets sail again, the men feel they deserve the gold and silver which they think Odysseus has been hiding from them. When the men grab the bag and open it, they come to find the sack is just wind, and blow themselves back to the island. Odysseus makes choices in this book that backfire on him. One of these choices is to withhold the bag of wind from his crewmates. When the crewmates open the bag of wind, the ship is blown back to King Aeolus' island. What are other choices that Odysseus makes in this book? What does this say about his character? Why doesn't Odysseus get mad when he wakes up and finds out about the wind, and forgiving? On the other hand at Circe's island, why do you think Odysseus took a big risk by going back to save his crew mates from Circe? Do you think he did this because he just wanted to get home or cared about his men? What do you think of Circe's character? Do you think other men who have visited her island go through the same type of treatment? Why does the goddess tell Odysseus about The House of Death? Feel free to answer any of these questions.

The Odyssey Book 9

     In book nine, Odysseus recalls his long adventure after the trojan war.  What/who convinced him to tell his story?
     Throughout the trojan war and thus far into the Odyssey, Odysseus has creatively gotten himself out of trouble, and has shown great quick decision making skills, which arguably has kept him alive.  Why did Odysseus devise an intricate plan, instead of simply killing Polyphemus?  What about hanging onto sheep - I mean, who would a thought of that!

At the end of the book, Odysseus calls out his true name to Polyphemus, and Polyphemus calls to Poseidon to revenge him.  Was it a bad idea to call out his real name? Why do you think he did it?   

The Odyssey Book 8

After reading about what a day of contests or festivals was like in the Greek Culture, do you think it reflects in our ways of celebrating? If so, how? When we first see Odysseus in the book, he is crying. Why do you think this song made him so emotional? Alcinous could not stop talking about how lovely Phaeacia was and how Odysseus needed to tell people about it when he finally returned home. Why do you think King Alcinous did this? On page 195, the second paragraph, what do you think of the way action is shown through out this book? Do you like the way Homer tried to pursue it? Also what do you think of Broadsea? Does his name reflect his personality? In the end of the book we see Odysseus crying again. On page 208, the second paragraph, the way Odysseus us presented is very powerful. What do you think lines 588- 596? What do you think they mean? Feel free to answer all or none and go off in a completely different topic that I didn’t touch on if you would like.