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Analysis Of The Book ' The Odyssey '

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The Adventure The Odyssey is one of many great stories passed down through time. The story is written in dactylic hextameter, opening up in the middle of all the action. Experts believe that it dates back to around 700 BC; placing the story about ten years after the Trojan War. The story is about Odysseus, King of Ithica, and his journey to get back to the land of Ithica. Throughout the story there are several themes including: power of the gods, hospitality, and the maturation of Telemachus from boy to man. Homer opens up the Odyssey by asking the muses for their guidance in telling his story. Odysseus has been gone for twenty years at the beginning of the story. He spent the first ten fighting in the Trojan war and he has spent the …show more content…

With Athena and Leucothea looking over Odysseus and safely makes it ashore. The next several books in the epic tell the story of how Odysseus makes his way home.
Odysseus receives some helpful advise from Hermes, messenger of the gods, that he must eat moly in oder to defeat Circe. Hermes’ advice worked and Odysseus deafeated Circe. Circe advises Odysseus to talk to Tiresias, but in order to do sohe muct sail to the Land of the Dead. Tiresias advises Odysseus to make sacrifices to Poseidon if he wanted to die in peace. He also told him not to harm the cattle of the Helios, the sun god, or his crew will die. Odysseus’ crew urges him to make a stop on the island of Thrinacia where they are stranded for month and quickly run out of supplies. The crew revolt against Odysseus’ wishes in not harming the cattle. The men even sacrifice some of the cattle which the gods are not happy about. Zeus, unhappy with Odysseus’ inability to follow orders, sends a storm so bad it kills everyone except Odysseus. Ten days after the storm, Odysseus ended up at Calypso Island where he was held prisoner for seven years. Meanwhile, the suitors in Ithica are devising a plan to assassinate Telemachus. Amphinomus calms everyones nerves and convinces everyone to wait till tomorrow to see if the gods had an opinion on the matter. The gods played a key role through the journey and before Odysseus battle, Zeus

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