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How Does Telemachus Build Suspense In The Odyssey

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Beginning in medias res, The Odyssey succeeds the events of The Iliad. Prior to Telemachus’s introduction, Homer develops tension by telling of Odysseus’s tribulations—held captive by the “great nymph Kalypso”(14) and torment by Poseidon, who was ceaseless in his anger”(20) for blinding his son, the “Cyclops”(70) “Polyphemos (70)” of returning to his beloved “home and wife”(14) revealed by the goddess Athene in her parley with her father, Zeus. In turn, the succession of Telemachus’s narrative discerns the chaos which has befallen Ithaca. As Odysseys’s character and narrative is introduced only in Book 5, the suspense builds on the existing complex poltline, and holds the fleeting attention of the reader. Odysseus’ lack of presence on Ithaka

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