Summary of The Odysssey Book XI Essay

This book unites characters and events from the past, present, and future to help Odysseus see why he needs to get home quickly. Odysseus's mother is the most important character from the past with whom Odysseus reunites. Odysseus did not know his mother died while he was away and found out while he was looking for Teiresias. Odysseus states, "now came the soul of Antikleia, dead, my mother…seeing this ghost I grieved" (187). She asks him how he came to Hades, a place that is "no sight for living eyes" (190). Odysseus tells her he came to see Teiresias, then asks her about the rest of his family. She tells him Penelope is grieving for him and his son has taken over his kingdom. Odysseus then asks, "what was the bane that pinned you down in Death?" (190). She answers that she died of a broken heart, longing for her son to return. This conversation is a direct link to Odysseus's past.

In the epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, Odysseus goes through many trials while trying to return home from the Trojan War. On his voyage home, he must visit the Land of the Dead, evade the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis and when he does arrive home, participate in a tricky reunion with his wife, Penelope. All of these examples show that Odysseus has extreme determination and perseverance. Perseverance is an excellent quality that few possess which can spark achievement.

During Odysseus’ journey in ‘The Odyssey’, Odysseus runs into a couple problems. He leaves home ready to fight in the Trojan War. Although he had plans on coming home, he never made it home. His wife Penelope and his son Telemachus assumed that Odysseus was dead. It was not until Athena came to Telemachus and gave him everything he needed to make it to his dad. What Telemachus did not know was that Odysseus wanted to come home, but he could not because he was being held prisoner on an island named Ogygia. Odysseus wants nothing more to return home and see his lovely wife Penelope.

Odysseus is the leader of his men and it is his job to return them home safely. They look up to Odysseus and follow him, whether they believe he has made the right or wrong decision. When Odysseus and his men are stuck with the cyclops it is Odysseus that comes up with the plan to save them. Odysseus is smart and is favored by Athena and as such, Athena helps him devise a plan. One time when Odysseus’ men do not seek his advice they make a mistake and it costs them on their journey. “While Odysseus is sleeping the men open the bag, thinking it contains gold and silver. The bad winds thus escape and blow the ships back to Aeolus’ island.” “Book Ten, Page 916.” The quote shows that the men need Odysseus there to help them and that without him Odysseus men make stupid decisions. Because the men opened the bag Aeolus did not help them again, he believed that their voyage was cursed.

This passage is told as a flashback, as Odysseus sits in the palace of the Phaeacians telling the story of his wanderings. Odysseus reluctantly tells his story after King Alcinou notices his weeping during a minstrel, which was about the fall of Troy. So in answer to the King, Odysseus reveals his identity, background and adventures: from Troy, the winds sweep him and his men to Ismarus, city of the Cicones. The men plunder the land and, carried away by greed, refuses to leave until the Cicones turn on them and attack. Odysseus and his crew finally escape, having lost six men per ship.

The Odyssey, written by Homer, is an epic of the great adventures of Odysseus. It tells of the challenging travels form leaving his home to serve in the Trojan War, to his well-deserved return to Ithaca. Odysseus known as “the man of many wiles” endured many challenging tasks as he traveled in search of his once home. Leaving behind his wife Penelope and son Telemachus, he was forced to leave. Around the sixteenth year Odysseus was gone, many believed that their once great leader was left for dead on an unknown country or was never to return to the land of Ithaca once again. Soon the suitors of over a hundred filled the halls of Odysseus’s palace, trying to marry his beautiful wife Penelope. When

Odysseus now goes to the island of Polyphemus, the Cyclops. This is a very important part to the story, as it is here that he finally starts to become a better leader and uses clever tricks on Polyphemus. This starts with several of his crew dying to the blistering mouth of the Cyclops, making Odysseus realize he must act swiftly

The Odyssey is an epic by the ancient Greek poet Homer that tells the story of Odysseus’s journey to get back to his home on Ithaca after the Trojan War. Odysseus’s main goal is to return home with his crew on their ship. Odysseus loses everything after he couldn't control his crew and himself. Odysseus has to face many challenges to get home. In the story, Odysseus was sometimes at the point where it seemed like all hope was lost and nothing was possible.

The Odysseus who leaves Troy changes into a completely different man before he arrives at his home in Ithaca. The hero endures many trials and tribulations induced by the menis of Poseidon, but learns from his mistakes and matures much through his trek. Poseidon serves as a symbol of the supernatural and the threatening. In a way, he is the abusive, but pedagogic father. It is Poseidon who keeps Odysseus in the face of danger, and it is Poseidon who keeps him suffering. Until the seventh year of Calypso, Athena does nothing and observes patiently. She is the gentle and guiding mother. She stops the father from killing the son, but lets the son gain wisdom through his suffering. It is only when the hero gains enough wisdom that she allows

Odysseus returns to the surface and begins his journey once more; despite prior warning, the man still finds himself in peril. Through his divine torment, Odysseus is gradually humbled more and more. “‘You have done a bold thing in going down alive to the house of Hades, and you will have died twice, to other people’s once’” (162-163). Upon exiting Hades, Odysseus returns to Circe once more in order to gain further insight on where his journey will take him now. It is then that Circe remarks upon how Odysseus had entered Hades alive, something other mortal men will never do. By stating this, Circe furthers the idea that Odysseus has emerged from the past; he has been reborn a wiser, more humble man. Unlike Odysseus, his men have not been reborn. Despite Odysseus’ constant warnings of monsters and divine retribution, his crew eats from the sacred cattle of the sun. Odysseus wisely refuses the meat of the cattle, an action in accordance to the wishes of Zeus rather than his own

He takes time out of his journey home to wretch Ismaros, kills its inhabitants, and stay there and party afterward with no threat towards Odysseus and his crew whatsoever. Also, he lands on Polyphemus’ island for no reason, but to cause trouble and because his pride takes control. Odysseus stays with Circe an extra year and wants to stay longer until his men drag him

At one point during his journey he speaks to Circe, a sorcerer goddess. She informs Odysseus to travel down to the underworld, The Land of the Dead, to speak to the blind prophet Tiresias. Once in the underworld Odysseus hears about how Suitors have overran his home and plan to kill his son, Telemachus. Whilst making his way home, Odysseus becomes prisoner on Calypso’s island and stays there for 7 years before Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war intervenes. Before Odysseus is told that he is able to leave he is seen, “[sitting] on the rocky shore and broke his own heart groaning, with eyes wet scanning the bare horizon of the sea” (Homer 84-86).

He was with circe and needed her help getting back home to his wife. “Odysseus and his men beg Circe to help them return home. She responds to their pleas with the command that Odysseus alone descended to the Land of the Dead.” (Homer 11. 775)

The Odyssey is a tale of growth and development. Odysseus was, in a sense, defeated by the power of Circe. However, later in the story, as he continued to grow and change, he was able to be strong when faced with Calypso. He did not forget his goal of getting home as he had previously done.

At this point, a brief summary of the events leading to Odysseus' underworld experience is in order. The hero and his crew make landfall on an island ruled by the Sorceress, Circe. According to several traditions, she is daughter to Helios, the sun god. When encountered by an advance party commanded by Eurylokhos, Circe transforms all the men into pigs by means of a powerful drug insinuated into food and drink. Eurylokhos escapes this fate and is able to warn Odysseus. Hermes then descends to instruct Odysseus in how to overcome the witch. It is curious that, instead of displaying his power to nullify Circe's magic, Hermes arms Odysseus with a sprig of a plant called moly. Evidently, the aura of herbalism was such that only more herbalism could compete. Having rendered the sorceress helpless, Odysseus is persuaded by her to remain on the island for a full year. At year's end, Circe advises the hero to journey to Hades in order that he may learn from the shade of the blind prophet, Tiresias, how a