For Tuesday: Homer, The Odyssey, Books 11, 12 & 13

We're going to read a few more books of The Odyssey this week, before taking our next Reading Exam the following Tuesday. Then you'll have Fall Break to look forward to, and can forget, briefly, all about the world of Odysseus and his epic quest. ALSO, I'll be giving you your FIRST PAPER ASSIGNMENT soon! It won't be due until after break, but I want you to have it next week so you can start thinking about it (or heck, you can even write it over the break! What else would you have to do??) 

Answer two of the following:

Q1: Eurylochus is one of the few members of Odysseus’ crew given a name, and he consistent pops up in several of the books. What role does he play in the poem, especially considering Odysseus is telling this story himself? Why does he give Eurylochus such a prominent position?

Q2: When Athena encounters Odysseus in Ithaca (Book 13), he assumes a fake identity and tells a ridiculous story of killing someone and having to steal off to Ithaca to avoid revenge. Athena listens to this and responds, "You wily bastard,/You cunning, elusive, habitual liar!/Even in your own land you weren’t about/To give up the stories and sly deceits/That are so much a part of you” (136). Is Athena praising or critiquing him here? Would you consider his disguise an act of humor, or hubris? 

Q3: In Book 11, Odysseus meets several of his dead comrades in Hades, notably people like Achilles and Agamemnon (the heroes of The Iliad). What do you feel is most significant about these interactions? What lesson to the dead have to teach him?

Q4: Over and over again, Odysseus blames the problems of his crew on the gods: “I knew then that some god had it in for us” (123). Yet remember that Zeus says in Book 1 that “Mortals! They are always blaming the gods/For their troubles, when their own witlessness/Cause them more than they were destined for!” (2). Based on Odysseus’ story in Books 9-12, who was the cause of the crews’ greatest suffering: the gods, or the men themselves? Or is Odysseus, himself, the root cause of all their suffering?