Timed Reading — The Iliad and the Odyssey

The epic poem starts with a prayer to the Muse of poetry. It then begins the story in medias res (“in the middle of things”). Odysseus has been gone from Ithaca for about 20 years. He spent the first 10 years fighting the Trojan War, and the last 10 years trying to get home.

Meanwhile, Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, is trying to fend off over 100 suitors who have invaded the royal palace, seeking her hand in marriage. If they marry her, they will become the ruler of Ithaca. The suitors are indulging in great amounts of food and wine at the hosts’ expense. Telemachus, son of Odysseus and Penelope, is just coming of age (he is approximately 21) and is at a loss as to what to do about the suitors. Mother and son yearn for Odysseus’ return.

The first four books deal with Telemachus’ struggle (in fact, Odysseus does not appear in the epic until Book 5). A secondary plot in The Odyssey is Telemachus’ coming of age, his own quest, which scholars sometimes refer to as the “Telemacheia.”

The goddess Athena appears to Telemachus in disguise and advises him to gather an assembly of the island’s leaders to protest the invasion of the suitors. Soon after, she tells him to visit King Nestor of Pylos and King Menelaus of Sparta, old comrades of his father’s, to gather any news of Odysseus.

At the assembly, the two leading suitors — the aggressive Antinous and the smooth-talking Eurymachus — confront the prince. They accuse Penelope of delaying too long in her choice of a new husband. Telemachus speaks well but accomplishes little at the assembly because the suitors are from some of the strongest families in the area and are impatient with Penelope’s delays.

As Telemachus secretly sails to Pylos and Sparta, the suitors plot to assassinate him. At Pylos, Telemachus learns little about his father, but he is encouraged to visit Sparta where King Menelaus reports that Odysseus is alive but held captive by the goddess nymph Calypso.

Progress updated ✓