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Eidothea
- Sea goddess. Daughter of Proteus (although she, like Telemachus in book 1, isn't entirely sure of this).
- Aids Menelaus in his journey home by betraying her father Proteus, the shape shifter, by telling Menelaus to hold onto him while he shape shifts
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Helen
- Telemachus visits her in Sparta in the Telemachy. Known for her wiles as well as her beauty
- She is able to have Menelaus tell the story of his nostos and the Trojan war after drugging them in order to have them feel care free of their sorrows
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Menelaus
Odyssey book 4. Brother of Agamemnon, husband of Helen. Telemachus visits him in book 4 of the Odyssey and Menelaus tells him about his nostos via Egypt.
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Metrodoros
- "Greeks on Myth". Allegorist from the 5th c. BCE
- Believed that the gods in Homer represented different parts of the human body and that the heroes represented different elements of the universe (sun, moon, etc.).
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Nestor
- Odyssey book 3. Oldest of the Greek heroes who fought at Troy. Telemachus visits him in Pylos in Od. 3
- Ex of Good Xenia as Telemachus is welcomed and recieves gifts and food
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Penelope
- Wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus. She is under increasing pressure to marry one of the suitors.
- Suitors are an example of bad Xenia as they come unwelcomed and take all their food and get drunk
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Proteus
Odyssey 4; Old man of the Sea who can change into many shapes at will. Father of Eidothea
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Theagenes (Physical Allegorists)
- Presocratic physical allegorist from late 6th c. BCE. He believed that we should think of the gods in Homer as elements such as fire, water, air.
- poseiden: sea
- Apollo: fire
- Hera: air
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Calypso
- Goddess who inhabits island of Ogygia and who detains Odysseus there for a number of years... 8 years on an island of Paradise
- Good Xenia?
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Nausicaa
- Odyssey book 6. Phaeacian princess
- who is told in a dream by Athena to wash her clothes at the river in preparation for marriage. There she meets Odysseus and guides him through the city
- Helps him get fed
- Good Xenia
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Phaeacians
- Odyssey books 6-13. Somewhat fantastic and otherworldy race of people who are nevertheless human. They entertain Odysseus and escort him back to Ithaca.
- Strained Xenia
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Schliemann
- Heinrich Schliemann was a late 19th century amateur archaoeologist who excavated at Troy and Mycenae, using Homer as his guide
- they were able to figure out the time of the Trojan war was during the late Bronz age
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xenia
Odyssey. Ancient Greek practice of guest-friendship.
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allegory
- An ancient myth theory used by the
- Presocratics (eg. Theagenes, Metrodorus) and the Stoics, among others, to rationalize and interpret the hidden meaning behind myth.
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Demodocus
Blind bard among the Phaeacians on Scheria. Sings at the feast set up to honor the stranger Odysseus. See further Song of Ares and Aphrodite.
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Song of Ares & Aphrodite:
- he adulterous affair between Ares and Aphrodite, and their capture by Aphrodite's husband Hephaestus, is told by Demodocus in book 8 of the Odyssey. Some ancient Greeks tried to rationalize this story though
- allegory...
- Also potentially parallels Odyssesus relationship at home with his wife and a suitor
- Motif: women are decietful
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Hephaestus
- Iliad; Theogony; Works and Days;
- Odyssey; Lame smith god of the Olympians, makes the Olympians laugh at the end of Iliad I. Captures Ares and Aprhodite in bed together.
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Poseidon
- Odyssey; God of the sea, brother of Zeus and Hades. Develops a hatred of Odysseus and Athena during his nostos.
- Hatred of Athena for winning the city of Athens
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Stoics
Philosophers from the Hellenistic and Roman periods who continued the tradition of allegorizing Greek myth, especially through etymology (the meaning of words, or in this case, mostly the names of gods).
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Aeolus
- Odyssey bk. 10. King who lives on
- floating island with his 6 daughter and 6 sons. Gives Odysseus a bag of winds to aid him in his passage home.
- Good Xenia
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Circe
- Odyssey book 10. Immortal wittch-like daughter of Helios. Lives on an island visited by Odysseus and turns some of his men into pigs with a potion. She then sleeps with Odysseus and he lives with her for a year.
- Hermes gives him molly to protect him from becoming a pig
- Bad Xenia
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Folktale:
Folktales are stories found the world over containing common basic motifs, such as the folktale of Cinderella. We see lots of folktale motifs occurring in the Odyssey
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Laestrygonians
- Odyssey book 10. Fantastic giant people who spear Odysseus' men like fish when they pull into their harbor
- Bad Xenia
- You are what you eat Raw(nature) uncivilized
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Lotus Eaters:
- Group of people who feed Odysseus' crew the lotus, which causes them to forget their homeland
- Forget their Nostos
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Polyphemus
- Odyssey bk 9. Cyclops, son of Poseidon, who traps Odysseus in his cave and eats several of his men. Curses Odysseus when he finds out his name.
- Bad Xenia
- no plowed fields, similar to golden age: food comes out of ground, not much work required
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Cattle of the Sun:
- Odyssey 12. Immortal cattle of Helios whom Tiresias warns Odysseus not to eat, on any account. His men fall victim to their hunger and eat the cattle. The gods punish Odysseus' crew with a storm, killing all of them
- (except Odysseus) at sea
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Elpenor
- Od 10-12. Member of Odysseus' crew
- who falls from the roof of Circe's house at the end of book 10, whom Odysseus meets in the underworld, and whom he buries on Aeaea at the
- beginning of book 12.
- PRoper Burial
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Scylla and Charybdis:
- Odyssey 12. monsters whom Odysseus and
- his crew must pass by (and Odysseus must pass again after losing his crew). Scylla lives high up in a cliff on a rock face and eats several members of Odysseus' crew; Charybdis is a whirlpool who sucks everything down into herself and eventually spits it all back out.
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Sirens
Odyssey 12. Figures who sing alluringly to Odysseus and try to tempt him to pull in and listen to his song. Circe warns Odysseus that no-one who pulls in to the island ever leaves, which is why he fills his crews' ears with wax and has himself bound to the mast.
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