The Odyssey

Homer

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Important Quotations Explained

1. Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy.
Many cities of men he saw and learned their minds,
many pains he suffered, heartsick on the open sea,
fighting to save his life and bring his comrades home.
But he could not save them from disaster, hard as he strove—
the recklessness of their own ways destroyed them all,
the blind fools, they devoured the cattle of the Sun
and the Sungod blotted out the day of their return.
Launch out on his story, Muse, daughter of Zeus,
start from where you will—sing for our time too.


2. So then,
royal son of Laertes, Odysseus, man of exploits,
still eager to leave at once and hurry back
to your own home, your beloved native land?
Good luck to you, even so. Farewell!
But if you only knew, down deep, what pains
are fated to fill your cup before you reach that shore,
you’d stay right here, preside in our house with me
and be immortal. Much as you long to see your wife,
the one you pine for all your days . . .


3. “But you, Achilles,
there’s not a man in the world more blest than you—
there never has been, never will be one.
Time was, when you were alive, we Argives
honored you as a god, and now down here, I see,
you lord it over the dead in all your power.
So grieve no more at dying, great Achilles.”

I reassured the ghost, but he broke out, protesting,
“No winning words about death to me, shining Odysseus!
By god, I’d rather slave on earth for another man—
some dirt-poor tenant farmer who scrapes to keep alive—
than rule down here over all the breathless dead.”


4. Of all that breathes and crawls across the earth,
our mother earth breeds nothing feebler than a man.
So long as the gods grant him power, spring in his knees,
he thinks he will never suffer affliction down the years.
But then, when the happy gods bring on the long hard times,
bear them he must, against his will, and steel his heart.
Our lives, our mood and mind as we pass across the earth,
turn as the days turn . . .


5. Just as I
have come from afar, creating pain for many—
men and women across the good green earth—
so let his name be Odysseus . . .
the Son of Pain, a name he’ll earn in full.


The Odyssey

by jakobm33, September 26, 2012

Telemachus gathers info on his father return, and future. In the meantime suitors are trying to steal Penelope and gain power of Odysseus kingdom.

79 out of 164 people found this helpful

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Chapter 9

by EricaCho, November 16, 2012

After Odysseus pokes Polyphemus' (the cyclops) eye out, they escape. The sheep are incredibly large, & Polyphemus trys to feel for Odysseus on top of the sheep, because he is blind & cannot see. But, Odysseus & his crew hide underneath the sheep to avoid this. This is an example of Odysseus being clever. Him being clever is the main reason Athena takes a liking to him.

92 out of 125 people found this helpful

1

Another symbol

by rbasswood92, January 29, 2013

Another symbol could be the scar: it represents identity. Not only does it give a mechanism for others to realize that it is Odysseus, but scars make up a person because they represent experience and history.

18 out of 23 people found this helpful

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