<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Andre,</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">The questions didn't come thru in English!!</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><br>
Frank Renzler<br>
Executive Vice President <br>
Global Services<br>
Structure Tone, Inc.<br>
770 Broadway, 9th Floor<br>
New York, NY 10003<br>
212-251-9310 Office<br>
212-991-0105 Fax</font>
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<br><font size=1 face="sans-serif"><b>"Andre Stipanovic" <astipanovic@mail.hockaday.org></b>
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<br><font size=1 face="sans-serif">Sent by: homer2009-1-bounces@readingodyssey.org</font>
<p><font size=1 face="sans-serif">11/09/2009 12:51 PM</font>
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<div align=center><font size=1 face="sans-serif">Please respond to<br>
homer2009-1@readingodyssey.org</font></div></table>
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<div align=right><font size=1 face="sans-serif">To</font></div>
<td><font size=1 face="sans-serif">homer2009-1@readingodyssey.org</font>
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<div align=right><font size=1 face="sans-serif">cc</font></div>
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<div align=right><font size=1 face="sans-serif">Subject</font></div>
<td><font size=1 face="sans-serif">[Homer2009-1] Odyssey Discussion Questions</font></table>
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<br><font size=3 face="Arial">Hi fellow readers of Homer,</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Arial">Please let these study guide questions for
Books 17-24 help you reflect on your reading. You may want to wait
to read over these until you finish the book if you don't like finding
out about the ending too soon. </font>
<br><font size=3 face="Arial">We will conclude our discussion of the Odyssey
on Monday December 7 (1-888-350-0075; passcode: 1100494#) @8pm EST.
In the meantime, please feel free to send out your questions to me
and to the group so we can keep the discussion going. I have enjoyed
our discussions so far and your questions!</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Arial">Also, please note that Stanley Lombardo will
be live on Monday December 14, reading from his translation of the Odyssey.
This is an excellent opportunity to HEAR the epic (the Greek word
"epos" means the uttered word) from a master translator and reciter.
Sign up online at Reading Odyssey.</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Arial">Best,</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Arial">Andre</font>
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<br><font size=3 face="Gautami">Study Guide Questions - Discussion
#3</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Gautami">Books 17-24 Revenge</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Gautami">17-20 Odysseus and Telemachus return to
the palace in imminent danger</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Gautami">1. Book 17 - Omens</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Gautami">As Odysseus first sets eyes on his own
palace after 20 years, what are the ways that he is tested by Athena? How
much restraint is Odysseus forced to show? Why? How do the
two omens in Book 17 work with respect to each other (i.e. Theoclymenus’
prophecy and Telemachus’ sneeze)?</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Gautami">2. Book 18 - King of the Beggars</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Gautami">What does the fight between Irus and Odysseus
symbolize/foretell? Book 18 can be said to be important for Amphinomus,
one of the suitors. What part does he play in the rivalry between
Odysseus and the rest of the suitors? Why is his part necessary to
the story? Penelope’s timed appearance is significant here. How
does it heighten the mounting tension of the story? How does Eurymachus’
quarrel with Odysseus at the end of Book 18 balance that of Odysseus’
fight with Irus at the beginning?</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Gautami">3. Book 19 - Tease</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Gautami">The reunion of Odysseus and Penelope is
somewhat of a tease. How is Odysseus able to hold back his feelings?
Is he testing Penelope? If so, why should he? Why is
Penelope so steadfast against believing that Odysseus will come back?</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Gautami">4. Book 20 - Gods and Prophecies</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Gautami">For all of Odysseus’ cleverness and fortitude,
he still requires encouragement to stick with his disguise until it is
time for him to reveal himself. At what two points do the gods respond
to him? How manifest are these divine responses to the situation
at hand? What is Odysseus’ main concern in Book 20? What is
Penelope’s? How do these two differ, yet overlap?</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Gautami">21-24 The contest of the bow and ultimate
revenge on the suitors</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Gautami">5. Book 21 - Contest of the Bow</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Gautami">With Athena prompting Penelope to announce
the contest of the bow, the revenge on the suitors is set into motion.
How much of this plan is Odysseus in control of? What is Penelope’s
role in this overall plan? What is Telemachus’ role in the plan?
Could the plan come together without Eumaeus’ or Philoetus’ help?
According to the text of Book 21, in what parts does Athena actively
instigate events?</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Gautami">6. Book 22 - Anger Unleashed</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Gautami">Although Odysseus’ anger is justified,
shouldn’t he have taken Eurymachus’ offer for compensation after Antinous
was killed? Wouldn’t that have made sense in light of the family
feuds and revenge killings that are sure to follow? Why does Athena
let Odysseus struggle in combat with the suitors for as long as she does?
Why does she show the “aegis” when she does, thereby making the
suitors flee (p. 345), but not sooner? In the midst of the killing,
Leodes the soothsayer begs for mercy. Leodes was the first to try
the bow on p. 326 and foresaw this calamity, but Odysseus still kills him
anyway. Why? Phemius the bard also begs for mercy, but he and
Medon the herald are spared. Why? Are the punishments of the
serving women and Melanthius just or too harsh?</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Gautami">7. Book 23 - Aftermath of Slaughter</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Gautami">Ironically, Penelope wakes up from a “sweet
sleep” (line 17, p. 353). Why is she now, all of a sudden, blessed
with a “sweet sleep”? Why does Penelope continue to hold back from
believing that Odysseus has returned? If Odysseus himself hadn’t
killed the suitors, as she says, then who does she believe has killed them?
Why would this be frightening to her rather than happy? How
is Penelope finally convinced that this stranger is her husband? Penelope
finally recognizes Odysseus as her long-lost husband and Homer uses a simile
to describe the moment (p. 360). What does the simile show about
the relationship between Penelope and Odysseus?</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Gautami">8. Book 24 - Shades and Judgment</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Gautami">Book 24 opens by recalling some of the
shades in Hades we met in Book 11. Some commentators say that Agamemnon’s
and Achilles’ conversation is out of place here. Is it or is it
not? Why does Odysseus continue to put on a false front with his
father, even after the suitors have been killed? Eupeithes, Antinous’
father rouses up the Ithacans against Odysseus. What sort of threat
is posed to Odysseus and his family? Zeus makes an irrevocable judgment
of the situation on Ithaca. How does Athena respond to what Zeus
says? Why must Zeus throw a thunderbolt? What does the situation
on Ithaca show about the Greeks in general? about the Greeks at Troy?</font><tt><font size=2>_______________________________________________<br>
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