1. Chapter Twenty-One Lecture One
The Return of Odysseus

2. The Return of Odysseus More folktale patterns than the Iliad
Ends happily, hence it was compared with comedy, not tragedy (as was the Iliad)

3. An Overview of Odysseus's Life
Not in the text, but perhaps useful to set the context

4. Overview of Odysseus's Life
The Odyssey begins in the 20th year after the beginning of the war
The first half of the epic is embedded memories; songs within songs
The great adventures of the Odyssey are memories

5. Overview of Odysseus's Life
Laertes, king of Ithaca and son of Autolycus, marries Anticleia
Their household slave is Eurycleia
Son, Odysseus
Odysseus has a dog, Argus and a special hunting bow

6. Overview of Odysseus's Life
Odysseus marries Penelope, daughter of the Spartan King Icarius
Builds a bed build around a tree
Odysseus joins the expedition after their son Telemachus is born
His advice to Penelope: “If I don’t return, remarry when Telemachus comes of age.”

7. Overview of Odysseus's Life
After the war, for years, he is blown around the Mediterranean
Cicones, Lotus-Eaters, Cyclops Polyphemus, Aeolus, Laestrygonians, Circe
The underworld
Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, the cattle of the Sun, Ogygia and Calypso

8. Overview of Odysseus's Life
In the 17th year of his absence, 108 suitors begin coming to Odysseus’s palace
The Odyssey begins in the 20th year
The gods decide it is time for Odysseus to go home

9. Outline of the Odyssey
Begins when the gods decide Odysseus should return and when events in Ithaca have reached a crisis point.

10. Books 1–4 “Telemacheia”
Stirred by Athena, Telemachus fails to rally the men of Ithaca against the suitors
Then, accompanied by Athena disguised as Mentor, he goes to find news of his father
Nestor in Pylos; Menelaus in Sparta
The suitors learn he is away and plan an ambush when he returns

11. Outline of the Odyssey
Book 5: Calypso releases Odysseus, but he is nearly killed by Poseidon
Books 6–7: Odysseus lands on Scherie, the island of the Phaeacians
saved by Nausicaa, the daughter of the king, and taken to the palace
Books 8–12: Odysseus finally says who he is, and relates the tales of his adventures at Troy

12. Outline of the Odyssey
Books 13–21: Odysseus arrives in Ithaca, but disguises himself as a beggar, undergoing various forms of abuse at the hands of the suitors and others
Books 21–2: the contest and the slaughter of the suitors

13. Outline of the Odyssey
Book 23–4: Odysseus proves to Penelope that he is Odysseus, ghosts of the suitors in the underworld; battle between Odysseus and his allies and the relatives of the suitors; Zeus and Athena intervene; Odysseus makes a symbolic end to his travels.

14. End