Odyssey books 3-5
By: Gavin, Brady, and Burke
Odyssey Books 3-5 Summary and Analysis
At the beginning of book three Telemachus the son of Odysseus travels to Pylos to meet with great elder Nester. There he is treated with royalty and is informed on some knowledge about his father Odysseus. Then, after traveling to Pylos, Telemachus travels to Sparta to get information from Menelaus and Helen. In Sparta Telemachus get information that Odysseus is on Ogygia with Calypso and the he is still alive. Telemachus then travels home where he is not expecting what is going to happen! Meanwhile Odysseus is being seduced by the beautiful Calypso. She will not let him go but Zeus send down Hermes to set Odysseus free. He build a raft and takes off on his long journey.
Important Characters from books 3-5
Nestor- Nestor is the kind of Pylos and he was a former soldier in the Trojan War. Nestor is a very clever and well spoken man. In book 3, Telemachus visits him to ask about his father, but nestor does not know where he is located.
Helen- Helen is the wife of Menelaus and the queen of Sparta. Helen is the most beautiful women in the world. She offers Telemachus help to try and find his father.
Calypso- Calypso is the beautiful nymph who falls in love with Odysseus after he lands on her island. Calypso hold him there for 7 years until they persuaded her to let him go.
Menelaus- Menelaus is the King of sparta, brother of Agamemnon, and husband of Helen. He helped lead the greeks in the Trojan War. He offers to help Telemachus in his journey to find Odysseus.
Quotes
Nestor- “The will of the everlasting gods is not turned suddenly.”
This is meaning in the context that a gods mind can be changed with enough bribery.
Menelaus- “no one of the Achaeans labored as much as Odysseus labored and achieved, and for him the end was grief for him, and for me a sorrow that is never forgotten for his sake, how he is gone so long, and we know nothing of whether he is alive or dead.”
This is meaning that he relies on his fate so that he is comfortable. He also is able to resign himself to accept that he is suffering.
Ino- “Poor man, why is Poseidon the shaker of the earth so bitterly cankered against you, to give you such a harvest of evils? And yet he will not do away with you, for all his anger. But do as I say, since you seem to me not lacking in good sense. Take off these clothes, and leave the raft to drift at the winds’ will, and then strike out and swim with your hands and make for a landfall on the Phaiakian country, where your escape is destined.”
Odysseus’s fate is common knowledge among all gods.Theme of books 3-5
Theme: We think that the theme of these books is hospitality because whenever Telemachus is traveling around whenever he ends up somewhere he is getting treated like royalty and get so much hospitality because it is important to treat your guests. Even when Odysseus is getting held by Calypso he is treated to good food and as bad as this sound herself too.