Goddess Intervenes In The Odyssey

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Book One: A Goddess Intervenes
The invocation to the Muse at the beginning of the book gives us important insight on what happened to Odysseus prior to the beginning of the book and how he “weathered many bitter nights and days in his deep heart at sea, while he fought only to save his life, to bring his shipmates home.” Here the audience learns that Odysseus’ motivations are purely to return home to his kingdom and family. Soon after the audience finds that his shipmates do not share the same values and that “their own recklessness destroyed them all” (line 11, page one). His shipmates feasted on the cattle of Lord Helios, who is the Sun, and Helios “took from their eyes the dawn of their return” (line 15 page one), which means that Helios either killed the men or cursed them …show more content…
When Athena first inquires about Odysseus being his father he replies “Mother says I am his son; I know not surely. Who has known his own endangering. I wish at least I had some happy man as a father, growing old in my own house-” (page 8), which basically says that Telemachus has never known his father and he wishes he had a father who had stuck around and was a presence in his life. Telemachus resents the suitors. On page 9, he says “they use our house as if it were a house to plunder. Spurn them she dare not, though she hates that marriage, nor can she bring herself to choose among them. Meanwhile they eat their way through all we have, and when they will, they can demolish me.” There he describes the injustices the suitors are doing to him and his mother, which I can infer from that he resents the suitors for. He also may feel some fear towards them as he tells how they can “demolish” him. Telemachus loves his mother, but feels responsibility over her. When Penelope weeps over Odysseus, he tells her that Odysseus was not the only one who died in battle and asserts some dominance over her which shows his

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