An Analysis of the Odyssey Books

Book 6: After Odysseus washes ashore on the Phaecaian island of Scheria, he sleeps concealed beneath leaves that Athene provided for him. The next morning, Athene goes to Nausicaa, the daughter of the king of the Phaecaians, a man named Alcinous. Nausicaa and her maidens are led to Odysseus. They transport him to the king’s palace. Of course, Nausicaa, like all the other females whom Odysseus encounters, has a soft heart for him.
Book 7: Odysseus is brought into the palace and has a long conversation with Alcinous and his wife Arete. Still Odysseus does not reveal who he is.
Book 8: There is great feasting in the palace and Odysseus is the guest of honor. A bard sings of the sad tale of Odysseus’s failed return to Ithaca. Still, Odysseus does not reveal who he is. A series of games are organized. Of course, Odysseus maintains his honor in the games.
Book 9: Finally, Odysseus tells who he is and relates his adventures since he and his full contingent of ships and men left Troy. Books 9-12 represent the heart of the epic journey. They reveal a great deal about Odysseus as a man who is flawed. The island of the Cicones sets the stage for the fact that he loses men every time his soldiers disagree with him. From this episode, he will eventually lose all of his ships and all of his men. How? Such is the story of these chapters which begin with his graphic encounter with the Cyclopes. Once again, Odysseus disagrees with his men, who advise him wisely to leave the Cyclopes well enough alone. Children have been told this story for thousands of years. They remember the story of the Cyclopes and the escape underneath the sheep, but most do not catch the hubris, the near-tragic flaw that generates Polyphemus’s prayer to Poseidon, which proves eerily prophetic.
We should not overlook the significance of the Lotus Eaters and their island of mindless bliss. In this story, could it be that one of the societal flaws that still haunt humans has been around for three thousand years? Enjoy Tennyson’s poem. Consider the current drug scene both in the ghettoes and in the suburbs. Think hard about what the author of the epic and of the poem are saying thematically.