Odyessy Essay Research Paper Book 56Scroll V

Odyessy Essay, Research Paper

Book 5-6

Scroll V returns to Olympus, where the gods debate Odysseus’ fate. We again see them decide that it is time for him to get home and send Hermes to tell Calypso to let him go. Hermes goes to the beautiful island on which Calypso lives, and tells her of the gods’ demands. Calypso reluctantly agrees, but only because it is Zeus’ command; she is clearly very unhappy about it. She tells Odysseus that she is going to help him get off the island on a raft and send him home. He is at first suspicious of her and makes her promise that she means him no harm, which she does. They then start their preparations for his departure, which mostly consist of Odysseus building a fine raft from tools that Calypso provides. Then, with gifts and favorable winds from Calypso, Odysseus sets on his way.

Things go very well at first, but then Poseidon returns and sees that Odysseus is once again on his way home. He is too angry with Odysseus to let him get home yet, so he calls up a great storm that wrecks Odysseus’ raft and threatens to drown him. However, a sea nymph named Ino sees Odysseus barely clinging on to his battered raft and gives him a magical veil that she says will keep him from any harm if he wears it. She also instructs him to swim for the distant shore of Phaeacia. Odysseus is suspicious of her, since he feels the gods have not been entirely charitable with him of late, and so he decides to wait until his raft is totally wrecked; only then will he swim for it. The raft soon breaks and he is forced to swim. He survives the storm only with Athena’s help, eventually reaching Phaeacia.

However, the coast of Phaeacia is rocky and the waves make Odysseus’ attempt to get onto the island potentially deadly. After one painful attempt to land on the shore, which he survives again only with the help of Athena, Odysseus swims along the shore until he finds a river. He then swims up the river a ways and comes out of the water. He collapses in the brush, hiding himself and then falling into a deep sleep. (Scroll V ends here.)

Athena then goes to Nausicaa, the daughter of Alkinoos, the king of Phaeacia, and sends her a dream instructing her to wash her clothes in preparation for her marriage. Nausicaa takes the dream seriously, gathers a large wagon of clothes the next day, and goes to the river with a group of women. The women wake up Odysseus, and he scares all out them except Nausicaa, whom Athena makes brave. Odysseus then speaks so eloquently that the girls lose all fear and lend him oils and clothes so that he may tidy himself. Athena takes the time to make sure that his appearance is stunning enough that the girls will want to help him. Nausicaa, very taken, invites Odysseus back to the city. She instructs him to wait outside the city until they have all gone in, and then go in and ask to be shown to the house of King Alkinoos, which anyone will know. She also tells him to talk to her mother, rather than her father. The reason he cannot go in with them is that Nausicaa thinks people will spread unkind rumors about about her if she shows up with this random, handsome stranger. The girls head back into the city and Odysseus hides outside, waiting for his chance to enter.

Commentary

At long last, Odysseus himself enters the narrative. We have heard stories about him and we have heard worries about him; only now do we get our first direct encounter with the man after whom the epic is named. In this introduction, all of the traits that we have heard discussed–his wisdom, circumspection, blessedness, and resourcefulness–are evident. As we would expect, his cunning is also evident. Whenever faced with a new trial, Odysseus clearly thinks through all the options; Homer makes us privy to these thoughts in order to underscore this part of Odysseus’ character. When Calypso offers him freedom, he reacts with understandable caution. When Ino offers her veil, he reacts similarly. He reasons with himself about how to deal with the rocky shores of Phaeacia, and later, when he wakes up, he instantly takes stock of his situation, wondering what sort of country he is in. The genius of Odysseus lies in this wisdom–the intelligence to immediately assess any situation, the wisdom to choose the best course, and the strength and resourcefulness to act on his realizations.

Another major part of Odysseus’ success is Athena’s aid. She follows him around throughout this section, aiding him whenever he is in danger or could use some help–even the poplar grove in which Nausicaa instructs him to hide (Scroll VI) was planted in honor of Athena. It is important to note that Odysseus is loved by the gods, not cursed, despite occasional comments that he or other characters may make. It is best to view the trials of Odysseus as potentially fatal dangers that he survives because the gods love him, rather than punishments inflicted on him by the gods.

This brings up an interesting point: if Odysseus is so very loved by the gods, why do all these terrible things happen to him. Poseidon’s anger, admittedly, is an exception to the gods’ general admiration, but this is only a partial exception– and, as we shall see, Poseidon is only angry at Odysseus because of something for which he cannot really be blamed. The foolishness of mortals is also partially the cause of his troubles, as we will also discover later.

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