Book 1:
Athena urges zeus to allow for her to help odysseus get home and telemachus regain confidence. he grants her permission and she (disguised as mentes) arrives to meet a very disheartened telemachus who has lost hope in his father's return and the rehabilitation of his palace now infested with suitors. athena inspires confidence in the young prince and encourages him to seek out his father (who she says is alive) and stand up to the suitors. telemachus becomes more confident...
Book 2:
Telemachus calls for an assembly of the suitors and expresses anger for his mother, his father's name, and the livestock. antinuous, replies angrily stating that penelope is leading on the suitors and not making a choice. penelope said that once she finishes weaving her husbands burial shroud she will choose who to marry, but she unravels whatever she weaves at night, therefore never making a choice. to support telemachus, zeus sends a sign when eagles swoop down on them, showing the suitors, that the young prince has god on his side. then telemachus, determined, sneaks out with the help of his trusty maid eurycleia, and sets sail with mentes to find out about his father...
Book 3.
Telemachus arrives at pylon, where he sees people performing a ritual to poseidon. athena directs telemachus to go directly to old nestor for information about his father. nestor is very hospitable to telemachus and athena (under disguise) and offers up his own daughter to bathe telemachus. he does not say much of odysseus but he does say that agamemnon was killed by menelaus, a suitor, on his way back from war. he tells many stories and finally as athena leaves she reveals herself by turning into an eagle and flying back to the ship, encouraging nestor that telemachus has the gods on his side...
Book 4.
Telemachus sails to sparta to find out more information about his father. he enjoys the hospitality of king menalaus and hears both helen and menelaus' account of troy and how many heroes telemachus and pistratus head back to pylon to return to ithaca after hearing these stories. meanwhile in ithaca, telemachus' flight has been discovered and the suitors plan to kill him upon his return and penelope is overcome with sorrow at the loss of as she thinks another family member...
Book 5..
Athena convinces zeus to send hermes to ogygia and send odysseus homeward. hermes arrives at ogygia and talks to calypso about releasing odysseus. calypso responds angrily saying that the gods are hypocritical for insulting love with mortals but anyhow she eventually complies. odysseus at first is untrusting to calypso's offers to free him but eventually takes the timber and food she offers him and turning down her offer for immortality, sets out to sea on a small raft he made himself with the supplies provided by calypso. however, poseidon sees odysseus at sea and creates a terrible storm in which odysseus is almost killed if it is not for the help of ino and the immortality scarf she offers him. he reaches an island called scheria, returns the scarf, and finds shelter using olive branches to keep him safe as he falls asleep...
Book 6.
Athena comes to nausicaa in a dream telling her to go to the river and wash clothes and that someone will be there. nausicaa does so as she is looking for someone to marry. odysseus awakes appearing as a lion and athena makes him look strong and more handsome when he meets nausicaa. nausicaa's maids are scared and run away but athena plants courage in nausicaa and she stands her ground. she offers him clothes, food, and oil to bathe with and tells how to get help from the king and queen.odysseus remains unnamed throughout their conversation.
Book 7.
Odysseus arrives in the city and runs into athena, disguised as a young girl, leading him to the palace. as he roams through the city, athena puts a mist around him so he cannot be seen or noticed and when he reaches the palace this mist is removed and he admires the beauty, order, and wealth of the palace or scheria. he meets arete and as a kind of custom holds her knees and begs for her help. alcinous decides they will give him help and is interested in odysseus as nausicaa's husband...
Book 8.
It is a day of games on scheria. first, demodacus sings about troy and odysseus weeps over his fallen comrades, esp. achilles. then the games begin. the games include running, jumping, boxing, and discus and many of the men compete in these competitions. odysseus does not compete until leodamus and brodsea challenge and mock him and his pride is challenged. odysseus throws the discus farther than anyone else. demodacus sings about ares and aphrodite and how haephestus chained them to their bed to lighten the mood of the games. finally, upon odysseus' request, demodacus sings about the trojan horse, and odysseus weeps again, leading alcinous to become suspicious and he demands to know odysseus' identity.
Book 9.
Odysseus reveals himself to alcinous and starts retelling his story thus far (flashback). he talks about the cicones and how his men became greedy and some of them were killed, the land of the lotus eaters where one of his men ate the flower and had to be dragged on the ship. finally he talks about his encounter with the cyclops. the men arrived taking his food and then are trapped there by the giant. they blind polyphemus and odysseus says his name is "nobody" so polyphemus will never no his name until as he leaves, out of stupidity he calls his name out as he escapes, causing poseidon to be angry with odysseus and vowing to kill odysseus...
Book 10.
(still in flashback) Odysseus arrives on aeolian island and stays there with his men for a month. aeolus gives odysseus gifts to send him on his way including a bag of winds and odysseus and his men set out. but odysseus' men grow curious and think odysseus is hiding something from them so they open the bag, the winds escaping and sending them back to where they started and they ask for help again and aeolus tells them that they are not in favor of the gods. so they sail to the land of the laestrygonains where an entire fleet is lost to the giants. finally they arrive at the island of circe where odysseus' men are turned into swine until circe falls in love with odysseus when he is not affected by the potion she gives him because of hermes' magic. finally after a year, the crew leaves.
Book 11.
Circe tells odysseus what to do if he wants to go home: go to the underworld and the rituals he must perform. odysseus offers up his blood and meets with tiresisas. he is told to not eat the cattle of thiranka and to offer up a sacrifice to poseidon as inland as possible. odysseus meets elpenor and his mother, making him emotional...
Book 12.
Odysseus returns to aeaea and performs a burial ritual for elpenor. then they set sail. first they encounter sirens, as they travel through area, men must plug their ears, their voices are so seductive that Odysseus longs to be released but his men hold him back. Odysseus holds his course tight against the cliffs of Scylla's lair as instructed by Circe, as he and his men stare at Charybdis on the other side of the strait, the heads of Scylla swoop down and gobble up six of the sailors. next they encounter the cattle of thiranka. a storm keeps them beached for a month, and at first the crew is fine with surviving on its provisions in the ship. when these run out, Eurylochus persuades the other crew members to disobey Odysseus and slaughter the cattle of the Sun - they do one afternoon as Odysseus sleeps. when the Sun finds out, he asks Zeus to punish Odysseus and his men. shortly after the Achaeans set sail from Thrinacia, Zeus kicks up another storm, which destroys the ship and sends the entire crew to its death beneath the waves. as had been predicted, only Odysseus survives, and he just barely does...
Book 13.
Poseidon asks zeus to kill odysseus. zeus responds as a compromise to punish alcinous and his people for helping him but not kill them off. odysseus finally wakes up on ithaca, confused and disbelieving. he finally talks with athena and is disguised as a beggar as they formulate a plan...
Book 14.
Odysseus arrives at his loyal swineherd eumaeus' home and is welcomed. odysseus tests eumaeus' xenia and talks about odysseus' return even though eumaeus is skeptical of it.
Book 15.
Athena convinces telemachus to get back to ithaca immediately by convincing him that eurymachus is going to marry penelope. she advises him to go to eumaeus for news. telemachus receives gifts from both menelaus and helen. back in ithaca, odysseus finds out about how eumaeus came to ithaca. when telemachus arrives at ithaca, another sign is shown when the suitors see a hawk fly by carrying a dove in its talons, which Theoclymenus interprets as a favorable sign of the strength of Odysseus's house and line...
Book 16.
Telemachus arrives at eumaeus' hut and odysseus reveals himself to him at the time specified by athena. the two reunite and formulate a plan to kill the suitors. meanwhile the suitors discuss whether or not to kill telemachus. penelope speaks angrily towards them.
Book 17.
Telemachus goes into town and odysseus under disguise travels with eumaeus. the suitors are very rude to the beggar and penelope sends for the beggar to speak with him. odysseus also sees his own dog pass away of old age and pain...
Book 18.
Irus, a beggar, comes to the palace. he challenges odysseus to a fight and the fight is egged on by the suitors. odysseus beats irus almost to the point of death before he stops. penelope addresses the suitors and flatters them. melantho and eurymachus insult the beggar more.
Book 19.
Euryleia is told about the plan. athena lights the room so they can see. odysseus finally talks to penelope but does not reveal his identity. eurycleia discovers his identity from his scar that he had...
Book 20.
Penelope announces that whichever suitor that can shoot an arrow between twelve axes she will marry. odysseus leaves after speaking with penelope and hears her cry. the suitors feast and their food becomes covered in blood, causing them to laugh...
Book 21.
none of the suitors can string the bow, even the strongest. odysseus strings the bow with ease. telemachus almost tries to but odysseus urges him not to pursue it.
Book 22.
All the suitors are slaughtered. antinuous first. telemachus forgets to lock storeroom and so melantius tries to get arms but eumaeus and phileotius lock him in the storeroom. soon athena joins in and end the battle only phemius and tendon are saved. the unfaithful maids that slept with the suitors are rounded up, told to clean the mess following the slaughter, and are executed...
Book 23.
Odysseus convinces penelope that he is odysseus by talking about the great rooted bed. odyesseus is still worried about the suitors' families...
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