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Odysseus and Calypso

1:09:39 recording · EN · 2 speakers

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Brief overview

Athena steers Odysseus home to Ithaca, where disguise, the bow contest and Penelope's tests end twenty years of absence.

  1. The Odyssey begins with Athena, not with TroyThe epic opens ten years after Troy with Athena visiting Telemachus, not with Odysseus' adventures, which he narrates later at Alcinous' court.
  2. Odysseus chooses mortal Penelope over immortality with CalypsoHe tells Calypso that Penelope falls short of her beauty but he pines all his days to see the dawn of his return.
  3. The homecoming is brutal, and children's versions hide itAll 108 suitors die, 12 maids are hanged from a ship's cable and Melanthius is mutilated, a savagery Tom says is often lost in retellings.
Executive Summary AI
  • Tom and Dominic continue their Odyssey series because Christopher Nolan's film goes on general release on the 17th, opening with Dame Edna voicing Athena in Daniel Mendelsohn's translation of Book 1.2:04
  • Odysseus, sole survivor of his 12 ships, has spent seven years as Calypso's captive on Ogygia because he blinded Poseidon's son Polyphemus, and with Poseidon away among the Ethiopians, Athena gets Zeus to send Hermes while she herself goes to Ithaca.5:54
  • Twenty years after Odysseus left, suitors devour his household while Penelope stalls them by unpicking Laertes' shroud each night for about five years, and Athena, disguised as Mentor, sends Telemachus to Nestor at Pylos and Menelaus at Sparta, where Proteus's report confirms his father is alive.10:22
  • Calypso releases Odysseus, who refuses her offer of immortality for Penelope; after 17 good days Poseidon wrecks his raft on the 18th, and Nausicaa and the Phaeacians of Alcinous, identified by Homer's audience with Corfu, hear his tale and carry him sleeping to Ithaca.19:58
  • Disguised by Athena as a beggar, Odysseus reunites with Telemachus, is recognised only by his dying dog Argos and by Eurycleia's sight of his scar, strings the bow and shoots through 12 axes, kills Antinous and all 108 suitors, hangs 12 maids, mutilates Melanthius, and finally wins Penelope's trust through the secret of the olive-tree bed.51:59
Key Quote
“so he would rather live with penelope and die than live with calypso and live forever”
— Tom21:13
Key Quote
“So the single most tragic moment in the Greek history of relationships between pet owners and their pets.”
— Tom45:16
Key Quote
“I think it's the fact that it has gods, it features famous monsters.”
— Tom1:04:01