This little nook of the internet is going to focus on different pieces of text that center around World Literature up to the 1500's. The books that will be covered include: Gilgamesh, Odyssey, Aeneid, The Song of Roland, an Arthurian Romance, and Dante's Inferno. Each of these pieces of literature are centered around different literary techniques and styles that are incorporated into more contemporary writings of today.
The end is near. Book Twenty-Two is one of the most bloody books of the whole epic. After seeing Odysseus shoot one arrow through the axes the suitors are so amazed that only after Odysseus kills Antinous with another shoot and reveals that the king has returned, do they understand their fate. The suitors soon learn that their is no way out of the palace and they either have to fight or perish. Eurymachus rallies the suitors after his attempts at reason with Odysseus fail. While Odysseus defends himself with his bow and arrows, Telemachus goes to the storeroom to get armor and more weapons. The prince makes a crucial mistake and leaves the room open. Melanthius, the goatherd who insulted the beggar on more then one occasion, finds the storeroom and gets armor and weapons for the suitors. On his second trip Melanthius is caught by the sheep and cow herds. In a very gruesome manner Melanthius is locked up to await his final punishment. Back in the great room Athena, disguised as Mentor, arrives to help Odysseus. In the beginning she only takes it upon herself to make sure Odysseus and his men do not get hurt. She wants to make sure that Odysseus is still willing to fight for himself and will not rely on her power. In the end the battle is cut short when Athena takes over and kills the rest of the enemy. Telemachus has Odysseus spare the bard and the
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herald because they only did what was forced upon them when the suitors had control. After the room was checked for any man that lived the nurse, Eurycleia, is summoned to Odysseus and openly rejoices for the suitors' deaths. Odysseus chastises the nurse for rejoicing in death, because any death is a sad occurrence. The nurse then is ordered to send the disloyal women to the great room. These twelve women were required to help move the bodies of the men they had loved and clean up the blood left over. They then were marched out and hung by Telemachus. Interestingly enough Odysseus ordered his son to kill them by the sword, but the prince chose the rope instead. The reader then returns to the fate of Melanthius. The goatherd is morbidly tortured and then killed. The book ends with Odysseus commanding the maids and the old nurse to fumigate the house in order to start a new. The loyal subjects of Odysseus are let into the great room and they rejoice that their king has finally returned.
Book Twenty-Three is all about Penelope and Odysseus reuniting. When Eurycleia tells Penelope of her husbands return, the queen believes that the old woman has gone crazy. It is only after the nurse tells Penelope that Telemachus has seen the king as well, that she willing to meet the man. The prince can not understand why his mother is not overjoyed about the king's return. Having grieved so much the queen is skeptical of the good news. Odysseus tells his son to prepare the house for a celebration of dancing in order to make it look like the queen has chosen a suitor in order to hold off of the news of the suitors' deaths amongst the land. Penelope tests Odysseus be telling a servant to move their wedding bed to another room so that the king could sleep. Odysseus becomes outraged by the request and through his description of their bedroom Penelope becomes convinced of the king's return. The queen then explains her skepticism and that she worried some man who try to take advantage of the situation and pretend to be Odysseus. The night is prolonged by the hands of Athena in order to give the couple more time together before the breaking of dawn. Odysseus tells Penelope of his travels and informs her of his last duty in order to appease the gods. As dawn awakes the happy couple Odyssey warns his bride that she must lock herself in the castle and receive no visitors so as to hold onto the secrecy of the suitors' deaths longer. The book closes with Odysseus, Telemachus, the cowherd, and the swineherd leaving in order to finish what they started.
The last book in the epic, twenty-four, contains a bulk of the falling action. The book opens with Hermes leading the souls of the suitors down to the House of Death. They meet Agamemnon and Achilles who are arguing over whose death was better. Agamemnon asks Amphimedon, one of the suitors, what led them all to this place. Amphimedon recounts the events that took place. Homer has an ability to describe events through the eyes of many characters. The suitor's account focuses on Penelope's indecision and in turn is compared to Clytemnestra by Agamemnon. The story jumps to Odysseus at his father's home. The king request that his entourage start lunch in order to get some privacy with his father. Odysseus test his father's memory and only after the old king begins to weep about his son's death does
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Odysseus reveal himself. Laertes is somewhat skeptical and only after Odysseus shows him the scar he received as a child and relates memories from his childhood does the old man believe him. Odysseus relays the information of his overthrow in the palace and informs his father of the unavoidable clash for the town, in order to avenge the suitors' deaths. The epic tracks back to the town where word of the massacre has brought the town into an uproar. Many fathers of the young men who were killed want to avenge their deaths. Halitherses, an elder prophet, tries to calm the masses and explains that the suitors got what they deserved. Eupithes, Antinous' father, rallies the town to seek out Odysseus. They find the king at Laertes' house but Athena, disguised as Mentor, stops the violence. Laertes' spear is the only weapon to kill, the death being Eupithes. Being the goddess of war and peace, Athena gives the town an continual understanding of peace. The epic ends with Athena ordering Odysseus to "hold back" (596). In turn Athena gives Odysseus a happy heart content with how the events have come to pass.
The following are YouTube videos of the beloved children's show Wishbone. The series did an episode based off of the beloved epic, The Odyssey. Being a children's show and only 30 minutes long it left out some details but the basic structure still remains.
The second part of the episode can be viewed at the following link:
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