Our close reading passage this week is from Book 10, lines 406-449:

from: 10.406 "so she spoke, and the proud heart in me was persuaded..." to 10. 449: "...but followed along in fear of my fierce reproaches."

Instructions: as with last week's passage, pay attention to every detail that catches your attention, or that doesn't seem to make sense. Context matters: the scene in last week's passage was Ithaca, a relatively normal if disorderly human community, but this week's passage deals with events on a magical island where humans are easily changed into animals. Is this island in any way a threat to the homecomings of Odysseus and his men? In your view, does it affect their behavior?

Hopkins at Home The Odyssey of Homer: a Close Reading

Sample close reading passage: 5.475 - 5.493 (end of chapter 5)

This moment occurs at the end of book five, just after Odysseus has escaped the rage of Poseidon by dragging himself ashore on the island of Scheria (likely Corfu), land of the Phaiakians/Phaeacians. Odysseus has just decided to look for shelter in the nearby forest, which despite the danger of wild animals offers somewhat more warmth than the wet shore of the river from which he has crawled. To help with our discussion I’ve divided the text into three parts.

I’d suggest printing this out and jotting your thoughts down—circle words that strike you as significant, as having multiple meanings, etc. Enjoy! You can send your thoughts to me or just keep your notes handy for our next class.

The Odyssey of Homer A Close Reading - Week 1

Video: https://vimeo.com/642829312/245fb2b6a5

The Odyssey of Homer: a Close Reading

• Will Quinn
• Dr. Elizabeth Patton

Looking at Chapters 1-4

• Council of Gods on Mount Olympus
• Journey of Telemachus (Telemachy)

Translation

Using Richmond Lattimore's translation of The Odyssey in part because he keeps the sens of the formulaic epithets.

Dactylic hexameter

• Longfellow used it in Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie

"This is the forest primeval."

Epithets

• "The man of many ways" (Odysseus)
• much enduring Odysseus
• rosy fingered dawn

These sorts of epithets are designed to fit the epic into the dactylic hexameter.

Background of story

Proem

in Greek suffering can mean "learning"

Q: When does the council on the gods take place?

"Council of the Gods" in Galleria Borghese (Rome) ceiling_ceiling.jpg)

Penelope with the Suitors by Pinturicchio

Circumspect Penelope

The Odyssey of Homer: a Close Reading With Dr. Elizabeth Patton https://indieweb.org/this-week/2021-11-05.html

The Odyssey of Homer: a Close Reading https://events.jhu.edu/form/HAHodyssey