8th+Poseidon's+People+Bk+17

// || The Odyssey: Book XVII - The Feast //
__Setting -__

Ithaca - Outskirts of Odysseus' palace Suitors' Feast​

__Characters-__

Odysseus (still disguised as an old beggar)

Telemachus - he has finally returned from his adventures in Pylos, and has escaped the suitors' ambush

Eumaeus - Odysseus' loyal swineherd, brings Odysseus to the feast so he can beg for food

Melanthius - a hostile and rude goatherder that Odysseus and Eumaeus meat along the way to Odysseus' palace

Argos - Odysseus' hound who used to be swift and powerful but has now aged.

Antinous - an unhospitable suitor who throws a stool at Odysseus

Penelope - wants to meet the beggar (Odysseus) and ask him of news of Odysseus, and she also tells the omen of the sneeze.  Medon - a herdsman who is favored by the suitors, and joins them at their feasts. []


 * __Summary:__ **

> > **During the feast -** > > **The Omen of the Sneeze -** >
 * Going to the feast -**
 * Telemachus goes back to the palace to see his mother, Penelope (who is very worried), and he also sends Eumaeus to accompany Odysseus to the palace so he can get a meal. Telemachus tells Penolope of his adventures and the news he had received of his father. As he did this, the suitors play games such as tossing the **discus and the javelin (See Detective)** outside of Odyseus' house. Finally they were called to the dinner feast by Medon; the feast consisted of butchered animals from Odysseus' herds.
 * Meanwhile, Odysseus and Eumaeus embark on their journey to Odysseus' palace. They meet Melanthius, who drives the best herds of goats, along a fountain whose spring supplies fresh water to the Ithacans. Melanthius reproaches both of them, saying, "Ah, yes, it takes a filthy wretch to lead a filthy wretch," (Homer XVII, 344), and also calls Odysseus a pest.
 * Afterwards he then offers that Eumaeus could give the beggar (Odysseus) to him so he can do lowly jobs on the farm, such as cleaning out the stools, and warns that if the beggar intrudes on Odysseus' house he will get hit by stools thrown by the suitors. As a sign of contempt Melanthius proceeds to kick Odysseus in the hip, and Odysseus restrains his rage. Eumaeus then recites a prayer to the gods, praying that Odysseus will return home and end Melanthius' taunts and scorn towards others.
 * Melanthius responds by confidently saying that he would eventually capture and sell Eumaeus for a profit and hopes that Telemachus will be killed someday. Afterwards, Melanthius leaves and joins the feast. Eventually Eumaeus and Odysseus reach Odysseus' home, and Eumaeus tells Odysseus to wait behind for a few moments while he goes inside.
 * During this conversation, Argos, who used to be Odysseus' brave hound dog and is now old, recognizes his master. However, he is too weak to get up, and Odysseus notices and hides his tear from Eumaeus. Instead, Odysseus asks why this particular dog is lying in heaps of dung, and Eumaeus answers him by saying that Argos used to be an almost flawless hunter, though his master had died in a land far away. Now, no one bothers to take care of Argos.
 * After answering Odysseus, Eumaeus proceeds to enter the suitors' feast and meets Telemachus. Telemachus provides Eumaeus with food for the beggar (Odysseus), and allows him to beg all the suitors for more food. Eumaeus goes and brings Odysseus inside to the feast. Athena stands by Odysseus, urging him to ask each suitor for food. By doing this Odysseus will know which of them is kind or greedy, though Athena isn't set on saving any of the suitors from their inevitable destruction.
 * Finally, Antinous rebukes Eumaeus for bringing yet another pest to scrounge on Odysseus' feasts. He says that enough already waste Odysseus' wealth, and asks why Eumaeus would invite one more. Eumaeus replies that he was just showing hospitality to his guest, saying that none of the suitors would want to take that burden of being hospitable to a beggar.
 * Telemachus enters the conversation and orders Antinous to give his meal to the beggar (Odysseus), pointing out that the suitors' food is actually owned by him, the keeper of the house. ​ He also says that Antinous would rather feed himself with lavish amounts of food than to share with a beggar. Antinous, now mad, retorts that if everyone gave the beggar lots of food, Telemachus would have to hold him off from the banquets for three months. With that said, the suitors still give Odysseus bits of food until his sack was filled, and Odysseus implores Antinous for food.
 * Odysseus comments that Antinous seems to be the most noble lord out of all the suitors, and should be able to give him more than the others. Odysseus continues by saying that he used to give to vagabonds when he was still rich, then tells Antinous a fake story of how he came to become a beggar. Antinous, however, is not moved, and demands that Odysseus, a brazen and brash beggar, leave the feast or else he would find a harsher place here than Egypt or Cyprus (Odysseus' places of adventures in his made-up tale).
 * Odysseus draws back and replies by saying that Antinous may be handsome, but his wits don't match his beauty. Odysseus also truthfully says that Antinous has no heart. Enraged at being insulted, Antinous grabs his stool (in which he rests his feet on) and throws it at Odysseus.
 * Odysseus then speaks out to the suitors, wishing that death will overcome Antinous before he has found a wife, for Antinous attacked Odysseus just because of his hunger.
 * The suitors warn Antinous that Odysseus might have been a god in disguise, in which case he would be doomed, though Antinous ignores them.
 * Penelope eventually hears of what happened, and sharply reprimands and dissaproves of Antinous' action. She then tells Eumaeus to bring the beggar to her to see if he has any news of Odysseus.
 * Eumaeus then tell Penelope that the beggar is in fact Odysseus' father, insists that Odysseus is alive and that Odysseus will come home with many treasures. Penelope replies that when Odysseus comes home, he and his son can put an end to the suitors abuse of hospitality. As soon as Penelope finished speaking, her son (who was down in the main hall) sneezed a loud and thunderous sneeze that echoed throughout the house. Penelope interprets this as a certain sign that all the suitors will be inevitably killed.
 * Eumaeus then tells Odysseus that Penelope wants to see him, though Odysseus wants to wait until nightfall so that he can avoid the suitors' insolence. Penelope agrees, and Eumaeus goes back into the main hall to tell Telemachus that he is going back to tend to the swine. Before he leaves, Eumaeus advises Telemachus to be on his guard, for the suitors want to harm him. Afterwards, he leaves Odysseus' palace.

** __MAJOR THEMES:__ ** Hospitality: Odysseus disguised as a beggar goes to meet the suitors in his house, and is welcomed by Telemachus. He goes on to beg from the suitors who give him food, except for Antinous, who yells at Odysseus and makes fun of him for being a beggar, then throws his stool at him. Telemachus is being hospitable, however Antinous will now give away food that he was given by Telemachus, who was being hospitable.

Importance of Prophecy: Theoclymenus, an augur, tells Penelope that he saw a bird flying and that he interpreted the sign to mean that Odysseus was on Ithica right now. This prophecy is true and it is important because it gives Penelope hope and it tells her that Odysseus is still alive and plotting his vengeance on the suitors.

Sacrifice: Penelope is told by Telemachus to go upstairs, prepare for the feast by bathing, and to swear to Zeus that she will offer unblemished hecatombs if he helps Penelope, Telemachus, and Odysseus defeat the suitors and take back Odysseus house.

http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythology/Images/OdysseusBeggar.jpg

__**Detective:**__

The javelin throw is a track and field throwing event where the object to be thrown is the javelin, a spear about seven and a half feet in length. The thrower runs to get momentum and then throws the javelin at a predetermined point. During the era between the Mycenaean times (about the time that the Odyssey takes place) and the Roman Empire, the javelin was a commonly used weapon. Being lighter than the spear, the javelin would be thrown rather than thrust and thus allowed long distance attacks against one’s enemy. Athletes however, used javelins that were much lighter than military ones because the idea of the event was to demonstrate distance rather than penetration. The one major difference between the javelin of the ancient games and the javelin of more modern times is a leather thong, called an ankyle that was wound around the middle of the shaft. Athletes would hold the javelin by the thong and when the javelin released this thong unwound giving the javelin a spiraled flight.



The discus throw is an event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc called a discus in an attempt to mark a farther distance than his or her competitors. The disc weighs about 4 pounds. The discus usually has sides made of rubber, plastic, wood, or metal with a metal rim and a metal core to attain the weight. A discus with more weight in the rim produces greater momentum for any given spin rate, and so it has more stability, although it is more difficult to throw. The thrower must stand in a circle and spin around one and a half times and then release the discus, which has to land within a 35 meter arc.




 * __Picasso:__ **