Nymphs+Book+19+(XIX)

Book 19 of The Odyssey Main Characters:

Odysseus Penelope Eurycleia Telemachus Athena

Summary: - Odysseus and Telemachus plot their revenge against the Suitors. - As part of the plan to kill the Suitors, Telemachus and Odysseus remove the weapons from the hall and put them wthin the storeroom. - Telemachus returns to bed, while Odysseus talks with Penelope. - Penelope questions him. - Odysseus, disguised as a poor man from Crete, explains to Penelope that he has seen Odysseus and that he will be home within the year. - Despite the news, Penelope doubts Odysseus' future return. - Eurycleia is summoned to wash the disguised Odysseus' feet, but while doing so recognizes the stranger as Odysseus because of a familiar scar Odysseus recieved while boar hunting. - Eurycleia promises to not reveal Odysseus' identity to Penelope. - Penelope meets with Odysseus once again and tells him of her dream in which her geese, symbolizing the Suitors, are killed by an eagle, symbolizing Odysseus, and asks him to interpret it. - Odysseus tells her to take the dream seriously because Odysseus is sure to kill the Suitors upon his return. - Penelope is skeptical of the dream and the stranger's advice to her. - She, because she doesn't believe Odysseus will return, devises a plan to choose the most worthy Suitor as her husband. - Using Odysseus' bow the Suitors will attempt to shoot an arrow through twelve axe heads, whoever is able to do so will have Penelope as their wife. Themes:

Hospitality- The theme of hospitality is demonstrated multiple times throughout book 19.

 * The first time this theme appears is when Odysseus (in disguise) is asked by Penelope to tell the journey of Odysseus. Even though the story Odysseus told did not take place, it still had elements of hospitality in it. Odysseus tells the story of him and his crew arriving in Crete only he tells the story as if he lived in Crete. He told Penelope how he offered care, kindness and a place to stay for Odysseus, by doing these things he demonstrated hospitality toward Odysseus.
 * Another example is the hospitality Penelope shows toward Odysseus even though she does not know that it is in fact Odysseus and just thinks of him as a stranger who had seen Odysseus. Penelope allows this stranger(Odysseus) into her house and offers him a bed, to have his feet washed and to bathe and anoint him, demonstrating tremendous amounts of hospitality toward a stranger.

Sacrifice - The theme of sacrifice also is demonstrated multiple times throughout book 19.

 * While telling the story of Odysseus on Crete Odysseus explains how they offered barley, dark wine and bulls to appease the gods.
 * In the same story Odysseus also describes how king Pheidon of the Thesportians poured libations to the gods to ensure Odysseus and his a crew a quick trip home.
 * When Eurycleia figures out the stranger is Odysseus she weeps for him and how Zeus hated Odysseus the most and even though Odysseus had sacrificed many hecatombs to Zeus, he still sought vengeance on Odysseus.
 * Also in the story of the white tusked boar, Homer shows how important sacrifice is because in the story Odysseus and his grandfather offer sacrifices to Hermes so they will be able to rely on him.

Prophecy - This theme only is shown a couple of times throughout book 19.
Detective Work: **Dream Interpretation** Dream interpretations have been around for an extremely long time and have been very useful in many different stories. For example, in the bible Joseph was an interpreter of dreams which allowed him to be able to become an important part of society. Not only can dream interpretation help people, but it can also be used to mislead people. Homer used dream interpretation in The Odyssey when Penelope experienced the dream of geese being killed by an eagle. The interpretation was that the geese symbolized the suitors who were destroying everything that belonged to Odysseus. The eagle symbolized what was going to be Odysseus killing the suitors. Dream interpretation plays a very big role in Book 19 because Odysseus tells Penelope to make sure she believes that her dream means that Odysseus will in fact come home.
 * One example of prophesy in this book is when the story is being told of Autoclyus, Odysseus' grandfather. Autoclyus gave Odysseus his name and it meant "son of wrath and pain," later in his life Odysseus encounters and feels much pain.
 * In the story of Odysseus in Crete, it is said that he visited Dodona's oracle that speaks the will of Zeus. It is obvious that the will of Zeus was to make Odysseus suffer even more.

**The History of Archery** At the end of Book 19 Odysseus learns that Penelope will be choosing the suitor who can shoot an arrow through the holes of twelve axes set in a line. Ancient Greek archery was important in many ways. The most important use of the skill was in warfare. Archer were used to try and destroy the first line of attack in a battle. They were very useful during Greek times because guns and other weapons had not been made yet. Many mythological heroes were archers through- out history including, the god Apollo. Others include Robin Hood, earlier ideas of Hercules, and Cupid. Archery had many influences on culture because the earliest people used it for hunting. It was discovered sometime during the Paleolithic Age. Eventually different types of bows would be invented including the longbow or a long bow with narrow limbs that are in a D shape. There is also a flat bow which has flat wider limbs in a rectangular shape. The crossbow would end up being very popular in the middle ages and it had arrows sit on top of a stock that would shoot it. Archery is what won the Trojan War. It was thought that the only way to get into Troy was to take it by archers and then attack on foot. Archery stopped being used in warfare at about 1700 A.D. because of the development of guns and other weapons. These days, archery is just used as a sport of seeing who can hit the target best, but not used in warfare.

**Ancient Greek Warfare/Weapons** Ancient Greeks were very talented at warfare and had much success, but they used it against each other. This did not make any sense because if they would have united it would have been tough to stop them. They used a type of formation called a phalanx that was made and developed around 650 B.C. Homer was the first writer to use the word and to him it meant an organized front line of an army. Instead of how the Greeks use to fight the phalanx allowed them to fight as a group. Before the Phalanx the Greeks would have fought individual battles without using each other as help. Along with using the phalanx came the use of many different weapons. Some examples of the weapons they used were a sword, spear, shield, and catapult. They also used a weapon that would shoot multiple arrows called a ballista which was developed by the early Greeks. There were many important battles throughout the history of Greek civilization some of the most important being the Battle of Thermoplyae, the Battle of Marathon, and many more. They used all of these different weapons and tactics throughout these battles and were able to win a lot with them.