How old is odysseus in the odyssey

Odysseus was about 25 when he left Ithaca. So he returned at about Athena disguised Odysseus as an old beggar with her goddess powers. Telemachus was 0, or newly born when he met Odysseus for the first time. When Telemachus first met Odysseus after Odysseus' return from the war he was 20 years old.

Odysseus' mother Anticlea tells Odysseus of what is happening at his home, and how she died. She also tells Odysseus why she cannot embrace him; the state of dead people are all sinewy and wispy with little form. Euryclea recognizes Odysseus when she is washing his feet. The nurse recognizes Odysseus by a unique old hunting scar that he got from a boar hunt when he was a child. Odysseus dressed up as an old beggar when he returned to Ithica. Log in.

The Odyssey. Study now. See Answer. Best Answer. Study guides. The Odyssey 20 cards. What did Penelope take from the wooers. How did Odysseus kill Antinous. What did the soothsayer theoclymenos say concerning the fate of the wooers. How long after he had been gone did Odysseus return to Ithaca. The Odyssey 21 cards. Which scenario is the best example of public health promotion.

What character would be the best example of an archetype. What is the function of an antagonist in a story. What is the purpose of a society's oral tradition. Does Penelope really intend to marry one of her suitors? How do Odysseus and Telemachus defeat the suitors?

Characters Character List. Odysseus The protagonist of The Odyssey. Read an in-depth analysis of Odysseus. Read an in-depth analysis of Telemachus. Penelope Wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus. Read an in-depth analysis of Penelope. Athena Daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom, purposeful battle, and the womanly arts. Read an in-depth analysis of Athena. Calypso The beautiful nymph who falls in love with Odysseus when he lands on her island-home of Ogygia.

Read an in-depth analysis of Calypso. Read an in-depth analysis of Circe. Poseidon God of the sea. Zeus King of gods and men, who mediates the disputes of the gods on Mount Olympus. Eurymachus A manipulative, deceitful suitor. Eumaeus The loyal shepherd who, along with the cowherd Philoetius, helps Odysseus reclaim his throne after his return to Ithaca. Eurycleia The aged and loyal servant who nursed Odysseus and Telemachus when they were babies.

Melanthius The brother of Melantho. Polyphemus One of the Cyclops uncivilized one-eyed giants whose island Odysseus comes to soon after leaving Troy. Tiresias A Theban prophet who inhabits the underworld. Nestor King of Pylos and a former warrior in the Trojan War. Helen Wife of Menelaus and queen of Sparta. A spiritual quest is an example of an odyssey. YourDictionary definition and usage example. Who Won the Trojan War?

Then one of greek king Odysseus builds a horse, the famous Trojan Horse. Greeks disguised as they left for their home to ake trojans believe that they have won the war. Best of the greek soldiers were hidden inside the horse. Is the Odyssey a poem? The Odyssey is a long poem. It is comprised of 24 books containing over 12,00 lines.

It is a narrative poem. It tells the story of the return of Odysseus to his home in Ithaca after 20 years of war and wandering. How did Telemachus die? The Telegony was a short two-book epic poem recounting the life and death of Odysseus after the events of the Odyssey. In this mythological postscript, Odysseus is accidentally killed by Telegonus, his unknown son by the goddess Circe. Who kept Odysseus prisoner? As the men pushed the searing point of the tree into Polyphemos's eye, Odysseus used his weight to spin the giant spear so it would penetrate as deeply as possible.

Polyphemos awoke with a scream and pulled the deeply imbedded point from his ruined eye. His cries drew the attention of the neighboring Cyclopes and they converged at the cave entrance and asked why Polyphemos was screaming in the night. The other Cyclopes returned to their homes thinking that Polyphemos was suffering from madness. They urged him to call upon his father Poseidon for help. Odysseus instructed the six remaining men tie three rams abreast and then strapped each man to the belly of the center animal.

He chose the largest ram in the flock for himself and hid beneath it in a similar manner. When dawn arrived, Polyphemos opened the cave entrance and carefully felt the backs of all the sheep as they went outside. The men under the tethered sheep were safely outside when the ram carrying Odysseus came to the entrance. Polyphemos recognized the ram by its thick, luxurious fleece and wondered why the noble beast was the last to leave the cave.

Polyphemos assumed the ram was mourning the injury to its master's eye Safely outside the cave, Odysseus untied the other men and proceeded to drive Polyphemos's flocks to the ships.

Odysseus signaled the men to quietly load the animals onboard so Polyphemos and the other Cyclopes would not hear them. When the ships were a little distance from the shore, Odysseus could not contain his pride and anger, he called out to Polyphemos and said the wrath of the gods had been justly administered and that good men had been the instrument of divine retribution.

Polyphemos lifted a stone the size of a mountain peak and blindly threw it at the ships. The stone grazed Odysseus's ship and the wave it created pushed it back to the shore. The men rowed frantically to get the ship back to the open water before Polyphemos could hurl another bolder. When they were twice the previous distance from the shore, Odysseus again wanted to taunt the blinded Cyclops. The other sailors tried to restrain Odysseus but his proud heart would not be silent.

He shouted to Polyphemos that he was Odysseus, the sacker of cities from the island of Ithaka, and that he should have killed the evil Cyclops instead of just blinding him. Hearing Odysseus's name, Polyphemos realized that his blinding had been foretold by a prophet. He had always been on the lookout for a man named Odysseus, but he had been tricked by clever words and missed the prophetic signs.

Polyphemos raised his arms to heaven and called upon his father to bring down vengeance on Odysseus, kill all his men, bring turmoil to his household and delay his homecoming for many years.

Poseidon heard his son's plea and made it all come to pass. The gale winds drove the ships past the island of Kythera and continued to push them off course for nine days. On the tenth day they landed on the island of the Lotus Eaters. Thankful to find an island with food and water, the crew gathered provisions for their continued voyage. Odysseus thought it prudent to send three men to explore the island.

One of the men was a herald The Lotus Eaters were not dangerous in the usual sense because they ingested an addictive lotus plant that made them lethargic and simpleminded. The men of Odysseus's scouting party mingled with the Lotus Eaters and were offered the honey-sweet fruit of the lotus.

The men quickly became forgetful of their mission and did not return to the ships. Odysseus searched the island and found his men in a state of lotus-induced bliss Odysseus immediately ordered his ships to sea so they could escape the island of the Lotus Eaters.

One of the most important encounters Odysseus had on his journey home from Troy was with the Dread Goddess, Kirke Circe , the presiding Nymph of the island of Aiaia.

The daughter of Helios Sun and the Okeanid Perse, Kirke was best known as the mistress of drugs and potions. Surviving one desperate situation after another, Odysseus and his dispirited crew went ashore on Aiaia hoping to find food and water. Odysseus sent twenty-three men to explore the island. As the men walked from the beach, they could hear sweet singing from Kirke's home in a forest glen.

Wild lions and wolves came, wagging their tails, to greet the strangers The unsuspecting sailors were charmed by Kirke's beauty and haplessly drank the potions she offered as refreshment.

As Kirke's vile drugs took effect, she touched each man with her wand Kirke herded them into pens and tossed pig-food on the ground before them. Eurylokhos was the only man to escape from Kirke without being turned into a swine Odysseus almost killed him for it. Committed to saving his animalized crewmen, Odysseus decided to go to Kirke's palace alone. Cautiously treading the trail through the forest, Odysseus met the god Hermes in the guise of a young man.

Hermes told Odysseus that it would be possible to entrap Kirke and free his companions if he obeyed the god's orders. Hermes reached down and pulled a plant called 'moly' from the ground and explained that mere mortals found it difficult to dig it up but he, as a god, could do all things.

Hermes explained that when Kirke offered Odysseus one of her dreadful potions he was to secretly put the 'moly' in the concoction to render it harmless Odysseus took the 'moly' from Hermes and went boldly into Kirke's palace.

Kirke welcomed Odysseus thinking that he was another victim When Kirke thought the drugs had taken effect, she tried to strike Odysseus with her wand. The touch of the wand was supposed to complete the animal transformation process but Odysseus drew his sword and sprang upon her before she realized what was happening. The astonished Kirke surrendered instantly.

She released the twenty-two pig-men from their cages and ceremoniously anointed them with another of her potions. The men were restored to their human shape but were taller and more handsome than before. Demonstrating her benevolent and nurturing attributes, Kirke provided the weary sailors with every comfort her divinely built palace could offer. Kirke drew Odysseus aside and secretly told him that his journey would now take him into some very dangerous places. She did not want the other men to know because she did not want them to be afraid of things they could not alter or avoid.

Kirke told Odysseus that he would eventually have to go to the entrance of the House of Hades lord of the dead and consult with the soul of the blind seer Teiresias the Theban According to Kirke's instructions, in order to reach the entrance to the Underworld, Odysseus and his crew would be required to sail the treacherous waters between the precincts of the man-eating, six-headed Skylla and the ship-devouring whirlpool Kharybdis.

She warned Odysseus that he could survive the passage but she also warned him not to be too bold and accept whatever fatalities the two supernatural creatures inflicted on his crew.

Before leaving Aiaia, one of Odysseus's men, Elpenor, was capering on the roof of Kirke's palace and fell to his death. In his haste to leave the island, Odysseus failed to give Elpenor the proper funeral rites. This oversight would require a return to Aiaia. Skylla was a six-headed, snake-like monster that swooped down to snatch sailors from the decks of passing ships. Kharybdis was a whirlpool that alternately sucked-down and spewed-out the waters of the straits to destroy passing ships.

Approaching the precincts of Skylla and Kharybdis, Odysseus and his brave crew gave Kharybdis a wide berth and sailed near Skylla's rocky abode. Odysseus put on his finest armor and stood on the deck of his ship with two spears at the ready Despite his vigilance, Odysseus was still taken by surprise. While Kharybdis kept their attention with her gushing and sputtering, Skylla swooped down unseen and snatched up six crewmen.

Their legs and torsos were dangling from Skylla's mouths as she lifted them to her cave to eat them. They screamed for Odysseus and begged for help but he stood helpless on the deck with the rest of the terrified crew. Odysseus said it was the most pitiful scene his long-suffering eyes had ever seen. Reluctantly accepting the loss of his crewmembers, Odysseus sailed on to face the next peril.

Odysseus could only reach the entrance to the Underworld by sailing past the island of the Sirens. Kirke warned him that anyone who heard the song of the Sirens was doomed to sail heedlessly to their death on the rocky beach and mingle their bones with the unfortunate sailors who had proceeded them. Kirke told Odysseus to put melted wax in the ears of his crew so they could sail past the island of the Sirens and not be lured by their irresistible song.

She also told him that if he wished to hear the Sirens, he should not put wax in his ears and have his men tie him to the ship's mast. She said he should instruct his men that no matter how he pleaded, they were not to untie him until the ship was well out of earshot of the Sirens.

In this way, Odysseus was able to safely sail past the island of the Sirens and become the only mortal to hear their seductive song and live. Following Kirke's elaborate directions, Odysseus and the remaining members of his crew reached the entrance to the Underworld.

Hades, lord of the dead, and his bride Persephone did not acknowledge Odysseus's presence but surely knew he was there and tolerated his presence.

Odysseus prepared an elaborate blood-sacrifice and waited, fully armed, for the denizens of the House of Hades to show themselves. The first departed soul to approach the pit of blood was Odysseus's crewman, Elpenor. He begged Odysseus to return to Aiaia, burn his body and place his oar over his burial mound. Odysseus promised to do so.

Elpenor had taken Odysseus by surprise and distracted him from his primary mission Odysseus steeled himself and swore that until Teiresias approached the sacrificial blood, he would rebuff all comers. His resolve was sorely tested when the pitiful 'shade' of his deceased mother Antikleia approached the blood The disembodied spirit of Teiresias finally appeared out of the gloom.

He recognized Odysseus and addressed him by his name and lineage. Teiresias asked Odysseus to sheath his sword and move away from the pit of sacrificial blood. Odysseus withdrew and waited as Teiresias hungrily drank his fill of blood. Teiresias was willing to help Odysseus but warned that the success of his voyage home would be decided on the island Thrinakia, the sacred island of the god Helios. If Odysseus and his shipmates could endure their hunger and not kill the herds Helios kept on the island, they would live to see their homes.

If, however, any of Helios's animals were killed, death would overtake all the guilty men. Teiresias said Odysseus would encounter his final obstacle when he returned to his home and found his palace invaded by men trying to take his wife and wealth. If Odysseus prevailed, he would live the rest of his life with nobility and die with dignity.

Antikleia had been waiting near the blood pit but didn't drink any blood until Teiresias receded back into the gloom. Sated with blood, she was able to converse with Odysseus.

She told him that his wife Penelope, his son Telemachos, and his father Laertes were alive and awaiting his return. When Odysseus asked why she died, she said she died of grief because he had not returned from Troy.

Odysseus also met the disembodied spirit of Herakles Herakles and Odysseus shared the distinction of going to the House of Hades alive and then returning to the land of the living. One recurring theme in the Iliad and the Odyssey is the armor of Akhilleus Akhilleus died at Troy wearing the god-made armor, prompting a furious fight with the Trojans for possession of Akhilleus's body.

Odysseus and Telamonian Aias played a crucial role in that fight. After they retrieved Akhilleus's body, Aias thought he deserved the armor, but it was awarded to Odysseus, either by drawing lots or by a consensus of the Akhaian soldiers.