Assignment: Students are to use the following key points from each of the books to create a storyboard (one or more boards for each book). Artistic talent is not a prerequisite...stick figures are just fine.
From: Shmoop.com
Book XIV
· When Odysseus arrives at the swineherd’s home in the forest, he is nearly attacked by the dogs.
· Luckily for him, the swineherd Eumaios saves him and then welcomes him into his hut and offers him what little food and comfort he has.
· While serving his guest, Eumaios talks all about the history of the land – King Odysseus’s leaving to fight in Troy, the suitors’ uncouth takeover of Odysseus’s home, Penelope’s staunch loyalty despite her suffering, and Telemachos’s helplessness against the suitors.
· This is nothing new.
· Still disguised as a beggar, Odysseus tries to tell Eumaios that Odysseus is not dead and will come back.
· The swineherd is skeptical.
· Then he asks the beggar about himself. Odysseus makes up an elaborate story about being a man from Crete, a commoner, who coincidentally has suffered many of the same trials that Odysseus did.
· In his made-up story, he claims to have heard news about Odysseus, who had recently left an island just when the beggar arrived. He adds that Odysseus is currently consulting an oracle and then means to return home.
· Eumaios thinks the beggar is lying. He says that Odysseus is dead at sea, but it’s pretty clear that the beggar’s story has planted a seed of hope.
· Eumaios brings the beggar more food, making a big deal about treating his guest as Odysseus would’ve wished. Beggar Odysseus is touched.
· After dinner, Odysseus wants to beg for a cloak so he can sleep, but tells a witty story instead.
· Ah, but this is the kind of story that carries a subtle message, in this case, "Give me a cloak please."
· Eumaios, who is one sharp swineherd, gets the message and gives the beggar a fine heavy cloak under which to sleep. He tells him to stay at the hut until Telemachos returns and can give him passage wherever he wishes.
Book XV
· Athene makes her way to Sparta, where Telemachos is in bed but not yet asleep. She urges him to leave immediately for Ithaka because Eurymachos is going to marry Penelope. (This is not true.)
· She advises him to go to Eumaios the swineherd as soon as he reaches Ithaka. Then he can entrust Eumaios with the news that he is home and have him go tell the queen.
· (Remember, the suitors are all ready to kill Telemachos if he shows his face, so some discretion is required.)
· All worked up by Athene’s lie, Telemachos tells Peisistratos that he must leave. Still, the prince tells him to wait until dawn (which is coming shortly).
· At dawn, Menelaos rushes to get Telemachos gifts and transportation ready. Menelaos, Helen, and Peisistratos each choose a gift for him. Helen’s, in particular, is touching – a beautiful gown woven by her own hands for Telemachos’s future bride.
· Just as Telemachos is about to leave, Zeus sends a sign – an eagle flying with a dead farmyard goose in its talons.
· Helen interprets this to mean that the god-favored Odysseus has returned to Ithaka and will remove the suitors from his home.
· Telemachos and Peisistratos drive the whole day and sleep that night at Pherai.
· The following morning, Telemachos requests that Peisistratos take him straight to his ships and send word for his men to join him. He wants to avoid meeting Nestor and waiting for more gifts, which as we’ve seen takes forever in ancient Greece.
· Peisistratos agrees and does so.
· Just as Telemachos is about to set sail, a stranger approaches him, a descendent of Melampous and a man gifted with prophetic abilities.
· This of course means we all need some back story. OK, so Melampous was a rich, happy Lord until King Neleus exiled him and took over his house. We don’t know exactly why, other than the vague mention that it had something to do with Neleus’s beautiful daughter. (The fact that this story is thrown in without a lot of details probably means Homer’s readers were already familiar with it as common knowledge.)
· Melampous was held captive in his exile by yet another man, Phylakos. Somehow he escaped, took back his lands, carried off Neleus’s daughter and gave her in marriage to his brother, and then, because it was his destiny, went to Argos to be ruler.
· Several generations later, Theoklymenos was born; he is the prophetic man who’s asking Telemachos for a ride home. His reasons for hitchhiking are: 1) he killed his cousin in Argos, and 2) he is being hunted for the murder.
· Telemachos says sure, come on board.
· Back in Ithaka, Odysseus tests whether Eumaios will try to drive him off to the city or lavish him with more hospitality.
· Eumaios takes offense at the beggar’s insinuations of being a burden and welcomes him to stay until Telemachos returns.
· Then beggar Odysseus asks for information about the Queen and Odysseus’s father, Laertes.
· Eumaios reports that Laertes is alive, but wishes he were dead because he grieves so much for his son.
· We learn that Eumaios grew up as Laertes’s ward in the household and was a playmate to the Princess Ktimene, Laertes daughter (who therefore was Odysseus’s sister).
· When Ktimene got married and left Ithaka, Eumaios was given provisions and sent to the forest to work as a swineherd. (As far as we can tell, this wasn’t intended as a punishment of any sort, though it does seem like this guy got the short end of the stick.)
· Odysseus, curious, asks Eumaios where he is from (apparently he wants more information than he just received).
· So the swineherd launches into his story.
· Eumaios reveals that he was the son of a Syrian lord and a Sidonian slave woman. His mother was unhappy as a slave and jumped at the opportunity to escape back to her homeland when some sailors whom she slept with offered her passage there.
· She took young Eumaios with her on the ship, but died barely a week into the voyage. Eumaios was sold at Ithaka to Laertes.
· Odysseus feels sorry for the guy so the two men talk night the night away and trade stories.
· Aboard Telemachos’s ship, the fugitive guy Theoklymenos asks the prince where he may find lodging in Ithaka.
· Telemachos says he would offer his own house, but unfortunately it’s currently occupied by swarms of suitors. He tells Theoklymenos briefly about his lost father.
· Zeus sends a sign, a hawk flying by with a dove in its talons.
· Theoklymenos interprets this to mean Odysseus’s family will rule Ithaka forever.
· Telemachos asks one of his crewmen, Peiraios, if Theoklymenos can stay with him. Peiraios sportingly agrees.
· When they land in Ithaka, Telemachos makes his way to the swineherd’s hut.
Book XVI
· Telemachos arrives to find Eumaios conversing with a beggar.
· Eumaios jumps up to greet Telemachos enthusiastically; it is obvious that he loves him like a son.
· Eumaios introduces the beggar to Telemachos and asks if he will lodge the old man and provide him with transport.
· Telemachos laments that his house is being intruded on, but offers the beggar clothing and food and further permission to stay with Eumaios.
· He worries aloud that he isn’t trained in arms and will likely do a lousy job of ousting the suitors. (Plus, he’s sort of outnumbered.)
· Odysseus/the beggar pumps his son up. He urges Telemachos to seek the aid of his brothers in ousting the suitors, adding that even if the odds are stacked against him, it’s better to die in glorious battle than to be beaten by all these suitors.
· Telemachos says he has no brothers and no chance against the suitors, who are some of the toughest men in the land.
· He sends Eumaios to Penelope with the news that he has returned, but warns the swineherd not to let the suitors hear.
· When Eumaios asks if he should take the news to suffering Laertes, Telemachos tells him to let Eurykleia the nurse tell him instead. (Keep this in mind.)
· At this point, Odysseus spots Athene outside and goes to her. Telemachos cannot see her.
· She tells Odysseus to reveal himself to Telemachos and removes his disguise with her wand.
· Telemachos is astonished by the staggering transformation and thinks Odysseus to be a god.
· While Telemachos is all overcome by wonder and happiness, Odysseus berates him for not taking the news more like a man.
· After the hugging and tears, the father and son plot to defeat the suitors. Based on Telemachos’s information, there are over one hundred of them. These are some mighty high odds.
· Telemachos despairs, but Odysseus tells him to have faith – after all, the gods are on their side. (Well, except for that one god…) Both Athene and Zeus, he says, will aid them against the suitors.
· Odysseus outlines the plan: tomorrow, Athene will disguise him as the beggar again for him to go to the royal hall. He will distract the suitors while Telemachos moves their weapons into another room and locks them up.
· Odysseus has set aside only two swords, spears, and shields for their own use. Other than that, they’re trusting in the gods to assist them.
· He also warns Telemachos not to let anyone else know that he has returned.
· The pair agrees to question the female servants of the household to discover which ones are loyal to their cause.
· Then they send a runner to the Queen with the information saying that Telemachos has returned.
· This not so smart for two reasons: one, they already sent Eumaios to do just that; and two, this runner shouts the news aloud so that everyone, including the suitors, hears.
· Twenty minutes later, Eumaios tells the queen in private that her son has returned, and she’s all, "No kidding."
· Back at the royal hall, the seabound suitors return to their friends, clearly having failed to ambush and kill Telemachos. They’re mad.
· Antinoös urges the suitors to act quickly. Now that everyone knows they’ve tried to kill Telemachos, they might as well strike the first blow.
· Another (and more prudent) suitor named Amphinomos isn’t quite so trigger-happy: he advises them to pray to the gods to see if they are favored. The others agree.
· Meanwhile, Medon, our favorite the town crier, has overheard the suitors’ plans yet again and brings the info to Penelope.
· She confronts the suitors and accuses them of trying to kill her son.
· Eurymachos is all, "Who, us? Never!" and the Queen, who is helpless because she is a woman, goes upstairs.
· Back at the hut, Athene again disguises Odysseus – just as Eumaios returns. He delivers the news that a crier ruined their secrecy and that he spotted an unknown ship coming to Ithaka. (It’s implied that this is the ship of the unsuccessful ambushing suitors.)
· Still, Odysseus and Telemachos aren’t worried. They eat their dinner in peace and go to sleep.
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