Odyssey: A Collection Many Stories

Odyssey": A collection many stories woven into a single storyline

Homer's "Odyssey" is a story about a man trying to find his way home from exile. But it also begins as a tale of fathers and sons, as Odysseus' son struggles to find a way to honor his father and behave honorably towards his mother's suitors while his father is away. The story of Homer begins in Odysseus' kingdom in Ithaca. Suitors overrun the palace. All of them are vying for Odysseus' wife's hand in marriage. They think that the owner of the house is dead, but he is not. Odysseus is trapped on the island of Calypso, a nymph who is fallen in love with the king. Odysseus' son Telemachus is determined to find out what has happened to his father, because he believes, as does his mother, that his father is still alive.

In Book III, he visits one of Odysseus' old comrades-in-arms, named Nestor. Nestor is asked by Odysseus' son to hear the story of what happened to his father, and also what happened at Troy, and he obliges him. Conveniently, for the reader, this quest of Telemachus provides some background information about the drama of "The Odyssey." The tale of Odysseus begins in the middle of Odysseus' journey. Hearing other characters' accounts of Troy enable the reader to gain a better idea of what has happened, historically, before Odysseus became trapped upon Calypso's island. These stories within the main story help the reader understand the significance of what happens in the present, and also Odysseus' own later recounted memories about suffering at the hands of the Cyclops.

On the surface, Nestor wishes to inform Telemachus of what has happened because Telemachus is understandable anxious for news of his father. But in stressing the suffering that the Greek warriors endured during the siege of Troy for nine long years, according to Nestor, the old man also seems to wish to unburden his own memory of many uncomfortable recollections of his wartime experience. Nestor seems saddened by the fact that some of the best Greek warriors were killed in Troy, including Ajax, Achilles, and Patroclus as well as Nestor's own son. The fact that Nestor's own son died may make him particularly sympathetic, of course, to Telemachus' need to hear news of what happened to his father, and how the Greeks became separated at the end of the Trojan War.

Nestor explains to Telemachus that his father acquitted himself bravely during the siege of Troy, and thus he should be proud of his father's conduct as a warrior. He also says that his father was a wise and noble counselor, and the two were often in agreement during the frequent arguments within the Greek camp. But because Zeus sided with the Trojans, the god was angry with the actions of the Greeks during Troy's sacking, and tried to upset the Greek's homeward journey, despite the fact that Athena favored the Greeks, particularly Odysseus.