Where is Odysseus as Book 1 opens? What is preventing him from returning home to his wife Penelope and son Telemachus in Ithaca? How has his situation changed by the end of Book 5? 2. What does Penelope think has probably happened to Odysseus? What problems has she been facing as a result of Odysseus’ failure to return, and how has she dealt with them? 3. What is Telemachus’ attitude toward his parents’ situations at the start of Book 1, and how has it changed by the end of Book 2? What new information and insights does he gain from his visits to Nestor and Menelaus in Books 3 and 4? 4. What are Penelope’s suitors planning to do to Telemachus as Book 4 ends? Why do you think the poem leaves that story line unresolved and shifts the focus to Odysseus in Book 5? 5. In what ways does the goddess Athena provide advice and assistance to Telemachus in Books 1 – 4? How do other gods/goddesses affect what happens to Odysseus in Book 5?
World Literature before 1660.
