4.30.18+and+5.1.18

Summary: End of Book 23
Book 24: Beginning of Book 24:
 * ===Finally assured that it is Odysseus, Penelope and Odysseus finally embrace and are filled with joy. However, before they can get carried away, Odysseus tells her of the journey Tiresias told him he will need to take to make a sacrifice to Poseidon in the future. He also says he’ll live to a ripe old age with Penelope. She takes comfort in this. ===
 * Athena extends the night.
 * After some taking “delight” in each other, Penelope tells him of Ithaca and all that passed when he was away. Then Odysseus tells her of his journey in detail.
 * They sleep until Athena thinks they’ve had enough, she brings dawn to Ithaca.
 * Odysseus tells Penelope that soon enough he’ll get back all that the suitors took, but first he must go see his father. He sends her to her rooms with the women, grabs Telemachus, the swineherd, and the cowherd, and sets off in a protected “cloud of darkness/fog” created by Athena.
 * Hermes leads the suitor’s down to Hades where they encounter many of Greeks famous shades, and they tell stories of their great deeds (Achilles and Agamemnon mostly)
 * Once in Hades, Agamemnon recognizes Amphimedon and asks why all these men in their prime are dead. The suitors tell Agamemnon of the happenings in Odysseus’ palace, of their courting of Penelope, of Odysseus’ return, and of their deaths
 * Agamemnon praises Penelope’s devotion to her husband (ironic/fitting since his wife plotted his murder with her lover…)
 * They continue to trade stories
 * Meanwhile in Ithaca, Odysseus and his men are off to see Laertes (his father) who lives on a farm outside of the city.
 * Like always, Odysseus does not reveal himself, but puts his father to the test once he comes upon him working in the garden
 * Odysseus tests him by acting as if Laertes appears as a slave, asking who his master is, and asking for clarification that he is in Ithaca
 * He describes meeting a man who called himself Laertes’ son in the past and the noble gifts he gave him. Laertes responds with tears and the assumption that Odysseus is dead. He asks for the man’s story.
 * Odysseus makes up an identity and says he met Odysseus five years in the past. At this, Laertes weeps in grief. Unable to see his father in pain, Odysseus finally reveals his true identity and proves it to his father by showing that boar’s scar again and describing a story from his childhood about the trees they stand by.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Laertes realizes it is his son and is overjoyed. They go back to his house, Athena makes him look younger, and Odysseus is greeted by a few other men who are loyal to him and overjoyed to see him too. The men begin to plan for the imminent attack by the Ithacans (angered over the suitors’ deaths)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The families of the suitors have gathered in the assembly square ready for revenge. Then Medon and the bard enter the assembly…

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">What was the most interesting part of the poem, or most interesting character for you? Why?
===<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Think of all the characters we have encountered in The Odyssey. Which one deserves his or her own story? How would his or her point of view change the story we’ve been reading? Consider the monsters! ☺ ===

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">What role do women play in the text, and how do they help/hurt Odysseus?
===<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Motif essay: What motifs are present in the text? (hospitality, reputation, weaving, magic, lying, physical strength, mental strength, food/drink, being lost, temptation...) ===