A Tale Never Forgotten
...gia, where Odysseus has been the prisoner of the sea nymph Calypso for seven years. The setting of “The Odyssey” covers much of the world and the underworld in Greek mythology. Throughout the poem, the reader is given examples of the vast setting. Odysseus travels across the sea to many places that he had never visited. He travels to the underworld. Homer gives the reader thorough details of all of the vast settings. Another characteristic of this epic poem is Odysseus’s imposing stature. When Odysseus returns to Ithaca, he strings his bow and continues to slaughter the suitors who threatened his rule. “Now that he’s got his hands on bow and quiver he’ll shoot from the big door stone there until he kills us to the last man (Homer 305).” Stringing his bow and shooting it repeatedly shows great stature, especially when his wife’s strongest suitor could not pull the bowstrings. This proves that he is a larger than life man with great strength. Supernatural forces are at work throughout “The Odyssey”. Athena shows herself to Odysseus and gives him advice time after time. In the beginning of the poem, at a council of the gods on Mount Olympus, Zeus decides the time has come for Odysseus to return to his wife, Penelope, in Ithaca. The god Hermes appears several times in the poem. In the beginning of the poem, Hermes goes to release Odysseus and tells Calypso “Zeus made me come, and not to my inclination…(Homer 103).” Almost every page of the poem has at least one reference to the gods. One of the main characteristics of “The Odyssey” that proves it is an epic poem is that it is based around a central hero whose actions determine the fate of his kingdom. While suitors threaten his throne in Ithaca, the ...