Strangers in a Strange Land

Thus far in the Odyssey, both Telemachus and Odysseus have been strangers in a strange land. What kind of reception did they receive? What does this reception tell us about the duties of a host? Do guests have a corresponding duty? What is the ideal guest-host relationship?

Fathers and Sons

During Telemachus' journey to Pylos and Sparta in Books 3 and 4, he meets or hears about several fathers and sons. He encounters Nestor and his son Psistratos, meets Menelaus as he celebrates his son's wedding and hears about the story of Agamemnon and his son Orestes. From these relationships, what can we learn about the proper relationship between father and son in Bronze Age Greece? What are a father's duties to his son -- and a son's duties to his father? What does a father teach his son?

Growing Up

At the beginning of the Odyssey, Telemachus seems young and powerless. He is completely passive in the face of the suitors abuses and they treat him like a pushover. As he embarks on a journey and the epic wears on, how and why does the character of Telemachus change?

Whose Fault Is It Anyway?

Zeus complains in Book I of the Odyssey:
Ah how shameless--the way these mortals blame the gods.
From us alone, they say, come all their miseries, yes,
but they themselves, with their own reckless ways,
compound their pains beyond their proper share (1.37-40).

What is Zeus saying? Is he right? Whose fault is it anyway that Odysseus has been wandering for ten years -- that the suitors are eating him out of house and home? From what we know of the story so far (think of the story of Agamemnon, Ajax, Menelaus and Nestor as well as Odysseus), are the gods to blame for our suffering and successes-- or are we?