Summary of Book 1, 2, 3, 4 of The Odyssey by Homer

Running head: English Literature
English Literature
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

Summary of book 1 of odyssey
‘The Odyssey’, the epic poem written by Homer opens by invoking the muse to inspire
him to tell the story of Odysseus. The epic begins with the narrative of the era after the Trojan
War ended, and to be very specific the story is about Illiad (Webster, 2014). As the story unveils,
Odysseus is on the island named Ogygia with goddess Calypso while other Greek heroes come
back home. Calypso fell in love with him and refuses him to let him go back to his family. In the
meantime, Penelope remains occupied in fighting with suitors who are trying to replace the
Odysseus after assuming him to be dead (Helms, 2014). After being convinced by Athena, Zeus
orders Poseidon to let Odysseus to go.
In addition, Poseidon, the god of sea tries to take revenge on Odysseus since he has
blinded Poseidon’s son (Harrison, 2013). With the unfolding of the narrative, the discordance of
Athens is seen in order to provide counseling to Telemachus, Odysseus’s son who fails
repetitively in order to regain his ownership over his home which has been hostage under the
suitors of Penelope (Williams, 2014). Under the disguise of the character named Mentes, Athens
goes to odysseues’s place, Ithaca and informs Telemechus that his father will soon return to his
home (Nietzsche, 2016). However, by the time he comes back to his family, Telemechus is
required to provide protection to his mother Penelope as well as his home from the suitors.
Summary of Book 2, 3, 4
The book 2 witnesses Telemechuses’s gathering of an assembly of Achaeans and plans to
drive out the suitors from his house. With the assistance of Athena’s divine power, Telemechus
threatens the suitors with all the divine vengeance and courage for their uncustomary behavior
(Bowie, 2014). After Telemechus reveals his hopes of punishing the suitors, an omen consisting