Talk:The Ancient World (HUM 124 - UNC Asheville)/Texts/Odyssey/Book 23

Formatting the characters section
I added some formatting on the characters section. If this doesn't work, feel free to change it! -Joey Cross (discuss • contribs) 14:39, 21 September 2020 (UTC)

Hierarchy
This discussion is great! Very happy to see it based on actual quotations. Could you add a few sentences at the beginning of the paragraph and try and summarize, or distill down the main idea you are conveying in these quotes? What do they say about hierarchy as part of the ancient worldview? And not just, "Hierarchy was an important feature of the ancient Greek worldview"....what specifically do these quotes say? -Joey Cross (discuss • contribs) 14:48, 21 September 2020 (UTC)

Drafted parts
Summary Book 23 opens with an old slave enthusiastically approaching the sleeping queen, Penelope, to inform her of the return of her beloved Odysseus. Penelope woke up and cautiously replied to the woman that she was going insane; that the gods have made her crazy. She questions the slave by saying there is no other reason why she would be mocking her in her time of grief. Aggravated, she tells the slave to leave her alone and if any other slaves approach her with this lie, they will face much harsher consequence. Eurycleia, the slave, replies that she is not lying nor mocking her, she also informs Penelope that her son has known of Odysseus' return for a while, but no one has said anything so that he could carry out his plan to kill the suitors in consequence for their disrespect. This excites Penelope, and the slave begins to repeat to Penelope what she has already told her. Penelope begins to doubt whether he has truly returned again. The slave rebuttals this doubt with proof that it is indeed him; when washing Odysseus, she saw his scar. Penelope still carries doubt. She goes down to meet her son and the man who has killed the suitors, and is taken back by who she sees. She recognizes him, but at the same time she doesn't; he is extremely dirty and not as dressed up as he normally would be. She doesn't say anything to him because of fear she is being deceived. Telemachus gets annoyed with his mother, scolding her for being so cold-hearted to her husband who has suffered for twenty years. Penelope replies that she is confused and Odysseus says to their son to allow his mother to test him out. They all wash and change their clothes and Penelope sees Odysseus as she remembers him. Penelope is still wary; she instructs the slave to make the bed outside the room he built himself to see how he replies. As she expected, he replied to her explaining how he built this bed and this bedroom himself, something only the two of them know. They rejoice and celebrate being together in bed by making love and telling stories. Odysseus warns Penelope of their future, and he leaves with their son and herdsmen. Main Characters Penelope: Wife of Odysseus, is confused by the reveal of her husband's return, and doubts it at first. Once Odysseus solidifies it was truly him, Penelope's doubts were diminished. Eurycleia: One of Penelope's slaves; she is the person who informs Penelope of her husbands return. Telemachus: Penelope and Odysseus' son; he becomes aggravated with his mother for not immediately showing affection and emotion to Odysseus, and he compares her heart to being harder than rock. He does not truly understand the love his parents share. Odysseus: Odysseus had just killed all of the suitors and had sent Eurycleia for his wife. At first he seems not exactly like the Odysseus she once knew, but he proves to her something only the two of them know. Setting The setting is entirely in Odysseus and Penelope's house; the chapter starts in Penelope's bedroom and eventually she meets Odysseus again for the first time in some type of sitting room, with a lit fireplace. They all get dressed and ready and dance, inferring that the setting could potentially have moved to a ballroom. To end the chapter, the setting is in Penelope and Odysseus' bedroom.

An anonymous editor!
Can whoever edited under the IP address 152.18.117.24 (see "View history") let me know who they are, so I can give you credit? :) -Joey Cross (discuss • contribs) 14:30, 30 September 2020 (UTC)