The Odyssey: Summary Book I
Summary Book I
The first book informs the reader of the imprisonment of Odysseus on Calypso's island, Ogygia, in the tenth year after the Trojan War. It also describes the insolence of the young nobles in Ithaca (led by Antinous and Eurymachus) who, in the absence of Odysseus, live off his wealth and woo his wife, Penelope. After the invocation to the Muses, with which the Odyssey opens, a council of the gods is summoned, during which Zeus decides that Odysseus shall return home safely and Athena shows herself to be the champion of Odysseus. The goddess visits Telemachus, son of Odysseus, in disguise, gives him courage to rebuke the suitors, and persuades him to seek news of his father by sailing to the mainland. The suitors retire to their homes and Telemachus goes to bed.
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