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Foreshadowing
Book 1
Explanation and Analysis:
Alongside The Iliad, The Odyssey is one of two Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. Many of the conventions that characterize the epic genre stem from these two major works, both composed in the 8th or 7th century BCE. The famous opening lines of the poem have been echoed in many later epics:
Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy.
Many cities of men he saw and learned their minds,
many pains he suffered, heartsick on the open sea,
fighting to save his life and bring his comrades home.
But he could not save them from disaster, hard as he strove — [...]
Launch out on his story, Muse, daughter of Zeus,
start from where you will —sing for our time too.
Homer begins with a typical invocation of the muses, calling on the goddesses responsible for artistic inspiration to help guide his narration. Next, he refers to the protagonist of his story, Odysseus, with the epithet "the man of twists and turns." Throughout The Odyssey, he uses a wide plethora of epic epithets to describe characters, both gods and mortals, from the "clear-eyed goddess" (Athena) to "Giant Killer" (Hermes). These opening lines also establish the epic scale of the poem, providing an overview of Odysseus's adventure, from the sack of Troy to the various trials and tribulations faced by Odysseus and his crew on their ill-fated return voyage to Ithaca.
