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Summary

Community summary are the opinions of contributing users. These summary do not represent the opinions of Vancouver Public Library.
wooknight
Starts with Odysseus in the clutches of Calypso and interestingly half the story is told in a flashback mode . Probably the first time that the flashback concept was ever used . This is the story of a man who is try to return home from the Trojan war and is unable to get home to his loyal wife and son because the gods constantly set obstacles in his path. One has to wonder if Homer intended to depict his gods as separate entities who were controlling human destinies or were they intended to be metaphorical i.e when Athena makes Odysseus look larger , is that hinting at the fact that Odysseus felt courage surging through his heart and hence looked larger than life or was Athena doing that . It seems that these issues crop up all over the Iliad as well as the Odyssey .