1.29–30 Aegisthus, who was killed / by Agamemnon’s famous son Orestes: Agamemnon was killed on his return home by the usurper Aegisthus, with the help of Agamemnon’s adulterous wife, Clytemnestra. Orestes, Agamemnon and Clytmenestra’s son, came back and killed his mother and Aegisthus.
1.63 why do you dismiss Odysseus?: The word in the original for Zeus’ hostile treatment of Odysseus, odussomai (“to hate” or in this version, “to dismiss”) is reminiscent of the name “Odysseus.” See also the notes to 19.274–75 and 19.408.
1.105 the Taphian leader: The Taphians were an island people from the Ionian Sea.
1.145 observing proper order: There may be an implication that the suitors seat themselves according to some kind of rank, with the more important ones in the group getting a more honorable position.
BOOK 2 SUMMARY
Telemachus calls an assembly and speaks to the elite men of Ithaca about the trouble caused him by the suitors. Antinous, a leading suitor, explains Penelope’s trick with the loom. Zeus sends two eagles that attack the faces of the men in the crowd, and an Ithacan named Halitherses explains that this is a prophecy that Odysseus is on his way home. Mentor speaks up for Telemachus; the suitors (Eurymachus and Leocritus) resist the warnings. Telemachus asks for a ship to travel in search of news about his father. He prays for Athena’s help; disguised as Mentor, she appears to him and promises to help him and equip a ship for him. At dinner, the suitors tease Telemachus. He slips out secretly, gets provisions with the help of Eurycleia, and goes down to the shore, where Athena, disguised as Mentor, has prepared the ship, borrowed from Noëmon, and assembled a crew. They pack up and set sail.
2.53 choose who should be her husband: Here, Telemachus makes it sound as if it is Icarius who will choose a new husband for Penelope, although later, in response to Antinous, he suggests that it is up to Penelope herself (l. 131). The ambiguity is part of a larger tension in the poem about how much agency Penelope has.
2.71 Friends, leave me be: Telemachus switches from addressing the suitors to addressing the general population of Ithaca.
2.73–74 Or did Odysseus, my warlike father, / deliberately do harm to our own side?: Irony: Telemachus assumes that it is obvious that Odysseus was always a helper to the Greek side.
2.154 their talons ripped each face and neck: The original may mean “at each other’s faces and necks” or, more likely, “ripping at their own faces and necks” (as if in a gesture of mourning, perhaps for the sorrows of the house of Telemachus—although it is hard to see how a flying bird could actually do this). The interpretation given here is linguistically difficult, but was proposed in late antiquity, and makes better sense of the sign, since the birds are presumably meant to be parallel to Telemachus and Odysseus, who will attack the suitors.
2.155 to the right they flew, across the town: Signs on the right side were supposed to be lucky, so this is a good omen.
2.160 excelled at prophecy and knew the birds: Prophets observed bird flight in order to predict the future.
2.190–91 he will be hurt, and never get to act / on any of these prophecies of yours: This line about Telemachus’ being unable to act on the prophet’s words is believed to be spurious by many editors.
2.317–19 I will try to bring down doom / on your heads here at home or when I go / to Pylos: These lines were thought to be spurious by an ancient editor (Aristarchus), presumably because they suggest that Telemachus is not sure whether he will go to Pylos or not, and hence, not sure whether he will destroy the suitors directly, or from afar.
2.320–21 I do not own / a ship or have a crew—because of you!: Telemachus has seen through Antinous’ false promise that the Greeks will provide a ship, and he is suggesting that, if he had not been deprived of his inheritance by the suitors, he would already have the means for his journey without having to rely on others.
2.386–87 the son of Phronius, / Noëmon: Both names suggest wisdom or mindfulness, and the name Phronius occurs only here.
BOOK 3 SUMMARY
Telemachus reaches Pylos, home of old King Nestor, where he receives a warm welcome. Nestor tells how the Greeks destroyed Troy, and then were cursed by Athena. The brothers Agamemnon and Menelaus quarreled, the troops split up, and the fleet was scattered on their homeward journey. Nestor himself reached home safely; Agamemnon was killed by Aegisthus, who had seduced his wife; Menelaus was swept off to Egypt by a storm. Nestor warns Telemachus to remember the story of Aegisthus, and be wary. He advises him to go visit Menelaus, and then go back home. Nestor insists that Telemachus must stay the night, and sends him off in the morning with gifts, a carriage to get to Sparta, and his son Pisistratus as a companion.
3.1 Leaving the Ocean’s streams: The Ocean was imagined as a vast river running round the landmass of the world.
3.2 the sky of bronze: The word used in the original, polychalkos, translates literally as “of much bronze,” which could mean that the gods in heaven are well supplied with bronze implements, or that the sky is solid and firm, like bronze, or that it is bright and shiny.
3.68 Gerenian Nestor: Gerenia is a town where Nestor took refuge when Heracles was attacking Pylos; Nestor was the sole survivor of his generation.
3.91 Amphitrite’s waves: Amphitrite, the wife of Poseidon, is a sea goddess, used here as a metonym for the sea itself.
3.133 some of us had neither sense nor morals: Ajax raped the Trojan priestess Cassandra (daughter of Priam) in a temple to Athena; Nestor alludes to this violation but never spells it out. The pollution to her temple is what caused the unappeasable rage of Athena and Zeus.
3.137–38 they called the people / at sunset, not observing proper norms: The suggestion is that the Greeks will inevitably be tired and drunk if called to a meeting at the wrong time, after dinner.
3.170–73 Should we travel north . . . or under Chios, passing blustery Mimas?: The latter is the longer but safer route, with less open sea.
3.178 nightfall in Geraestus: Geraestus was the southernmost part of Euboea.
3.189 Achilles’ son led home the Myrmidons: The Myrmidons are a Thessalian tribe and Achilles’ men in The Iliad. Neoptolemus (also known as Pyrrhus) was Achilles’ son; he led the tribe after his father’s death.
3.190 Philoctetes came back home with glory: Philoctetes was a hero with a wounded foot that never healed; his bow was essential in the final destruction of Troy.
3.191–92 Idomeneus led back his crew / to Crete: Idomeneus is a Cretan king; he will appear later in Odysseus’ false tales of traveling in Crete.