The Odyssey Book Four: The King & Queen of Sparta

This week Adam Minihan returns to discuss Book Four of the Odyssey with Father Bonaventure, OP – a Dominican Friar of the Province of St. Joseph.

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23.      What happens in book four?

Telemachus arrives in Sparta to find King Menelaus hosting a “double-wedding feast;” as Menelaus’ daughter is marrying the son of Achilles, and Menelaus’ son is marrying a girl from Sparta (4.04). Telemachus and Nestor’s son, Pisistratus, are received warmly (4.68). Though a gracious host, Menelaus still mourns for his brother, Agamemnon (4.103), and for all the men lost in the Trojan war, especially Odysseus (4.120). Menelaus and Helen recognize Telemachus by his likeness to his father (4.131, 158).

The next day, Menelaus tells Telemachus of his journey home from Troy (4.391). He and his men were stuck on the island of Pharos (4.396). After wrestling Proteus, the Old Man of the Sea, he is told he failed to offer sacrifices to the deathless gods before leaving Troy (4.530); and now for penance, he must return to Egypt and make a “splendid sacrifice” (4.535). Menelaus asks about the fate of his comrades, and Proteus tells him the stories of little Ajax, Agamemnon, and Odysseus—the last of which is held captive by the sea nymph Calypso (4.627). Menelaus did as the Old Man of the Sea said, and he then returned home to Sparta (4.657). 

The narrative shifts to Queen Penelope in Ithaca (4.703). The suitors, led by Antinous, discover Telemachus has taken a ship to Pylos (4.711), and they elect to send out their own ship to ambush him (4.753). Penelope is told Telemachus is gone and that the suitors plan to murder him (4.784). Eurycleia, the old nurse, tells Penelope she helped Telemachus prepare for his departure, and advises the queen to pray to Athena (4.836). Penelope prays to Athena, and Athena sends a phantom of Penelope’s sister to reassure the queen Telemachus is safe (4.930). The book ends with the suitors setting sail to ambush Telemachus (4.947).

24.      What do we observe about the character of Menelaus?

Notice that Menelaus agrees to welcome Telemachus and Pisistratus by first recalling all the hospitality he received on his journey home (4.38). He displays a certain gratitude and dare we say humility in passing on what he has received. A similar disposition is found in his piety of not wanting to be compared to Zeus (4.87). The pious but somber Menelaus declares: “So I rule all this wealth with no great joy,” as he recalls the death of his brother, Agamemnon (4.103). Moreover, he seems to lament the entire Trojan war, stating he would have rather stayed home with the wealth he had and the friends he lost at Troy—note, however, the implications of this statement regarding his wife, Helen (4.108).

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