The Odyssey Foreshadowing Quotes

Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns - Odyssey quote

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 –
the recklessness of their own ways destroyed them all,
the blind fools, they devoured the cattle of the Sun
and the Sungod blotted out the day of their return.
Launch out on his story, Muse, daughter of Zeus,
start from where you will – sing for our time too.

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 1, lines 1-12. These are the opening words to Homer’s masterpiece, The Odyssey, one of the most important and enduring works of Western literature. We get a brief synopsis of the story of the epic poem. It chronicles the long journey home of Odysseus, after his time spent fighting in the Trojan War. There is much foreshadowing in the passage. We learn that Odysseus is driven off course many times on his perilous voyage home. He also tries to bring home his comrades, but fails. They are killed by the god Helios for their reckless action in consuming his cattle. At the beginning of the poem the narrator invokes the Muse – the Muses were ancient Greece’s goddesses of literature, science and the arts. The poet asks the Muse for inspiration to learn about the "man of twists and turns" and his arduous journey home. Written in the late 8th or 9th century BC, The Odyssey remains one of the all-time greatest quest stories.

First by far to see her was Prince Telemachus,
sitting among the suitors, heart obsessed with grief.
He could almost see his magnificent father, here…
in the mind’s eye – if only he might drop from the clouds
and drive these suitors all in a rout throughout the halls
and regain his pride of place and rule his own domains!

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 1, lines 132-137. We are introduced to Odysseus’ son Telemachus for the first time. We are told by way of a heart metaphor that he is full of grief for his absent father. He is the first to notice Athena, who appears in the form of Mentes. We get foreshadowing in this passage of what will happen when Odysseus routs the suitors.

"But I’ll cry out to the everlasting gods in hopes
that Zeus will pay you back with a vengeance – all of you
destroyed in my house while I go scot-free myself!"
And to seal his prayer, farseeing Zeus sent down a sign.
He launched two eagles soaring high from a mountain ridge
and down they glided, borne on the wind’s draft a moment,
wing to wingtip, pinions straining taut till just
above the assembly’s throbbing hum they whirled,
suddenly, wings thrashing, wild onslaught of wings
and banking down at the crowd’s heads – a glaring, fatal sign –
talons slashing each other, tearing cheeks and throats
they swooped away on the right through homes and city."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 2, lines 161-172. The theme of the gods intervening in the affairs of humans is illustrated here. Telemachus prays to Zeus to pay the suitors back for their behavior. Immediately the father of the gods answers his prayer with a "fatal" omen, sending down two fighting eagles tearing at each other over the heads of the crowd. This foreshadows that the suitors will pay the supreme penalty for their crimes. Telemachus demonstrates his courage in standing up to the suitors.

"Hear me, men of Ithaca! Hear what I have to say,
though my revelations strike the suitors first of all –
a great disaster is rolling like a breaker toward their heads.
Clearly Odysseus won’t be far from loved ones any longer –
now, right now, he’s somewhere near, I tell you,
breeding bloody death for all these suitors here."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 2, lines 180-185. The prophet Halitherses, who can read bird signs, sounds this warning when Zeus sends down a sign with two fighting eagles tearing each other’s throats and cheeks. He predicts that Odysseus who is close by will bring bloody death to the suitors. In a simile he compares the great disaster approaching them to a heavy sea wave rolling towards their heads. The suitors’ violent end is foreshadowed here.

"I myself
am no stranger to prophecy – I can see it now!
Odysseus…all is working out for him, I say,
just as I said it would that day the Argives sailed
for Troy and the mastermind of battle boarded with them.
I said then: after many blows, and all his shipmates lost,
after twenty years had wheeled by, he would come home,
unrecognized by all…
and now, look, it all comes to pass!"

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 2, lines 190-198. Ithacan prophet Halitherses predicts that Odysseus will come home after twenty years with all shipmates lost and nobody will recognize him. Odysseus’ incognito return is foreshadowed.

A wail of grief –
and his fond old nurse burst out in protest, sobbing:
"Why, dear child, what craziness got into your head?
Why bent on rambling over the face of the earth? –
a darling only son! Your father’s worlds away,
god’s own Odysseus, dead in some strange land.
And these brutes here, just wait, the moment you’re gone
they’ll all be scheming against you."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 2, lines 399-401. Eurycleia pleads with Telemachus not to sail to Pylos in search of information about his missing father. She predicts – correctly – that as soon as he is gone the suitors will be scheming against him. This foreshadows the suitors’ plot to kill Telemachus. The passage also shows the great love Telemachus’ old nurse has for him and her loyalty to his family.

"If only the gods would arm me in such power
I’d take revenge on the lawless, brazen suitors
riding roughshod over me, plotting reckless outrage.
But for me the gods have spun out no such joy,
for my father or myself. I must bear up,
that’s all."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 3, lines 233-238. Telemachus wishes that the gods would give him the power of Orestes, who avenged his father’s murder, so he could take his revenge on the shameless suitors. Telemachus believes that the gods have no such plan for his father and himself. We have dramatic irony here, since the reader is in the know about Athena helping Odysseus to return home, where he will be able to deal with the suitors. The passage foreshadows the suitors’ fate.

"but what a feat that hero dared and carried off
in the land of Troy where you Achaeans suffered!
Scarring his own body with mortifying strokes,
throwing filthy rags on his back like any slave,
he slipped into the enemy’s city, roamed its streets –
all disguised, a totally different man, a beggar."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 4, lines 272-277. Helen tells the story of how Odysseus cunningly disguised himself as a begger to slip into Troy unrecognized during the Trojan war. This foreshadows the exact same tactics being used by Odysseus, with Athena’s help, to return unnoticed to Ithaca.

"Now Zeus commands you to send him off with all good speed:
it is not his fate to die here, far from his own people.
Destiny still ordains that he shall see his loved ones,
reach his high-roofed house, his native land at last."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 5, lines 125-128. Hermes tells Calypso of Zeus’ command that she must release Odysseus. Destiny has ordained that the Greek hero will return to native land and home at last, Hermes says. This prophecy foreshadows that Odysseus will reach his home in Ithaca.

"But since there is no way for another god to thwart
the will of storming Zeus and make it come to nothing,
let the man go – if the Almighty insists, commands –
and destroy himself on the barren salt sea!
I’ll send him off, but not with any escort."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 5, lines 152-156. Calypso agrees to Zeus’s command, delivered to her by Hermes, to allow Odysseus leave her island. She acknowledges that no other god can go against the will of Zeus. This foreshadows Odysseus’ release from Ogygia.

"So then,
royal son of Laertes, Odysseus, man of exploits,
still eager to leave at once and hurry back
to your own home, your beloved native land?
Good luck to you, even so. Farewell!
But if you only knew, down deep, what pains
are fated to fill your cup before you reach that shore,
you’d stay right here, preside in our house with me
and be immortal."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 5, lines 223-231. Begging Odysseus to stay with her, Calypso tries to seduce him with the offer of immortality and promise to save him from future woes. His journey back to his homeland will be filled with pain, she prophesies. This foreshadows that the rest of Odysseus’ journey to Ithaca without his crew will be a very difficult one.

the assembly seats were filled with people thronging,
gazing in wonder at the seasoned man of war…
Over Odysseus’ head and shoulders now
Athena lavished a marvelous splendor, yes,
making him taller, more massive to all eyes,
so Phaeacians might regard the man with kindness,
awe and respect as well, and he might win through
the many trials they’d pose to test the hero’s strength.

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 8, lines 18-25. Athena alters Odysseus’ physical appearance by making him taller and more massive, so that the Phaeacians will be more kind and respectful to him. This passage also foreshadows the "trials" of strength that Odysseus will be put through by the Phaeacians.

"I’ll take on all contenders, gladly, test them head-to-head!
I’m no disgrace in the world of games where men compete.
Well I know how to handle a fine polished bow,
the first to hit my man in a mass of enemies,
even with rows of comrades pressing near me,
taking aim with our shafts to hit our targets."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 8, lines 244-249. After winning the discus competition at the Phaeacian games, Odysseus brags about his prowess at handling a bow and picking off his enemies. As well as demonstrating his pride, this foreshadows how Odysseus will later use his bow to kill the suitors.

"Look how limping Hephaestus conquers War,
the quickest of all the gods who rule Olympus!"
"The cripple wins by craft."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 8, lines 373-375. The gods laugh and cry out at the end of the bard Demodocus’ story, when crippled god of fire Hephaestus finds wife Aphrodite and lover and god of war Ares in his marriage bed. Hephaestus cleverly traps the pair with "cunning chains" which he forged so they "could not move a limb or lift a finger." This act of divine justice foreshadows how Odysseus will lay a trap for Penelope’s suitors and inflict a surprise defeat on them.

A grim loner, dead set in his own lawless ways.
Here was a piece of work, by god, a monster
built like no mortal who ever supped on bread,
no, like a shaggy peak, I’d say – a man-mountain
rearing head and shoulders over the world.

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 9, lines 210-214. Odysseus gives us a description of Polyphemus, as he spies the cavern of the one-eyed giant along the shore of the Cyclops’ island, with flocks of sheep and goats stalled there. A metaphor compares the Cyclops to a shaggy mountain. The passage portrays that he is huge and hairy, savage and and lives in solitude. He is also a monster and is lawless, foreshadowing the terrible events that are about to happen.

"Strangers!" he thundered out, "now who are you?
Where did you sail from, over the running sea-lanes?
Out on a trading spree or roving the waves like pirates,
sea-wolves raiding at will, who risk their lives
to plunder other men?"

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 9, lines 284-288. Polyphemus confronts Odysseus and his men over invading his cave and stealing his food. In a simile he compares them to pirates roving the seas and bent on plunder. He warns that they are risking their lives taking what belongs to him. This is foreshadowing that some of them will pay for this with their lives.

"A sweet smooth journey home, renowned Odysseus,
that is what you seek
but a god will make it hard for you – I know –
you will never escape the one who shakes the earth,
quaking with anger at you still, still enraged
because you blinded the Cyclops, his dear son."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 11, lines 111-116. Prophet Tiresias warns Odysseus that Poseidon will make his journey home to Ithaca difficult, because he blinded the god’s son Polyphemus. His prophecy foreshadows the misfortunes and pain that Odysseus has yet to face.

"There you will find them grazing,
herds and fat flocks, the cattle of Helios,
god of the sun who sees all, hears all things.
Leave the beasts unharmed, your mind set on home,
and you all may still reach Ithaca – bent with hardship,
true – but harm them in any way, and I can see it now:
your ship destroyed, your men destroyed as well."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 11, lines 122-128. The prophet Tiresias warns Odysseus and his men not to kill and eat the cattle of the sun god Helios. If they leave them unharmed, they may all still reach home. But slaughter them and Tiresias prophesies that a grim fate awaits them: their ship destroyed with all of Odysseus’ men. There is much foreshadowing here.

"And even if you escape, you’ll come home late
and come a broken man – all shipmates lost,
alone in a stranger’s ship –
and you will find a world of pain at home,
crude, arrogant men devouring all your goods,
courting your noble wife, offering gifts to win her.
No doubt you will pay them back in blood when you come home!"

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 11, 129-135. Tiresias prophesies that if Odysseus escapes the destruction of his ship for killing the sun god’s cattle, he will come home a broken man, his shipmates dead. He will discover a world of pain at home: greedy suitors devouring his estate and courting his wife. He forecasts that Odysseus will exact vengeance on them. The fates of many are foreshadowed in this passage.

"But once you have killed those suitors in your halls –
by stealth or in open fight with slashing bronze –
go forth once more, you must…
carry your well-planed oar until you come
to a race of people who know nothing of the sea,
whose food is never seasoned with salt, strangers all
to ships with their crimson prows and long slim oars,
wings that make ships fly. And here is your sign –
unmistakable, clear, so clear you cannot miss it:
When another traveler falls in with you and calls
that weight across your shoulder a fan to winnow grain,
then plant your bladed, balanced oar in the earth
and sacrifice fine beasts to the lord god of the sea,
Poseidon – a ram, a bull and a ramping wild boar –
then journey home and render noble offerings up
to the deathless gods who rule the vaulting skies,
to all the gods in order.
And at last your own death will steal upon you…
a gentle, painless death, far from the sea it comes
to take you down, borne down with the years in ripe old age
with all your people there in blessed peace around you.
All that I have told you will come true."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 11, lines 136-157. Odysseus that he has one last journey to make before he dies a gentle death in his old age, Tiresias prophesies. After arriving home and killing the suitors, Odysseus must journey to a race of people who don’t know the sea, plant his oar in the earth, and sacrifice a ram, bull and wild boar to Poseidon. Then he must return home and honor all the gods with offerings. This would be seen as atonement by Odysseus for having blinded the sea god’s son. This passage foreshadows the deaths of the suitors.

"No mariners yet can boast they’ve raced their ship
past Scylla’s lair without some mortal blow –
with each of her six heads she snatches up
a man from the dark-prowed craft and whisks him off."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 12, lines 108-111. Circe warns Odysseus of the deadly danger posed by the female monster Scylla to mariners. None have yet managed to get their ship past her cave without her snatching up a man with each of her six heads. This is foreshadowing of what will happen to Odysseus’ men.

"No, hug Scylla’s crag – sail on past her – top speed!
Better by far to lose six men and keep your ship
than lose your entire crew."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 12, lines 119-121. Circe advises Odysseus how to navigate the straits between the two crags where Charybdis and Scylla are. He must avoid the whirlpool of Charybdis at all costs and sail by Scylla’s crag. It is preferable to lose six of his men to Scylla than his entire crew and ship to Charybdis, Circe tells him. This foreshadows that Odysseus will indeed lose some of his men.

But then, when supplies aboard had all run dry,
when the men turned to hunting, forced to range
for quarry with twisted hooks: for fish, birds,
anything they could lay their hands on –
hunger racked their bellies – I struck inland,
up the island, there to pray to the gods.
If only one might show me some way home!
Crossing into the heartland, clear of the crew,
I rinsed my hands in a sheltered spot, a windbreak,
but soon as I’d prayed to all the gods who rule Olympus,
down on my eyes they poured a sweet, sound sleep…
as Eurylochus opened up his fatal plan to friends.

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 12, lines 354-365. Odysseus falls asleep, allowing the mutinous Eurylochus to rally the starving ship’s crew to eat the sun god’s cattle. Odysseus blames the gods for making him fall asleep at the wrong time. The death of the crew is foreshadowed here, when Odysseus speaks of Eurylochus’ "fatal plan."

"Listen to me, my comrades, brothers in hardship.
All ways of dying are hateful to us poor mortals,
true, but to die of hunger, starve to death –
that’s the worst of all. So up with you now,
let’s drive off the pick of Helios’ sleek herds,
slaughter them to the gods who rule the skies up there.
If we ever make it home to Ithaca, native ground,
erect at once a glorious temple to the Sungod,
line the walls with hoards of dazzling gifts!
But if the Sun, inflamed for his longhorn cattle,
means to wreck our ship and the other gods pitch in –
I’d rather die at sea, with one deep gulp of death,
than die by inches on this desolate island here!"

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 12, lines 366-378. A storm has trapped Odysseus’ and his crew on Thrinacia for a month, the island where sun god Helios keeps his cattle. Odysseus’ men are hungry and their master is sleeping. So Eurylochus suggests to the men that they should eat Helios’ cattle – a fatal decision for them. This is despite numerous warnings by Odysseus. This passage foreshadows that all of the men – with the exception of Odysseus – will die at sea.

"Take it to heart, I tell you.
Picked men of the suitors lie in ambush, grim-set
in the straits between Ithaca and rocky Same,
poised to kill you before you can reach home,
but I have my doubts they will."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 15, lines 31-35. Goddess Athena warns Telemachus in Sparta that some of the suitors are planning to ambush his ship and kill him on his way home. But Athena, who is goddess of justice, says "I have my doubts they will." This suggests, and foreshadows, that she will do all in her power to help the young prince avoid the ambush and ensure that justice prevails.
    • 1
    • 2
Close