Nostos describes the homecoming of the heroes after the Trojan War.[1] The importance of homecoming lies in its tie to kleos (glory). Returning home safe and sound not only secures one’s share of geras (prizes), but also gives one the opportunity to narrate one’s valorous deeds on the battlefields to friends, family members, and fellow countrymen. Thus, nostos helps to retain the hero’s status and identity as the hero physically arrives.[2] Because of its cultural significance in the ancient world, the theme of nostos plays a major part in literature about the Trojan War.

Characters experiencing Nostos in the Odyssey:

The Odyssey presents the nostos of three heroes—Agamemnon, Odysseus, and Telemachus. While Agamemnon’s and Telemachus’s nostos are minor, Odysseus’s homecoming spans throughout the entire epic.

The tale of Agamemnon’s homecoming appears mostly through Menelaus’s painful narration in Book 4.[3] While arriving safely at home, Agamemnon is tricked and murdered by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus.

Odysseus’s homecoming contains a lot of adventures. He encounters the Cyclops Polyphemus, has an affair with the sorceress Circe, visits friends in the underworld, counters the sirens’ attempt of destroying him, and escapes the confining love of Calypso.[4] Odysseus’s wish of nostos persists throughout these adventures. Despite facing many hardships and temptations, Odysseus often reminds himself and tells others that he wants to return to Ithaca.

Adventure and homecoming also propel the minor storyline of Telemachus in the first and last few books of the Odyssey. While paying visit to Pylos and Sparta for knowing where his father is in first few books, Telemachus returns home from his small adventure in time for his father’s major nostos.[5] The conclusion of the two homecomings lead to the epic’s ending, where Odysseus and Telemachus kill the suitors and regain their power.[6]

Athena’s involvement with Odysseus’s Nostos:

As Odysseus is her favorite, Athena—acting as his protectress—plays an important role before and after his homecoming.[7] Since multiple deities, notably Poseidon, try to make Odysseus continue his suffering adventures due to their anger with Odysseus, Athena makes Father Zeus swear an oath that Odysseus will finally gain nostos despite all the hardships Odysseus encounters.[8] This brings Zeus to send a message to Calypso via Hermes, letting Odysseus break free from the nymph.[9] When Odysseus arrives at Ithaca but fails to recognize the place around him, Athena not only informs him his success of coming home, but also advises him what to do in order to attack on the suitors in his home. She especially guides Odysseus to disguise as a beggar.

Other deities’ involvements with Odysseus’s Nostos:

Aiding Athena, Zeus and Hermes support Odysseus—who is related to the both deities—on his homecoming.[10] Given the solemn promises that Odysseus will return home, Zeus sends Hermes as a messenger for persuading Calypso to release Odysseus.[11]

The deities who oppose Odysseus’s nostos are Calypso and Poseidon. Poseidon is angry with Odysseus because Odysseus blinds one eye of his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus.[12] Being in love with Odysseus, Calypso takes him as her lover and does not wish to let him go. When Hermes urges her to release Odysseus, Calypso still seduces Odysseus with her immortal beauty that is far superior to Penelope’s. She entreaties Odysseus with immortality if he stays with her and abandons all hopes of returning home.

Connotations of nostos in the Odyssey:

The theme of nostos has different connotations for Telemachus and Odysseus. As a young man, Telemachus’s homecoming means his transformation from childhood to manhood. Initially, Telemachus is timid and weak, hardly able to restrain the suitors. Following his nostos, however, Telemachus transforms into a valiant fighter against the suitors.[13]

For Odysseus, nostos means both retaining his status and escaping death.[14] Odysseus’s return to Ithaca restores order in his palace and reinstates the power of his house as the ruling family. Many creatures in his adventure—the Cyclops Polyphemus, the sirens, and Scylla—threaten mortal lives. Odysseus’s success of homecoming comes from escaping the various menaces of his life.

Bibliography:

  1. Bonifazi, Anna. “Inquiring into Nostos and Its Cognates.” American Journal of Philology 130, no. 4 (2009): 481-510.
  2. Alexopoulou, Marigo. The Theme of Returning Home in Ancient Greek Literature: The Nostos of the Epic Heroes. New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 2009.
  3. Homer. Odyssey. Translated by Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co., 2000.
  4. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. “Odysseus.” 2012. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001/acref-9780199545568-e-4515?rskey=4HbT7n&result=6.
  5. Greek Mythology Link. “Telemachus.” Accessed March 6th, 2020. http://www.maicar.com/GML/Telemachus.html.
  6. Greek Mythology Link. “Odysseus.” Accessed March 6th, 2020. http://www.maicar.com/GML/Odysseus.html.
  7. Brill’s New Pauly, “Odysseus.” Accessed March 5th, 2020. https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly-supplements-i-4/odysseus-e828400?s.num=11&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.cluster.New+Pauly+Online&s.q=homecoming.
  8. Encyclopedia Mythica. “Odysseus.” Accessed March 5th, 2020. https://pantheon.org/articles/o/odysseus.html.
  9. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. “Telemachus.” 2005. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198606413.001.0001/acref-9780198606413-e-6261?rskey=YS0Nuh&result=2.

[1] Anna Bonifazi, “Inquiring into Nostos and Its Cognates,” American Journal of Philology 130, no. 4 (2009): 481;

[2] Marigo Alexopoulou, The Theme of Returning Home in Ancient Greek Literature: The Nostos of the Epic Heroes (New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 2009), 2–5;

[3] Homer, Odyssey, trans. Stanley Lombardo (Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co., 2000): 58-60;

[4] “Odysseus”, The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2012, https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001/acref-9780199545568-e-4515?rskey=4HbT7n&result=6;

[5] “Telemachus,” Greek Mythology Link, accessed March 6th, 2020, http://www.maicar.com/GML/Telemachus.html;

[6] “Odysseus,” Greek Mythology Link, accessed March 6th, 2020, http://www.maicar.com/GML/Odysseus.html;

[7] “Odysseus”, Brill’s New Pauly, accessed March 5th, 2020, https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly-supplements-i-4/odysseus-e828400?s.num=11&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.cluster.New+Pauly+Online&s.q=homecoming;

[8] “Odysseus”, Encyclopedia Mythica, accessed March 5th, 2020, https://pantheon.org/articles/o/odysseus.html;

[9] Homer, Odyssey, 70-71;

[10] Brill’s New Pauly, “Odysseus”;

[11] Greek Mythology Link, “Odysseus”;

[12] Homer, Odyssey, 3;

[13] “Telemachus,” The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2005, https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198606413.001.0001/acref-9780198606413-e-6261?rskey=YS0Nuh&result=2;

[14] Bonifazi, “Cognates,” 492;