Question

Which of these excerpts from Homer's Odyssey indicates the theme of deception?

"All hail! ye virgin daughters of the main! Ye streams, beyond my hopes, beheld again! To you once more your own Ulysses bows; Attend his transports, and receive his vows! If Jove prolong my days, and Pallas crown The growing virtues of my youthful son, To you shall rites divine be ever paid, And grateful offerings on your altars laid." . . . "Son of Laertes! much-experienced man! The suitor-train thy earliest care demand, Of that luxurious race to rid the land; Three years thy house their lawless rule has seen, And proud addresses to the matchless queen. But she thy absence mourns from day to day, And inly bleeds, and silent wastes away; Elusive of the bridal hour, she gives Fond hopes to all, and all with hopes deceives." . . . "Oft have I heard in Crete this island's name; For 'twas from Crete, my native soil, I came, Self-banished thence. I sail'd before the wind, And left my children and my friends behind. From fierce Idomeneus' revenge I flew, Whose son, the swift Orsilochus, I slew (With brutal force he seized my Trojan prey, Due to the toils of many a bloody day). Unseen I 'scaped, and favour'd by the night, In a Phoenician vessel took my flight, For Pyle or Elis bound; but tempests toss'd And raging billows drove us on your coast.

Answer 1

The theme of deception from Homer's Odyssey is illustrated in the excerpt where Penelope deceives the suitors, demonstrating her strategic use of hope to keep them at bay while she awaits Odysseus's return.

Step-by-step explanation:

The theme of deception in Homer's Odyssey is best indicated in the second excerpt provided. The passage describes how Penelope deceives the suitors by giving them hope for marriage while secretly mourning and waiting for the return of her husband, Odysseus.

The crucial lines from this excerpt are: "But she thy absence mourns from day to day, And inly bleeds, and silent wastes away; Elusive of the bridal hour, she gives Fond hopes to all, and all with hopes deceives." This illustrates the strategic and necessary deception practiced by Penelope during Odysseus's absence.