Question

(20 POINTS!) Who is the speaker in this excerpt from Book 13 of Homer’s Odyssey, and what inference can you make from the tone? Shall then no more, O sire of gods! be mine The rights and honours of a power divine? Scorn'd e'en by man, and (oh severe disgrace!) By soft Phaeacians, my degenerate race! Against yon destined head in vain I swore, And menaced vengeance, ere he reach'd his shore; To reach his natal shore was thy decree; Mild I obey'd, for who shall war with thee? Behold him landed, careless and asleep, From all the eluded dangers of the deep; Lo where he lies, amidst a shining store Of brass, rich garments, and refulgent ore; And bears triumphant to his native isle A prize more worth than Ilion's noble spoil. The speaker in the excerpt is (Neptune, Jove, Minerva). The tone demonstrates (concern about Ulysses safety in Ithica, hope for the safe return of the Phaeacians, anger at seeing Ulysses reach Ithica safely). The answers are the options in parenthesis.

Answer 1

The speaker in the excerpt is Neptune and the tone demonstrates anger at seeing Ulysses reach Ithica safely.

Answer 2

The speaker in the excerpt is Neptune. Neptune, in Roman mythology (although Greeks sometimes used their names too), is Poseidon in Greek mythology. He is the god of the seas, and he was one of the gods who was against Odysseus and wanted to destroy him - this is why it took Ulysses/Odysseus so long to come back home to Ithaca. The tone demonstrates anger at seeing Ulysses reach Ithaca safely. As I said, he wanted Ulysses dead, which is why he wasn't happy when he finally got home against his will.