Previous
Imagery
Definition of Irony
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this seems like a loose definition... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how... read full definition
Key Examples in The Odyssey
Book 1
Explanation and Analysis—Athena's Prophecy:
In a speech saturated with dramatic and verbal irony, Athena, a powerful goddess, disguises herself as an old man and tells Telemachus that "the immortal gods" have "planted" a vision of the future in her mind:
And now I’ve come—and why? I heard that he was back . . .
your father, that is. But no, the gods thwart his passage.
Yet I tell you great Odysseus is not dead [...]
Wait,
I’ll make you a prophecy, one the immortal gods
have planted in my mind—it will come true, I think,
though I am hardly a seer or know the flights of birds.
He won’t be gone long from the native land he loves,
not even if iron shackles bind your father down.
He’s plotting a way to journey home at last;
he’s never at a loss.
Related Themes:
Book 10
Explanation and Analysis—Elpenor's Death:
In a darkly ironic passage, a member of Odysseus's crew dies under embarrassing and mundane circumstances:
Unlock with LitCharts A+There was a man, Elpenor [...]
He’d strayed from his mates in Circe’s magic halls
and keen for the cool night air,
sodden with wine he’d bedded down on her roofs.
But roused by the shouts and tread of marching men,
he leapt up with a start at dawn but still so dazed
he forgot to climb back down again by the long ladder —
headfirst from the roof he plunged, his neck snapped
from the backbone, his soul flew down to Death.
Book 13
Explanation and Analysis—Like a God:
In a scene containing high dramatic irony, Odysseus returns to Ithaca and greets the first person he sees, vowing to "pray" to her "like a god." That woman, he later learns, is Athena herself:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Odysseus, overjoyed at the sight, went up to meet her,
joining her now with salutations on the wing:
“Greetings, friend! Since you are the first
I’ve come on in this harbor, treat me kindly —
no cruelty, please. Save these treasures,
save me too. I pray to you like a god,
I fall before your knees and ask your mercy!
And tell me this for a fact —I need to know —
where on earth am I? what land? who lives here?"
Related Themes:
Book 14
Explanation and Analysis—Eumaus's Prediction:
When Odysseus returns to Ithaca, disguised as a beggar through Athena's magic, he finds Eumaeus, a swineherd who works on Odysseus's property. As he approaches Eumaeus's dwelling, however, the swineherd's dogs almost attack Odysseus, not recognizing him. In a scene that exemplifies dramatic irony, Eumaeus unknowingly speaks about Odysseus to Odysseus himself:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Here I sit, my heart aching, broken for him,
my master, my great king —fattening up
his own hogs for other men to eat, while he,
starving for food, I wager, wanders the earth,
a beggar adrift in strangers’ cities, foreign-speaking lands,
if he’s still alive, that is, still sees the rising sun.
Come, follow me into my place, old man, so you,
at least, can eat your fill of bread and wine.
Then you can tell me where you’re from
and all the pains you’ve weathered.
Related Themes:
