o ODYSSEUS IS FINALLY HERE!
First, is (I think) the first appearance of "O Father Zeus and gods in bliss forever," which is used several times.
Hermes is Zeus's favorite son (who else would it be, Perseus?). Hermes is my favorite Greek god, so I'd say he has good taste.
Odysseus apparently hasn't been aging, so is he going to be "younger" relative to Penelope when he gets home? That could be awkward. Not only has he been whoring it up, but he isn't even aging!
My translation makes it pretty clear that Odysseus is raped by Calypso (he repeatedly "doesn't consent" or is "compelled") but I've seen some translations that are a little less direct about it.
Odysseus's first spoken line:
"After these years, a helping hand? O goddess,
what guile is hidden here?"
There's some foreshadowing of the cyclops encounter with:
"Oh forlorn man, I wonder
why the Earthshaker, Lord Poseidon, holds
this fearful grudge-- father of all your woes..."
But yeah, the big thing here is definitely Odysseus finally showing up. People think the whole thing is just about him getting home when he doesn't even appear for the first fifth of the book. If you accept that it's about the whole family and their struggles/development, rather than just Odysseus, it's a much easier sell. If you're team, "no, it's about Odysseus!" then it's a pretty bold authorial choice by Homer to just not bother with his main character for a whole act.
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