<span>Odysseus is called twice to adventure. </span> <span> He was First called by Agamemnon to fight in Troy. He tries to avoid service by pretending to be mad (he sows the beach with salt). Agamemnon throws the infant Telemachus in his path and when O stops, they know he is not mad. (Here the trickster is tricked: a constant theme in all folklore: recall the morning after Jacob’s wedding: he wakes up expecting the beautiful Rachel </span> <span>and instead finds Leah in his bed!) His first adventure then is the Trojan War: the Iliad details all the tests of strength, it is only in the Odyssey that we hear of his trickery: the famous horse! </span> <span>b. There were 2 reasons after leaving Troy for why does he get called to a second set of trials/adventures? 1. Akhaians as a group didn't sacrifice to gods, which angered Athena so she made their homecoming difficult. 2. O incurs wrath of Poseidon by blinding his son, Polyphemous. (O names himself to Poly. in desire to show off his cleverness. His hubris leads to punishment). </span>
When Helen (who is also Penelope's cousin) is kidnapped, Menelaus reminds all of Helen's past suitors of their oath to support him. Odysseus, however, initially wants to avoid the war. He was told in a prophecy that if he participated in the war, he would not come back home for twenty years. He tries to pretend he is insane in order to get out of it, but his plot is discovered. He ends up having to go, and this is the first time he is called to adventure.
