Analyzing Delays in Homer's "Odyssey" [tr. Allen Mandelbaum (Bantam)]

Order Description In The Odyssey, Zeus says to Athena: "For surely this delay - to keep Odysseus far away until on his return he takes revenge against the suitors - is the scheme you planned." (p. 95) What is the importance of delays in The Odyssey? In your discussion, consider how Homer employs a variety of delaying tactics in his language as well as in the narrative structure of the plot. How can you correlate the two, and to what effect? We like to “get to the point,” a strategy Homer conspicuously avoids. Why