The Odyssey of Homer > Experts only! > I'd like some help getting started.?

I would start with the similes ("homeric similes"). There aren't as many in the Odyssey as in the Iliad, but a great place to start. They are used for many purposes, they describe characters and situations by comparing them to other things, through long allegories. In the Odysssey, the story is driven by Odysseus courage, wit and emotions, and the similes often provide images of the complexity of his peronality. He is a great warrior, but also quite vulnerable, which often is described thorugh similes. So for a start, I would pick out the similes, see what happens in them, and maybe you can dectect some changes and development in them (or, in him).