Odyssey | Homer | full summary || Part 2

The Odessey by Homer

Summary Part II

After the Greeks victory in the trojan war,it was time for odysseus to return to his kingdom of Ithaca. With 12 ships and a whole lot of crew, he sailed away from Troy. However, shortly through their journey, They Were blown off course by a strong wind, and landed on the south coast of Thrace, in the territory of the cicones, who were allies of the Trojans.

 When the Cicones attacked, Odysseus and his crew killed all the attackers, sparing only a priest of Apollo, whose name was Maron. Maron offered them 12 jars of strong wine for sparing his life, and the greeks, perhaps forgetting they in the land of their enemies,drank too much wine, and stayed too long. When they had all become drunk, the Cicones attacked again, killing a few of the greeks.

Odysseus and his men hurried away from Thrace to continue their journey, and after a while, the reached the land of the Lotus eaters. When Odysseus sent some of his men to survey the area, none of them returned. he went to see for himself what had happened to his men, only to find them eating lotus with the lotus eaters, not caring about going home. The lotus was so tasty that anyone who ate them forgot about going home.

 Odysseus had to drag the reluctant crew back to the ships by force. Still on their way, they reached the island of the Cyclops, and landed on the shore, in search of cheese and meat and other valuables they could find. In the course of their search, they unwittingly  entered the cave of the cyclops Polyphemus, son of Poseidon. When Polyphemus returned, he shut the entrance of the cave with a giant boulder, and started eating Odysseus men. When the giant had eaten six of the men, Odysseus came up with a plan. He introduced himself to Polyphemus, and gave him some of Maron's strong wine, managing to get him drunk.

When the drunk Polyphemus had fallen asleep,Odysseus and his men, sharpened a huge stake, and pierced the cyclops eye with the stake. Roaring in agony, Polyphemus rolled away the boulder, crying for help. With the cave open once again, Odysseus and his men escaped cautiously avoiding the searching hands of the blind cyclops. However, when they had gotten to the safety of their ships, Odysseus made the grave mistake of revealing his true identity to Polyphemus. A mistake that would cost him 10 years away from his home.

For Polyphemus prayed to his father Poseidon,to avenge him, to curse Odysseus to wander the sea for a long time. When Odysseus' ships got to the island of Aeolus, a king gifted by the gods, with the power of the winds, they were warmly welcomed, and harbored for a month. By the time they were ready to leave, Aeolus gives Odysseus a gift to ensure his safe return to Ithaca. The god, put all the winds inside a leather bag, except the west wind, then gave the bag to Odysseus, warning him not to open it, till he reached his destination.

 On the tenth day, just as Ithaca came into sight, Odysseus' men gently stole the heavy bag, while he was sleeping. Thinking there was gold inside, the foolish men opened the bag, immediately releasing all the other winds, which violently blew their ships back to the island of Aeolus. Realising Odysseus was cursed by Poseidon, Aeolus refused to help him again, and sent them away.

Seven days later, Odysseus reached the Island of the Laestrygonians, a tribe of giants, who ate human flesh. Hurling giant boulders at them, the giants destroyed all 11 of Odysseus' ships, except his own, and ate the sailors on those ships. Next, with his only surviving crew and ship, Odysseus reached Aeaea, the island of the sorceress, circe, daughter of the sun god Helios. There, Circe turned his men into pigs, after feeding them with enchanted cheese and wine. Hermes, the ever helpful messenger god, appeared to Odysseus, giving him a herb called moly, in order to resist Circe's magic.

 Now immune to her powers, Odysseus overpower scirce, and forced her to change the pigs back to men. Circe agreed to Odysseus' commands, and asked him to stay with her on the island, the time during which he became her consort. After a year on the island, Circe advised Odysseus that in order to return to Ithaca, He must travel to the dark realm of the Cimmerians.

There, he must pour libations and make sacrifices to attract the souls of the dead.

 Once the soul of the blind prophet Teiresias, appears, he must ask him for a way to appease Poseidon, and a way back to Ithaca. Odysseus journeyed to the land of the Cimmerians, and did as he was told. He saw the spirits of many known men, including Agamemnon who few years back while he was still on the sea, and Achilles. Teiresias came forth, revealing to Odysseus that he was being punished by Poseidon for blinding his son polyphemus. And warned him not to touch the cattle of the sun god, Helios, when the reach Thrinacia. After Tiresias' spirit had gone, Odysseuss his mother, Anticlea, who passed away while grieving his long absence. Anticlea warned her son to hurry back to Ithaca,for his wife Penelope, was surrounded by many suitors, who sought to take his place as king.

Upon his return to Aeaea, Circe bade Odysseus farewell, warning him of the dangers that awaited him on his journey. He would pass the island of the sirens, who enchant all who come near them through their song, and then go through a pass between the whirlpool Charybdis and the six-headed monster, Scylla. When they got to the Island of the sirens,Odysseus ordered his men to stuff their ears with be ewax, and tightly bound himself to the mast of the ship, so that he would escape unharmed, while also able to hear the siren's beautiful song. They also managed to get past the Whirlpool Charybdis. But when they reached the territory of Scylla,the monster devoured six of the Odysseus' crew before they got past. Next, they reached the island of Thrinacia.

Remembering Teiresias's warnings, Odysseus commanded his crew not to eat the sacred cattle of Helios. But In his absence, they went ahead and ate the cattle, thus, enraging Helios. Helios asked Zeus to punish the insolent men,or he would take the sun with him to the Underworld. Zeus sent a violent storm which killed all of Odysseus crew, sparing only him. The sea carried Odysseus to the island of Ogygia, where the witch Calypso fell in love with him, and kept him captive for the next seven years. She tried to make him stay with him forever, by promising him immortality, but Odysseus wanted nothing more than to return to his beloved home of Ithaca. Finally, Hermes interceded on behalf of Odysseus, asking Zeus to have mercy on the hero.

 Zeus ordered the Calypso to immediately release the weary captive, which she obeyed. Odysseus soon reached Scheria, the Island of the Phaeacians. When he told them his story, they were honoured to have such a guest. They gave Odysseus a new ship and some sailors, who sailed him safely to his home. The tired hero was sound asleep when they reached Ithaca, and not wanting to disturb him, the sailors gently laid him on the shore,and sailed off. After twenty long years of wandering, he was finally back home. Odysseus awoke to see the shinning armor clad goddess athena, standing before him. After revealing to him what had happened during his absence, Athena transformed him into an old begger, to keep him safe till he is able to reclaim his throne.

The disguised king went to the hut of one of his faithful servants, Eumaeus, who welcomed him warmly, entertaining him with stories of how great his past master was. When the now grown Telmachus returned from Troy to the hut to Eumaeus, after escaping a ambush set by Penelope's suitors, to get rid of him, Odysseus revealed himself to his son. Reunited with his beloved father, Telemachus joined in on his plan of revenge, against the suitors. When Odysseus got to his palace, still ind  the suitors laughed at him, taunted and mistreated him, until queen Penelope came to his aid. Penelope led the begger away from her wicked suitors, not knowing he was actually her long lost husband. She had been faithful to Odysseus all those 20 years. Penelope called her nurse Eurycleia to wash the old begger's feet, and while doing this, Eurycleia saw the scar on his leg, and immediately realized who the begger really was.

 She tried to tell Penelope, but Odysseus and Athena persuaded her to keep it a secret. As part of their plan, Athena encouraged Penelope to announce that she was finally ready to remarry. Penelope decreed that any man who was able to string her husband's bow, and then shoot an arrow through twelve ax shafts, would be her husband. The contest began, and none of the suitors could accomplish the feat. Then, the begger came forth.

 To the surprise of everyone, the frail man completed the challenge effortlessly, and then revealed himself as Odysseus, king of Ithaca, his beggar disguise vanishing into thin air. With the help of Athena and his son, Odysseus killed all of the suitors, and hanged 12 of the household maidens who had been traitors. When Penelope learned what happened, she was too shocked to believe the stranger was truly her husband, even after she saw him in his true form, bathed, and regally clothed.

 To test if it was him, Penelope asked Odysseus to move her marriage-bed to another room. Odysseus replied that such was impossible, because he had made the bed himself, and knew that one of its legs was a living olive tree, deeply rooted in the ground. Needing no further proof, Penelope ran into her husband’s embrace, both, weeping tears of joy. Happy at the outcome of events, Athena ordered Eos, goddess of the dawn, to postpone the coming of dawn for a few hours, so that there united husband and wife could enjoy a long night of loving embraces, tears of profound joy, and stories of love. Once again, Ithaca became a land of peace, and order.

The End