Odyssey | Homer | full summary || Part 1

The Odessey by Homer

Summary Part I

Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Ithaca,a prince was born. Odysseus, the only son of the former argonaut, Laertes, and Anticlea, the daughter of famous Autolycus. Being the grandson of Autolycus, the most renowned theif, and son of Hermes, Odysseus learnt some of his grandfather's crafts, and tricks.

He learnt well enough that he became cunning, and tricky, known far and near for his intellectual brilliance, craftiness, and good speaking skills. As a teenage boy, Odysseus, during one of his visits to his grandfather, decided to take part in a boar hunting expedition organized by his uncles. That was his very first hunting expedition, and the lad wanted to know what the adventure felt like.

When the hunting began, it happened that the path odysseus had taken was the path the wild boar was running towards. With no experience and prior hunting skills, young odysseus was able to kill the boar. However, in their fight, the boar gave hima deep wound on his leg, which left a large recognizable scar, after the wound had healed.

 That scar became odysseus trademark, anyone who saw it immediately knew who he was. Years later, when he had grown into a man, Odysseus was selected as one of the many suitors of Helen, the beautiful As tep-daughter of King Tyndareus of Sparta.

 Although Helen was the most beautiful woman anyone had ever seen, Odysseus was not so much interested in winning her, because he had fallen in love with Helen's cousin, Penelope, the daughter of Icarius, brother to Tyndareus. In addition, the princess had way too many suitors, that he, with no extraordinarily fine features, was less likely to be chosen. It was clear to him, that Menelaus, the suitor with the most appealing looks, would win the hand of Helen.

Odysseus thought of a way to make Penelope his wife, and came up with a brilliant idea. Helen's suitors were so many, that even king Tyndareus feared a possible outbreak of conflict if he chose any one of them. So the crafty odysseus used the situation to his advantage.

 He offered Tyndareus a solution, in exchange for Penelope's hand in marriage, to which Tydareus agreed. Odysseus made all the suitors swear an oath that they would respect the King's final choice. That they would respect whoever the king picks to be his daughter's husband, and that they would support the couple in any ill fate the two may face in the future. In the end, Menelaus was chosen to be the husband of helen, just as odysseus suspected.

And all the other suitors peacefully left the city of sparta to their various homes, except Odysseus. His plan worked perfectly well. fulfilling his own end of the bargain, King Tyndareus, gave odysseus the hand of Penelope in marriage. Odysseus took his wife to his kingdom, Ithaca, where he assumed the throne as the new king. The couple had a son named - Telemachus, and lived a very happy life, till came the events which led to the Trojan war.

Some time after their marriage, Odysseus,king of Ithaca, and his lovely wife, Penelope, had a son, whom they named Telemachus. Their lives seemed to be in perfect bliss,until news reached Ithaca, that Helen, wife of king Menelaus of Sparta, had been abducted by prince Paris of Troy. Acting upon the oath sworn by Helen's suitors,Menelaus summoned all of them, to help him bring back his wife.

 Suprisingly, Odysseus who had proposed the oath, was reluctant to answer the call to aid. He refused to join the quest not because of cowardice, but because he had been warned by the seer of Ithaca, Halitherses, that if he journeyed to sparta to join the quest, it would take him a long and ardous time to return home. So in order to escape this, Odysseus pretended to be mad.

Every day, he harnessed a donkey and an oxto a plow, and then started sowing salt on a field.

 When Palamedes, the man sent to recruit Odysseus saw this hilarious act, he was not convinced in the slightest, that the king of Ithacahad gone mad, for he was aware of his cunning nature, odysseus had quite a reputation.

 Palamedes put baby Telemachus in front of the plow, in order to test his sanity. and just as he expected, Odysseus immediately changed course, thereby exposing his plan. Odysseus was left with no choice but to jointhe expedition.

 He bade farewell to his wife and son, and set out to sparta. He never forgave Palamades for making him leave his family, and would later carry out his revenge in the future. When the Greeks had assembled an army against Troy, Odysseus learned a prophecy from the prophet Calchas, that the Greeks would win the war if only a warrior named Achilles joined their forces. Achilles was the demigod son of the goddess Thetis, and King Peleus.

Fearing a prophecy that Achilles would either live a long peaceful life or die a glorious death as a mighty warrior, Thetis had dipped him in the river styx, as a baby. The river made Achilles invulnerable, except this heels, where his mother had held him.

Thetis then sent him, disguised as a woman,to the court of King Lycomedes of Scyros. Knowing this, the crafty Odysseus visited the court of Lycomedes, disguised as a peddler selling women's clothes. He hid a spear among his goods, and Achilles was the only one who showed interest in the spear when he saw it.

 In a different story, Odysseus blew a battle horn in a fake attack on Scyros, and everyone fled at the sound, except Achilles. Having been revealed, Achilles joined the greeks in the war against the Trojans. During the war, Odysseus devised a plan to penetrate the walls and gates of Troy. He ordered the construction of a huge wooden horse, popularly called the Trojan horse, leaving it near the gates of troy.

 Then, he, and all of the greatest greek warriors, quietly hid inside the belly of the Trojan horse, while the rest of the Greeks pretended to sail away.

 The trojans, thinking the war was over, gates, and celebrated their victory around the wooden horse. However when night came, the greek warriors came out of their hiding place, and led the rest of the greeks through the gates, into the city of troy.

Odysseus and Diomedes killed the Trojan spy, Dolon, and the Thracian king Rhesus, and captured their famed seer, Helenus. The Greeks slew the rest of the Trojans, and sacked the city, thus, winning the 10 year long war. Odysseus then had Hector's little son, A syntax, thrown down from the walls of Troy, which was rather very cruel of him. In the end, It was odysseus' cleverness and battle strategy, that gave the Greeks their victory.

 He played the role of a wise and crafty strategist, and a fierce warrior. Perhaps without him, the Greeks could never have defeated Troy.

Now do you remember Palamedes? Yes, Odysseus had his revenge. he and Diomedes fooled palamedes into entering a well, convincing him that treasures laid hidden inside. The moment palamedes was inside the well, Odysseus and Diomedes started throwing rocks at him, till he was dead and buried at the bottom of the well.

End of part 1