The Odyssey

The Odyssey is a story written by Homer, a poet from ancient Greece who wrote about great heroes from his time. this story is where we get the word “odyssey” which means “long journey”. this story takes place after the trojan war, the story where we get the trojan horse, which is a well known symbol. Odysseus was the king of Ithaca, which is an island west of the mainland Greece, and was recruited for the war with the trojans. he had heard a prophecy that said he would be gone for 20 years after he left, so he pretended to be crazy when the recruiters came. But, Palamedes, a Greek hero, was not fooled and put the son of Odysseus in front of his plow, which he was using to destroy his garden. when he refused to kill his son, they dragged him off to war. he was very useful in the war, and was the one who came up with the trojan horse. After the war he was supposed to sail to Ithaca in two weeks, but it took him 10 years. when they left they were blown onto the island of the lotus’. the lotus’ were drugs that made you forget everything except lotus’, and two of his crew had to be dragged onto the ship. after that they landed on the isle of the cyclops, a small island that was home to Polyphemus, a cyclops who was the son of the Poseidon and Thoosa. when he came into his cave after a day of shepherding he found and ate to of the crew. during the night Odysseus stabbed the eye of Polyphemus and in the morning walked out with the sheep, and went to the ship. after this they come to the island of Æolus, who trapped the winds that would slow there journey in a bag, but sent the west wind to speed them on their way. the crew, thinking there was gold in the bag, opened it, sending them straight into Æolus, who then sent them away, thinking they were cursed. they were blown into the island of Circe who was the daughter of Helios, and a witch. she turned Odysseus’ crew into pigs, but Odysseus was helped by Hermes. after he threatened her with his sword Circe turned his men back into men. they stayed on the island for a year before setting sail. on their way was the isle of the sirens, half bird and half woman, who would sing a song that made sailors crash their ships on the rocks they sang from. to get past the crew poured wax in their ears, turning them deaf to the sirens. once they got past the sirens the ran into Charybdis and Scylla. Charybdis was a monster who pulled ships into its mouth by creating a whirlpool, and Scylla was a six headed hydra that would eat sailors standing on the deck. to get past them the crew swung away from Charybdis and toward Scylla, who ate six of the crew. getting past the monsters they landed on Sicily, the big island off of Italy, where they butchered a sacred cow of Apollo, despite the warnings of Odysseus. when they set sail they were struck down by Apollo, who did not like his sacred cows being butchered. the only one left alive was Odysseus himself, who then drifted on a piece of wood to Calypso’s island. Calypso was the daughter of Atlas, a titan, so she was imprisoned on an island, and cursed to love every heroes who came there, then left. Odysseus stayed there for seven years before he made a raft and sailed home. when he got there he was warned by Athena to go to the swineherds house before going to the palace, and while there he met his son, who he had last seen as a baby but was now a 20 year old man. his son told him many men had come to the palace, hoping to marry Odysseus’ wife and become king of Ithaca. later that day Odysseus came to the palace and proved he was the real Odysseus by shooting his old bow that none of the other men could shoot, then he shot all the other men in the palace, and lived with his son and wife happily ever after.