The Odyssey: June 2011

Odysseus fights in the Trojan War, and begins his journey home to Ithaca after it is over

Odysseus sets sail to Ismarus and sacks the city. His crews want to continue looting, but the Cicones rise against them

Odysseus sails on, but storms strike and slash the sails for 3 days
The winds let up and as they reach Malea's cape, winds blow them off course and past Cythera for 9 days

They reach the island of the lotus-eaters. Any crewmen who eats the lotus loses all desire to return home. Odysseus forces them aboard and leaves

They reach the land of the Cyclops and Odysseus' crew goes into the cyclops Polyphemus' cave. He seals it and discovers them, eating two men for each meal. Odysseus says his name is Nobody
When the cyclops is asleep, they stab his eye out. When the neighboring cyclops ask what's wrong, Polyphemus says Nobody's killing him, so no one comes
In the morning, Polyphemus lets his sheep out, but the crew is hidden under the sheep's bellies. They sneak out that way, reach the ships, and take off.
Odysseus calls back and taunts the cyclops, and the cyclops throws a rock and the wave pushes them to shore again. They leave again, but Odysseus taunts him again, telling him his real name. Polyphemus prays to his father, Poseidon, not to let Odysseus return home, and if he does, let him be tried

They reach the Aeolian island, home of Aeolus, who hosts them 1 month and controls the winds. He gives Odysseus a bag of wind
They set sail for 9 days and his crew opens the bag of wind out of jealousy and curiosity. It blows them back to Aeolus' island, but this time he refuses to help a man so cursed by the gods

They row to the Laestrygonian land and the fort of Lamus rises. Odysseus parks next to a cliff outside the bay. His scouts meet Antiphates' daughter, and she points them toward the palace
Antiphates' wife is big. He tears up one man for dinner, and the other 2 escape. The giant-like men in town shattered all the ships in the bay with rocks, but Odysseus cut away and was luckily spared

They take up port on the Aeaean island, home of Circe the nymph. Odysseus sees smoke from her halls. He kills a stag and they eat. On the third day, their party splits in two; one half is led by Odysseus, the other by Eurylochus
Eurylochus' party goes first to Circe's halls, and all but he are turned into pigs
Odysseus goes, and with help from Hermes, Circe releases the crew. She convinces Odysseus to bring the whole crew to feast, and Eurylochus is against it
They stay 1 year, then Circe wants Odysseus to visit Persephone in the House of Death and ask Tiresias how to get home

They go to the House of Death and Odysseus questions Tiresias and meets his dead mom. He talks to dead maidens and King Agamemmnon who tells him never to trust women because his wife killed him, Achilles, Heracles, etc.

They spend the night at Circe's and she tells them of the Sirens, Scylla & Charybdis, and Thrinacia. Thrinacia is where immortal sheep and cattle of the sun god Helios live, and if they harm them, then the crew and ship will be lost and Odysseus will come home late, a broken man. If they leave them alone, they will all return safely

They pass Scylla and Charybdis, and lose 6 men
They go to the island of the sun god Helios, Thrinacia, and Eurylochus convinces Odysseus to dock overnight. Storms force them to stay 1 month. While Odysseus is sleeping one day, Eurylochus convinces the crew (out of starvation) to kill and eat the flocks. Helios is mad and pleads Zeus to punish them
They eat for 6 days then the winds let up. They take off, and when no land is in sight, Zeus snaps the masts and zaps them with lightning. The ship falls apart but Odysseus makes a makeshift raft
He drifts back toward Scylla and Charybdis while Charybdis is gulping. He hangs on a fig tree on Scylla's crag till his craft is vomited up again. Scylla doesn't see him. On the 10th day, he washes up on Calypso's island, Ogygia

Odysseus is held captive by Calypso for 7 years
Hermes is sent by Zeus, persuaded by Athena to tell Calypso to release Odysseus
Odysseus sets sail for 18 days, when Poseidon becomes angry Odysseus is leaving. (Poseidon's son was Polyphemus the cyclops). Poseidon sends a storm and smashes Odysseus' ship

Odysseus swims to Phaeacia and spends the night in a bed of leaves. The next day he talks to a girl, King Aleinous' daughter Nausicaa, who leads him to the palace. He begs Alcinous and his wife Arete for a ship to sail to Ithaca, his home, where (unbeknownst to him) his wife Penelope is inundated by rude suitors and his son, Telemachus, has set out to search for him.
Odysseus spends the night: there are games and he tells his whole story.

They send Odysseus off with gifts and he lands in Ithaca at last. The crew puts the sleeping Odysseus and his gifts on the beach and takes off for Phaeacia again

The Odyssey