Odysseus (Ulysses)
Links to the Heroes
Odysseus (also called Ulysses) is the hero of the epic poem Odyssey, written by Homer in the third century BC. Our story of Odysseus begins with the fall of Troy. The Greeks, being too jubilant in their victory, did not show respect to the gods in Troy. As a result, the Greeks had to deal with the gods' wrath. Most of this was due to the fact that a Greek soldier entered the temple of Athena and pulled away the prophetess Cassandra. Not one Greek showed disgust at this act. Athena, once the greatest friend of the Greeks, became their most bitter enemy. Athena went to Poseidon and asked for his help in making the Greeks pay for their sacrilege. Poseidon agreed. Massive storms hit the ships carrying all the Greeks back to Greece. One of these Greeks was Odysseus. Odysseus and his men were lost, and had a series of adventures trying to find their way home.
One of the first tragic adventures was on the island of the Laestrygons, a race of giant cannibals that ate many of his crew. Following this, Odysseus and his men sailed to the island of Aeaea, an island ruled by Circe, a beautiful witch. Circe would turn any man on her island into a wild beast. However, they still had mortal thoughts. Odysseus dispatched a team of his men to spy on her. She invited them to dine with her, then she turned them into swine. One man did not go into the house, and escaped back to Odysseus. Odysseus went to the house to do something to save his men. On the way he met Hermes, who gave Odysseus a plant that protected him from Circe's spell. When Odysseus went to Circe and was not harmed by her magic, she fell in love with him. She agreed to change his men back and release them.
Odysseus and his crew stayed on the island for an entire year, enjoying the hospitality of Circe. Circe told Odysseus what he must next do in order to get home; he would have to go to Hades, and cross the river Ocean. There, he had to fill a pit full with sheep's blood, which would attract all the ghosts of the Underworld. One ghost, named Teiresias, who was a prophet of Thebes while alive, would tell Odysseus what to do. She said only that he should be careful with the oxen belonging to the Sun. Odysseus learned that he must sail past the island of the Sirens. The Sirens would sing to passing sailors, and their song would make a man forget his life. Then he would swim to them and die. Odysseus knew that his men must not hear the song. He had them all stuff their ears with beeswax, then he had them tie him to the mast of the ship so that he himself would not escape. Then, when the singing could no longer be heard, they untied him and sailed on in safety.
After a terrible ordeal dealing with the Scylla, a terrible sea monster, Odysseus and his men landed on the Island of the Sun. Odysseus had never told his men not to bother the oxen. While Odysseus went off to pray, his men, starving, slaughtered and ate six of the oxen. The Sun, seeking revenge, cast a huge storm that destroyed the ships and killed all of the men except for Odysseus. He floated for several days until he reached the island of Calypso.
It had been twenty years since Odysseus had left for Troy. Everything on his home island, Ithaca, had been terrible. Everyone assumed Odysseus was dead, except for his wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus. Since everyone assumed Odysseus was dead, many men came to court Penelope; however, she would not remarry until she knew for certain that her beloved husband was indeed dead. The suitors would not leave the estate of Odysseus until Penelope consented to marry one of them. As a result, there were quite a lot of boorish men hanging around, and Penelope and Telemachus detested them.
Athena was still very angry with all Greeks, but before and during the war, she always favored Odysseus. She loved his cunning mind and shrewd ways, and she was always willing to help him. After ten years, Athena felt very bad for Odysseus, as he had been punished more than a fair amount. However, Poseidon was a very stubborn god, and would not allow Odysseus to return to Ithaca. Athena managed to wait until Poseidon was not on Heroesus to plead her case to Zeus and the other gods. They all agreed Odysseus had suffered too long, and deserved to go home. However, at that time, he was a virtual prisoner on an island ruled by the nymph Calypso. She loved Odysseus dearly and would give him anything he wished, except for his freedom to leave. Zeus dispatched Hermes to tell Calypso to let Odysseus go.
Meanwhile, Athena dispatched herself to Ithaca. She decided it would be a good idea to have Telemachus, whom she was very fond of, sail off to find news of his father, instead of sitting around and watching the boorish men abuse their hospitality. Athena disguised herself as a sailor, and told Telemachus a tale of his father. She said Telemachus should seek two men, named Nestor and Menelaus. Telemachus went about asking for twenty men to help him sail, but all he received were jaunts and jeers. Feeling desperate, Telemachus prayed to Athena again. She came to him again, disguised as Mentor, a trusted friend of Odysseus. Athena said that a ship would be made ready, and that she would sail with him. Telemachus quickly made plans, and set sail with Athena in disguise that night to Pylos, the home of Nestor.
When they arrived at Pylos, they found Nestor offering a sacrifice to Poseidon on the shore. Telemachus was welcomed heartily, but Nestor had no news of Odysseus since the fall of Troy. Nestor advised Telemachus to seek out Menelaus, who had sailed to Egypt before coming home, to Sparta. Telemachus sailed to Sparta with the son of Nestor. There, they were rich received by Menelaus and Helen, who spoke of Odysseus and his brave deeds. Menelaus told that he had heard Odysseus was being held on an island by the nymph Calypso.
Meanwhile, Hermes went to Calypso with the decree of Zeus that Odysseus must be freed. Calypso protested briefly, but she dared not defy the king of the heavens. Within a few day, Odysseus had readied a ship with provisions, and was on his way home. However, Poseidon, on his way home from holiday, happened to see Odysseus afloat. Knowing he had been deceived, Poseidon decided to teach Odysseus, and Athena, a firm lesson. He created the most terrible storm he could imagine. When Odysseus saw the storm, as it tore his boat apart, he felt at last he had met his end. Suddenly, a goddess named Ino, who had once been a Thebian princess, offered aid to Odysseus. She told him to hold onto a magical veil that would prevent drowning. She told him to swim to the shore. Odysseus abandoned his boat just as it was smashed to bits. Thinking Odysseus was dead, Poseidon went on his way.
Odysseus washed up on the shore of the land of the Phaeacians, a kindly race of sea-faring folk. The king, Alcinoüs, was a wise and kind man, and his wife Arete made all the important decisions. They had a beautiful daughter, unmarried, named Nausicaä. The day after Odysseus landed, Nausicaä went out to do the daily wash with her servants. She went to the very place where the exhausted Odysseus was sleeping. As Nausicaä and her servants washed and played in the water, they awakened Odysseus. All were afraid of him except for Nausicaä. He begged her for her assistance. Nausicaä told him that he could come with them back to the palace, where he would be received warmly. There he told the King and Queen of his many adventures and sorrows. In a series of flashbacks Odysseus tells of the fall of Troy, his encounter with the Cyclopes Polyphemus, and the meeting with the god of the winds, Aeolus, and the doom of his men.
The King and his court sat entranced by the tale of Odysseus. The King was wise and could see the heart of Odysseus was true. He immediately set plans to send Odysseus back to Ithaca. A ship was made ready. As soon as Odysseus sat on the deck, he fell into a sleep. When he awoke, he was lying on the shore of his home island. A young shepherd boy came up to Odysseus. Odysseus asked the boy where he was. When the boy answered that he was in Ithaca, Odysseus was not sure; so, he told a long story of nothing but lies. Upon his finishing the story, Odysseus was surprised to learn the shepherd boy was Athena in disguise. She told him of the treachery that was afoot in his own castle, and the two devised a plan to get rid of all the roguish men living there.
Athena instructed Odysseus to go to his old swineherd, a man named Eumaeus. He was faithful to Odysseus and his family. There, Odysseus found hospitality and friendship. Athena then went to Sparta to summon Telemachus to return home. She instructed him to not go home, but to see Eumaeus instead. When Telemachus got there, Athena turned Odysseus back into his own form. The two men, separated for twenty years, embraced. They devised a plan where Telemachus would go home and hide all the weapons, except for theirs. Odysseus went to his palace the next day, in disguise. His faithful old dog, Argus, recognized him immediately. Being very old, all he could do was wag his tail. Odysseus could not go to him and arouse suspicion, but as he turned away to go on, the dog died.
That evening, Odysseus, still in disguise, was called up to meet Penelope, his wife. She had heard one of the rude suitors had attempted to strike him. For a man to show no hospitality to a stranger was an outrage to Penelope, and she wanted to offer the man her apologies. Penelope asked her nurse, a woman named Eurycleia, to wash the stranger's feet. Odysseus was worried that the nurse, who had raised him from infancy, would recognize him from a scar on his foot. Sure enough, she did, but she said nothing.
While Odysseus and Telemachus worked out a plan to rid themselves of the cowardly suitors, Penelope independently worked out a plan, too. She retrieved the bow and arrows of her husband, and went to the dining hall, where the suitors were eating. She said that any man that could pull back the bow of her husband and shoot an arrow through twelve rings would win her hand. With that, she retired to take a nap. Then, the plan hatched by Odysseus and Telemachus took place. First, all the suitors tried to shoot an arrow using Odysseus' bow. None had the strength to even pull the bow back. Then, the doors were locked. Telemachus demanded that the beggar be allowed to shoot. All the suitors protested, but Telemachus relented. Odysseus easily pulled back the bow and shot the arrow through the rings. Odysseus then began to shoot the arrows again, into the men's evil hearts. The suitors soon realized that their weapons were missing. They charged Odysseus and Telemachus, but Odysseus was too good of a marksman to miss, and Telemachus brought down crushing blows with his sword. Athena also helped keep the men from attacking at a close distance. Once the slaughter was over, Telemachus went to wake his mother, and told her that all the suitors were dead and her husband had returned. Odysseus was home and happy again after twenty years of misery.
ACTIVITIES:
Odysseus activity
KEY TEST WORDS: (Know the material behind these items.)
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FOOTNOTES:
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SOURCES:
James Isaacs
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
"Manual of Mythology" by Alexander S. Murray.