Detained by an enchanting nymph for seven years, and spending the other three battling fierce monsters and unrelenting storms, King Odysseus proved himself to be no less than an epic hero.
Telemachus approaches the king of the city, Nestor, asking for news of his father. Nestor, however, claims he did not know anything, telling Telemachus that after the Sack of Troy, half the army, including himself, left immediately with Menelaus, the other half, which Odysseus was with, waited a day before sailing off with Agamemnon. When Agamemnon returned from Troy, he found that Aegisthus, who had stayed behind, had married his wife, Clytemnestra. Aegisthus kills Agamemnon, but Orestes, who was exiled to Athens, returns, kills Aegisthus, and takes over the kingdom. Then Nestor sends his son, Pisistratus to accompany Telemachus to Sparta.
In Sparta, the king and queen, Menelaus and Helen, welcome Telemachus and Pisistratus. Menelaus remembers how Odysseus dressed as a beggar to enter the city, and how he came up with the idea of the Trojan Horse. He was stranded in Egypt after the war was over, and had to capture Proteus, the Old Man of the Sea, who told him how to get back to Sparta and informed him that Odysseus was held captive by Calypso on the island of Ogygia. The suitors, meanwhile, plan to kill Telemachus when he returned.
Zeus sends Hermes to tell Calypso to release Odysseus so he can return to Ithaca. Calypso offers Odysseus immortality if he stayed, but he refused saying that he wanted to grow old with Penelope. Calypso accuses the gods of hypocrisy, saying that they often took mortal wives, but they couldn't stand seeing a goddess with a mortal man. But Calypso still helps Odysseus build a ship. After he left, she tried to kill herself, but being immortal, couldn't.
After eighteen days, Poseidon, returning from a trip to the Ethiopias, sees Odysseus and sends a storm to destroy his ship. The goddess, Ino, gives him a protective veil, and he swims to land.
That night, Athena appears in Princess Nausicaa's dream, advising her to go to the river to wash her clothes the next morning. Odysseus wakes, and sees her, and Nausicaa tells him how to approach Arete, queen of the Phaeacians. Odysseus leaves for the palace.
Athena gives Odysseus a protective mist that keeps the Phaeacians from harassing him. After throwing himself at the feet of the king and queen, they agree to send him off in a Phaeacian ship. That evening, Aretes recognizes Odysseus' clothes as the ones she made for her daughter, Nausicaa. Odysseus explains that he met her this morning and she gave him the clothes to wear. And after that, he insisted on coming to the palace alone. The king was so impressed that he offered to give Nausicaa's hand. A feast and games are held for Odysseus; Odysseus challenges all the Phaeacians to any form of competition. At dinner, the blind bard, Demodocus to sing of the Trojan Horse, but he breaks down. Odysseus is forced to tell the Phaeacians of his adventures.
On a ship filled with gifts, Odysseus sails back to Ithaca. With Zeus' permission, Poseidon turns the ship into stone, and Odysseus is left abandoned on an island. Athena, disguised as a shepherd, assures him that he was in Ithaca, tells him to punish the suitors, and advises him to spend the night at the hut of his swineherd, Eumaeus. She disguises him as an old man, and Eumaeus invites him inside. Eumaeus tells him stories about his master, and Odysseus tells him his master is alive.
Athena goes to Sparta to warn Telemachus to hurry home before the suitors could win Penelope's hand, tells him how to avoid the ambush of the suitors and to visit Eumaeus' hut first. Telemachus travels to Pylos, and then home to Ithaca.
Eumaeus goes to tell Penelope that Telemachus has returned. Athena calls Odysseus out of the hut, and when he returns, he is himself again. He and his son embrace, and weep, and then they begin to plot the overthrow of the suitors. Telemachus returns to the palace alone, and tells his mother the news he had heard from his trip, but doesn't tell her he had seen Odysseus. Still disguised as an old man, Odysseus enters the palace; the suitors reluctantly give him food, and pile insults on him, which he answers with insults, and Antinous throws a stool at him. Penelope asks to speak to him about Odysseus. Penelope tricks the suitors into bringing her gifts by saying that they should be giving her things, instead of taking what's hers.
Penelope gets out Odysseus' bow and proposes that whoever could string it and shoot it cleanly through twelve axes would marry her. When Odysseus returns, he sees that Eurymachus could not string the bow, and he asks for the bow himself, still disguised as an old man. The suitors refuse but Telemachus orders that the bow be given to Odysseus. With ease, he strings it and shoots the arrow through all twelve axes.
Odysseus sends the second arrow through Antinous' throat. He reveals himself and the suitors find that the doors were locked and there was no way out, no way for them to defend themselves. Telemachus goes to the storeroom to get more arms for Eumaeus and Philoetius, but he forgets to lock the door, and Melanthius brings arms to the suitors. Odysseus, however, spares no one, even the "disloyal" maids.
Penelope had slept through the entire massacre and did not believe that her husband was home, until she saw him for herself. Still afraid that the gods were playing a trick on her, or that he was impostor, she orders Eurycleia to remove her bridal bed. Odysseus, upset by this, tells Penelope that the bed was immovable, that the whole house was built around the trunk of the olive tree. Penelope finally accepts Odysseus, and Odysseus reclaims his throne.
Odysseus visits his father's farm, pretending to be Odysseus' friend. Laertes starts to cry and Odysseus throws his arms around him and shows him the scar and tells him the childhood stories of the fruit trees.
Seeking revenge for his son, Antinous' death, Eupeithes' small army comes to Laertes' house, but Laertes spears him down and Athena, disguised as Mentor, stops the violence. She then restores peace to Ithaca by making everyone forget about the massacre.
Ten years after the Trojan War, all the Greeks had returned home, all but Odysseus, who was now detained by Calypso, who wanted him as a husband. Back in Ithaca, Odysseus' wife, Penelope, was surrounded by frolicking suitors who hoped to take over the kingdom. Odysseus' son, Telemachus, believed that his father wasn't coming home. The Twelve Olympians, with the exception of Poseidon come together to decide Odysseus' fate. With Athena's pleading, Zeus agrees to bring Odysseus home.
Athena speaks to Telemachus, assuming the form of Odysseus' friend, Mentes. She tells him that his father was alive and would be returning home soon, tells him to call together the suitors and announce their banishment, and tells him to sail to Pylos and Sparta to obtain news of Odysseus. When Telemachus returns home, he is upset to find the court bard singing about the Greeks' suffering,, and his mother, down. He reprimands his mother, saying that if she didn't like the music of the men's chambers, she should just leave.
Telemachus calls together the suitors and rebukes them for consuming the oxen and the sheep, when the right thing to do was to go to Penelope's father and ask for her hand. Antinous, however, blames Penelope for "seducing every suitor" but committing to none of them, saying that she would make her choice when she was finished weaving a burial shroud for her father in law, Laertes, but every night, she'd unknit the weaving. Zeus sends two fighting eagles, and Halitherses interprets the struggle as Odysseus' return and the inevitable massacre if the suitors refuse to leave.
In the underworld, Odysseus sacrifices a black sheep to bring the spirits to him. He meets Elpenor, who had died breaking his neck falling off of Circe's roof just that morning, and he asks Odysseus for a proper burial. He then meets Tiresias, who tells him that Poseidon was punishing him for blinding his son, Polyphemus, and that Odysseus, after returning home to his wife, would make another distant trip to appease Poseidon. He also warns Odysseus not to touch Helios' herd, or there would be more suffering and he would lose all of his crew. He meets his mother, Anticleia, who tells him she died of grief, waiting for him to return. Spirits surround Odysseus, all asking about their relatives. Suddenly afraid, he returns to his ship and sails away.
Odysseus plugged the ears of all his crew with beeswax and ordered them to tie him to the mast, on Circe's advice, because he was curious about the Sirens' song. When he heard their voice, he begged to be untied, but his crew only bound him with more rope. After Odysseus passed, the Sirens "flung themselves into the sea and perished" because they were fated to die if the person who heard their singing escaped.
A metaphor for choosing between two evils, Odysseus must decide whether to navigate between Scylla, a six headed monster, and Charybdis, a whirlpool. Taking Circe's suggestion, Odysseus sails close to Scylla, who took one man for each head, rather than risk the whole ship.
Odysseus had wanted to avoid Thrinacia completely, but Eurylochus persuades him to let the exhausted crew rest there. The storm lasts for a month and they stay for a month. When Odysseus goes up the island to pray, Eurylochus convinced the men to sacrifice the best of Helios' cows to the gods, saying, "if he be somewhat wroth for his cattle with straight horns, and is fain to wreck our ship, and the other gods follow his desire, rather with one gulp at the wave would I cast my life away, than be slowly straitened to death in a desert isle." Helios' daughter, Lampetie, who guarded the animals, reported to her father that they have killed his cattle. Helios begs Zeus to avenge Odysseus' company.
Odysseus and the remaining men feast off of Helios' kine for six days. But on the seventh, Zeus, true to his word, destroys the ship with lightning. All the men, but Odysseus, drown.
The storm brings Odysseus back to Charybdis. It devours his raft, but he survives hanging on to a fig tree. On the next "outflow of water", Odysseus gets his raft back and paddles to Calypso's island.
After drifting for nine days, Odysseus, the sole survivor comes to the island of Ogygia, where Calypso was banished after supporting her father in the battle of Titans and Olympians. Calypso tries to make Odysseus love her, attracting him with her beautiful singing as she worked at her weaving loom. She eventually was able to make Odysseus her lover, and they lived together for seven years.
Odysseus devised a plan to build a wooden horse, built in three days, to sneak the Greek army into the gates of Troy. On it was written, "For their return home, the Greeks dedicate their offering to Athena." They burned their tents, and "abandoned" one last soldier, Sinon, who tells the Trojans the horse was too big to bring into their city, and they could never use it to gain favor with Athena. After some debate, the Trojans brought the horse into the city, and celebrated what they believed to be their victory. While the city was either asleep or drunk, the Greek army climbed out of the horse, saving Helen and burning Troy.
Odysseus and his men raid the island of Ismarus, plundering the Cicones, who were allies of the Trojans. The Cicones, however, were skilled warriors, and drive Odysseus and his twelve ships out to sea, where a north wind drives them off course.
Odysseus and his men were at sea for nine days. On the tenth day, they arrive at the island of Lotus Eaters. After they have ate and drunk their fill, Odysseus sends two men to investigate, find out the inhabitants of the island. The Lotus Eaters were not interested in harming them, but only gave them lotus to eat. Immediately, they forgot about returning home; wanting only to stay and "munch" the lotus. Odysseus drags them, crying bitterly, back into the boat, and he warns the crew not to touch the lotus, that would make them forget about home.
Odysseus and his men land on the island of the Cyclopes. They enter a cave filled with provisions and help themselves to the cheese. When the giant, son of Poseidon, Polyphemus returns from grazing his sheep, he blocks the entrance of the cave with a great stone, and eats two men. When Polyphemus leaves to pasture his flocks again and locks Odysseus and his men inside, they sharpened an olive tree and hid it. Polyphemus returns and eats two more men. Odysseus offers him some strong wine. Drunked, Polyphemus asks him for his name and promises to treat him "well". Odysseus says his name was "Outis," or "no one". When Polyphemus falls asleep, Odysseus drives the beam into his eye; when Polyphemus calls out saying that "Nobody has hurt him," the other Cyclopes suggest he pray. Odysseus ties himself and the other men each to three sheep, and when Polyphemus lets his sheep out the next day, they escape too. They sail off, and Odysseus boastfully tells Polyphemus his real name; Polyphemus throws a rock at the ship, barely missing, and Polyphemus prays to his father for revenge.
Odysseus lands on the island of Aeolus, where he stays for a month. As a parting gift, the wind king gives him a favorable west wind that will bring them home to Ithaca, and another bag containing all the stormy winds.
They almost reach Ithaca when Odysseus' shipmates tear the bag Aeolus had given to Odysseus, believing that inside, was a fortune of silver and gold. A storm brings them back to Aeolia. Aeolus refuses to help them again, believing that the gods wanted to harm Odysseus.
Odysseus and his company rows to island of the Laestrygonians, a race of giants, who ate many of the men and destroyed eleven out of the twelve ships by launching rocks at them. Since Odysseus' ship was moored to a rock outside the harbor, it was left unharmed.
Odysseus reaches Aeaea, where the goddess of magic turns a band of his men into pigs. Hermes gives Odysseus moly, which would protect him from Circe's drug. He forces her to change the pigs back into men, and they live on the island in luxury for a year. Afterwards, Odysseus asks her about how they could get back to Ithaca, and she tells him to go ask the blind prophet, Tiresias, in the underworld.
When Achilles was killed by the legendary "arrow to the heel", it was Odysseus and Telamonian Ajax, who retreated his body despite the fighting. Thetis, the goddess of the water, said that his armor would go to the "bravest of the Greeks". Careful not to insult either one of them, it was agreed that the prisoners would vote, even though some accounts say that the Greeks held a secret vote. Odysseus was the winner. In a rage, Ajax slaughtered some of the livestock, and later, when he realized what he had done, killed himself, in shame. Odysseus gave the armor to Achilles' son, Pyrrhus.
Odysseus never forgave Palamedes for making him reveal his sanity, and therefore, making him go off to war. He convinces a Trojan prisoner to write a letter, supposedly from Palamedes, mentioning a sum of gold that would be given for his treachery. Odysseus killed the prisoner and hid the gold in Palamedes' tent. He made sure the "evidence" was found, and sure enough, when it was, Palamedes was stoned to death.
Legend has that Helen of Sparta, daughter of Zeus, wife of King Menelaus was the most beautiful woman in the world. She was abducted by Paris, Prince of Troy. To bring her back, Menelaus and the Greeks are determined to avenge the Trojans, bringing the start of the Trojan War.
Prophecies had told that if Odysseus went off to war, he wouldn't return home for many years. As a result, Odysseus feigned lunacy, pretending to plow the fields with a donkey and an ox and sowed using salt. Palamedes, however, places Odysseus' son, Telemachus in front of the plow. During the war, Odysseus was remained upset at him for taking him away from home. Then Odysseus went to Scyros to recruit Achilles because there was a prophecy that the war could not be won without him. Achilles' mother disguises him as a woman, but his interest in weapons gave him away.
The Greeks all knew the oracle that stated that the first person to step on Trojan soil would die, and therefore, everyone was reluctant to leave the ship. Strategically, Odysseus tossed his shield onto the land first and stepped onto his shield. Protesilaus followed, and he indeed, was the first to be killed in battle.
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