Odysseus was a sharp king from Ithaca who caused the Greeks to win the Trojan War by creating a huge hollow horse that his soldiers sat and waited in. While the rest of the army packed camp and appeared to leave the shore, the Trojans, seeing that the Greeks had left, opened their gates to pull the giant horse inside. After fighting such a long war, they head for home and had a nice long rest for the festivities the next day. At night when the happy Trojans slept, the band of soldiers in the horse climbed down and attacked the sleeping guards. Then they signaled for the Greek army that had been hiding on the other side of the island to come and take over the Trojan land. The Greeks took everything the Trojans had, said their farewells to each other, and took off on their ships back to their kingdoms.

             The famous Odysseus has trouble reaching home with his three ships. First he encounters the Cicones, who cause him to lose one of his ships. Odysseus and his crew then encounter a flower that produces sleep, causing his men to forget home. After that, Odysseus faces Polyphemus, the giant who eats some of his men, and blinds him. Leaving the giant, he meets Aeolus, the keeper of the winds, who gave him a bag of winds that would take him and his crew home swiftly. When he and his crew were half way home, Odysseus fell asleep thinking that all was well. However, Poseidon made a clinking sound using his bracelets and out of jealously, the crew thought Aeolus the wind keeper had gave Odysseus gold. They tore the bag open and the resulting winds blew them all the way back to the wind keeper.

             They set out yet again after being so close to home. This time they stopped on the island of Circe, where the scouting party never came back because they had been turned into pigs by the enchantress. Odysseus defeats Circe and decides to stay at the island. A year passes by before he leaves her, and finds himself going to the Under World for advice from the deceased. He also faces the Sirens, Scylla and Charbodis, Calypso, and Nausicaa, who helps him home because her father is the king of the Phaeacians. When Odysseus arrives home he sees that his wife is being courted by suitors who were very persistent and will not leave. In the end, Odysseus kills all of the unworthy suitors with the help of his grown son, Telemachus, and lives as the king of Ithaca again.

 

Bibliography:

Lister, Robin. (1987). The Odyssey. Boston, MA: Kingfisher Publications.

Summary

Odysseus