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Posting school work here so I can get it off at school:

The Travels of Odysseus

Prologue

The story of Odysseus’s travels comes from the second of Homer’s epic poems, the Odyssey. The Odyssey is, in a sort, a sequel to the Iliad. It tells the story of the wanderings of the Greek hero Odysseus as he tries to return home to the island of Ithaca, after spending ten years away, taking part in the battle of Troy. While Odysseus was taking part in the battle of Troy, his wife, Penelope, was waiting patiently and faithfully for him to return, though she had many suitors. By the end of the war, her suitors were telling her that Odysseus must surely be dead by now, and that she should marry one of them. Penelope, however, was persistent in believing Odysseus was still alive, and that one day he would return. As a plot to give her husband more time to return, Penelope agreed that if her husband had not returned by the time she finished her work-in-progress tapestry, she would select a suitor whom she would marry. Cunningly, though, at night she would unravel the day’s work, so the tapestry would stay unfinished.

Polyphemus the Cyclops

Now, onto Odysseus. Odysseus had many adventures while trying to return home. The most famous is assumed to be his encounter with a Cyclops, Polyphemus. Cyclopes were, for those of you who, quite surprisingly didn’t know, one-eyed giants. Odysseus and his men had arrived on a lonely island. Odysseus, having an adventurous aspect about him, wanted to explore the island and went further inland with his companions. They eventually found a cave, which hosted many sheep and goats. His men wanted to take the sheep and goats back to the ship, and leave, but Odysseus was curious to who owned the cave. Soon after this decision, the owner, Polyphemus, returned to the cave, and fixed a boulder to the entrance, which was also the only exit. He soon spotted the Greeks, and ate two of them. The rest of the Greeks then fled to the darkest part of the cave. The Cyclops washed his meal down with wine, and fell into a drunken sleep. Odysseus wanted to kill the giant, but by doing that, there would be no way out the cave. Odysseus, however, thought of a plan. He offered the giant some fine wine that they had from the ship. The giant then fell into another drunken sleep. As he slept, the Greeks attacked. Using a large stick lying around in the cave, they sharpened it and pushed the newly-carved stake into the Cyclops’ eye. The Cyclops awoke with rage, though he could not find the Greeks. The next morning, the Greeks tied sheep together in frees, so when Polyphemus let the sheep out to graze, they could hold on to the underside of the sheep, and get out, without Polyphemus being able to feel them. They did this, and got out of the cave. Though, Odysseus was cunning, his boastfulness was a fatal flaw. When Odysseus had given the Cyclops the wine, he was asked his name. As the Greeks believed that by knowing someone’s name, you would have power over that person, Odysseus simply said his name was ‘Nobody’. However, as the Greeks sailed away from the island, Odysseus felt an urge to let the Cyclops know who had outwitted him. He then shouted his name. Though, the giant was totally stupid, and listened to the sound of his voice. He then threw a boulder in their direction, knowing where they were thanks to Odysseus. The boulder narrowly missed, though the impact with the water sent the ship back towards the island. When they were twice as far out, Odysseus stupidly called out again. Again, they were driven back towards land. Polyphemus, finally thwarted, prayed to his father, Poseidon, who already had a bit of a grudge with Odysseus due to his arrogance. The Cyclops prayed to his father to make the Greeks journey a difficult one, and that he would arrive home in a terrible state with all his companions dead. Aeolus

The Greeks gloomily sailed on, and soon came to the floating island of Aeolia, home to Aeolus, God of the Winds. Aeolus looked after the Greeks for a month, and sent them away with a bag of winds as a gift to use at his discretion. Though, Odysseus was foolish, and refused to tell his companions what was in the bag, making them even more eager to find out. Odysseus had been steering the ship for several days, and eventually fell asleep. His crew then seized the opportunity to grab the bag, and see what was inside. This was a terrible mistake, as all the winds rushed out at once, creating a storm which sent them right back to Aeolia, when they were nearly home. On their second, accidental, visit, they did not receive such a warm reception. Aeolus realised now that the Greeks were cursed by the Gods, and sent them away with no hospitality or gifts. The Laestrygonians

The next place the Greeks ended up was the land of the Laestrygonians These were cannibals who were tall as giants, who lived on land that had such a short night, that a shepherd, who would be bringing in his flocks at dusk, would greet another bringing out his flocks at dawn. The Laestrygonians were not friendly to the Greeks, and harpooned some of Odysseus’s companions like fish and carried them off to eat. The rest of the Greeks sailed on. Circe

The next island they came to was the home of a beautiful sorceress named Circe. After arriving on the island, Odysseus climbed a rocky height where he could see smoke rising from the house where Circe lived. Odysseus split up his men, and sent half off to explore the inner part of the island. Before long, they came to Circe’s house, built of stone in the middle of the woods. In front of the house were wolves and lions, though they had been drugged by Circe’s magic. Inside the house, Circe was singing beautifully and when she saw the men, she beckoned them in. One stayed outside, as he was suspicious of a trap. It turns out he was right, as Circe turned the men into pigs, as she despised men. The man who had stayed outside was Eurylochus, and went to tell Odysseus what had happened. Odysseus was about to run his companions aid, but Hermes/Mercury stopped him, and gave him an antidote which would make him immune to Circe’s magic. Though, Circe fell in love with Odysseus and turned his men back into humans. They stayed on the island, and Odysseus and Circe had three sons together – though they eventually left.

The Sirens

The next thing the Greeks encountered were the sirens. These creatures were beautiful yet strange women, whose voices bewitched everyone who heard them. If you managed to survive their song, however, you would become wiser. Odysseus wanted to take this opportunity, so his companions tied him to the ship’s mast while they sailed on with beeswax stuffed in their ears. They then managed to get past this hazard.

Scylla and Charybdis

The Greeks were not so lucky when it came to their next hazard. They had to pass directly through two equally dangerous monsters. One was Scylla (sill-a), a monster who stayed on top of a mountain and had six long necks, which would extend and snatch up anyone who sailed too closely. On the other side was Charybdis (kar-rib-diss), a monster which produced a whirlpool to its mouth, sucking down ships. The crew groaned in terror as they approached. While they watched Charybdis suck down the salt water, and vomiting back up again, Scylla started picking off some of the crew. Only Odysseus managed to get through unharmed. Odysseus’s Homecoming

As predicted by Polyphemus, Odysseus returned home late with no companions. He had stayed a long time with Calypso, a myth, confined to Ogygia for supporting her father, the titan Atlas, in the war between the Titans and the Gods. Part of Calypso’s punishment was that occasionally a hero would appear on the island, and she would fall in love with them, but they would always have to leave. During his long absence, Penelope had been waiting faithfully. Though, her suitors grew impatient. Odysseus had now been gone for a grand total of 20 years – his son was now a young man when he had been a baby when Odysseus had left. His son – Telemachus – was travelling Greece looking for his father when Odysseus reached Ithaca. He was kept disguised by Athena/Minerva, only his dog was able to notice them, and later his old nurse. They plotted on how to get rid of the suitors. There was a great bow in Odysseus’s home which only he knew how to string, and Penelope said she would marry whoever could string the bow. Odysseus, disguised as a poor old beggar, managed to string it and shoot an apple off a tree. Penelope then recognised him, as only he could do it. The suitors tried to resist Odysseus and the recently returned Telemachus, who killed all the suitors. At last, he was home.