Ten years have passed since
the fall of Troy, and the Greek hero Odysseus still has not returned
to his kingdom in Ithaca. A large and rowdy mob of suitors who have
overrun Odysseus’s palace and pillaged his land continue to court
his wife, Penelope. She has remained faithful to Odysseus. Prince
Telemachus, Odysseus’s son, wants desperately to throw them out
but does not have the confidence or experience to fight them. One
of the suitors, Antinous, plans to assassinate the young prince,
eliminating the only opposition to their dominion over the palace.
Unknown to the suitors, Odysseus is still alive. The beautiful nymph
Calypso, possessed by love for him, has imprisoned him on her island,
Ogygia. He longs to return to his wife and son, but he has no ship
or crew to help him escape. While the gods and goddesses of Mount
Olympus debate Odysseus’s future, Athena, Odysseus’s strongest supporter
among the gods, resolves to help Telemachus. Disguised as a friend
of the prince’s grandfather, Laertes, she convinces the prince to
call a meeting of the assembly at which he reproaches the suitors.
Athena also prepares him for a great journey to Pylos and Sparta,
where the kings Nestor and Menelaus, Odysseus’s companions during
the war, inform him that Odysseus is alive and trapped on Calypso’s
island. Telemachus makes plans to return home, while, back in Ithaca,
Antinous and the other suitors prepare an ambush to kill him when
he reaches port.
On Mount Olympus, Zeus sends Hermes to rescue Odysseus from
Calypso. Hermes persuades Calypso to let Odysseus build a ship and
leave. The homesick hero sets sail, but when Poseidon, god of the
sea, finds him sailing home, he sends a storm to wreck Odysseus’s
ship. Poseidon has harbored a bitter grudge against Odysseus since
the hero blinded his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus, earlier in his
travels. Athena intervenes to save Odysseus from Poseidon’s
wrath, and the beleaguered king lands at Scheria, home of the Phaeacians. Nausicaa,
the Phaeacian princess, shows him to the royal palace, and Odysseus
receives a warm welcome from the king and queen. When he identifies
himself as Odysseus, his hosts, who have heard of his exploits at
Troy, are stunned. They promise to give him safe passage to Ithaca, but
first they beg to hear the story of his adventures.
Odysseus spends the night describing the fantastic chain
of events leading up to his arrival on Calypso’s island. He recounts
his trip to the Land of the Lotus Eaters, his battle with Polyphemus
the Cyclops, his love affair with the witch-goddess Circe, his temptation by
the deadly Sirens, his journey into Hades to consult the prophet Tiresias,
and his fight with the sea monster Scylla. When he finishes his
story, the Phaeacians return Odysseus to Ithaca, where he seeks out
the hut of his faithful swineherd, Eumaeus. Though Athena has disguised
Odysseus as a beggar, Eumaeus warmly receives and nourishes him
in the hut. He soon encounters Telemachus, who has returned from
Pylos and Sparta despite the suitors’ ambush, and reveals to him
his true identity. Odysseus and Telemachus devise a plan to massacre
the suitors and regain control of Ithaca.
When Odysseus arrives at the palace the next day, still
disguised as a beggar, he endures abuse and insults from the suitors.
The only person who recognizes him is his old nurse, Eurycleia,
but she swears not to disclose his secret. Penelope takes an interest
in this strange beggar, suspecting that he might be her long-lost
husband. Quite crafty herself, Penelope organizes an archery contest
the following day and promises to marry any man who can string Odysseus’s
great bow and fire an arrow through a row of twelve axes—a feat
that only Odysseus has ever been able to accomplish. At the contest,
each suitor tries to string the bow and fails. Odysseus steps up
to the bow and, with little effort, fires an arrow through all twelve
axes. He then turns the bow on the suitors. He and Telemachus, assisted
by a few faithful servants, kill every last suitor.
Odysseus reveals himself to the entire palace
and reunites with his loving Penelope. He travels to the outskirts
of Ithaca to see his aging father, Laertes. They come under attack
from the vengeful family members of the dead suitors, but Laertes,
reinvigorated by his son’s return, successfully kills Antinous’s
father and puts a stop to the attack. Zeus dispatches Athena to
restore peace. With his power secure and his family reunited, Odysseus’s
long ordeal comes to an end.
