Tell me, Muse, of that man, so ready at need, who wandered far and wide, after he had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy, and many were the men whose towns he saw and whose mind he learnt, yea, and many the woes he suffered in his heart upon the deep, striving to win his own life and the return of his company. Nay, but even so he saved not his company, though he desired it sore. For through the blindness of their own hearts they perished, fools, who devoured the oxen of Helios Hyperion: but the god took from them their day of returning. Of these things, goddess, daughter of Zeus, whencesoever thou hast heard thereof, declare thou even unto us.
“I long to be homeward bound,” Simon and Garfunkel
Published by bernie4444 , 17 days ago
The Trojan War is over, and one of our hero kings is lost. His son (Telemachus) travels to find any information about his father’s fate. His wife (Penelope) must cunningly hold off suitors who are eating them out of house and home.
If he ever makes it home, Odysseus will have to detect those servants loyal from those who are not. One absent king against rows of suitors; how will he give them their just desserts? We look to Bright-Eyed Pallas Athena to help prophecy come true.
Interestingly, all the tales of monsters and gods on the sea voyage were told by Odysseus. Notice that no one else survives to tell the tale. Therefore, we have to rely on Odysseus’s word.
Many movies took sections of The Odyssey and expanded them into interesting stories in their own right.
Not just the story but also how it is told will keep you up late at night reading.
It is a tear-jerker when Odysseus returns, 20 years later, and the only one to recognize him is Argos, his faithful dog, who lived long enough to see him. Upon seeing his master return home, Argos dies.
You will, of course, want to buy the various translations to see the differences in reading style and content.
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