The Odyssey

1. The Odyssey The Episodes

2. Mutiny

3. Troy • Odysseus and his ships leave Troy after winning the Trojan War

4. Cicones • Odysseus and his ships land at Ismarus, land of the Cicones • They fight and defeat the Cicones • 1st mutiny: Odysseus tells his men to get back on the ships and they refuse • Cicone army arrives and kills more than 70 men

5. Lotus-Eaters • Blown off course by Zeus, Odysseus and his ships arrive at the land of the Lotus-Eaters • Odysseus sends 3 men out to meet the Lotus-Eaters. They eat the Lotus and don’t want to come back • Odysseus drags them back and forces them to leave

6. Cyclops • Odysseus and his ships arrive at Cyclops’s island • Cyclops eats 6 of Odysseus’s men • Odysseus blinds Cyclops and they escape • Odysseus taunts Cyclops, who then puts Poseidon’s curse on them

7. Aeolus • Odysseus and his ships arrive at the home of Aeolus, Keeper of the Wind • Aeolus gives Odysseus a bag of unfavorable winds • Odysseus doesn’t tell his men what’s in the bag • The men open the bag, releasing the bad winds just as they are about to arrive in Ithaca (2nd mutiny) and are blown far away

8. Laestrygonians (Cannibals) • Odysseus and his ships are blown to the land of the Laestrygonians • All the ships except Odysseus’s anchor in the harbor against Odysseus’s orders (3rd mutiny) • The Laestrygonians massacre and eat the men on the ships in the harbor • Odysseus and one ship escape

9. Circe • Odysseus’s ship arrives on Circe’s island • Odysseus sends some men to investigate Circe’s cottage • She turns the men into pigs • Odysseus rescues them with the help of Hermes (and Zeus)

10. Circe (cont.) • Circe falls in love with Odysseus • Circe invites Odysseus and his men to stay for a few days to rest and recover • She tricks them – they actually stay for a year • Odysseus has a dream about his mother and decides to leave • Circe sends them to the Land of the Dead

11. The Land of the Dead • Odysseus and a few men arrive at the entrance to the Underworld • Odysseus goes alone to meet Tiresias, who will tell them how to return home safely • Odysseus meets some of his dead men, and then meets his mother, who has just died

12. Circe – Part 2 • Odysseus returns to Circe’s island to pick up the rest of his men • Circe interprets Tiresias’s message and tells Odysseus four things:

13. 4 things Circe told Odysseus: • Avoid the Sirens – they will kill you with their beautiful songs • Avoid the Wandering Rocks by choosing to go past Scylla and Charybdis • Make a choice: Scylla will kill 6 of the men, but Charybdis will kill them all • Don’t eat the Cattle of Lord Helios, the Sun God!

14. Sirens / Wandering Rocks • Odysseus tells his men about the Sirens • He does NOT tell them about Scylla and Charybdis

15. Cattle of the Sun God • Odysseus and his surviving men land on the island of Helios where storms prevent them from leaving. • The food runs out, and Odysseus goes inland to pray to the gods for help. The gods put him to sleep. • The men, led by Eurylochus, decided to kill the cattle and eat them. Helios demands revenge. • Odysseus wakes up and finds what the men have done. He watches them feast for six days. • The storms stop and the ship leaves. Once out at sea, Zeus sends a thunderbolt to destroy the ship, killing all the men. • Odysseus floats on wreckage through Scylla and Charybdis. • After nine days at sea, he lands on Calypso’s island.

16. Calypso • Odysseus lands on Calypso’s island • She holds him captive for 7 years • Odysseus dreams of home and pines for Penelope • Athena convinces Zeus to pity him, and he sends Hermes to tell Calypso to let Odysseus go • Odysseus is given materials to build a raft and sails away • Poseidon sends a great storm, which wrecks the raft on the shores of Phaeacia • He is rescued by Nausicaa and brought to the court, where he tells his story to the King