The Odyssey

Battle of Troy

1 CE

Big battle at city of Troy. Agamemnon returned home and got murdered. Ajax angered poseidon on a rock and fell into the ocean. Odysseus gets stranded on an island being held by Calypso.

Odysseus goes to island of Cicones

2

Odysseus set out with his crew after the Battle of Troy to sea and were blown to the island of the Cicones, and they plundered it. He was struggling to get his men to leave the island

Odysseus finds the island of the lotus eaters

3

Odysseus finally got his men to leave the island of the Cicones and found the island of the lotus eaters, where he had to keep his men strapped to the boat to keep them from trying to stay there.

Odysseus meets Polyphemus

4

He and his crew find an island to stay on. On this island, they find a cave that is inhabited by the son of Poseidon, Polyphemus the cyclops. They get trapped in the cave and Polyphemus eats 6 of his men. To escape, he tricks the cyclops and pokes his eye out. He then sets out to sea again.

Odysseus sails to Aeolia

5

He meets King Aeolus. He and his crew feast with him. The king sends them off with a bag of wind, also controls the wind to go in the right direction. Crew opens the bag out of curiosity and they are blown back to the island. They are sent away because of their bad fate.

Odysseus' crew meets the Laestrygonians

6

After leaving Aeolia, they sail to the island where the Laestrygonians live and they end up being not too friendly. The men run back after meeting them to the boats, and the people of the island throw rocks at their boats from the cliff. They sail out to sea once again.

Odysseus meets Circe

7

After running from the Laestrygonians, they sail out to the island of Aeaea where Circe, a powerful immortal lives. She enchants the crew and turns them into pigs. Odysseus goes to save them with the help of Hermes who gave him a crop on that island that would keep him safe from her spells. He gets her under his control and gets his crew members back, and they become acquainted. She tells him that he must go to the land of the dead and meet Tiresias who will tell him how to get back to Ithaca.

Odysseus goes to the land of the dead

8

He goes to the land of the dead to meet Tiresias who would tell him how to get back to Ithaca. He is told that he and his men can't kill the cattle of Helios when they come across them on an island. He sees many dead people there, such as his mother and Achilles. He then returns to Aeaea and burned the body of the crew member who broke his neck and didn't come along with them. And Circe informs him that they will sail past another island with sirens, and they will come across Scylla, the monster

Odysseus comes across the sirens

9

They return to Aeaea after the land of the dead and Circe describes the voyage they must take. He will come across the sirens and they will have to plug their ears with beeswax.

Odysseus comes across Charybdis and Scylla

10

After the sirens, they come across Charybdis, a water pit that swallows things in a bay. They sail past it and, close to the cliffs, they encounter Scylla, and must row past the 3 headed monster without losing too many men

Odysseus settles on Thrinakia

11

They settle on the island with Helios' cattle called Thrinakia. They end up getting to the point of starvation so his crew members kill the cattle of Helios and the hides began to crawl.

Odysseus gets stranded on Ogygia

12

They leave out to sea again from Thrinakia and their ship is stuck by a lightning bolt. Odysseus makes a makeshift raft and floats away on his own to Ogygia where he is kept by Calypso for 7 years

Telemachus sets out to sea

13

At Odysseus' home island of Ithaca, a group of men considering themselves his wife's suitors are staying there until one of them is chosen. Telemachus calls a meeting asking them to leave, but they will not. Telemachus longs to know the fate of his father so he sets out to sea attempting to gain information from others at the battle of Troy such as Nestor in Pylos and Menelaus in Sparta.

Odysseus leaves Ogygia and goes to Scheria

14

The gods are discussing on Mount Olympus that Odysseus is stuck on Ogygia. Hermes comes with the message to Calypso from the gods that she needs to let Odysseus go. He makes a raft and sets out to sea. He meets poseidon who is angered and makes big waves. He swims with the power of a veil a siren gave him and makes it to an the land of the Phaecians called Scheria where he is given clothes and hospitality.

Odysseus returns to Ithaca

15

The Phaecians are done listening to his tale and send him off to Ithaca. He returns to Ithaca and meets Athena who tells him to hatch a plan to best the suitors and gives him a disguise. Telemachus is still in Sparta looking for him, but with Athena's protection.

Odysseus meets Telemachus when he returns to Ithaca

16

Odysseus meets his swineherd in his alternate form. He is given hospitality and meets Telemachus when he returns to Ithaca without harm due to Athena. He reveals himself to his son and hatches a plan to get rid of the suitors. He takes on his identity as the old man and makes up tales about his past. He spreads news in this form to the swineherd and the suitors that Odysseus will return. He also sees his old dog and fights another beggar when the swineherd brings him back to his hall.

Odysseus fights the suitors

17

He slowly reveals himself to more and more people. He tells Penelope, his wife, that he is coming back in his disguise. We meet Philoetius, who is on the side of Odysseus' swineherd, Eumaeus. Penelope sets up a contest for the suitors to make a shot through axeheads with Odysseus' bow. He does it in his old man disguise, and then reveals himself while the women are locked away. Telemachus was gathering weapons, and they begin slaughtering the suitors with Philoetius and Eumaeus.

Odysseus reveals himself to Penelope

18

He shows himself, but she can't trust anything. He tells her about their secret that they've shared about the Olive tree built around their bedroom. They sleep together for the first time in forever.

Odysseus fights/makes peace with the townsfolk

19

The townsfolk are angry about the slaughter, because they were the best young men in Ithaca, and Odysseus had done nothing since he left but lead his own people to their demise. Odysseus goes to meet his father, Laertes, and reveals himself to him. He, his father, his son, Eumaeus, and Philoteus attempt to fight off the townsfolk when they come to fight. Ares helps guide their spears, but they are all caught off by Athena, who makes Odysseus make peace and fulfill the prophecy (land of dead).