Editing Odysseus (section)

=== Journey home to Ithaca ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2023}}
{{further|Homer's Ithaca|Returns from Troy}}
Odysseus is probably best known as the eponymous hero of the ''Odyssey''. This epic describes his travels, which lasted for 10 years, as he tries to return home after the Trojan War and reassert his place as rightful king of Ithaca.

[[File:Arnold Böcklin - Odysseus and Polyphemus.jpg|thumb|left|''Odysseus and Polyphemus'' (1896) by [[Arnold Böcklin]]: Odysseus and his crew escape the Cyclops [[Polyphemus]].]]

Homebound from Troy, after a raid on [[Ismara|Ismarus]] in the land of the [[Cicones]], he and his twelve ships are driven off course by storms. They visit the lethargic [[Lotus-eaters|Lotus-Eaters]] and are captured by the [[Cyclopes|Cyclops]] [[Polyphemus]] while visiting his island. After Polyphemus eats several of his men, he and Odysseus have a discussion and Odysseus tells Polyphemus his name is [[Outis]] ("Nobody"). Odysseus takes a barrel of wine and the Cyclops drinks it, falling asleep. Odysseus and his men take a wooden stake, ignite it with the remaining wine, and blind him. While they escape, Polyphemus cries in pain, and the other Cyclopes ask him what is wrong. Polyphemus cries, "Nobody has blinded me!" and the other Cyclopes think he has gone mad. Odysseus and his crew escape, but Odysseus rashly reveals his real name, and Polyphemus prays to Poseidon, his father, to take revenge. They stay with [[Aeolus (son of Hippotes)|Aeolus]], the master of the winds, who gives Odysseus a leather bag containing all the winds, except the west wind, a gift that should have ensured a safe return home. However, the sailors foolishly open the bag while Odysseus sleeps, thinking that it contains gold. All of the winds fly out, and the resulting storm drives the ships back the way they had come, just as Ithaca comes into sight.

After pleading in vain with Aeolus to help them again, they re-embark and encounter the cannibalistic [[Laestrygonians]]. Odysseus's ship is the only one to escape. He sails on and visits the witch-goddess [[Circe]]. She turns half of his men into swine after feeding them cheese and wine. Hermes warns Odysseus about Circe and gives him a drug called [[moly (herb)|moly]], which resists Circe's magic. Circe, being attracted to Odysseus's resistance, falls in love with him and releases his men. Odysseus and his crew remain with her on the island for one year, while they feast and drink. Finally, Odysseus's men convince him to leave for Ithaca.

Guided by Circe's instructions, Odysseus and his crew cross the ocean and reach a harbor at the western edge of the world, where Odysseus sacrifices to the dead and [[Nekuia|summons the spirit]] of the old prophet [[Tiresias]] for advice. Next Odysseus meets the spirit of his own mother, who had died of grief during his long absence. From her, he learns for the first time news of his own household, threatened by the greed of [[Penelope]]'s [[Suitors of Penelope|suitors]]. Odysseus also talks to his fallen war comrades and the mortal shade of [[Heracles]].

[[File:Mosaïque d'Ulysse et les sirènes.jpg|thumb|left|Odysseus and the [[Siren (mythology)|Sirens]], Ulixes [[mosaic]] at the [[Bardo National Museum (Tunis)|Bardo National Museum]] in [[Tunis]], Tunisia, 2nd century AD]]

Odysseus and his men return to Circe's island, and she advises them on the remaining stages of the journey. They skirt the land of the [[Siren (mythology)|Siren]]s, pass between the six-headed monster [[Scylla]] and the whirlpool [[Charybdis]], where they row directly between the two. However, [[Scylla]] drags the boat towards her by grabbing the oars and eats six men.

They land on the island of [[Thrinacia]]. There, Odysseus's men ignore the warnings of Tiresias and Circe and hunt down the sacred cattle of the sun god [[Helios]]. Helios tells [[Zeus]] what happened and demands Odysseus's men be punished or else he will take the sun and shine it in the Underworld. Zeus fulfills Helios's demands by causing a shipwreck during a thunderstorm in which all but Odysseus drown. He washes ashore on the island of [[Ogygia]], where [[Calypso (mythology)|Calypso]] compels him to remain as her lover for seven years. He finally escapes when [[Hermes]] tells Calypso to release Odysseus.

Odysseus is shipwrecked and befriended by the [[Scheria|Phaeacians]]. After he tells them his story, the Phaeacians, led by King [[Alcinous]], agree to help Odysseus get home. They deliver him at night, while he is fast asleep, to a hidden harbor on Ithaca. He finds his way to the hut of one of his own former slaves, the swineherd [[Eumaeus]], and also meets up with [[Telemachus]] returning from Sparta. Athena disguises Odysseus as a wandering beggar to learn how things stand in his household.

[[File:The return of Ulysses.gif|thumb|The return of Ulysses, illustration by E. M. Synge from the 1909 ''Story of the World'' children's book series (book 1: ''On the shores of Great Sea'')]]

When the disguised Odysseus returns after 20 years, he is recognized only by his faithful dog, [[Argos (dog)|Argos]]. Penelope announces in her long interview with the disguised hero that whoever can string Odysseus's rigid bow and shoot an arrow through twelve axe shafts may have her hand. According to [[Bernard Knox]], "For the plot of the ''Odyssey'', of course, her decision is the turning point, the move that makes possible the long-predicted triumph of the returning hero".<ref>[[Bernard Knox]] (1996): Introduction to [[Robert Fagles]]' translation of ''The Odyssey'', p.&nbsp;55.</ref> Odysseus's identity is discovered by the housekeeper, [[Eurycleia]], as she is washing his feet and discovers an old scar Odysseus received during a boar hunt. Odysseus swears her to secrecy, threatening to kill her if she tells anyone.

When the contest of the bow begins, none of the suitors are able to string the bow. After all the suitors have given up, the disguised Odysseus asks to participate. Though the suitors refuse at first, Penelope intervenes and allows the "stranger" (the disguised Odysseus) to participate. Odysseus easily strings his bow and wins the contest. Having done so, he proceeds to slaughter the suitors (beginning with Antinous whom he finds drinking from Odysseus's cup) with help from Telemachus and two of Odysseus's servants, [[Eumaeus]] the swineherd and [[Philoetius]] the cowherd. Odysseus tells the serving women who slept with the suitors to clean up the mess of corpses and then has those women hanged in terror. He tells Telemachus that he will replenish his stocks by raiding nearby islands. Odysseus has now revealed himself in all his glory (with a little makeover by Athena); yet Penelope cannot believe that her husband has really returned—she fears that it is perhaps some god in disguise, as in the story of [[Alcmene]] (mother of Heracles)—and tests him by ordering her servant Euryclea to move the bed in their wedding-chamber. Odysseus protests that this cannot be done since he made the bed himself and knows that one of its legs is a living [[olive tree]]. Penelope finally accepts that he truly is her husband, a moment that highlights their ''homophrosýnē'' ("like-mindedness").

The next day Odysseus and Telemachus visit the country farm of his old father [[Laertes (father of Odysseus)|Laërtes]]. The citizens of Ithaca follow Odysseus on the road, planning to avenge the killing of the Suitors, their sons. The goddess Athena and the god Zeus intervene and persuade both sides to make peace.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Odyssey Summaries |url=https://people.duke.edu/~wj25/UC_Web_Site/epic/odsum.html |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=people.duke.edu}}</ref>