Editing Odyssey (section)

== Synopsis ==

===Exposition (Books 1–4)===

[[File:Villa Romana de La Olmeda Mosaicos romanos 001 Ulises.jpg|thumb|A [[mosaic]] depicting [[Odysseus]], from the villa of [[La Olmeda]], [[Pedrosa de la Vega]], Spain, late 4th–5th centuries AD]]

The ''Odyssey'' begins [[in medias res]] after the end of the ten-year [[Trojan War]]. [[Odysseus]], the king of [[Homer's Ithaca|Ithaca]], has not returned home because he angered the sea god [[Poseidon]]. Odysseus's son, [[Telemachus]], is about 20 years old and shares his absent father's house on the island of Ithaca with his mother [[Penelope]]. With Odysseus presumed dead, the [[suitors of Penelope]]—a crowd of 108 boisterous young men—try to persuade Penelope for her hand in marriage while partying in the king's palace.

Odysseus's protectress [[Athena]] asks [[Zeus]] to finally allow Odysseus to return home when Poseidon is absent from [[Mount Olympus]]. Disguised as a chieftain named [[Mentes (King of the Taphians)|Mentes]], Athena visits Telemachus to urge him to search for news of his father and to stay out for a year if he hears that he is alive. He offers her hospitality as per [[Xenia (Greek)|Xenia]], and they observe the suitors dining rowdily while [[Phemius]], the [[bard]], performs a narrative poem for them.

That night, Athena, disguised as Telemachus, finds a ship and crew for the true prince. The next morning, Telemachus calls an assembly of citizens of Ithaca to discuss what should be done with the insolent suitors, who scoff at Telemachus. While this argument is happening, two eagles fly down and fight each other in front of the whole crowd. They take this as an omen from Zeus that Odysseus will not be far from home for too long. Accompanied by Athena (now disguised as [[Mentor (Odyssey)|Mentor]]), the son of Odysseus departs for the household of [[Nestor (mythology)|Nestor]] on the Greek mainland. Telemachus rides to [[Sparta]], accompanied by [[Peisistratus of Pylos|Nestor's son]]. There he finds a reconciled [[Menelaus]] and [[Helen of Troy|Helen]], who say they returned to Sparta after a long voyage by way of Egypt. There, on the island of [[Lighthouse of Alexandria|Pharos]], Menelaus encounters the old sea god [[Proteus]], who tells him that Odysseus was a captive of the nymph [[Calypso (mythology)|Calypso]]. Telemachus learns the fate of Menelaus's brother, [[Agamemnon]], king of [[Mycenae]] and leader of the Greeks at Troy: he was murdered on his return home by his wife [[Clytemnestra]] and her lover [[Aegisthus]]. The story briefly shifts to the suitors, who realise Telemachus is gone. Angry, they formulate a plan to ambush his ship and kill him as he sails home. Penelope overhears their plot and worries for her son's safety.

===Escape to the Phaeacians (Books 5–8)===
[[File:Odysseus_And_Nausicaä_-_Project_Gutenberg_eText_13725.jpg|left|thumb|[[Charles Gleyre]], ''[[Odysseus]] and [[Nausicaa|Nausicaä]]'']]
Odysseus spends seven years as a captive of Calypso on the island [[Ogygia]]. She has fallen deeply in love with him, but he spurns her offers of immortality as her husband. She is ordered to release him by the messenger god [[Hermes]], sent by Zeus in response to Athena's plea. Odysseus builds a raft and is given clothing, food, and drink by Calypso. When Poseidon learns that Odysseus has escaped, he wrecks the raft. Helped by a veil provided by the sea nymph [[Ino (Greek mythology)|Ino]], Odysseus swims ashore on [[Scheria|Scherie]], the island of the Phaeacians. Naked and exhausted, he hides in a pile of leaves and falls asleep.

The next morning, awakened by girls' laughter, he sees the young [[Nausicaa|Nausicaä]], who has gone to the seashore with her maids after Athena told her in a dream to do so. He appeals for help and she encourages him to seek the hospitality of her parents, [[Arete (mythology)|Arete]] and [[Alcinous]]. Alcinous promises to provide him a ship to return him home without knowing the identity of Odysseus. He remains for several days. Odysseus asks the blind singer [[Demodocus (Odyssey character)|Demodocus]] to tell the story of the [[Trojan Horse]], a stratagem in which Odysseus had played a leading role. Unable to hide his emotion as he relives this episode, Odysseus at last reveals his identity. He then tells the story of his return from Troy.

===Odysseus's account of his adventures (Books 9–12)===
[[File:Francesco_Hayez_028.jpg|thumb|''Odysseus Overcome by [[Demodocus (Odyssey character)|Demodocus]]' Song'', by [[Francesco Hayez]], 1813–15]]
Odysseus recounts his story to the Phaeacians. After a failed raid against the [[Cicones]], Odysseus and his twelve ships were driven off course by storms. Odysseus visited the [[lotus-eaters]] who gave his men their fruit which caused them to forget their homecoming. Odysseus had to drag them back to the ship by force.

Odysseus and his men landed on a lush, uninhabited island near the land of the [[Cyclopes]]. The men entered the cave of [[Polyphemus]], where they found all the cheeses and meat they desired. Upon returning to his cave, Polyphemus sealed the entrance with a massive boulder and begins to eat Odysseus's men. Odysseus devised an escape plan in which he, identifying himself as "Nobody", plied Polyphemus with wine and blinded him with a wooden stake. Polyphemus cried for help but was left by his neighbours after Polyphemus claimed that "Nobody" had attacked him. Odysseus and his men finally escaped the cave by hiding on the underbellies of the Cyclops's sheep as they were let out of the cave.

As they escaped, Odysseus taunted Polyphemus and revealed himself. The Cyclops prayed to his father Poseidon, asking him to curse Odysseus to wander for ten years. After the escape, [[Aeolus (Odyssey)|Aeolus]] gave Odysseus a leather bag containing all the winds except the west wind, a gift that should have ensured a safe return home. Just as Ithaca came into sight, the sailors opened the bag while Odysseus slept, thinking it contained gold. The winds flew out, and the storm drove the ships back the way they had come. Aeolus, recognizing that Odysseus had drawn the ire of the gods, refused to further assist him.

After the cannibalistic [[Laestrygonians]] destroyed all of his ships except his own, Odysseus sailed on and reached the island of [[Aeaea]], home of witch-goddess [[Circe]]. She turned half of his men into swine with drugged cheese and wine. Hermes warned Odysseus about Circe and gave Odysseus an herb called [[Moly (herb)|moly]], making him resistant to Circe's magic. Odysseus forced Circe to change his men back to their human forms and was seduced by her. They remained with her for one year. Finally, guided by Circe's instructions, Odysseus and his crew crossed the ocean and reached a harbor at the western edge of the world, where Odysseus [[Nekyia|sacrificed to the dead]]. Odysseus summoned the spirit of the prophet [[Tiresias]] and was told that he may return home if he is able to stay himself and his crew from eating the sacred [[Cattle of Helios|livestock of Helios]] on the island of Thrinacia and that failure to do so would result in the loss of his ship and his entire crew. He then meets his dead mother [[Anticlea|Anticleia]] and first learns of the suitors and what happened in Ithaca in his absence. Odysseus also converses with his dead comrades from Troy.[[File:Odysseus_Sirens_BM_E440_n2.jpg|right|thumb|Odysseus and the Sirens, eponymous vase of the [[Siren Painter]], {{Circa|480–470 BC}} ([[British Museum]])]]
Returning to Aeaea, they buried [[Elpenor]] and were advised by Circe on the remaining stages of the journey. They skirted the land of the [[Siren (mythology)|Sirens]]. All of the sailors had their ears plugged up with beeswax, except for Odysseus, who was tied to the mast as he wanted to hear the song. He told his sailors not to untie him as it would only make him drown himself. They then passed between the six-headed monster [[Scylla]] and the whirlpool [[Charybdis]]. Scylla claimed six of his men.

Next, they landed on the island of Thrinacia, with the crew overriding Odysseus's wishes to remain away from the island. Zeus caused a storm that prevented them from leaving, causing them to deplete the food given to them by Circe. While Odysseus was away praying, his men ignored the warnings of Tiresias and Circe and hunted the sacred cattle. [[Helios]] insisted that Zeus punish the men for this sacrilege. They suffered a shipwreck, and all but Odysseus drowned as he clung to a fig tree. Washed ashore on [[Ogygia]], he remained there as Calypso's lover.

===Return to Ithaca (Books 13–20)===
[[File:Penelope and the Suitors - John William Waterhouse - ABDAG003035.jpg|thumb|Odysseus discovers Penelope has devised tricks to delay the suitors whilst he has been away: ''Penelope and the Suitors'' by [[John William Waterhouse]]]]

Having listened to his story, the Phaeacians agree to provide Odysseus with more treasure than he would have received from the spoils of Troy. They deliver him at night, while he is fast asleep, to a hidden harbour on Ithaca. Odysseus awakens and believes that he has been dropped on a distant land before Athena appears to him and reveals that he is indeed on Ithaca. She hides his treasure in a nearby cave and disguises him as an elderly beggar so he can see how things stand in his household. He finds his way to the hut of one of his own slaves, swineherd [[Eumaeus]], who treats him hospitably and speaks favorably of Odysseus. After dinner, the disguised Odysseus tells the farm laborers a fictitious tale of himself.

Telemachus sails home from Sparta, evading an ambush set by the suitors. He disembarks on the coast of Ithaca and meets Odysseus. Odysseus identifies himself to Telemachus (but not to Eumaeus), and they decide that the suitors must be killed. Telemachus returns home first and Odysseus, accompanied by Eumaeus, returns home still posing as a beggar. Only his faithful dog, [[Argos (dog)|Argos]], recognises him. He is ridiculed by the suitors in his own home, especially [[Antinous of Ithaca|Antinous]]. Odysseus meets Penelope and tests her intentions by saying he once met Odysseus in Crete. Closely questioned, he adds that he had recently been in [[Thesprotia]] and had learned something there of Odysseus's recent wanderings.

Odysseus's identity is discovered by the housekeeper [[Eurycleia of Ithaca|Eurycleia]] when she sees an old scar as she is washing his feet. Eurycleia tries to tell Penelope about the beggar's true identity, but Athena makes sure that Penelope cannot hear her. Odysseus swears Eurycleia to secrecy.

===Slaying of the suitors (Books 21–24)===
[[File:Thomas_Degeorge_Ulysse.jpg|thumb|''Ulysses and Telemachus kill Penelope's Suitors'' by [[Thomas Degeorge]] (1812)|alt=]]
The next day, at Athena's prompting, Penelope manoeuvres the suitors into competing for her hand with an archery competition using Odysseus's bow. The man who can string the bow and shoot an arrow through a dozen axe heads would win. Odysseus takes part in the competition, and he alone is strong enough to string the bow and shoot the arrow through the dozen axe heads, making him the winner. He then throws off his rags and kills Antinous with his next arrow. Odysseus kills the other suitors, first using the rest of the arrows and then, along with Telemachus, Eumaeus, and the cowherd Philoetius, with swords and spears. After the battle is won, Telemachus hangs twelve of their household slaves whom Eurycleia identifies as guilty of betraying Penelope by having sex with the suitors. Odysseus identifies himself to Penelope. Although hesitant at first, she embraces him after he mentions that he made their bed from an olive tree still rooted to the ground. They go to sleep.

The next day, Odysseus goes to his father [[Laertes (father of Odysseus)|Laertes]]'s farm and reveals himself. Following them to the farm is a group of Ithacans, led by [[Eupeithes]], father of Antinous, who are out for revenge for the murder of the suitors. A battle breaks out, but it is quickly stopped by Athena and Zeus.