The Odyssey

Cicones

Feb 20, 1012

Odysseus and his men land on the island of Ismara after leaving Troy and slay most of the Ciconian men.

The Lotus Eaters

Apr 12, 1012

Odysseus and his men then land on the island of the Lotus Eaters. The Lotus Eaters feed the men lotuses and they lose their desire to go home. Odysseus has them dragged aboard the ship and tied down.

Polyphemus

May 23, 1012

Odysseus and twelve men go to look for supplies and meet the Cyclops Polyphemus. He traps Odysseus and his men and Odysseus makes a clever plan to escape. In the end Odysseus is too prideful and Polyphemus curses him.

Aeolus

Jun 5, 1012

The next island stop was Aeolus where the keeper of the wind lived. Odysseus and his men stayed for a month and recovered. The king wishing them a speedy journey home bottled up all but the west wind and tied the winds into an ox hide bag which he gave to Odysseus as a gift.

Laestrygones

Jul 30, 1012

Laestrygones are a tribe of giant cannibals visited by Odysseus and his men during his journey back home to Ithaca. The giants ate many of Odysseus' men and destroyed eleven of his twelve ships by launching rocks from high cliffs. Odysseus' ship was not destroyed as it was hidden in a cove near shore. Everyone on Odysseus' ship survived.

Circe

Period: Aug 3, 1012 to Aug 1, 1013

Circe is a minor goddess of magic living on the island of Aeaea. She invited Odysseus' crew to a feast of familiar food, a pottage of cheese and meal, sweetened with honey and laced with wine, but also laced with one of her magical potions, and she turned them all into pigs with a wand after they gorged themselves on it. Only Eurylochus, suspecting treachery from the outset, escaped to warn Odysseus. Odysseus, saves his men but had to stay on the island for a year before, they were freed.

Land of the Dead

Sep 18, 1013

Odysseus ventures down into the land of the dead to find Tiresias who tells him his prophecy. He also finds his mother who has recently died here.

Sirens,

Oct 20, 1013

Odysseus was curious as to what the Sirens sounded like, so, on Circe's advice, he had all his sailors plug their ears with beeswax and tie him to the mast. He ordered his men to leave him tied to the mast, no matter how much he would beg. When he heard their beautiful song, he ordered the sailors to untie him but they bound him tighter. When they had passed out of earshot, Odysseus was released from his post.

Scylla

Oct 23, 1013

Odysseus is given advice by Circe to sail closer to Scylla, for Charybdis could drown his whole ship, she warns and tells Odysseus to bid Crataeis to prevent Scylla from pouncing more than once. Odysseus then successfully sails his ship past Scylla and Charybdis, but Scylla manages to catch six of his men, devouring them alive

Charybdis

Oct 24, 1013

Odysseus faces both Charydis and Scylla while rowing down a narrow channel.He ordered his men to avoid Charibdys thus forcing them to pass near Scylla. This resulted in the deaths of six of his men.

Helios

Nov 30, 1013

Here, despite Odysseus' warnings, his men eat Helios' cattle and the god punishes them with death. This is the end of all his men.

Calypso

Period: Dec 10, 1013 to Dec 10, 1020

Calypso keeps Odysseus captive on her island for seven years until Hermes comes with a mandate from Zeus that she must aid him in his leaving.