The Odyssey

The Trojan War Begins

Jan 1, 1200

The Trojan War begins with Paris, a Trojan prince, who kindnaps the beautiful Helen of Sparta. The Greek Spartans hold Troy under siege for ten years. To end the stalemate, Odysseus comes up with a brilliant plan. Odysseus hides himself and his men inside a giant wooden horse and leave it in front of the gates of Troy. The Trojans accept the horse as a peace offering and assume the Greeks have fled. The horse is brought inside the city and the Greek men spring from the horse and attack.

The Odyssey

Period: Jan 1, 1200 to Jan 1, 1221

The Odyssey is the chronicles of Odysseus and his hardships in returning to his home. After the Trojan war, he heads home to his family, but disaster and unlucky circumstances delay him. He encounters strange peoples, evil monsters, and beautiful temptresses. During his time away, his wife Penelope is being persued by men who wish to claim Odysseus's property. Telemachus, Odysseus's son, is left helpless to do anything about the suitors. The wicked suitors even plot to kill Telemachus.

Ismarus

Jan 1, 1210

Soon after leaving Troy, Odysseus and his crew sail to Ismarus, the home of the Cicones. The Cicones are allies with Troy so Odysseus's crew raids and kills them. The Ciconian army retaliates and kills seventy-two of Odysseus's men. Odysseus sets sail again.

Lotus Eaters

Apr 1, 1210

The crew lands near the land of the Lotus Eaters. Odysseus sends two men to see what the natives are like.The natives devour a certain kind of magic lotus. The lotus causes anyone who eats it to become infatuated with it and not want to return home. The scouts fall victim to the plant and Odysseus forcibly brings them back to the ship. The crew sets sail agian.

Cyclopes

Jul 1, 1210

The next land holds a giant race of men, the Cyclopes. They decide to investigate and determine if the Cyclopes be friend or foe. Odysseus and twelve men decide to investigate a particular Cyclops and wait in the Cyclop's cave while the Cyclops tends his sheep. The Cyclops, Polythemus, comes back and eats some of the men and traps the rest in his cave. Odysseus blinds Polythemus , and the survivors reboard the ship and sail away.

King Aelous

Nov 1, 1210

Odysseus and his men land on the island of King Aelous and stay in his company for a month. Odysseus recieves two parting gifts: a west wind to blow the ship's sails toward Ithaca and a bag containing all the unfavorable winds. The crew sets sail for Ithaca.

Near Ithaca

Dec 1, 1210

While Odysseus sleeps, his crew opens the bag of unfavorable winds, thinking it contained gold or silver. The winds blow them all the way back to King Aelous's island. They ask for Aelous to help them again, but he refuses to help believing that their voyage was cursed by the gods.

Laestrygones

Jan 1, 1211

The voyagers stop briefly on the island of the Laestrygones. The Laestrygones are ferocious cannibals and began to violently throw boulders at the ships. All of the ships sink except for Odysseus and his ship. Forty-five men and Odysseus are all who are left to face the journey ahead.

Circe

Jul 1, 1211

The mariners sail to the island of Aeaea, the abode of Circe. Eurylochus and a platoon explore the island and find a beautiful lady. The woman invites them into her home, and all come except Eurylochus, where she drugs them with her magic. The men become swine and Eurylochus runs back to Odysseus to tell him what happened. Hermes comes to help Odysseus save the men and gives him a magical plant that nullifies Circe's spells. Odysseus defeats Circe and the men stay on the island for a year.

Land of the Dead

Jul 1, 1212

Finally, Odysseus begs for Circe to let him and his men go. She does so but tells him he must first meet the seer Tiresias who resides among the dead. Odysseus and his men burn an offering to Hades and are accepted into the Underworld. There Odysseus meets Tiresias who gives him a prophecy. The prophecy states that Odysseus will come back to Ithaca and claimhis vengence on the suitors of his wife Penelope. Odysses also sees his newly deceased mother and speaks of his family with her.

Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis

Sep 1, 1212

Circe warns Odysseus of the dangers ahead in their journey. She warns him of the Sirens, half woman and half bird beings, who lure sailors with their beautiful voices to their doom. She also tells Odysseus of the horrible she-beast Scylla and the furious maelstrom Charybdis. Circe procaims Scylla will take six men in her six jaws, and it is impossible to circumvent. The men cover their ears with wax to escape the Sirens' trap as they pass through. Six men are killed as Circe predicted.

Thrinacia

Dec 1, 1212

After sailing away from the danger the men pass by the island of Thrinacia. Twice Odysseus has been warned to avoid Thrinacia so as to not eat Helios's sheep. The men convince Odysseus to land on Thrinacia, however the men foolishly plunder the sheep. This angers Helios and helios threatens to make the sun stop shining. Zeus appeases Helios by sending a thunderbolt to sink Odysseus's ship. Only Odysseus survives.

Calypso

Jan 1, 1213

Odysseus drifts away among flotsam and washes ashore on Ogygia. A beautiful nymph, Calypso, finds Odysseus and falls in love with him. She keeps him captive on her island for seven years. Zeus finally sends Hermes to tell Calypso to release Odysseus. She reluctantly abides and sets Odysseus free.

Odysseus meets KIng Alcinous

Jan 1, 1220

Odysseus drifts away from Ogygia and lands on the island of King Alcinous. Alcinous begs Odysseus to tell him of his travels. Alcinous holds a banquet in his honor and Odysseus relates his story. While Odysseus is asleep, he is put on a boat to sail to Ithaca.

Homecoming

Dec 13, 1220

Odysseus finds himself at Ithaca, though he does not realize he is home. Athena appears and tells him he is indeed home. She disguises him as an old man so he can sneek into his house with the evil suitors being unaware of who he is. The suitors have grown impatient, so Penelope holds an archery contest with the winner receiving her hand in marriage. Odysseus as the old man wins the contest and reveals himself. He kills the suitors and embraces Penelope. Here the Odyssey ends.