The Odyssey

End of the Trojan War

10

Odysseus first shows off his cunning wit when it is explained he planned the legendary Trojan Horse.

Cicones

20

Odysseus and his men raid the island of Cicones, his first adventure

Lotus Eaters

30

Odysseus and his crew meet the lotus eaters. Some of the crew eat the lotus flower which makes them forget about their desire to return home.

Cyclopes

40

His crew then lands on the island of the cyclopes, where Polyphemus takes them into his cave and blocks the entrance with a large boulder.

Escaping Polyphemus

50

Odysseus blinds Polyphemus and claims his name was Nohbdy. They escape on the underside of the sheep. Odysseus taunts him as they are nearly hit by a boulder, which pushes them towards the island as they sail away.

Floating Islands of Aeolus

60

Aeolus gives Odysseus a bag of winds. When his ship is within view of Ithaca, his crew thinks he is hiding something and opens the bag, pushing the ship backwards a long way.

Island of Cannibals

70

Odysseus and his crew reach an island of cannibals where there crew is decimated and reduced to 1 ship.

Circe

80

After landing on an island, half of the remaining men explore the forest and find Circe who turns them into pigs. Odysseus saves them by giving Circe an herb from Hermes and Circe tells him of the coming trials.

Sirens

90

Odysseus tells his crew to tie him to the mast and plug their ears with beeswax until they pass the Sirens, which are singing creatures that hypnotize and kill.

Sylla

100

In the channel, Sylla, who is a 6 headed monster, attacks the crew, eating 6 crew members and leaving the remaining crew to barely escape.

Charybdis

100

Charybdis emits an eerie smoke and creates a whirlpool, and Odysseus and his crew must sail near it.

Helios' Island

110

After surviving the dangers of Sylla and Charybdis, the crew overrules Odysseus and land on the Island of Helios. Odysseus warns them not to kill the cattle, but after being stranded for a month, kill the cattle and are punished by the gods.

Charybdis / Sylla

120

Following the killing of the cattle, Zeus strikes the ship with lightning making Odysseus the lone survivor. Odysseus floats for 9 days past Charybdis and Sylla before landing on the Island of Calypso

Calypso

130

Odysseus lands on Calypso's island where she holds him captive for 7 years before being ordered by the gods to release him. After he leaves the island, Poseidon destroys his ship and he lands on Phaecia.

Phaecia

140

Odysseus lands on the island of Phaecia, where he recounts his journeys thus far.

Return to Ithaca

150

The Phaeacians return Odysseus to Ithaca where he is hidden by Athena as an old beggar and told to find Eumaeus, the local swine herder. Meanwhile Telemachus is returning and also finds Eumaeus.

Odysseus meets Telemachus

160

After finding Eumaeus, Odysseus, still disguised as a beggar meets his son, Telemachus, for the first time and is temporarily transformed by Athena into a clean looking, honorable, decorated warrior much to Telemachus' disbelief. They then make plans to kill the suitors that are trying to take over the town.

Odysseus goes to the Palace to see Penelope

170

After not seeing his wife for 20 years, he reaches her palace where he is met by the royal suitors and Antinous hits him with a chair. Penelope brings him into her room for information, where Odysseus doesn't formally introduce himself, but takes on the challenge to string his legendary bow.

Telemachus disarms the suitors

180

While the suitors are distracted, Telemachus takes their weapons and Philoetius locks the gates.

Penelope makes a challenge

190

Penelope goes downstairs with the bow and challenges all to string the bow and fire an arrow through 20 axe-heads. All the suitors try and fail to string the bow. When it is Odysseus' turn, he successfully strings his bow and fires the arrow.

Odysseus shoots Antinous

200

After completing the challenge, the suitors don't believe it is truly Odysseus and when Antinous, their leader, is shot in the neck, they think it was accidental.

Odysseus Introduces Himself

210

After killing Antinous, Odysseus introduces himself to the suitors and they begin to connect his hints.

The Battle Begins in the Great Hall

220

Odysseus fire another arrow, and the suitors begin to fight back. As Amphinous get close to Odysseus, Telemachus hits him in the back with a spear.

Telemachus leaves to get gear.

230

Odysseus tells Telemachus to leave for the armory to get armor and weaponry while he holds the suitors off from escaping.

Telemachus brings back gear.

240

After Telemachus returns with gear, Odysseus finishes killing the rest of the suitors.

Nurse tells Penelope about Odysseus

250

Nurse tells Penelope Odysseus has returned and the suitors are dead. The nurse has to explain the scars on Odysseus to prove it's him, but she still doesn't believe it.

Penelope sees Odysseus

260

Penelope meets Odysseus but freezes. Telemachus yells at her for not accepting him. Odysseus tells him to calm down.

Odysseus makes a plan

270

Penelope will have a party to make everyone think that she is finally getting married while Odysseus and Telemachus flee.

Odysseus proves his identity

280

While talking with Odysseus, Penelope tells him she moved their bed. Odysseus gets upset because the bed was carved into the tree and root, making it impossible to move. Odysseus gets offended by this proving his identity since he was the only man who has ever seen the bed.