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The Lotus Eaters
After the disastrous results of the raid on Cicones, storms keep Odysseus's crew at sea for many days. They finally reach a land inhabited by the rather friendly Lotus Eaters. However, those of Odysseus's men who eat the lotus forget how much they want to return home. Odysseus forces those men to board the ship and ties them to the benches, giving them no choice but to leave the island with the rest of the crew. -
Polyphemus
Odysseus's next adventure takes place on the island of the Cyclopes. Whilst exploring the cave of the Cyclops Polyphemus, Odysseus and a group of his men are captured by Polyphemus, who eats two of them. After a terrifying night, Odysseus hatches a plan to escape the cave. With the aid of his men, he pierces and burns Polyphemus’s eye. The next morning, they escape the cave by tying themselves to the bellies of Polyphemus’s goats as they go out to pasture. -
Aeolus, Master of the Winds
After escaping from Polyphemus, Odysseus and his men travel to the island where Aeolus, master of the winds, lives. Aeolus gives Odysseus a bag containing the four winds, which he uses to sail the ship smoothly toward home. However, some of his men greedily open the bag, causing them to be thrown off course. They return to Aeolus, but he will no longer help them and throws them out of his house. -
Circes
After many of Odysseus's men are killed by Laestrygonians, the survivors (including Odysseus) journey to Aeaean Island, home of the goddess Circe. Odysseus sends a group of men to Circe's house. When they do not return, Odysseus goes after them and is visited by Hermes. Hermes tells him that his men have been turned into boars, and gives Odysseus an herb that will protect him from the same spell. Odysseus successfully forces Circe to return his men, and she welcomes his crew as guests. -
The Underworld
After Odysseus and his men spend a year on Circe's island, she tells them to travel to the Underworld and speak to the spirit of Tiresias. While there, Odysseus speaks with many dead spirits. The spirit of Elpenor, a member of his crew who had died on Circe's island, asks Odysseus to return there and bury him. Odysseus then speaks with his own mother, who died of grief while he was away from Ithaca, and she tells him of Penelope's suitors. Tiresias tells Odysseus how he can appease the gods. -
Scylla and Charybdis
Immediately after escaping the threat of the Sirens, the men catch sight of the next obstacle Circes warned Odysseus about, the whirlpool Charybdis. Odysseus encourages his frightened men but does not tell them about Scylla, a monster who lurks nearby. The ship is able to pass between the two obstacles, but Scylla manages to capture and eat six of Odysseus's men. -
The Sirens
Odysseus and his men return to Circe’s island, and she tells Odysseus of obstacles they will face. The first one is the island of the Sirens, who use their beautiful singing to lure seamen to their deaths on the island. Since Circes stated that Odysseus is allowed to listen to them, he has his men stop their ears with wax and tie him to the mast. As they pass the island, Odysseus is charmed by the Siren's songs and begs his men to go closer, but they ignore him and safely sail pass the island. -
The Sun God's Cattle
After escaping Scylla and Charybdis, Odysseus's crew spends a month harbored on the island where Helios, the sun god, lives. Odysseus warns his men to stay away from Helios' cattle, as per instructions from Tiresias' spirit. They obey until the ship's supplies run out, then kill and cook some of the cattle while Odysseus is sleeping. After a week of feasting, they leave, but a storm sent by the gods sends them back towards Charybdis. The ship is destroyed, leaving Odysseus the only survivor. -
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Odysseus Is Imprisoned by Calypso
After the loss of his ship and crew, Odysseus spends nine days at sea. He eventually washes up on the island of the goddess Calypso. Calypso falls in love with him and tries for seven years to convince him to stay with her. (See "Odysseus Leaves Calypso's Island.") -
The Suitors
It has now been ten years since the Trojan War ended, and Odysseus has still not returned home to Ithaca. Odysseus's wife Penelope and his twenty-year-old son Telemachus have given up hope, after several rumors about Odysseus's survival and return over the years have all proved false. Penelope is being continuously approached by dozens of men, who hope to woo her and convince her to marry them. They stay at Telemachus's house and have frequent feasts, all using Telemachus's property and goods. -
Odysseus Leaves Calypso's Island
Despite Calypso's attempts to convince Odysseus to stay with her on the island, all he does is pine for his home and family. Finally, the messenger god Hermes visits Calypso and tells her that the gods want her to let Odysseus go. Odysseus immediately builds a raft, and after being given provisions by Calypso, he sets out for home once again. -
Odysseus Reaches Scherie
After Odysseus leaves Calypso's island, he sails toward the island of Scherie. However, a storm from the angry god Neptune wrecks his raft and keeps him from reaching land, until the goddess Minerva finally calms the storm and allows him to reach shore. He takes shelter in the nearby woods. The next day, he encounters the princess Nausicaa, who sends him to her father's house. -
The Phaeacians
Odysseus spends the next few days in the company of Nausicaa's people, the Phaeacians. They entertain him with feasts, a pentathlon, and performances from the blind bard Demodocus. When Demodocus tells of the Trojan Horse, Odysseus becomes extremely emotional. He reveals his true identity, previously kept secret, and tells the Phaeacians of his adventures after the end of the Trojan War. After telling his tale, the Phaeacians agree to help him get home. He leaves on a ship the next day. -
Odysseus Returns Home
After a smooth voyage from the island of Scherie, the Phaeacian's ship docks at Ithaca. The crew takes the sleeping Odysseus off of the ship and put him onto the beach, with all his riches hidden nearby. Once he awakes, Odysseus does not know where he is at first. The goddess Minerva (disguised as a man) reveals that he is on Ithaca. After over two decades away from his island, Odysseus is finally home. -
Eumaeus and Telemachus
Minerva sends Odysseus, disguised as an old man, to the home of his swineherd, Eumaeus. Keeping his true identity hidden, Odysseus talks of his return, but Eumaeus and his friends do not believe him. A few days later, Telemachus arrives, having been on an unsuccessful journey to learn the fate of his father. Minerva makes Odysseus appear young again so he can reveal his identity to his son. Once Telemachus is convinced his father has truly returned, the two cry and embrace each other. -
Odysseus Kills the Suitors
Odysseus and Telemachus return to their house, where he clashes with Penelope’s suitors. One night, he and Telemachus secretly hide their weapons. The next day, Penelope announces that she will marry the man who can pierce twelve axe handles with an arrow from Odysseus's bow. Odysseus is the only man able to do so, and after winning the contest reveals his identity. He kills all of the suitors with the help of his son, Minerva, and his servants. -
Odysseus and Penelope
Even though Odysseus has revealed his identity and Minerva has restored him to a youthful appearance, Penelope still doubts that he is really her husband. To test him, she orders her servant to remove the couple’s bed (which Odysseus built) to another chamber. Odysseus states that that is impossible, since one of the bed's legs is a living tree. Since this was known only to Penelope and Odysseus, she accepts this statement as proof that the man in front of her is her long-lost husband.
