Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy.
Many cities of men he saw and learned their minds,
many pains he suffered, heartsick on the open sea,
fighting to save his life and bring his comrades home.
The Odyssey (in attic Greek Οδύσσεια, Odýsseia) is Homer’s second poem, following the time of the narration. It’s one of the many nostoi (that means “returns”) of all those greek warriors that returned from Troy after it was burnt to the ground.
The poem, divided into 24 books, narrates the ten-years-long return of Odysseus (also known with his latin name, Ulysses) and his crew back to the island if Ithaca.
Given the fact that many gods sided with Trojans during the war, all the greek heroes had to be punished by those gods for their savagery and cruelty against Troy and his inhabitants. Also Odysseus attracted Poseidon’s anger for blinding his son, the cyclops Polyphemus.
Odysseus (as his son Telemachus) is anyway constantly protected by the goddess Athena, which has been recognising his wit since the famous trick of the Trojan horse, which Odysseus had conceived.
After a long travel all across the Mediterrean sea, always facing multiple dangers, such as the witch Circe, the monsters Scylla and Charybdis, syrens and many more, he arrives at home, alone and unaknoweledged, just to find out that suitors have invaded his castle on the island of Ithaca and have tried to marry his wife Penelope, which has managed to stay loyal to her husband with a trick.
The narrative system follows multiple layers: the poem starts with the Telemachy, the search of Telemachus of his father all across Greece (books I-IV), then focus on Odysseus at the court of king Alcinous, as he tells the story of how he left Troy, lost direction multiple times, faced shipwrecks, and landed on the island of Ogygia, just to come back home (books V-XII).
The remaining books tell how he won over his suitors with his famous tricks and finally reunited with his family.
kianamaiart
gamechangershow
tangentwithtanner
dailybridgerton
