The story in brief
The cleverest Greek at Troy only wants to go home. A goddess offers him immortality, a giant asks his name, a king gives him the winds in a bag, a witch turns his men into pigs, and the way home runs through the land of the dead. Every island costs him men. One shout costs him ten years.
The chapters
-
Chapter 1 · 5 min · Free
Ten Years Late
Every hero of Troy is home or dead. All but one, who sits on a beach and weeps.
Sources: Homer, Odyssey 1.1–21, 5, 9.1–104
-
Chapter 2 · 5 min · Free
Nobody
A giant asks his name. Odysseus has a better answer than the truth.
Sources: Homer, Odyssey 9.105–566
-
Chapter 3 · 5 min
A Bag of Winds
Home is in sight. The captain falls asleep. The crew opens the bag.
Sources: Homer, Odyssey 10.1–132; Strabo 1.2.15
-
Chapter 4 · 5 min
Circe
A goddess at a loom, a cup of wine, and twenty-two men turned into pigs who remember everything.
Sources: Homer, Odyssey 10.133–574
-
Chapter 5 · 5 min
The Land of the Dead
A pit of blood at the edge of the world, a mother who cannot be held, and a hero who would rather be alive.
Sources: Homer, Odyssey 11
Who’s who
The people you meet. Each one is a hero card you can collect.
- CalypsoNymph · Goddess of Ogygia · She Who Hides
- PolyphemusCyclops · Son of Poseidon · The Shepherd Giant
- AeolusKeeper of the Winds · King of the Floating Island · Host
- CirceGoddess · Enchantress of Aeaea · Daughter of the Sun
- AnticleaMother of Odysseus · Queen of Ithaca · A Shade
- OdysseusKing of Ithaca · Man of Many Ways · Nobody
What you’ll be able to tell
This story belongs to the journey “The Odyssey”. By the end of it, you can tell how Odysseus beat a Cyclops by calling himself Nobody, and where the word mentor comes from.
Stories in this journey
- Odysseus: Nobody
- Penelope: The Long Way Home
Sources
- Homer, Odyssey 1, 5, 9–11
