The story in brief
Odysseus loses his last ship between a monster and a whirlpool. At home, a queen holds off a hall full of suitors with nothing but her wits and a loom. When her husband finally walks in, in rags, the story becomes hers: she sets the contest, and she decides when to believe him.
The chapters
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Chapter 1 · 5 min · Free
The Sirens’ Song
Every sailor who hears them dies. Odysseus wants to hear them anyway.
Sources: Homer, Odyssey 12.1–200; Apollodorus, Epitome 7.18–19
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Chapter 2 · 5 min · Free
Between Scylla and Charybdis
A monster above, a whirlpool below, and no way through without losing someone.
Sources: Homer, Odyssey 12.201–453; Thucydides 1.25, 4.24
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Chapter 3 · 5 min
Nausicaa
A shipwrecked king wakes in the bushes to the shrieks of girls who have lost their ball.
Sources: Homer, Odyssey 5.262–8.586, 13.1–196
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Chapter 4 · 5 min
The Loom
The story turns to the woman who has waited twenty years, and has not been idle.
Sources: Homer, Odyssey 1–4, 2.85–128, 13.429–440, 17.290–327, 19; Fénelon, Les Aventures de Télémaque
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Chapter 5 · 5 min
The Bow
A queen takes down her husband’s bow, sits with it on her knees, and weeps. Then she carries it into the hall.
Sources: Homer, Odyssey 16.245–253, 19.570–581, 21–24
Who’s who
The people you meet. Each one is a hero card you can collect.
- SirenSinger of the Meadow · Bird-Woman · She Who Knows All
- EurylochusSecond-in-Command · Kinsman of Odysseus · Voice of the Crew
- NausicaaPrincess of the Phaeacians · Daughter of Alcinous · She Who Stood Her Ground
- AthenaGoddess of Wisdom · Grey-Eyed · Guide in Disguise
- TelemachusPrince of Ithaca · Son of Odysseus · The Boy Who Grew Up
- PenelopeQueen of Ithaca · Weaver of the Web · The Wise
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 1–8, 12–24
