The Odyssey

1
The Odyssey

• by Homer the poet
• Translated and narrated by Geoff Atwood

2
The Beginning(1 mintue and 14 seconds so listen
to all of it)

• Ulysses has just fought in the Trojan War and
  is weary of war. All he wants to do is to go back
  to Ithaca and his beloved Penelope. However, the
  gods have other plans for this trickster king.

3
The Land of relaxation hypnotism!

• In the first of Ulyssess challenges, he is
  blown off course to the land of Lotus-Eaters. The
  few men who he sent were hypnotized by the
  flowers the natives ate. When Ulysses found out
  he sent men to capture the scouts he had sent and
  to drag them back.

4
Fear of Giants

• With the Lotus-Eaters far behind them, Ulysses
  landed in Sicily in hopes of getting supplies,
  but had entered the cave of a giant, one-eyed
  demigod named Polyphemus.
• When he found the intruders, Polyphemus ate two
  of the Greeks. Ulysses, then, got the giant drunk
  the next day with some wine and, soon after,
  stabbed him in the eye, blinding him.
• Ulysses escaped by hiding under the sheep the
  Cyclops owned while he let them out to eat.
• But stealing from this brute was not enough for
  Ulysses. He mocked him and told hi his real name
  for he had told the monster that his name was no
  man.
• Polyphemus cried out to his father, Neptune, to
  punish Ulysses. And his father listened and
  cursed Ulysses to wander the seas for ten years
  before stepping onto Ithacan soil.

5
Winds Cannibals

• The Greeks managed to land on the island of
  Aeolia owned by Aeolus, the god of the winds.
• He gladly gave them a nights rest, drink, and
  food. He then gave them the winds that influenced
  them on their voyage.
• When Ithaca was in sight though, some of the
  Greeks opened the bag of foul winds and they blew
  them off course to Aeolus, who then refused to
  give more winds to them because he thought they
  were cursed by the gods.
• The next island was to hurt Ulysses and the
  Greeks the most.
• On this island, Ulyssess fleet is attacked by
  the cannibalistic Laestrygonians. Only Ulysses
  ship survives.

6
Sorcery and Trickery

• What is left of Ulyssess fleet sails to yet
  another island and this island is owned by the
  sorceress, Circe. (Circe is responsible for
  creating a problem for the Argonauts, named
  Scylla.) She meets some of Ulyssess men at her
  palace. They behave quite badly and are turned
  into swine. When the one man who is not changed
  comes back, Ulysses rages at him for not
  attempting a rescue and then heads to Circes
  palace. While on route to Circes palace, Ulysses
  meets Mercury and is given moly which protects
  him from her sorcery. He suddenly becomes her
  lover after freeing his men and remains on the
  island for a month.

7
The Land of the Dead

• When Ulyssess men convinced him to head back to
  Ithaca, Circe told Ulysses to seek Tiresias, the
  blind seer.
• In this dreary place, Ulysses learned that he
  could not talk to the dead without making them
  drinking sheep blood.
• So, keeping the dead back, Ulysses guarded the
  well of blood until Tiresias had drank from it.
• He saw the spirits of Achilles, his mother, and
  many other famous men and women.
• He learned that he could not sail directly home
  or he would not die peacefully.

8
Twin Perils!!

• After returning to Circe, Ulysses learns that his
  first peril is with the lovely, sweetly singing,
  murderous Sirens.
• These maidens sing every mans greatest desire
  causing them to crash into the rocks nearby.
• Ulysses had his rowers ears felled with wax and
  himself tied to the mast.
• They sailed past safely and Ulysses was the only
  one to hear his greatest desire.

• Then came the challenge of the two terrors,
  Scylla and Charybdis!
• Ulysses is faced with the choice of losing six
  men or the chance of losing his entire ship.
• He chooses to not tell his men about Scylla and
  sails in her direction.
• He sails though as fast as he can, but still
  loses the six men violently.

9
Imprisonment!

• Then Ulyssess men eat the cows of the Sun god
  and Jupiter strikes their ship with lighting.
• Ulysses is the only one to survive. He washes up
  onto Calypsos island.
• The goddess holds him there against his will for
  seven years, trying to convince him to stay for
  eternity.
• Hermes comes with a message that helps Ulysses.
• That message was Let Ulysses go!
• Calypso gives him the equipment to make a raft.
• Unfortunately, Neptune sees him sail and destroys
  his raft near a Phaeacian shore.
• Because the Phaeacians are nice people, they take
  Ulysses to Ithaca while he sleeps.

10
Home

• When Ulysses recognizes he is home at last he
  kisses the ground.
• He then is warned about the suitors by Minerva.
• He meets his twenty year old son and makes plans
  for the suitors death.
• Disguised as a common beggar, Ulysses goes to his
  palace and is treated horribly by the suitors.
• Penelope then proposes a contest for the suitors,
  to string and shoot Ulyssess bow.
• All the suitors fail in stringing the bow, but
  Ulysses strings it and shoots it at the target.
• After shooting the inanimate target, Ulysses
  shoots the living ones, thus ending the suitors
  tale.
• Ulysses, then, proves that he is alive to his
  wife by telling her of his living bed
• (which was made with a living olive tree).

11
THE END

• Thank you for being here for the Odyssey.
• Good-bye and good night!
• (or day, depends on the time.)