The OdysseyThe Episodes

Mutiny

Troy

•Odysseus and his ships leave Troy after winning the Trojan War

Cicones

•Odysseus and his ships land at Ismarus, land of the Cicones• They fight and defeat the Cicones•1st mutiny: Odysseus tells his men to

get back on the ships and they refuse•Cicone army arrives and kills more

than 70 men

Lotus-Eaters

•Blown off course by Zeus, Odysseus and his ships arrive at the land of the Lotus-Eaters•Odysseus sends 3 men out to meet

the Lotus-Eaters. They eat the Lotus and don’t want to come back•Odysseus drags them back and forces

them to leave

Cyclops

•Odysseus and his ships arrive at Cyclops’s island•Cyclops eats 6 of Odysseus’s men•Odysseus blinds Cyclops and they

escape•Odysseus taunts Cyclops, who then

puts Poseidon’s curse on them

Aeolus

•Odysseus and his ships arrive at the home of Aeolus, Keeper of the Wind• Aeolus gives Odysseus a bag of unfavorable

winds•Odysseus doesn’t tell his men what’s in the

bag• The men open the bag, releasing the bad

winds just as they are about to arrive in Ithaca (2nd mutiny) and are blown far away

Laestrygonians (Cannibals)

•Odysseus and his ships are blown to the land of the Laestrygonians•All the ships except Odysseus’s anchor

in the harbor against Odysseus’s orders (3rd mutiny)• The Laestrygonians massacre and eat

the men on the ships in the harbor•Odysseus and one ship escape

Circe

•Odysseus’s ship arrives on Circe’s island•Odysseus sends some men to

investigate Circe’s cottage• She turns the men into pigs•Odysseus rescues them with the help

of Hermes (and Zeus)

Circe (cont.)

• Circe falls in love with Odysseus• Circe invites Odysseus and his men to

stay for a few days to rest and recover• She tricks them – they actually stay for a

year•Odysseus has a dream about his mother

and decides to leave• Circe sends them to the Land of the Dead

The Land of the Dead

•Odysseus and a few men arrive at the entrance to the Underworld•Odysseus goes alone to meet Tiresias,

who will tell them how to return home safely•Odysseus meets some of his dead

men, and then meets his mother, who has just died

Circe – Part 2

•Odysseus returns to Circe’s island to pick up the rest of his men•Circe interprets Tiresias’s message

and tells Odysseus four things:

4 things Circe told Odysseus:

1. Avoid the Sirens – they will kill you with their beautiful songs

2. Avoid the Wandering Rocks by choosing to go past Scylla and Charybdis

3. Make a choice: Scylla will kill 6 of the men, but Charybdis will kill them all

4. Don’t eat the Cattle of Lord Helios, the Sun God!

Sirens / Wandering Rocks

•Odysseus tells his men about the Sirens•He does NOT tell them about Scylla

and Charybdis

Cattle of the Sun God• Odysseus and his surviving men land on the island of Helios

where storms prevent them from leaving.• The food runs out, and Odysseus goes inland to pray to the

gods for help. The gods put him to sleep.• The men, led by Eurylochus, decided to kill the cattle and eat

them. Helios demands revenge.• Odysseus wakes up and finds what the men have done. He

watches them feast for six days.• The storms stop and the ship leaves. Once out at sea, Zeus

sends a thunderbolt to destroy the ship, killing all the men.• Odysseus floats on wreckage through Scylla and Charybdis.• After nine days at sea, he lands on Calypso’s island.

Calypso

• Odysseus lands on Calypso’s island• She holds him captive for 7 years• Odysseus dreams of home and pines for Penelope• Athena convinces Zeus to pity him, and he sends

Hermes to tell Calypso to let Odysseus go• Odysseus is given materials to build a raft and sails

away• Poseidon sends a great storm, which wrecks the raft

on the shores of Phaeacia• He is rescued by Nausicaa and brought to the court,

where he tells his story to the King