00:13The King of Ithaca
00:14Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Ithaca, a prince was born.
00:18Odysseus, the son of King Laertes, a former Argonaut, and Anticlea, the daughter of Atolycus.
00:25Being the grandson of Atolycus, the most renowned King of Thieves, and son of Hermes, Odysseus learnt some of his
00:32grandfather's crafts and tricks.
00:35He learnt well enough, that he became cunning as well, known far and near, for his intellectual brilliance, craftiness, and
00:43persuasive speaking skills.
00:45As a teenage boy, Odysseus, during one of his visits to his grandfather, decided to take part, in a boar
00:53hunting expedition, organized by his uncles.
00:56That was his very first hunting expedition, and the lad wanted to know what the adventure, felt like.
01:02When the hunting began, it happened that the path Odysseus had taken, was the path the wild boar was running
01:08towards.
01:10With no experience in prior hunting skills, young Odysseus was able to kill the wild boar.
01:16However, in their fight, the boar gave him a deep wound, on his leg, which left a large recognizable scar,
01:23after the wound had healed.
01:25That scar, became Odysseus' trademark. Anyone who saw it, immediately knew who he was.
01:33Years later, when he had grown into a man, Odysseus was selected, as one of the many suitors, of Helen,
01:40the beautiful step-daughter of King Tyndarius, of Sparta.
01:44Although Helen was the most beautiful woman anyone had ever seen, Odysseus was not so interested in winning her, because
01:51he had fallen in love with Helen's cousin, Penelope, the daughter of Icarius, brother to Tyndarius.
01:57In addition, the princess had way too many suitors, that he, with no extraordinarily fine features, was less likely to
02:05be chosen.
02:06It was clear to him, that Menelaus, the suitor with the most appealing looks, would win the hand of Helen.
02:13Odysseus thought of a way, to make Penelope his wife, and came up with a brilliant idea.
02:19Helen's suitors were so many, that even King Tyndarius, feared a possible outbreak of conflict, if he chose any one
02:26of them.
02:27So the crafty Odysseus used this situation, to his advantage.
02:32He offered Tyndarius a solution, in exchange for Penelope's hand in marriage, to which Tyndarius agreed.
02:39Odysseus made all the suitors, swear an oath, that they would respect the king's final choice, that they would respect
02:46whoever the king picked, to be his daughter's husband, and that they would support the couple, in any ill fate,
02:52the two may face, in the future.
02:55In the end, Menelaus was chosen, to be the husband of Helen, just as Odysseus suspected.
03:02And all the other suitors, peacefully left the city of Sparta, to their various homes, except Odysseus.
03:09His plan worked perfectly well.
03:12Fulfilling his own end of the bargain, King Tyndarius, gave Odysseus, the hand of Penelope, in marriage.
03:20Odysseus took his wife to his kingdom, Ithaca, where he assumed the throne, as the new king.
03:26The couple had a son named, Telemachus.
03:29And lived a very happy life, till came the events, which led to the Trojan War.
03:48To be continued...
03:50To be continued...
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