00:13After the Greeks' victory in the Trojan War, it was time for Odysseus to return to his kingdom of Ithaca.
00:20With 12 ships and a whole lot of crew, he sailed away from Troy.
00:25Shortly through their journey, they were blown off course by a strong wind,
00:30and landed on the south coast of Thrace, in the territory of the Succones, who were allies of the Trojans.
00:37When the Succones attacked, Odysseus and his crew killed all the attackers, sparing only a priest of Apollo, whose name
00:44was Maron.
00:46Maron offered them 12 jars of strong wine for sparing his life,
00:50and the Greeks, perhaps forgetting they were in the land of their enemies, drank too much wine and stayed too
00:56long.
00:57When they had all become drunk, the Succones attacked again, killing a few of them.
01:03Odysseus and his men hurried away from Thrace to continue their journey, and after a while, they reached the land
01:10of the Lotus Eaters.
01:11When Odysseus sent some of his men to survey the area, none of them returned.
01:18He went to see for himself what had happened to his men, only to find them eating Lotus with the
01:24Lotus Eaters, not caring about going home.
01:28The Lotus was so tasty that anyone who ate them forgot about going home.
01:34Odysseus had to drag the reluctant crew back to the ships by force.
01:39They reached the island of the Cyclops, landing on the shore, in search of cheese, and meat, and other valuables
01:46they could find.
01:47In the course of their search, they unwittingly entered the cave of the Cyclops, Polyphemus, son of Poseidon.
01:54When Polyphemus returned, he shut the entrance of the cave, with a giant builder, and started eating Odysseus' men.
02:01When the giant had eaten six of the men, Odysseus came up with a plan.
02:07He introduced himself to Polyphemus, and gave him some of mer and strong wine, managing to get him drunk.
02:15As the drunk Polyphemus slept, Odysseus and his men sharpened a huge stake, and pierced the Cyclops' eye with the
02:23stake.
02:24Roaring in agony, Polyphemus rolled away the boulder, crying for help.
02:29With the cave open once again, Odysseus and his men, escaped, cautiously avoiding the searching hands, of the blind Cyclops.
02:38However, when they had gotten to the safety of their ships, Odysseus made the grave mistake, of revealing his true
02:45identity, to Polyphemus.
02:47A mistake that would cost him ten years, away from his home.
02:51Polyphemus prayed to his father Poseidon, to avenge him, to curse Odysseus, to wander the sea, for a long time.
03:00Odysseus' ships got to the island of Aeolus, a king, gifted by the gods, with the power of the winds.
03:06He warmly welcomed, and harbored them, for a month.
03:09By the time they were ready to leave, Aeolus gave Odysseus a gift, to ensure his safe return, to Ithaca.
03:17The god, put all the winds, inside a leather bag, except the west wind, then gave the bag to Odysseus,
03:24warning him not to open it, till he reached his destination.
03:28On the tenth day however, just as Ithaca came into sight, Odysseus' man, gently stole the heavy bag, while he
03:35was sleeping.
03:36Thinking there was gold inside, the foolish men, opened the bag, immediately releasing all the other winds, which violently blew
03:44their ships, back to the island of Aeolus.
03:47Realizing Odysseus was cursed by Poseidon, Aeolus refused to help him again, and send them away.
03:54Seven days later, they reached the island of the Laestrigonians, a tribe of giants, who ate human flesh.
04:02Hurling giant boulders at them, the giants destroyed all eleven of Odysseus' ships, except his own, and ate the sailors,
04:09on those ships.
04:11Next, with his only surviving crew, and ship, Odysseus reached Aeia, the island of the sorceress, Circe, daughter of the
04:19sun god Helios.
04:21There, Circe turned his men into pigs, after feeding them, with enchanted cheese, and wine.
04:28Hermes, the ever-helpful messenger god, appeared to Odysseus, giving him a herb, called moly, in order to resist Circe's
04:36magic.
04:37Now immune to her powers, Odysseus overpowered Circe, forcing her to change the pigs, back to men.
04:45Circe agreed to Odysseus' commands, and asked him to stay with her, on the island, the time during which, he
04:52became her consort.
04:54After a year on the island, Circe advised Odysseus, that in order to return to Ithaca, he must travel to
05:00the dark realm, of the Cimmerians.
05:03There, he must pour libations, and make sacrifices, to attract the souls of the dead.
05:09Once the soul of the blind prophet, Tiresias, appears, he must ask him, for a way to appease Poseidon, and
05:16a way back to Ithaca.
05:19Odysseus journeyed to the land of the Cimmerians, and did as he was told.
05:23He saw the spirits of many known men, including Agamemnon, who died few years back, and Achilles.
05:31Tiresias came forth, revealing to Odysseus, that he was being punished by Poseidon, for blinding his son, Polyphemus.
05:38And warned him, not to touch the cattle of Helios, when they reached Thrinacea.
05:44After Tiresias' spirit had gone, Odysseus saw his mother, Anticlea, who passed away, while grieving his long absence.
05:53Anticlea warned her son to hurry back to Ithaca, for his wife, Penelope, was surrounded by many suitors, who sought
06:00to take his place as king.
06:02Upon his return to Aiaia, Circe bade Odysseus farewell, warning him of the dangers that lay ahead.
06:09He would pass the island of the Sirens, who enchant all, who come near them, through their song, and then,
06:16go through a pass, between the whirlpool, Charybdis, and the six-headed monster, Skylar.
06:22When they got to the island of the Sirens, Odysseus ordered his men to stuff their ears, with bee wax,
06:29and tightly bound himself, to the mast of the ship, so that he would escape unharmed, while also able to
06:35hear the Sirens' beautiful song.
06:38They also managed to get past the Charybdis, but when they reached the territory of Skylar, the monster devoured six
06:45of Odysseus' crew, before they got past.
06:48Next, they reached the island of Thrinacea.
06:52Remembering Tiresias' warnings, Odysseus commanded his crew, not to eat the sacred cattle of Helios.
06:58But in his absence, they went ahead, and ate the cattle, thus, enraging Helios.
07:05Helios asked Zeus, to punish the insolent men, or he would take the sun with him, to the underworld.
07:12Zeus sent a violent storm, which killed all of Odysseus' crew, sparing only him.
07:18The sea carried Odysseus to the island of Ogygia, where the witch, Calypso, fell in love with him, and kept
07:25him captive, for seven years.
07:27She tried to make him stay with her forever, by promising him immortality, but Odysseus, wanted nothing more, than to
07:35return to his beloved home of Ithaca.
07:38Finally, Hermes interceded on behalf of Odysseus, asking Zeus to have mercy on the hero.
07:44Zeus then ordered Calypso, to immediately release the weary captive, which she obeyed.
07:50The king of Ithaca soon reached Scoria, the island of the Phaeacians.
07:55When he told them his story, they were pleased, and honored, to have such a guest.
08:01They gave Odysseus a new ship, and some sailors, who sailed him safely to his home.
08:07The tired hero was sound asleep, when they reached Ithaca, and not wanting to disturb him, the sailors, gently laid
08:14him on the shore, and sailed off.
08:16After twenty long years of wandering, he was finally back home.
08:21Odysseus awoke, to see the shining armor-clad goddess, Athena, standing before him.
08:27After revealing to him what had happened, during his absence, Athena transformed him, into an old beggar, to keep him
08:35safe, till he was able to reclaim his throne.
08:38The disguised king, went to the hut of one of his faithful servants, Eumaeus, who welcomed him warmly, entertaining him
08:45with stories, of how great, his past master was.
08:49When the now grown Telemachus, returned from Sparta, after escaping an ambush, set by Penelope's suitors, to get rid of
08:57him, he headed straight to the hut of Eumaeus.
09:00There, Odysseus revealed himself, to his son.
09:04Reunited with his beloved father, Telemachus joined in, on his plan of revenge, against the suitors.
09:11Accompanied by Eumaeus, Odysseus, still in disguise, got to his palace, where the suitors laughed at him, taunted, and mistreated
09:20him, until Queen Penelope came to his aid.
09:23Penelope led the beggar, away from her wicked suitors, not knowing, he was actually her long lost husband.
09:30She had been faithful to Odysseus, all those 20 years.
09:35Penelope called her nurse, Eurycleia, to wash the old beggar's feet.
09:39And while doing this, Eurycleia saw the scar on his leg, immediately realizing who the beggar, really was.
09:47She tried to tell Penelope, but Odysseus and Athena, persuaded her to keep it a secret.
09:53As part of their plan, Athena encouraged Penelope, to announce that she was finally ready to remarry.
10:00Penelope decreed, that any man, who was able to string her husband's bow, and then, shoot an arrow, through 12
10:07axe shafts, would be her husband.
10:10The contest began, and none of the suitors, could accomplish the feat.
10:15Then, the beggar, came forth.
10:18To the surprise of everyone, the frail man completed the challenge, effortlessly.
10:24Then, revealed himself, as Odysseus, king of Ithaca.
10:28His beggar disguise, vanishing into thin air.
10:31With the help of Athena, and his son, Odysseus killed all of the suitors, and hanged 12 of the household
10:37maidens, who had been traitors.
10:40When Penelope learned of what happened, she was too shocked, to believe the stranger was truly her husband.
10:47Even after she saw him, in his true form, bathed, and regally clothed.
10:51To test if it was him, Penelope asked Odysseus, to move her marriage bed, to another room.
10:59Odysseus replied, that such was impossible, because he had made the bed himself, and knew that one of its legs,
11:06was a living olive tree, deeply rooted in the ground.
11:10Needing no further proof, Penelope ran into her husband's embrace, both, weeping tears of joy.
11:16Happy at the outcome of events, Athena ordered Eos, goddess of the dawn, to postpone the coming of dawn, for
11:24a few hours.
11:25So that the reunited husband and wife, could enjoy a long night of loving embraces, tears of profound joy, and
11:31stories of love.
11:33Once again, Ithaca, became a land of peace, and order.
11:46To be continued...
11:50To be continued...
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