Odysseus
Greek mythology · hero · cunning, seafaring, endurance
King of Ithaca and hero of the Odyssey, famed for the wooden horse that ended the Trojan War. His ten-year voyage home, past the Cyclops, Circe, and the Sirens, is the archetypal tale of wit against adversity.
Stories
The Wrath of Poseidon
Trapped in the Cyclops' cave, Odysseus blinds Polyphemus to escape, then cannot resist shouting his real name. Polyphemus prays to his father Poseidon, whose vengeance scatters Odysseus's fleet and delays his homecoming ten years, with only Athena's favor bringing him home.
Circe's Island
Scouting a strange island, half of Odysseus's crew are turned to swine by the sorceress Circe. Armed with the god-given herb moly from Hermes, Odysseus resists her spell and wins his men back; the witch becomes an ally who hosts them for a year and charts the deadly road home.
The Song of the Sirens
Forewarned that the Sirens' song lures sailors onto the rocks, Odysseus has his crew plug their ears with wax and lash him to the mast. He alone hears the song that knows every man's glory, and screams to be released; the ropes hold, and the ship passes through.
The Cattle of the Sun
Storm-bound on Thrinacia, Odysseus's starving crew defy every warning and slaughter the sacred cattle of Helios. The sun god demands justice, and Zeus answers: a thunderbolt shatters the ship, and every man but Odysseus goes down with it.
Calypso and the Raft
For seven years the nymph Calypso keeps the shipwrecked Odysseus on her island, offering immortality if he will stay. He sits on the shore weeping for Ithaca until Zeus sends Hermes with an order the goddess cannot refuse; she teaches him to build a raft and lets him go.
The Slaying of the Suitors
Home at last and disguised as a beggar, Odysseus strings the great bow that no suitor could bend and turns it on the men who devoured his house. With Telemachus beside him and Athena overhead, he clears the hall; Penelope tests him one last time with the secret of their bed.
The Fall of Troy
After ten years of siege, Odysseus conceives the wooden horse and Troy drags its own doom through the gates. The city burns: Priam is cut down at his altar, Cassandra's warnings are vindicated too late, Menelaus reclaims Helen, and Aeneas escapes the flames carrying his father on his back.