Odysseus In Homer's Odyssey

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The Adventures of Odysseus
Ithaca is not that big. It is a small island off Greece in the Ionian Sea. It does not produce much, just about enough to keep its families fed. However, it is the home of the great Odysseus. The gods have been watching it to see when he will return and what will happen when he gets there.
The party linens are spread on the lawn of Olympus, and even Zeus is rumored to be attending. Twenty years, though a short time for a god is a significant period of a man’s life. Odysseus sleeps on the beach where the Phaiakian sailors left him along with the gifts from King Alkinoos had given him spread on the beach like so much detritus. Athene sits beside him waiting for him to awaken. If you look closely, you can see the …show more content…

Now Odysseus is finally returning to his home. What will he find there? Only Poseidon, the god of the sea who has been the master of this game. Rumor has it that not even Zeus has been advised of what Odysseus will find in Ithaca. We wonder what Odysseus must be dreaming. Is it the great storm that blew him off course when he tried to return with all his plunder taken from the sack of Troy? Is it the arms of sweet Penelope? Of maybe, just maybe he is dreaming about that first island he and his crew visited after Troy where he blinded poor Polyphemus the Cyclops. What a villain this man is. He took the sight of one who only had one eye. Oh, he is waking.
These humans, how they stretch and yawn and make such a fuss after they wake. We gods, of course, have no idea why they sleep, but it is fun to let them dream of us. They make up such tales. Oh, Athene is speaking to him.
Oh, I see. She is letting him know the setup. Shh, shh. Okay. So he is returning to his son and wife after twenty years. Telemachus is trying to hold off the advances of some major suitors for the hand of Penelope and mastery of Ithaca. Athene passes her hand over Odysseus and disguises him so that he will not be recognized. Oh, look at the change. No longer the noble Odysseus, he is a bent gnarled old man who can barely stand straight. Hah, too many years as a gardener, I see. Hey, a good disguise for one who is remembered as tall and strong. Remember him with Circe? Oh, such a trollop she is, keeping him on her island like

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