Odysseus' Journey Home

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During Odysseus’ journey back home to Ithaca, him and his crew encountered many evils and troubles. Almost every one of these took at least one of his men. Scylla is an example of this. This monster took six of Odysseus’ men while on the journey home. Nearly ever was it Odysseus’ fault. His men caused most of the problems that haunted them back to Ithaca.

His hardships started when he was sent off to fight in the Trojan War. He had to fight because he had made an oath to Helen’s husband that he would always defend her honor. When Paris abducted Helen he was then forced to fight. After he had fought for Helen and had left, the wind then swept him to the island of the Cicones and fought and lost many men. He survived this mishap and then suffered another after sailing for quite a while. Odysseus and his men came upon an island and he sent three of his men to check it out and it was the island of the lotus-eaters. (The lotus’ were toxic and highly addictive, pretty much like a street drug in this day in time.) Once the three men approached the island, they were immediately tempted by the men on the island to eat the lotus. They were immediately addicted and did not continue the journey home to Ithaca with Odysseus and the other men.

Odysseus and his men were not prepared for what came next. They thought they were on their way home when they stopped for a break on the Island of Cyclopes. The crew started off by wondering around and finding something to eat and they saw the Cyclopes milking her sheep and when she herded the sheep back into the cave, Odysseus’ men started to follow but he stopped them and said that they would enter the cave at dawn. Odysseus woke, and they did just as planned. They saw the Cyclopes leave his cave ...

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...They make a stop on the Hyperion (the sun god’s) island. His men eat some of the cattle and are punished by Hyperion. So Zeus struck Odysseus’ last and final ship with a lightning bolt. Odysseus was the only one to make it out alive. He was stranded on a little piece of the ship. Odysseus finally floats onto the land of Ogygia and lives with Calypso for seven years until he is ready to get home then the Phaecians agree to help him. He gets on their ship and when he is fast asleep the drop him off at a secret harbor on Ithaca. Athena disguises Odysseus as a beggar and tells a story about how he ended up in Ithaca. And killed off all of the suitors.

Now after he tells everyone who he is, he has to prove it by stringing his own bow and shooting it through twelve axes and he does just that. So now he is reunited with his son Telemachus and his beautiful wife Penelope.

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