The Odyssey

Years after the end of the Trojan War, the Greek hero Odysseus still hasn't come home to Ithaka. Most people figure he's dead. But we don't: Homer lets us know right away that Odysseus is being held as a (willing) sex captive on the island of the goddess Calypso. Oh, and sea god Poseidon is ticked off at Odysseus, and sees no reason to let him get home. Back in Ithaca, Odysseus' wife Penelope is getting swarmed by a horde of unwanted suitors. Odysseus and Penelope's son, Telemachos, now a typically moody teenager, gets a visit from the goddess Athene (who was always chummy with Odysseus). She tells him to go looking for news of his missing father, so he heads to Pylos to visit King Nestor. Nestor takes him in, gives him a dinner—and then tells him to go see King Menelaos in Sparta. Once again, he does as he's told. In Sparta, Telemachos learns from Menelaos that Odysseus is alive and…well, being held captive on Kalypso's island. Menelaos also tells Telemachos about how his bro, King Agamemnon, was murdered when he got home from Troy by his unfaithful wife, Clytaimestra, and her lover, Aigisthos. It's cool, though: Agamemnon's son Orestes killed the murderers. This fun story raises the question of whether Odysseus will be killed when he gets home, and, if so, whether Telemachos will step up to avenge his father's death. Meanwhile, back in Ithaca, Penelope's suitors plot to ambush and kill Telemachos when he returns home. Oh, the tension! Up on Mount Olympos, where the gods all hang out, the goddess Athene asks her father, Zeus, the King of the gods, to have mercy on Odysseus and force Calpyso to release him. Zeus says whatever, and in no time, Odysseus sails off on a makeshift raft.