HOME READING
The Odyssey by Homer
The ancient Greek hero Odyssey was the
king of Ithaca. He had a wife Penelope and
son Telemachus. He made a long journey
home to Ithaca after the war of Troy. He was
known as a sly and clever person. Odyssey
was one of the main leaders in the Trojan
War. He created
a wooden Trojan horse in
which there were some Greek soldiers. At
night they w ent out of the horse and opened
the gates to let the Greek army in. It helped
the Greeks to win the war. After the war,
Odyssey w ent home bu t he spent ten years
of adventures before he reached home. He
met the Cyclopes, Circe, the Sirens, the
nymph Calypso
and he also made a journey
to the Underworld. He could not go home
im m ediately because the sea-god Poseidon
was angry with him and made him have a lot
of problem s.
First, Odyssey came to King Alcinous and
Queen Arete and told them the amazing story
of his victory in the Trojan War. Then they
went on their journey.
During his travelling
Odyssey and his team passed the island of
the well-known cyclops Polyphemus, who
lived on the island with lots of sheep. Odyssey
and his twelve ships were caught by storm
and they were held by the giant, one-eyed
cyclops Polyphemus, who was Poseidon’s
son. The cyclops had eaten many sailors be
fore Odyssey managed to kill him.
He gave
the giant strong wine and when the cyclops
fell asleep, Odyssey blinded him. After that
they left the island. But in spite of the help
of Aeolus, King of the Winds, they could not
come home again though it was alm ost in
sight.
When the sailors
lived on an island of the
w itch-goddess Circe, she turned half of the
men into swine. But Odyssey was helped by
Hermes, and C irce ’s magic did not w ork on
him. Circe was a daughter of Helios, the god
of the sun. She was also a sister of two kings
of Colchis as well as Pasiphae, m other of the
Minotaur. After a year
of eating and drinking
on C irce ’s island, the Greeks again set off.
Circe gave them a piece of advice on how
to pass the land of the Sirens and to pass
between the m any-headed m onster Scylla
and the Charybdis. She also told Odyssey
not to hunt cows on the land. But Odyssey
did not follow her advice and they killed a
cow fo r food.
They were punished
by the sun god Helios
because it was his cow. The ships were lost
and all the men but Odyssey were drowned.
He was washed on Calypso’s island Ogygia.
Calypso was one of the daughters of the
Titans Oceanus and Tethys. She wanted
Odyssey to stay with her on the island and
used magic songs and made him stay for
seven years. Odyssey soon wanted to go
back to his wife Penelope. His protector
goddess Athena helped him. Finally,
his son
Telem achus helped him to come back to his
wife and to his old father, Laertes, and live
in peace on Ithaca.