The Odyssey: Book Twenty-Four

Odysseus plays one last trick before the story ends
He goes to see Laertes in his orchard and pretends
to be a traveller. He asks "old man, d'you know
If this is where Odysseus lives? I met him long ago."
"Oh woe is me" Laertes cries "that man you seek's my son
He's been away for twenty years, I'm sure that he is done!"
"Not so, it's me!" his son exclaims "I have come home at last"
He recounts the whole story which we'll skip over quite fast
Though the suitors have gone down to Hades, now their kin
Would avenge the murders and a battle does begin
But, no sooner's battle joined then Athene descends
Down from Mount Olympus and proclaims "Let's all be friends"
No-one's all that keen to fight and they agree to cease
Everybody goes back home, and Ithaka's at peace.

The Odyssey: Book Twenty-Three

Eurykleia tells Penelope her husband's back
And has killed the suitors in a furious attack
She is highly sceptical and doesn't think it's true
"This is just the kind of trick the gods are known to do!"
She goes to Odysseus but still remains unsure
Orders that his bed be brought and set upon the floor
"What?" he says "My bed? I don't think that it can be moved
I made it from an olive tree that grows there" - thus he's proved
He really is Odysseus - now no more need be said
After twenty years apart, he takes his wife to bed.

The Odyssey: Book Twenty-Two

Struck down by an arrow, Antinous is slain
"Yes! I am Odysseus - I've come back home again!"
The door is blocked, the suitors are all trapped inside the hall
Odysseus, his son and friends proceed to kill them all
The singer and the herald are allowed to go free
But the treacherous goatherd is tortured horribly
A dozen of the servant girls are judged to have been loose
and disrespectful, so their heads go in the noose

The Odyssey: Book Twenty-One

After feasting, it’s time for the contest of the bow
All the eager suitors are lined up to have a go
But the bow’s enormous, because of its great length
None of them can string it for they do not have the strength
To the swine- and cowherds Odysseus shows his scar
Proving his identity! Their master’s back – hurrah!
At the contest of the bow he asks for an attempt
But the suitors fear that they’ll be treated with contempt
If against a vagabond like him they all could lose
So his challenge to compete they would all refuse
Eumaios the swineherd gets the bow, he is on hand
Takes it to Odysseus just as they had planned
Odysseus strings it easily, and with a single shot
Hits all of the axes – the victory he’s got!

The Odyssey: Book Twenty

The next day the suitors are returning for a feast
Melanthius the goatherd slights Odysseus; at least
The cowherd Philoetius is loyal and he’s thrilled
When he’s told that very soon the suitors will be killed
At the feast, Ctessipus picks up an ox’s hoof
And throws it at Odysseus – he gets a stern reproof
“It’s lucky that you missed my guest” Telemachus declares
“Or I would kill you. I will take on any man who dares”
So the suitors hold their peace, although they feel superior
Now Athene makes the suitors laugh – its mass hysteria!

The Odyssey: Book Nineteen

Odysseus tells Penelope that he's from Crete
She asks him if at any time her husband he did meet?
He claims to have seen him on the way to Ilion
Convinces her by telling of the clothes that he had on.
Now Odysseus is in Threspotia, quite near
He promises her husband will be home within the year.
Then he has his feet washed by the nurse Eurykleia
But she recognises him from an old hunting scar!
He was wounded when he was a young man, by a boar
Eurykleia promises the secret she'll ignore
Penelope plans to stage an archery contest
She'll marry the suitor who can shoot the bow the best!

The Odyssey: Book Eighteen

There's another vagabond called Iros, he's a fool
He insults Odysseus and asks to fight a duel
All the suitors watch, Antinous says the winner
gets to stay inside with them and partake of their dinner
Iros is knocked to the floor, much to his surprise
Underneath his rags Odysseus has mighty thighs!
Penelope tells the haughty suitors that they ought
To give lots of presents to the woman they would court.
She gets some new earrings, a gold necklace and a dress
From her many suitors who are hoping to impress.
Odysseus argues with the handmaid Melantho
And annoys Eurymachos, who gets a stool to throw
He misses Odysseus but before they fight
Telemachus tells the suitors to go home tonight.

The Odyssey: Book Seventeen

To the palace now Eumaios and his guests decamp
Telemachus first, Odysseus still as a tramp
His dog Argos knows his master and he wags his ears
then he dies – they had been apart for nineteen years!
Odysseus begs the suitors that he may be fed
Most of them are generous and give him meat and bread
Only Antinous won’t, his anger makes him bolder
He throws a footstool at the beggar, hits him in the shoulder!

The Odyssey: Book Sixteen

The suitors ambush hasn't posed Telemachus great danger
He comes to see Eumaios and he asks "who is that stranger?"
His father he can't recognise, the truth will soon be learned
Eumaios goes to tell Penelope her son's returned
Odysseus reveals himself, exclaims "I am your father!"
Telemachus is not convinced and says "I think that rather
you must be an immortal, this is your idea of fun!"
"No, Athene helped disguise me, but you are my son!"
The suitors ambush having failed, they claim to mean no ill
against young Telemachus, but they still mean to kill!

The Odyssey: Book Fifteen

Athene tells Telemachus its time he really ought
to go back to his country and leave Menelaus court
On the way he meets the prophet Theoklymenos
He's a fugitive wanted for murder in Argos!
Still, Telemachus agrees to let him join the crew
The prophet sees a hawk and says "this portent favours you!"
Odysseus says he's off to the palace, it's a test
Eumaios says "not the palace! stay here as my guest."
He tells him of his history: his father is a king
Eumaios was sold to slavers in a kidnapping.

The Odyssey: Book Fourteen

There’s a noble swineherd, name of Eumaios
Who laments the good times when Odysseus was boss
Odysseus visits this old servant in disguise
He tells him a long story, but it’s just a pack of lies
Eumaios dislikes the suitors, his resentment’s deep
They eat some roasted piglets, drink some wine and fall asleep.

The Odyssey: Book Thirteen

Odysseus is taken home in a Phaiacian ship
He's very tired and he sleeps through the entire trip
But the kind Phaiacians get a rather nasty shock
Poseidon is annoyed and turns their ship into a rock!
On his own, Odysseus awakes upon the sand
Athene comes to talk to him, and revenge is planned
against those wicked suitors who surely bear him malice
Athene says she'll help him to regain his wife and palace
"But why did you not help me all those years I was at sea?"
"If I had Poseidon would have been upset with me!"
In a cave, Odysseus conceals his gold and prizes
Then Athene him as an old beggar man disguises.

The Odyssey: Book Twelve

Circe gave me warnings of the dangers we would face
About the deadly Sirens and that terrifying place
where to avoid a whirlpool called Charybdis, then your tiller
must steer you past the cave of the six-headed monster Scylla.
I blocked my shipmates ears with wax, they tied me to the mast
so I could hear the Sirens singing as we sailed past.
At the straits where Scylla lives, whom every sailor dreads,
the beast ate six of my best men, one for each of her heads.
Circe and Tiresias had warned me it was best
to shun the isle of Helios, but my crew wished to rest
"Fine" I said "but do not touch the cattle or the sheep
To steal from the immortals then the punishment is steep."
We had to stay there for a month, in wait for a fair wind
My men were getting hungry, for our food supplies had thinned
They ate some of the cattle which belong to Helios
When the sun god learned of this he was extremely cross
"Zeus, they must be punished or I'll never shine again!"
So Zeus sent a storm which sunk my ship and drowned my men
Only I escaped and washed up on Calypso's isle
That is where I came here from, though I was there a while.

The Odyssey: Book Eleven

Came to the gates of Hades, following Circe's advice
I dug a pit and said some prayers and made a sacrifice
The dead came out to drink the blood and then they spoke to me
Tiresias the prophet was the one I'd come to see
He warned me not to eat the sheep and cows of Helios
For if I did I'd be destroyed or suffer grievous loss
Next my mother came to me and brought news of my wife
and of my father, who endured a miserable life
I saw a host of princesses, and Agamemnon too -
I asked him what had happened: "Did Poseidon come for you?"
"No" he said "'twas treachery, I was slain at a feast
my wicked wife betrayed me, she is a vile beast!"
Then I saw Achilles and I told him of his son.
Ajax was still angry 'bout the armour that I won.
I saw thirsty Tantalus, who's in a lake all day
But every time he tries to drink the water drains away.
Sisyphus, who up a hill a stone is forced to heave
which always falls back down again. Then it was time to leave!

The Odyssey: Book Ten

Aiolas caught the wind for me and put it in a bag
But just as we saw Ithaka my men said "What's this? Swag?"
They opened up the bag of winds, got blown back whence we came
"The gods must really hate you" said Aiolas, "what a shame."
Next to the Laistregones' isle, I waited in my ship
and sent three of my men off on a reconnaissance trip
The Laistregonian queen's so big my men were horrified!
The king took great offence at this, so most of my men died -
the Laistregones smashed the ships with boulders, killed the men
Only my ship got away, escaped from there, and then
Came to the isle of Circe, she turned half my crew to swine
Hermes gave me moly root, said "take this, you'll be fine"
so Circe's magic failed to work, she feared I'd strike her dead
she pleaded "put away your sword, come sleep with me instead!"
"Alright" I said "but only if you swear an oath to me
that you mean me no further harm, and set my shipmates free"
She did so, and I slept with her, we got on rather well
In fact, I stayed there a whole year, before I went to Hell -
for when I told her that I wished to leave her, Circe said
before I got home I must visit the land of the dead!

The Odyssey: Book Nine

My name is Odysseus, my story I will tell.
First stop, killed some Kikonians and stormed their citadel.
Eventually got chased away by a superior force
Then got caught in a mighty storm that blew us far off course
Met people who eat lotus, they just sit around all day
When two of my men tried some they had to be dragged away!
Next, came to the island where the Cyclopes reside
Took twelve of my sailors to a cave and went inside
Mighty Cyclops came back, blocked the exit with a stone
He started eating up my men – the flesh, the skin and bone!
Persuaded him to eat me last, by giving him some wine
And when he asked me “What’s your name” said “Nobody is mine”
Later, stabbed him in the eye when he was fast asleep
The other giants heard him roar and asked “is that your sheep?”
To his friends Cyclops exclaimed “Nobody’s killing me!”
“You don’t need us then” they replied and so they left him be
We hid ourselves beneath his sheep, so when he let them out
We could escape, but once back on my ship I turned to shout
Cyclops hurled a rock at me, it almost sank the ship
But still I was so angry I continued to let rip
“When somebody asks you ‘who did this to your eye?’
Tell them ‘twas Odysseus”. He cursed me in reply:
“My father is Poseidon, he’ll ensure you don’t get home
Or, at least, for many years at sea you’ll have to roam!”

The Odyssey: Book Eight

The Phaeacians gather to say farewell to their guest
Odysseus is asked if he’ll take part in a contest
He just wants to get back home and says he won’t compete
So Euryalos mocks him: “you don’t look like an athlete!”
“What!” retorts Odysseus “You insolent fellow!”
He beats all the Phaeacians with a mighty discus throw.
The Phaeacians sing and dance before they say goodbye
Their bard sings of the fall of Troy which makes the hero cry
“Before you leave” says Alcinous “tell us where you’ve been”
“we’d like to hear the story of the places you have seen.”

The Odyssey: Book Seven

Athene cloaks Odysseus in a concealing mist
His entry to the palace now nobody can resist
Once inside the mist dissolves and he can now be seen
“Help me get back to my home” he humbly begs the queen
To help him on this journey King Alcinous agrees.
“How did you get those clothes, though, on your travels on the seas?”
Queen Arete asks him, so Odysseus is made
to tell of his adventures, how Nausicaa gave him aid
King Alcinous invites Odysseus to stay –
indeed, to wed his daughter – but he’d rather sail away.

The Odyssey: Book Six

Athene visits Nausicaa, a princess, in a dream
To tell her she should go and do her laundry in a stream
Odysseus awakes and he hears Nausicaa at play
But when they see Odysseus, her handmaids run away!
He’s naked save for a few leaves, his skin is caked with brine
He stands there before Nausikaa and says "You look divine!
I've never seen a girl or boy who looks as good as thee
though once I was in Delos and I saw a lovely tree."
Through such praise and flattery Nausicaa is impressed
"I'll help to bring you to our town, but first you must get dressed."
"But first", he says "I'll need to bathe, now girls, it's rude to stare"
He bathes and oils his skin and then Athene does his hair.
"Now take me to your city, for I'd like to meet your father"
"I will" replies the princess "but I think that you had rather
wait in a grove just outside town and let me get back first
If people see me with you then they're sure to think the worst!"

The Odyssey: Book Five

To Calypso's isle comes Hermes with orders from Zeus:
Odysseus is to go home, the nymph must set him loose
Calypso's disappointed, for she'd like to keep him there
Even though he spends his days just weeping in despair
She tells him "if you want to leave, I'll help you build a raft
Though to prefer Penelope to me, you must be daft."
"In terms of beauty" he replies "I'm sure that you are right.
But still, I would like to go home, although I'll sleep with you tonight."
He sails for eighteen days until he's just in sight of shore
And then Poseidon sends a storm that blows away his oar!
It seems that he will drown or else be dashed against the granite
cliffs, til Ino visits him in the form of a gannet.
She bids him to strip off his clothes and gives a veil to him
then says he should get off the raft, and to the shore must swim.
He drifts at sea for two whole days, and doesn't feel too good
He finally makes landfall, then he lies down in a wood.

The Odyssey: Book Four

Menelaus greets his guests and bids them both to sup
Helen spikes their wine in an attempt to cheer them up
She tells of how Odysseus came to Troy in disguise
"I knew him straight away of course, imagine my surprise!
I swore not to betray him though, I gave him a nice bath.
He'd come dressed as a beggar! Your dad really was a laugh."
Of his troubled voyage home now Menelaus speaks
His many years in Egypt where there were few other Greeks
When he attempted to sail home, on Pharos he was stuck
It seemed that he was doomed until he had a stroke of luck
The goddess Eidothea said she'd help him to be free
He'd need to catch her father, who's the Old Man of the Sea
So wrapped inside a seal skin he lay down on the beach -
it really stank! He waited til the Old Man came in reach
He caught the Old Man and was free to travel home at last
But first the Old Man brought him news that made him sore aghast
His brother Agamemnon had been slain through treachery!
And little Ajax, too, had perished, swallowed by the sea
Odysseus had been imprisoned on Calypso's isle
It seems he's still alive, then, and in his house, meanwhile
The suitors plot to kill Telemachus when he returns
Penelope is most distressed when of this scheme she learns!

The Odyssey: Book Three

Telemachus is in Pylos, where he hopes to learn
From Nestor, if there’s news about Odysseus’ return
Nestor tells the story of the Argives’ return trips
How few returned in timely manner with all of their ships
Of Agamemnon’s murder by his wife and her new beau
Avenged now by Orestes, such a dashing young hero!
How Menelaus got detained for years on his way back
He did not thank the gods enough after the Trojan sack
Athene’s bored, so turns into a bird and flies away
“With her help” exclaims Nestor “you will surely be OK”
News of Odysseus himself, though, Nestor can’t provide
So it’s off to Menelaus, Pisistratus as a guide.

The Odyssey: Book Two

Penelope has told her haughty suitors that she’ll choose
Between them when her weaving is complete, but it’s a ruse!
For what she weaves in daylight, at night she soon unravels
She still expects Odysseus to come back from his travels.
It seems, though, that the suitors have discovered they’ve been tricked
It’s made them more determined that they’ll stay ‘til one’s been picked.
Telemachus appeal for them to leave falls on deaf ears
And Halitherses’ prophecy then fails to raise their fears
It’s time, then, for Telemachus to start his research trip
He has help from Athene, who provides his crew and ship

The Odyssey: Book One

Odysseus has been away from home for many years
When on the shore of Ithaca a visitor appears
He's welcomed by Telemachus, Odysseus's son
Whose house is full of suitors, men who seek to wed his mum
The stranger says "I'm Mentes, I'm an old friend of your dad
Who are these wretched suitors? They must really make you mad!"
"Too right" Telemachus replies "but what am I to do?
Is father dead or lost at sea? I haven't got a clue!"
"I prophecy" Athene says (for 'twas her all along)
"Your father will return soon and he's sure to right this wrong,
Go see your father's friends and see if they have any news
And tell those suitors to go home and stop drinking your booze!"