Odysseus bids farewell to Penelope and their son and heads off to
a war, that he doesn´t want to fight. He knows, that it will be a very
long time before they are together again

He was loved by a stunning sorceress and by a beautiful nymph and one magnificent goddess had made him her personal favourite.

But the only one he longed for, was a mortal woman.

He was one of the very few men, who had managed to go to the Underworld and get out alive, he went from one mythical place to another and saw some amazing sites.

But the only place he could think of, was an obscure island in the Ionian Sea.

He helped to win a war, he encountered many mythical creatures, he fought against terrifying monsters, he talked to the mighty gods and he became one of the greatest ever heroes. His life was so adventurous, that it has captivated people for thousands of years.

But all he ever wanted - was to go home.

Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, was unlike most other heroes, who, compared to him, look shallow and one-dimensional. Charmingly human, he had as many vices as he had virtues. He wouldn´t think twice about lying, he was a notorious trickster, he could be arrogant, revengeful and occasionally even cruel. He had a reputation for being deceitful. But he was also multi-talented and resourceful like few others, he had a brilliant mind and ingenuous ideas, he was a great diplomat, who was really good with words and he was a dangerous fighter (because of his brains). Ironically, his amazing abilities would show themselves to be a two-edged sword. Unfortunately for him - he could be a tremendous asset in any war.

Helen of Sparta was the most beautiful woman on earth. When it was time for her to get married, many kings, princes and other powerful suitors from all over Greece came to Sparta to seek her hand. Odysseus was one of them. Helen´s father, king Tyndareus of Sparta was afraid, that when Helen´s husband was chosen, the other suitors would get angry and start to cause trouble. Clever Odysseus made a deal with Tyndareus, that he would tell him how to avoid the problem, if Tyndareus, in turn, helped him to get Penelope as his wife. Why Odysseus switched from being Helen´s suitor to wanting Penelope instead is unclear and, as it often is the case with myths - there are many different versions of the same story (some say, that he never was Helen´s suitor in the first place). Tyndareus agreed and Odysseus told him to exact an oath from all the suitors, that they would defend Helen´s husband (whoever he would be), if anyone ever caused trouble in respect of his marriage. Everybody, including Odysseus took the oath. Menelaus, the king of Mycenae was chosen to be Helen´s husband. Then Helen´s father, king Tyndareus helped Odysseus to win the hand of Penelope. Paradoxically, the same thing, that helped him to win Penelope - that fateful oath - would later force the two of them apart.

Odysseus and Penelope were wed and after a period of some trouble with Penelope´s father, they eventually settled in Ithaca - Odysseus´ beloved island kingdom. They were very happy there and were blessed with a few wonderful years together and with a son - Telemachus. But destiny would soon knock on their door.

Prince Paris of Troy had abducted Helen of Sparta (or she had left with him willingly) and Helen´s husband, Menelaus saw red. He called upon the other kings to fullfill their oaths, to provide men, ships and weapon and go with him to Troy to get back his wife. The Trojan War was about to start.

A prophecy said, that the war could not be won without the king of Ithaca, Odysseus. His many special talents were crucial in that regard. But the same prophecy said, that if he chose to take part in the war, his journey home would be very long and very difficult and that when he finally came back, he would be alone, having lost all his men.

Odysseus was desperate to avoid that fate. But who can avoid fate? Ancient Greeks certainly couldn´t.
When the envoys: Menelaus, Nestor and Palamedes came to remind him of the oath, Odysseus feigned madness, sowing his fields with salt, which would ruin them. But Palamedes, using the same kind of cold-blooded trickery as Odysseus himself was known for, took Odysseus´ infant son from the cradle and placed him in the path of the plough. Odysseus veered the plough away from his son, revealing that he was sane. The trick sealed his fate and he was off to war. He would never forgive Palamedes for that and would later cause his death.

The Trojan War lasted for ten long years and the prophecy proved true - despite of other great heroes among them, the Greeks wouldn´t stand a chance without Odysseus´ amazing skills. They were of tremendous help many times during the war, but, more than anything else, it was his ingenuous trick with the Trojan horse (his idea), that finally won it for the Greeks. When the giant, hollow, wooden horse was ready, Odysseus himself, together with few soldiers hid inside and the Greek army left. The Trojans, thinking that the war was over, dragged the horse inside of the city and started celebrations. At night, when everybody fell asleep, Odysseus with his men came out of the horse, killed the guards and opened the gates to the awaiting Greek army. A great massacre followed and that was the end of Troy.

On their way home, Odysseus and his men sailed into huge thunderstorm, which lasted for nine days and nights. They thought they were going to die there, but finally they landed on a lushy island. The men were exhausted and hungry, so twenty of them went inland in search of food and fresh water, while Odysseus together with the others checked the boats for damages. When night came, the twenty men, who went in search of food, were nowhere to be seen and the next day Odysseus took fifty men with him and they went inland, searching through the thick jungle for their lost comrades. Soon, they came to a village of palm-leaf huts, where they found all their lost men lying in the shade and smiling blissfully. A group of naked natives was with them. They were all smiling and they were feeding the visitors some fruit. Both the Greeks and the natives were all sticky with the juice of the sweet fruit. The villagers greeted the newcomers smilingly, murmuring something and trying to feed them the fruit. Odysseus immediately became suspicious and forbad his men to touch it. When he approached his men, they didn´t recognize him, they didn´t remember who they themselves were, but they cheerfully insisted, that the newcomers had some fruit. The villagers were lotus-eaters and their lotus fruit had a stupefying effect on everybody who ate it. Odysseus and his men dragged away their comrades, who resisted and shouted desperately. The lotus-eaters followed right behind them and crept them out with their constant smiling and their strange murmur. The Greeks left the island as quickly as possible, with their twenty lotus-eating men tied to their benches, so they wouldn´t swim back. They screamed and struggled for a long time, insisting, that they had to go back to the village and that Odysseus and the crew were mad and that they all should have some fruit to set their brains straight. Eventually they recovered and started to remember.

Odysseus

The men of Ithaca were starving now, but after some time, they came to another island. Odysseus and men from one of the boats sailed up to the land, while the remaining eleven boats waited by a little island offshore. The men, who went ashore found a huge cave and went inside. Soon after that, they were joined by an enormous Cyclops, who came inside with his sheep, which were the size of big cows. The Cyclops was called Polyphemus and he had one eye in the middle of his forehead. He trapped the terrified Greeks in the cave by blocking the entrance with a boulder, which they couldn´t move, and he would eat two of them every day, finding them very tasty. When asked about his name, Odysseus cleverly said, that he was called "Nobody" and he would rescue the remaining men with one of his ingenious ideas. When the Cyclops was out, they turned an olive tree branch into a huge spear and later blinded him with it, while he was asleep. His cries woke up the other Cyclops, who came to enquire what was wrong. Polyphemus yelled, that "Nobody" had hurt him, so his neighbours returned to their homes, thinking that he had had a nightmare. In the morning the Cyclops let his sheep out, feeling the tops of them to make sure, that his prisoners weren´t riding them. The men escaped by tying themselves to the undersides of three sheep each - another of Odysseus´ ideas. They took the sheep with them on board and set sail. As they were sailing away, Odysseus revealed his real name shouting insults to the furious Cyclops. That uncharacteristic stupidity would cost the king of Ithaca and his men dearly. The Cyclops´ father was Poseidon, the mighty god of the sea and Polyphemus cried out to him to avenge him. Odysseus, who had to travel by sea, had now the god of the sea himself against him - a god, who from now on would do whatever was in his power to prevent him from ever reaching his home.

His next stop was at Aeolia, the land of king Aeolus. Aeolus loved listening to Odysseus´stories of his adventures and of the Trojan war. He gave the Greeks hospitality for a month and then he presented Odysseus with a bag filled with eight different winds. The winds belonged to Poseidon, but they were put in Aeolus´ safe-keeping for a few days. When the king of Ithaca was leaving, Aeolus let out the gentle, west wind, that would safely carry them home. He also told him not to let out the other winds. Odysseus guarded the bag for the entire journey to make sure, that no other wind would get out and cause any trouble, but he became exhausted because of lack of sleep and it also made his men curious and suspicious.

The west wind did its job very well and they were soon home - almost. They could see the familiar hills of Ithaca, they joyfully pointed out the beloved landmarks of home, they were trying to imagine how their families would react at the sight of them and Odysseus finally felt safe enough to take a short nap. And then one of his men, the most curious one, opened the bag to take a look at the treasure, that he was sure was hidden inside. All the winds flew out, causing a terrible storm and blowing Odysseus´ fleet away from Ithaca and three times around the ocean. Poseidon, the god of the sea took his winds back and was enjoying the sweet taste of revenge. When the storm finally calmed down, they were back in Aeolia - and this time nobody was willing to help them. Aeolus was now afraid to have anything to do with Odysseus, because he realized, that the king of Ithaca was indeed cursed by the gods.

The dispirited men drifted at sea for some time, praying in vain to all the gods, apart from Poseidon, for help, until they saw another island. The harbor was surrounded by steep cliffs, so the entrance was very narrow. They took their ships inside, but Odysseus kept his own ship outside in case of trouble. He sent three of his men as a scouting party and they soon met a young woman, who said, that she was a daughter of king Lamos and who directed them to his palace. When they got there they discovered, that it was inhabited by giants. A huge woman, the wife of king Lamos, called her husband and when he arrived, shortly after, he was pleasantly surprised at the sight of the visitors. He immediately grabbed one of them and started to eat him. The giants were the Laestrygonians, who were very fond of human flesh. The two other men ran away terrified, but the king raised alarm and they were soon followed by thousands of giants. What followed could only be described as hell on earth. The Laestrygonians wrecked havoc among the Greeks, throwing big rocks from the cliffs, smashing the ships and eating those of men, who they could get hold of. Odysseus` ship wasn´t trapped in the harbor, so he managed to escape with it. But it was all. He could save only one ship out of twelve and only few men out of several hundred.

It was a huge blow to everybody. They all fought side by side in the Trojan war for ten years and they had been through so much together. They had overcome so many obstacles and they had dreamt of their homecoming together. And now, here, in the middle of nowhere, most of them would die, eaten alive by a race of giants, while the others watched in horror, unable to help their friends. They knew they were cursed and they had no more hope of finding their way home any time soon. The broken men of Ithaca drifted helplessly for several days, lost, crying and despairing, until their wise king, the master of words, had a talk with them. He told them, that they had done all they could and that nobody died even one day before their time anyway. He reminded them of what they all wanted most of all - to return home to their families - and he urged them on. Odysseus was in his right element in such situations, he knew exactly what to say, and how. His words lifted spirits and after a while they arrived at a new place.

It was an enchanting island, with an abundance of flowers, streams and fountains and covered with jungle. Some of the men went ahead and they soon found a house surrounded by a lushy garden. There they were greeted by a beautiful woman, who invited them to a feast. Her name was Circe and she was a sorceress. Her food was laced with one of her dangerous potions. After they ate it, she turned them into pigs. After a while, Odysseus went inland, searching for his men and had one of his close encounters with the divine. The messenger of the gods, Hermes waited for him with a warning. Odysseus learned about Circe and how to protect himself from her magic by using the herb moly. When the sorceress discovered, that she couldn´t turn him into a pig, she became impressed, then she fell in love with him. He talked her into turning his men back into humans and she talked him into staying with her for a while. Odysseus and his crew needed a rest after all they had been through and, for once, they all had a great time (when they were their own species again, that is).

While Odysseus was busy outwitting his opponents and covering himself with glory wherever he went, his wife, Penelope was having a difficult time home, in Ithaca. She had to run the kingdom and raise their son alone. She missed Odysseus and every day she would scan the horizon, hoping, that she would catch a sight of his ships coming back home. Year after year went by and there was no news on her husband. She didn´t know whether he was alive or dead, whether he was doing well or not or whether what the two of them had had together still meant anything to him.

And that was not all. When the war ended and the other kings returned to their respective lands, there was no Odysseus in sight and nobody knew what had happened to him and his men after they had left Troy. As time went by and nothing changed, more and more people started to believe, that the king of Ithaca was dead. That attracted a huge gang of suitors - if one could call them that - hoping to win Penelope´s hand in marriage. That was the last thing she wanted - or needed. The suitors - more than a hundred of them - were a plaque. Once they came to the palace, it was impossible to get rid of them. They wouldn´t leave, they slept and played there, they ate and drank, they pestered the maids and they made a lot of noise. Apparently, they were blessed with some unheard of appetites, they ate and drank so much, that the whole kingdom was heading for financial ruin (it was a very small kingdom, but still…). They pressured Penelope to choose one of them to be her new husband and they kindly reminded her every day, that Odysseus was dead - drowned in the sea or eaten by cannibals perhaps, or maybe it was a monster, that ate him instead.

Penelope kept turning them all down, but, with time, they got more and more pushy. She then fended them off for years, using a trick. She told them, that she would choose one of them after she finished the shroud for her father-in-low´s funeral. She weaved it during day and unravelled it by night, but after three years of this, one of her maids betrayed her and the suitors became even more difficult to keep at bay.
She kept doing whatever she could to avoid getting married. No matter how many years would pass, she refused to give up hope of Odysseus´ eventual homecoming. She would become a symbol of loyalty, fidelity and undying love, even though a cynic could argue, that with the suitors like the ones she had, it´s no wonder she stayed so faithful to her husband.

In the meantime, Odysseus became Circe´s lover and had such a good time on her island, that for once he wasn´t obsessing about Ithaca. It could seem like he was at his weakest point there, but it´s possible, that he just needed some time to recover after the encounter with the Laestrygonians, when he saw most of his crew die in such a horrible manner. Month after month went and his men became impatient. When a year had passed, his faithful friend Polites reminded him of their home. Odysseus didn´t need much convincing. He woke up from his sweet dream and remembered what it was, that he truly wanted. Circe adviced him to go to Hades (the Underworld) and to consult Tiresias the Oracle on his further journey. During the preparations for the departure, one of his men, Elpenor, fell from a roof and died. Only after they had left, they discovered, that he wasn´t among them.

Hades, the land of the dead was a terrifying place for the living. It was dark, gloomy and full of spirits and it had been said, that once one descended down to it, one could never get out again (although there had been a few exceptions). Fortunately Odysseus was well helped by Circes advises and by his own sharp mind. Once there, he met his crewman Elpenor, who told him how he had died on Circes island and begged his king to give him proper burial, because the other spirits wouldn´t talk to him without it. Odysseus promised him to go back there and see to it. He then caught a sight of his own mother and realized, that she wouldn´t be greeting him on his return home, because she had died while he was away. He met several other people he used to know while they were alive. Finally, he found Tiresias the Oracle, who told him about Penelope´s suitors, revealed some of the things to come and gave him some good tips on how to avoid some of the dangers.

When he came out of Hades, he and his crew returned to the island of Circe and gave Elpenor proper burial. Then it was time to continue their journey home.

He had been warned by Tiresias of the Sirens and their fatal singing. These were dangerous, birdlike, female creatures, whose magical singing made men loose their minds and kill themselves by jumping overboard to be with them. Before they reached the island of the Sirens, Odysseus ordered his men to plug their ears with beeswax, so they wouldn´t hear anything. He himself was too curious to do the same, so he told them to tie him to the mast with rope and to tie him even tighter if he asked to be set free. When he heard the beautiful singing of the Sirens, he was overwhelmed by his desire to join them, whatever the cost. He saw three adorable women, he heard an angelic song and he could smell flowers. He yelled to his men to untie him and struggled violently to free himself. They tied him even tighter and he screamed, begged them to be set free, cursed them, threatened them with punishment and tried to bribe them at the same time. When they left the dangerous island behind, the crew set Odysseus free and started to talk about the three horrible monsters they had just seen, how they ate dead sailors and how awful it smelled there. Hearing that, Odysseus understood, that the Sirens´ singing must have distorted his perception and that his own experience of the event had been an illusion.

Warned by Tiresias, Odysseus knew what was to come next and he had to brace himself for the sacrifice they would have to make. He felt he couldn´t tell his crew about it, because they probably wouldn´t agree to continue and there was no other way if they were to reach Ithaca one day. They had to pass between a gigantic whirlpool, called Charybdis, which sank ships, on the one side and a monster called Scylla, who had six heads and who would seize at least six men and eat them, on the other side. He had been adviced, that the only way he could get through was to sail close to the monster and sacrifice the six men it would kill. He had been warned not to fight the monster, or it would kill even more men. It went exactly how Tiresias had foretold. They got through, but six of them were gone and the cries of his betrayed comrades would haunt Odysseus for a long time…

This last ordeal affected the morale and Odysseus´ crew became mutinous. After a while, they saw an island, which Odysseus recognized. It was Thrinacia, the island of god Helios (the sun god), who kept his cattle there. Tiresias had warned the king of Ithaca, that they had to stay away from the sacred cattle, no matter how hungry they were, or they would risk severe punishment from the gods. With that in mind, Odysseus decided that they wouldn´t land there, but his mutinous and tired crew disobeyed him. As soon as they came there, they were trapped on the island by very bad weather and their food ran out. One day, while Odysseus was asleep, his men slaughtered the cattle and ate it, reasoning, that if they didn´t, they would die anyway and that it was better to be punished by the gods, than to die of starvation. They hoped, that they could appease the gods with gifts, prayers and sacrifices when they returned home. Odysseus was shocked when he discovered what they had done, but there was no way back. Shortly after their departure, Zeus, the chief god destroyed their ship with his thunderbolt, killing all but Odysseus, who was the only one, who hadn´t touch the sacred meat. He was sucked into the whirlpool Charybdis, but managed to escape thanks to the intervention of the goddess Athena and to his own resourcefulness.

He was washed up on Ogygia, the island of the nymph Calypso. It was a wonderful place, where she lived all alone and she would take a very good care of him - a bit too good for his liking, in fact. Unfortunately for him, the beautiful nymph had some serious codependency issues and she wouldn´t let him leave the island. She fell in love with him and wanted him to become her husband. Again and again he would tell her about his wife Penelope and his kingdom Ithaca and that he wanted to go home, more than anything else, but no matter what he said, she wouldn´t let go of him. He had plenty of time to think on her island and he thought a lot about his situation. As the old prophecy predicted - he had lost all his men and was now alone and Ithaca seemed to be as illusive as it ever had been. He couldn´t see any possibility of escape, so he decided to do his best to accept the situation for the time being and he hoped, that things would change in the future.

Weeks went by, then months. Odysseus didn´t love Calypso, but that didn´t stop him from becoming her lover. Months became years and she kept doing whatever she could to make him love her, while he kept begging her to let him leave. She even promised him immortality, if he would just love her and agree to stay with her willingly as her husband. A chance to live forever… Perhaps the biggest dream of the mortals… But what is eternal life worth, if it is an unhappy one? He refused. There was something he wanted more…
Every day he would seat on the beach and pray to the gods for help, looking longingly toward the horizon, crying and thinking of Penelope and Ithaca. Day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year.

The wise goddess Athena watched that with her divine eyes, which could see through everything, herself invisible to the mortals. She saw Odysseus looking toward the horizon every day, crying and praying for a chance to return home to Penelope and Ithaca. She saw Penelope scanning the horizon every day, crying and praying for Odysseus´ homecoming. She looked from one to the other, as if they were mirror images of each other and she saw what kept them united. She looked in the middle and saw all the water between them - water ruled by Odysseus´ archenemy Poseidon - and she thought of what kept them apart. She took a good look at that obscure island in the Ionian Sea and she saw Ithaca´s green hills, white beaches, olive trees, cypresses and pine forests. She understood - even though few others did - what all the fuss was about. Wisdom was her trademark - there wasn´t much, that that goddess could not understand.

She had always had a soft spot for Odysseus. The brilliant goddess could not help liking that mortal´s ingenious mind. But helping him would not be an easy task, even for her - he had now not only one, but several powerful gods against him. She had a serious talk with her father, the chief god Zeus and asked him to let Odysseus leave Calypso´s island. Zeus wouldn´t even hear about that at first, but his clever daughter managed to talk him into agreeing in the end.
After seven long years with Calypso, Odysseus finally received the message he had prayed for. Hermes, the messenger of the gods came to him with the news - he was to leave the island. Calypso was ordered to let him go and there was nothing she could do - nobody could disobey Zeus. But that was all Zeus had agreed to - if Odysseus was to reach Ithaca, he would have to do it on his own, no god was allowed to help him.

Odysseus built a small raft, but as soon as he departed, Poseidon sent him a powerful storm. Such was Odysseus´ destiny, that for almost every curse, there seemed to be a blessing as well and this time, too, he would somehow miraculously survive. Exhausted, helpless and naked, he was washed up on Scheria, the island of the Phaecians. There, he was soon found by princess Nausicaa, the daughter of king Alcinous. Taken to the palace, Odysseus started to cry when he heard somebody sing a song about the Trojan war. King Alcinous became curious and pressed him for his true identity. When he heard, who his guest was, he felt honoured. The king of Ithaca, Odysseus… If Ithaca was obscure, its king certainly wasn´t. By the time Odysseus arrived on Scheria, he was already a legend and many stories circulated about his contribution to the war, his incredible adventures and his long journey home. The Phaecians took a very good care of him and he had to tell them about everything he had experienced since the beginning of the Trojan war. They marvelled at his achievements in the war, they were terrified by the Cyclops Polyphemus, they cried when they heard how most of his men were killed by Laestrygonians and when he told them how much he thought of Penelope, his son Telemachus and Ithaca, they pictured their own families and homes. When he finished, king Alcinous announced, that his people were going to take Odysseus home.

The next day, Odysseus boarded the ship, which had been provided by Alcinous and departed with his Phaecian crew. When they finally reached Ithaca, tired Odysseus was fast asleep, so the Phaecians carried him out and left. Poseidon had been asleep, too, and when he woke up, it was too late - Odysseus was home. The god of the sea was so furious, that he turned the Phaecian ship to stone.

Odysseus woke up on a beach and looked around. Twenty years had passed since he last saw these hills, but he had no trouble recognising their familiar shapes. He prayed for the sight to be real, not a dream. When he turned around, he saw a radiant figure, a beautiful woman, who apparently came out of nowhere. She was wearing a helmet and leaning on her spear. A small owl was sitting on one of her shoulders and studying Odysseus curiously. The woman´s eyes were an awe-inspiring sight. Grey and brilliant, they seemed to see right through him and the immense wisdom he saw in them, made him speechless for once. His very own goddess, the one, who had kept an eye on him and protected him through his entire journey.
Athena disguised him as an old beggar and advised him on further course of action. Then she disappeared.

Odysseus went to the home of his old swineherd, Eumaeus, where he met Telemachus - the son he had left twenty years earlier, when he was just an infant. He was now a young man and when Odysseus revealed his true identity, the three men were overjoyed. They worked out plan for restoring the king of Ithaca to his throne.

Odysseus went to his palace pretending, that he was a beggar and had to put up with some abuse from the suitors. His old dog recognised him and did its best to wag its tale. Then it died in peace.

There are many different versions of this myth, but they all agree about one thing - Penelope did not recognise her husband when he finally returned home. Twenty years had passed, but, even more importantly, Athena´s disguise of him was impeccable. However, if Penelope didn´t recognise him, she behaved in a rather strange manner towards him. She sent for him and had a long, private conversation with him. The queen of Ithaca found herself pouring out her heart to that old beggar, telling him the whole, sad story about how she had waited for Odysseus for so long, how difficult it had been to deal with the suitors and how she would have to marry one of them soon. He told her, that he had met Odysseus and that he was sure that her husband would be home soon. She then ordered her maids to take a great care of him, he was treated like a king, they washed his feet and made him a bed and the next morning they were to give him a bath and rub him with oil and he was to eat breakfast with prince Telemachus. All that for a ragged stranger.

The next day, his old nurse Euryclea recognised a familiar scar on Odysseus´ leg while washing him and he told her to keep silent. Then Penelope would get rather personal with the beggar again, telling him about her dream, in which an eagle killed a whole flock of geese. The eagle said it was her husband and compared the geese to the suitors. Perhaps she didn´t recognise him consciously, but some part of her must have known…

Next, the queen of Ithaca announced to the suitors, that she would marry the one, who could string Odysseus´ bow and shoot an arrow through 12 axe-handles. Each of the suitors had a go, but not one arrow was shot. Nobody could string Odysseus´ bow. Then the beggar took the bow from the last suitor, strung it and shot an arrow through all twelve axe-handles. Ithaca´s rightful ruler was back - and he was not in a lenient mood. What followed was a massacre. Odysseus had his son Telemachus with him, as well as his faithful swineherd Eumaeus and a cattleherd and the four of them wrecked havoc in the palace, while Penelope slept in her chamber upstairs. Shocked suitors were dropping dead left and right, before they even had time to fully realize what was happening, until they all lay slain on the floor. The servants, who had collaborated with them were punished too, several treacherous maids were hanged and the goatherd Melanthius… no, I don´t feel like describing what they did to him.

Old Euryclea woke up Penelope and told her what had happened. Penelope did not dare to believe, that her husband really had come back - she was afraid, that that was some kind of a trick and that she would again be disappointed, like she had been so many times before. She went downstairs and sat quietly on the opposite side to Odysseus. Finally she ordered her maid to make up the king´s bed and to move it from their bedchamber into another room. Odysseus, who had been taken aback by her apparent coldness, said angrily, that that could not be done. He told her, that one of the bed posts was made from a living olive tree - he himself had built it that way - and that it therefore couldn´t be moved. Only the two of them knew it, it had been their secret. She finally knew, that it really was him. She asked him for forgiveness for not recognising him and for testing him. He had no trouble forgiving her…

The families of the slain suitors wanted to avenge their deaths, but Athena intervened again and order was finally restored in the kingdom.

Homer implies, that from then on, Odysseus would live a long and happy life together with Penelope and Telemachus, wisely ruling his kingdom and enjoying wide respect and much success. It had taken long time and much effort, a lot of pain and numerous sacrifices, many obstacles and setbacks and all he had of his incredible skills, wisdom, courage and determination. But in the end he got what he wanted most of all. He had earned a prize, which was more precious to him, than immortality. And this can only mean - he won everything.

Ithaca (Ithaki), Greece
Picture from Flickr, Jo Salmon

Ithaca (Ithaki), Greece
From Flickr, Kamakaks

In my astrology research, I sometimes make some intriguing discoveries. If my understanding of symbolism and astrology is correct, we may be heading for something rather remarkable in the years 2011 - 2013.

In August 2012, a very special and rare reunion is going to take place. Five asteroids: Odysseus, Ulysses (Odysseus´ Latin name ), Penelope, Ithaca and Telemachus are all going to come together in the same part of the sky. When they first meet, some of them will still be in Cancer, while others will already be in Leo, but soon after that, they will all be in Leo. Once together, they will remain in conjunction for a whole year, until July 2013.

Odysseus and his Roman counterpart Ulysses will be home, in Ithaca. Faithful Penelope will be there as well, together with Odysseus´ and Penelope´s son Telemachus. Palamedes, the man who placed infant Telemachus in the way of the plough and forced Odysseus to go to the Trojan war, will be there, too - he has travelled together with Odysseus and Telemachus for a long time now and is going to continue for several years. He may cause some trouble. Together with them will also be the asteroids Alcinous and Nausicaa -  named after the kind king and princess of the Phaecians, who helped Odysseus to get home. On 21 December 2012 Odysseus, Ulysses, Penelope, Ithaka, Telemachus and Palamedes are still all in conjunction in Leo, but in Retrograde motion. Retrograde implies, that the planet/asteroid goes back because there still are some important lessons to learn, some unfinished business to take care of. They change back to the direct motion in the spring 2013 and continue to travel together through the sign of Leo. Others are in it, too - the asteroid Circe will join them for a short time and may confuse Odysseus with her agenda, so he forgets what is really important for him. The asteroid Poseidon (Odysseus enemy, the wrathful god of the sea) and his Roman counterpart Neptune will be in opposition to them much of the time and may rage and send violent storms from the other side of the Zodiac, when one of them moves away, the other one takes over.

What does it all mean? There is a possibility, that collectively, something or someone will finally return home after a long time away, that some big and important piece of the puzzle will be put into place eventually and that some things, which we don´t understand yet, will start to make more sense at last. We may experience some kind of collective homecoming and a long awaited reunion of some sort and we may see something right and longed for finally being restored to the "throne". Almost all of it will happen in the sign of Leo, which is ruled by the Sun and it´s possible, that our Sun will somehow play a role in it. Leo is the sign of personal identity and when Odysseus returns home, it is revealed who he really is. We may learn something new about our collective and personal identity, about who we really are and what is our place in the universe. Or we may learn something old about it, something, that we once knew, but had forgotten since. The asteroid Memoria (remembrance) will be there too, in conjunction with the others and remembering something may play a part in the experience. Together with this stellium, there is also the asteroid Aeternitas (Eternity), which only adds to the already intriguing qualities of the things implied by the other celestial bodies - time may be in focus as well. There are also some signs, that the feminine (both collectively and individually) may play a significant role, too.

There are many celestial bodies and aspects, which imply, that nothing will be given for free in those events, that we may experience some problems (even some significant ones) and that things may get difficult sometimes.

And of course, there is one more possibility - nothing special will happen in 2012.

Whatever happens - we will soon know.

Copyright © 2008 Aida Gundersen
17 August 2008


Parts of the horoscope expressed:

Aida opposite Odysseus
Aida opposite Penelope
Odysseus conjunct Mars
Penelope conjunct Venus
Penelope on the Odysseus-Ithaka midpoint
Ithaka conjunct Part of Fortune
Aida conjunct Homerus
Odysseus conjunct Poseidon
Minerva conjunct the North Node
Athene conjunct Jupiter