CLASSICAL EUROPEITHACA
When Odysseus landed in Ithaca, he disguised himself as a beggar
to find out what was going on in his house. He discovered that
his wife and his son were alive, but they were beset by trouble.
Many suitors were pressing Penelope for her hand in
marriage. Because they believed Odysseus to be
dead, their requests were legitimate, but
still their behaviour was inexcusable. For
the Greeks, hospitality was the greatest
of virtues, but the suitors abused
Penelope’s hospitality and showed no
respect for her own sentiments. This
abuse justified their eventual killing
by Odysseus and his son, Telemachus.Nausicaa
The princess was with her
friends at the seashore
when a tired and naked
Odysseus appeared before
them. He was given
clothes by Nausicaa.Death of the suitors
Odysseus and Telemachus both
launched an attack on the suitors,
who quaked behind their shields
as they fell one by one.Penelope weaving
Odysseus’s loyal wife unravelled a bit of her
tapestry every night, to put off the day when
she would have to choose between the
many suitors clamouring for her hand.lands and wealth. The suitors were living of Odysseus’s food
and abusing his wife’s hospitality, just like the hostile invaders
he had seen in his vision in the Underworld. Penelope did not
want to marry any of them, so she
said she would declare her choice
when she had finished weaving a
tapestry on which she was working.
Finally, Penelope had to make up
her mind. She said she would marry
the man who could string Odysseus’s
powerful bow. No one recognized
Odysseus (he revealed himself only
to his son, Telemachus) as he took
his place with the others. He was
the only one who succeeded in
stringing the bow. Then Penelope
realized the man was her husband.
With the help of Telemachus, he
killed all the suitors. But, though he
loved Penelope, Odysseus, after
wandering for so long, found it hard
to settle down in Ithaca. Soon he
was planning another journey and
looking forward to more adventures.THE JOURNEY CONTINUES
Odysseus next stopped at an island where Helios, the sun
god, kept his cattle. Although they had been warned not to
kill these animals, the sailors slaughtered a few of the cattle.
Helios complained to Zeus, who struck their ship with a
thunderbolt, killing the crew and shattering the ship. Only
Odysseus survived, clinging to the wreckage.
Odysseus was washed up on the island belonging to the
goddess Calypso, who wanted him to stay with her. Though
he lived there for seven years, Odysseus finally resisted the
temptation to stay further, and travelled on. He was then
shipwrecked again and washed ashore on the island of
Alcinous, the King of the Phaeacians.
Here, the goddess Athena contrived to
make the king’s daughter, Nausicaa,
meet Odysseus, and the two were
attracted to each other. Odysseus was
tempted to stay with her, but finally,
longing for his wife and his homeland,
Ithaca, he travelled on again.PENELOPE’S SUITORS
Bruised and greatly aged by his ordeal,
Odysseus arrived in Ithaca to find his
house full of suitors who, assuming he
was dead, were hoping to marry his
wife, Penelope, and take over all hisOdysseus and Calypso
Promised agelessness and immortality by Calypso,
Odysseus was tempted to remain with her forever,
but in the end he constructed a raft and resumed
his journey home to Ithaca.48