The Odyssey

            
             The Odyssey is an epic tale of bravery and triumph. Odysseus the main character, upon the birth of his son, Telemachus, must leave his wife, Penelope, and his son to fight the Trojans. He sails to Troy and uses a giant wooden horse to get within the walls of Troy and then defeats the Trojans. Odysseus is then eager to get home but he provokes the wrath of Poseidon, god of the sea, and is punished with fog and flat winds. When land is finally reached Odysseus and his men unknowingly invite themselves into the home of a Cyclops, which they defeat by poking out its eye.
             Odysseus" adventures are far from over; his problems have only yet begun. They sail off once more and reach the island of Aeolus, god of the winds, who gives Odysseus a bag of wind which he is not to open until he sails closer to home. Of course Odysseus" greedy men must see what is inside this bag so they open it and are shipwrecked in the land of Sirens. She lures his men and turns then into animals. Hermes the god's messenger is sent to warn Odysseus of Sirens. Although Sirens does not turn Odysseus into and animal she traps him there for what he believes is only five days, which in actual turns out to be five years. .
             When Sirens releases Odysseus he must dig out his ship from the sand and sail to the gates of hell where he sees his mother who tells him that he must find his way back to Penelope. As he sails away from the gates of hell Scylla and its three heads eats three of Odysseus" men. When the ship reaches a whirlpool the ship is wrecked once more leaving only Odysseus alive stranded on the Isle of Calypso. Calypso tries to keep Odysseus on her island but Hermes brings her a warning from Zeus that convinces Calypso to offer Odysseus his freedom. Odysseus builds a raff and is washed up on the shores of Phoenicia. The king of Phoenicia upon the discovery of the presence of the great Odysseus has Odysseus immediately taken home.