When we hear or read about ancient Greek heroes, we imagine strong, physically fit athletes striving for glory and defying fate. But was this Odysseus - one of the most famous characters in the Homeric poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey"? How did he glorify and immortalize his name? What feats did he accomplish?
Myths and Poems of Homer
From century to century, ancient Greek myths told about the origin and structure of the world, the deeds of heroes and the Olympic gods. The wonderful world of mythology fascinated and frightened, explained and prescribed; it reflected the value system of Ancient Greece and the connection of times. Hellenic myths had a huge impact on the formation of European and world culture, and the names of many heroes, gods and monsters have become common nouns, symbols of any qualities and properties. For example, a chimera is a symbol of something non-existent, capable of generating dangerous illusions and delusions.
With the development of social, economic and other social relations, mythological consciousness began to collapse, and the poems of the legendary Homer "Iliad" and "Odyssey" served as a kind of bridge between folklore and literature.
The heroic epic of Homer is the peak of the development of Hellenic mythology, but at the same time, its artistic comprehension. In addition, as the archaeological excavations of Heinrich Schliemann proved, the Homeric poems to some extent reflect the reality of the 11th-9th centuries BC. and can serve as a historical source. Homer is the first ancient Greek poet, was, according to legend, blind and lived in the VIII century BC. However, there is no reliable information confirming the fact of its existence yet. But there are wonderful epic poems that recreate the magnificent world of ancient Greek mythology and, at the same time, have had a huge impact on the development of all European culture.
Through the character of both poems of Homer - Odysseus, king of Ithaca, participant in the Trojan War.
If in the Iliad he is one of the secondary (albeit key) characters in the siege of Troy, then in the Odyssey he is the main character.
Biography of Odysseus
The name "Odysseus" in ancient Greek means "angry" or "wrathful". The Romans called him Ulysses. The name Odysseus now has a nominal meaning: an odyssey is a long, dangerous, adventure-filled journey.
Odysseus is the son of the Argonaut Laertes and the companion of Artemis Anticlea. According to legend, Odysseus' grandfather was Zeus supreme Olympian god.
Odysseus' wife Penelope, her name has become a symbol of marital fidelity. Long twenty years she waited for her husband from a military campaign, with inventive cunning, deceiving numerous suitors.
An important role in the poem "Odyssey" is played by the son of the protagonist - Telemachus.
Turning to the Homeric epic, one can identify the fateful events in the life of the legendary hero:
- participation in the matchmaking to Elena the Beautiful, where Odysseus meets his future wife Penelope;
- participation, albeit reluctantly, in the Trojan War;
- protection of the body of Achilles;
- creation of a Trojan horse;
- a ten-year journey by sea and numerous adventures in which Odysseus loses all his companions;
- return to Ithaca in the form of a beggar old man;
- the cruel extermination of the numerous suitors of Penelope;
- happy family reunion.
All these events form a unique portrait of Odysseus, a characteristic of his personality.
Hero personality
The main feature of the personality of Odysseus is its universality, cosmicity. The genius of Homer created the image of a comprehensively developed person. Odysseus appears not only as a brave hero and winner on the battlefield, he performs feats among monsters and wizards.
He is cunning and reasonable, cruel, but devoted to his homeland, family and friends, inquisitive and cunning. Odysseus is a wonderful speaker and wise adviser, a brave sailor and a skilled carpenter and merchant. He refused eternal youth and love, offered by the nymph Calypso, who was in love with him, in order to return to his homeland, to his family.
Thanks to his cunning and resourcefulness, Odysseus overcame numerous dangers:
- on the island of the Cyclopes he blinded the giant Polyphemus and thereby escaped death and saved his comrades;
- defeated the sorceress Circe;
- heard the sirens, but did not die;
- passed on a ship between Scylla and Charybdis;
- defeated the suitors of Penelope.
In fact, the voyage of Odysseus is the path to the unknown, the comprehension and development of the unknown, the road to oneself and the acquisition of one's own personality.
The legendary hero appears in the Homeric poems as representative of all mankind, discovering and knowing the world. The image of Odysseus embodied all the richness of human nature, its weaknesses and boundlessness. It is no coincidence that many famous writers and poets addressed this image: Sophocles, Ovid, Dante, Shakespeare, Lope de Vega, P. Corneille, L. Feuchtwanger, D. Joyce, T. Pratchett and others.
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The Trojan War was started by the gods so that the time of heroes would end and the present, human, iron age would come. Who did not die at the walls of Troy, he had to die on the way back.
Most of the surviving Greek leaders sailed to their homeland, as they sailed to Troy - in a common fleet through the Aegean Sea. When they were halfway there, the sea god Poseidon broke out in a storm, the ships were swept away, people drowned in the waves and crashed on the rocks. Only the chosen ones were destined to be saved. But even those were not easy. Perhaps only the wise old Nestor managed to calmly reach his kingdom in the city of Pylos. The supreme king Agamemnon overcame the storm, but only to die an even more terrible death - in his native Argos he was killed by his own wife and her avenging lover; the poet Aeschylus will later write a tragedy about this. Menelaus, with Helen returned to him, was carried by the winds far into Egypt, and it took him a very long time to get to his Sparta. But the longest and most difficult of all was the path of the cunning king Odysseus, whom the sea carried around the world for ten years. About his fate, Homer composed his second poem: “Muse, tell me about that highly experienced husband who, / Wandering long since the day when Saint Ilion was destroyed by him, / Visited many people of the city and saw customs, / Endured much grief on the seas caring about salvation ... "
The Iliad is a heroic poem, its action takes place on a battlefield and in a military camp. "Odyssey" is a fabulous and everyday poem, its action takes place, on the one hand, in the magical lands of giants and monsters, where Odysseus wandered, on the other hand, in his small kingdom on the island of Ithaca and in its environs, where Odysseus was waiting for his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus. As in the Iliad, only one episode, “the wrath of Achilles”, is chosen for the narrative, so in the Odyssey - only the very end of his wanderings, the last two hauls, from the far western edge of the earth to his native Ithaca. About everything that happened before, Odysseus tells at the feast in the middle of the poem, and tells very briefly: all these fabulous adventures in the poem account for fifty pages out of three hundred. In the Odyssey, the fairy tale sets off life, and not vice versa, although readers, both ancient and modern, were more willing to re-read and recall the fairy tale.
In the Trojan War, Odysseus did a lot for the Greeks - especially where they needed not strength, but intelligence. It was he who guessed to bind Elena's suitors with an oath to help her chosen one against any offender, and without this the army would never have gathered on a campaign. It was he who attracted the young Achilles to the campaign, and without this the victory would have been impossible. It was he, when, at the beginning of the Iliad, the Greek army, after a general meeting, almost rushed from Troy on the way back, managed to stop him. It was he who persuaded Achilles, when he quarreled with Agamemnon, to return to the battle. When, after the death of Achilles, the best warrior of the Greek camp was to receive the armor of the slain, Odysseus received them, and not Ajax. When Troy could not be taken by siege, it was Odysseus who came up with the idea of building a wooden horse, in which the bravest Greek leaders hid and thus penetrated into Troy - and he is one of them. The goddess Athena, the patroness of the Greeks, loved Odysseus the most of them and helped him at every step. But the god Poseidon hated him - we will soon find out why - and it was Poseidon who, with his storms, did not allow him to reach his homeland for ten years. Ten years under Troy, ten years in wanderings - and only in the twentieth year of his trials does the action of the Odyssey begin.
It begins, as in the Iliad, Zeus' Will. The gods hold a council, and Athena intercedes with Zeus for Odysseus. He is a prisoner of the nymph Calypso, who is in love with him, on an island in the very middle of the wide sea, and languishes, in vain wishing "to see at least smoke rising from his native shores in the distance." And in his kingdom, on the island of Ithaca, everyone already considers him dead, and the surrounding nobles demand that Queen Penelope choose a new husband from among them, and a new king for the island. There are more than a hundred of them, they live in the Odysseus Palace, feast and drink wildly, ruining the Odysseus economy, and have fun with the Odysseus slaves. Penelope tried to deceive them: she said that she made a vow to announce her decision no earlier than weaving a shroud for old Laertes, Odysseus's father, who was about to die. During the day, she wove in front of everyone, and at night she secretly unraveled what was woven. But the servants betrayed her cunning, and it became more and more difficult for her to resist the insistence of the suitors. With her is her son Telemachus, whom Odysseus left as a baby; but he is young and is not considered.
And now an unfamiliar wanderer comes to Telemachus, calls himself an old friend of Odysseus and gives him advice: “Fix a ship, go around the surrounding lands, collect news about the missing Odysseus; if you hear that he is alive, you will tell the suitors to wait another year; if you hear that you are dead, you will say that you will celebrate the wake and persuade your mother to marry. He advised and disappeared - for Athena herself appeared in his image. So Telemachus did. The suitors resisted, but Telemachus managed to leave and board the ship unnoticed - for the same Athena helped him in this.
Telemachus sails to the mainland - first to Pylos to the decrepit Nestor, then to Sparta to the newly returned Menelaus and Elena. The talkative Nestor tells how the heroes sailed from under Troy and drowned in a storm, how Agamemnon later died in Argos and how his son Orestes avenged the murderer; but he knows nothing about the fate of Odysseus. The hospitable Menelaus tells how he, Menelaus, getting lost in his wanderings, on the Egyptian coast, waylaid the prophetic sea elder, the seal shepherd Proteus, who knew how to turn into a lion, and a boar, and a leopard, and a snake, and into water, and into tree; how he fought with Proteus, and overcame him, and learned from him the way back; and at the same time he learned that Odysseus was alive and suffering in the middle of the wide sea on the island of the nymph Calypso. Delighted by this news, Telemachus is about to return to Ithaca, but then Homer interrupts his story about him and turns to the fate of Odysseus.
The intercession of Athena helped: Zeus sends the messenger of the gods Hermes to Calypso: the time has come, it's time to let Odysseus go. The nymph grieves: “Did I save him from the sea, did I want to give him immortality?” - but dare not disobey. Odysseus does not have a ship - you need to put together a raft. For four days he works with an ax and a drill, on the fifth - the raft is lowered. For seventeen days he sails, ruling on the stars, on the eighteenth a storm breaks out. It was Poseidon, seeing the hero eluding him, who swept the abyss with four winds, the logs of the raft scattered like straw. “Oh, why didn’t I die near Troy!” cried Odysseus. Two goddesses helped Odysseus: a kind sea nymph threw him a magical blanket that saved him from drowning, and faithful Athena calmed three winds, leaving the fourth to carry him by swimming to the near shore. For two days and two nights he swims without closing his eyes, and on the third wave they throw him onto land. Naked, tired, helpless, he buries himself in a pile of leaves and falls into a dead sleep.
It was the land of the blessed feacs, over which the good king Alkinos ruled in a high palace: copper walls, golden doors, embroidered fabrics on the benches, ripe fruits on the branches, eternal summer over the garden. The king had a young daughter, Nausicaa; Athena appeared to her at night and said: “Soon you will be married, but your clothes have not been washed; gather the maids, take the chariot, go to the sea, wash your dresses.” They left, washed, dried, began to play ball; the ball flew into the sea, the girls screamed loudly, their cry woke up Odysseus. He rises from the bushes, terrible, covered with dried sea mud, and prays: “Whether you are a nymph or a mortal, help me: let me cover my nakedness, show me the way to people, and may the gods send you a good husband.” He bathes, anoints himself, dresses, and Nausicaa, admiring, thinks: "Ah, if only the gods would give me such a husband." He goes to the city, enters Tsar Alcinous, tells him about his misfortune, but does not name himself; touched by Alkina, he promises that the Phaeacian ships will take him wherever he asks.
Odysseus sits at the Alkinoic feast, and the wise blind singer Demodocus entertains the feasters with songs. "Sing about the Trojan War!" - asks Odysseus; and Demodocus sings about the wooden horse of Odysseus and the capture of Troy. Odysseus has tears in his eyes. Why are you crying? Alkina says. - For this, the gods send death to the heroes, so that the descendants sing glory to them. Is it true that one of your relatives fell near Troy? And then Odysseus opens: “I am Odysseus, the son of Laertes, the king of Ithaca, small, stony, but dear to the heart ...” - and begins the story of his wanderings. There are nine adventures in this story.
The first adventure is with the lotophages. The storm took the Odyssey ships from under Troy to the far south, where the lotus grows - a magical fruit, after tasting which, a person forgets about everything and does not want anything in life except the lotus. The lotus-eaters treated the Odyssey companions to the lotus, and they forgot about their native Ithaca and refused to sail further. By force of them, weeping, they took them to the ship and set off.
The second adventure is with the Cyclopes. They were monstrous giants with one eye in the middle of their foreheads; they herded sheep and goats and did not know wine. Chief among them was Polyphemus, the son of the sea Poseidon. Odysseus wandered into his empty cave with a dozen companions. In the evening, Polyphemus came, huge as a mountain, drove a herd into the cave, blocked the exit with a block, asked: “Who are you?” - "Wanderers, Zeus is our guardian, we ask you to help us." - "I'm not afraid of Zeus!" - and the Cyclops grabbed two, smashed them against the wall, ate them with bones and snored. In the morning he left with the herd, again blocking the entrance; and then Odysseus came up with a trick. He and his comrades took a Cyclops club, large as a mast, sharpened it, burned it on fire, hid it; and when the villain came and devoured two more comrades, he brought him wine to put him to sleep. The monster liked the wine. "What is your name?" - he asked. "Nobody!" Odysseus answered. “For such a treat, I will eat you last, Nobody!” - and drunken cyclops snored. Then Odysseus and his companions took a club, approached, swung it and plunged it into the single giant's eye. The blinded ogre roared, other Cyclopes came running: “Who offended you, Polyphemus?” - "Nobody!" - "Well, if no one, then there is nothing to make noise" - and dispersed. And in order to get out of the cave, Odysseus tied his comrades under the belly of the Cyclops rams so that he would not grope them, and so, together with the herd, they left the cave in the morning. But, already sailing away, Odysseus could not stand it and shouted:
“Here you are, for insulting the guests, execution from me, Odysseus from Ithaca!” And the Cyclops furiously prayed to his father Poseidon: “Don’t let Odysseus swim to Ithaca - and if it’s destined to do so, then let him swim not soon, alone, on a strange ship!” And God heard his prayer.
The third adventure is on the island of the wind god Eol. God sent them a fair wind, and tied the rest in a leather bag and gave Odysseus: "When you swim - let go." But when Ithaca was already visible, the tired Odysseus fell asleep, and his companions untied the bag ahead of time; a hurricane arose, they rushed back to Aeolus. "So the gods are against you!" - Eol said angrily and refused to help the disobedient.
The fourth adventure is with the lestrigons, wild cannibal giants. They ran to the shore and brought down huge rocks on the Odysseus ships; eleven of the twelve ships perished, Odysseus and a few comrades escaped on the last.
The fifth adventure is with the sorceress Kirka, the queen of the West, who turned all aliens into animals. She brought wine, honey, cheese and flour with a poisonous potion to the Odyssey messengers - and they turned into pigs, and she drove them into the barn. He escaped alone and in horror told Odysseus about this; he took a bow and went to help his comrades, not hoping for anything. But Hermes, the messenger of the gods, gave him a divine plant: a black root, a white flower, and the spell was powerless against Odysseus. Threatening with a sword, he forced the sorceress to return the human form to his friends and demanded: "Get us back to Ithaca!" - "Ask the way of the prophetic Tiresias, the prophet of the prophets," said the sorceress. "But he's dead!" - "Ask the dead!" And she told me how to do it.
The sixth adventure is the most terrible: the descent into the realm of the dead. The entrance to it is at the end of the world, in the country of eternal night. The souls of the dead in it are incorporeal, insensible and thoughtless, but after drinking the sacrificial blood, they acquire speech and reason. On the threshold of the kingdom of the dead, Odysseus slaughtered a black ram and a black sheep as a sacrifice; the souls of the dead flocked to the smell of blood, but Odysseus drove them away with a sword until the prophetic Tiresias appeared before him. After drinking blood, he said:
“Your troubles are for insulting Poseidon; your salvation - if you do not offend the Sun-Helios; if you offend, you will return to Ithaca, but alone, on a strange ship, and not soon. Your house is ruined by suitors of Penelope; but you will overcome them, and you will have a long kingdom and a peaceful old age.” After that, Odysseus allowed other ghosts to the sacrificial blood. The shadow of his mother told how she died of longing for her son; he wanted to hug her, but under his arms there was only empty air. Agamemnon told how he died from his wife: “Be careful, Odysseus, it’s dangerous to rely on wives.” Achilles said to him:
“Better for me to be a laborer on earth than a king among the dead.” Only Ajax did not say anything, not forgiving that Odysseus, and not he, got the armor of Achilles. From afar I saw Odysseus and the infernal judge Minos, and the eternally executed proud Tantalus, the cunning Sisyphus, the insolent Tityus; but then horror seized him, and he hurried away, towards the white light.
The seventh adventure was Sirens - predators, seductive singing luring sailors to death. Odysseus outwitted them: he sealed the ears of his companions with wax, and ordered himself to be tied to the mast and not let go, no matter what. So they sailed past, unharmed, and Odysseus also heard singing, the sweetest of which is none.
The eighth adventure was the strait between the monsters Scylla and Charybdis: Scylla has six heads, each with three rows of teeth, and twelve paws; Charybdis - about one larynx, but such that in one gulp it drags the whole ship. Odysseus preferred Scylla to Charybdis - and he was right: she grabbed six of his comrades from the ship and ate with six mouths, but the ship remained intact.
The ninth adventure was the island of the Sun-Helios, where his sacred herds grazed - seven herds of red bulls, seven herds of white rams. Odysseus, mindful of the covenant of Tiresias, took a terrible oath from his comrades not to touch them; but opposite winds blew, the ship stopped, the satellites were hungry, and when Odysseus fell asleep, they slaughtered and ate the best bulls. It was scary: the flayed skins moved, and the meat on the skewers lowed. The Sun-Helios, who sees everything, hears everything, knows everything, prayed to Zeus: “Punish the offenders, otherwise I will descend into the underworld and will shine among the dead.” And then, as the winds subsided and the ship sailed from the shore, Zeus raised a storm, struck with lightning, the ship crumbled, the satellites drowned in a whirlpool, and Odysseus, alone on a fragment of a log, rushed across the sea for nine days, until he was thrown ashore on the island of Calypso.
This is how Odysseus ends his story.
King Alkina fulfilled his promise: Odysseus boarded the Phaeacian ship, plunged into an enchanted dream, and woke up already on the foggy coast of Ithaca. Here he is met by the patroness Athena. “The time has come for your cunning,” she says, “hide, beware of suitors and wait for your son Telemachus!” She touches him, and he becomes unrecognizable: old, bald, poor, with a staff and a bag. In this form, he goes deep into the island - to ask for shelter from the good old swineherd Evmey. He tells Eumeus that he comes from Crete, fought near Troy, knew Odysseus, sailed to Egypt, fell into slavery, was with pirates and barely escaped. Eumeus calls him to the hut, puts him to the hearth, treats him, grieves for the missing Odysseus, complains about violent suitors, pities Queen Penelope and Prince Telemachus. The next day, Telemachus himself comes, having returned from his wandering - of course, Athena herself also sent him here. In front of him, Athena returns Odysseus his true appearance, mighty and proud. "Are you a god?" - asks Telemachus. “No, I am your father,” Odysseus replies, and they, embracing, cry with happiness.
The end is near. Telemachus goes to the city, to the palace; behind him wander Eumeus and Odysseus, again in the form of a beggar. At the palace threshold, the first recognition is made: the decrepit Odysseus dog, having not forgotten the owner’s voice for twenty years, raises his ears, crawls up to him with his last strength and dies at his feet. Odysseus enters the house, goes around the room, asks the suitors for alms, suffers ridicule and beatings. Suitors pit him against another beggar, younger and stronger; Odysseus, unexpectedly for everyone, knocks him over with one blow. The suitors laugh: “Let Zeus send you whatever you want!” - and do not know that Odysseus wishes them a speedy death. Penelope calls the stranger to her: has he heard the news of Odysseus? “I heard,” says Odysseus, “he is in a nearby region and will arrive soon.” Penelope can't believe it, but she is grateful for the guest. She tells the old maid to wash the wanderer's dusty feet before going to bed, and invites him to be in the palace at tomorrow's feast. And here the second recognition takes place: the maid brings in the basin, touches the guest's legs and feels the scar on her lower leg, which Odysseus had after hunting the boar in his younger years. Her hands trembled, her leg slipped out: “You are Odysseus!” Odysseus clamps her mouth: "Yes, it's me, but be quiet - otherwise you will ruin the whole thing!"
The last day is coming. Penelope calls the suitors to the banquet room: “Here is the bow of my dead Odysseus; whoever pulls it and shoots an arrow through twelve rings on twelve axes in a row, he will become my husband! One after another, one hundred and twenty suitors try on the bow - not a single one can even pull the bowstring. They already want to postpone the competition until tomorrow - but then Odysseus gets up in his impoverished form: “Let me try too: after all, I was once strong!” The suitors are indignant, but Telemachus stands up for the guest:
“I am the heir of this bow, to whom I want, I give it; and you, mother, go to your women's affairs. Odysseus takes up the bow, easily bends it, rings the bowstring, the arrow flies through the twelve rings and pierces the wall. Zeus thunders over the house, Odysseus straightens up to his full heroic height, next to him is Telemachus with a sword and a spear. “No, I haven’t forgotten how to shoot: now I’ll try another target!” And the second arrow hits the most impudent and violent of suitors. “Oh, you thought Odysseus was dead? no, he lives for truth and retribution!” The suitors grab their swords, Odysseus strikes them with arrows, and when the arrows run out - with spears, which the faithful Eumeus brings. The suitors rush about the ward, the invisible Athena darkens their minds and diverts their blows from Odysseus, they fall one by one. A pile of dead bodies piles up in the middle of the house, faithful slaves and slaves crowd around and rejoice when they see their master.
Penelope did not hear anything: Athena sent a deep sleep to her in her chamber. The old maid runs to her with good news: Odysseus has returned. Odysseus punished the suitors! She does not believe: no, yesterday's beggar is not at all like Odysseus, as he was twenty years ago; and the suitors were probably punished by angry gods. “Well,” says Odysseus, “if the queen has such an unkind heart, let them make a bed for me alone.” And here the third, main recognition takes place. “Well,” says Penelope to the maid, “take out the guest’s bed from the royal bedroom to his rest.” “What are you talking about, woman? - Odysseus exclaims, - this bed cannot be moved, instead of legs it has an olive tree stump, I once knocked it together on it and adjusted it. And in response, Penelope weeps with joy and rushes to her husband: it was a secret, they alone knew a sign.
It's a victory, but it's not peace yet. The fallen suitors have relatives left, and they are ready to take revenge. With an armed crowd, they go to Odysseus, he comes forward to meet them with Telemachus and several henchmen. The first blows are already thundering, the first blood is shed - but Zeus's will puts an end to the brewing discord. Lightning flashes, striking the ground between the fighters, thunder rumbles, Athena appears with a loud cry: “... Do not shed blood in vain and stop the evil enmity!” - and the frightened avengers retreat. And then:
“With a sacrifice and an oath, the union between the king and the people was sealed / The bright daughter of the Thunderer, the goddess Pallas Athena.”
With these words, the Odyssey ends.
Current page: 1 (the book has 26 pages in total)
Homer
Odyssey
© The electronic version of the book was prepared by LitRes
Canto One
Muse, tell me about that experienced husband who,
Wandering long since the day when Saint Ilion was destroyed by him,
I visited many people of the city and saw customs,
I grieved a lot with my heart on the seas, caring about salvation5
Your life and the return of companions to the homeland; futile
There were, however, worries, he did not save his companions: they themselves
They brought death on themselves by sacrilege, madmen,
Having eaten the bulls of Helios, the god walking above us, -
He stole the return day from them. Tell me about it10
Something for us, O daughter of Zeves, benevolent Muse.
All the others, who escaped the faithful death, were
At home, avoiding both war and the sea; its only, separation
With a sweet wife and the homeland of the crushed one, in a deep grotto
Light nymph Calypso, goddess of goddesses, arbitrary15
She held her by force, in vain wishing that he was her husband.
But when, at last, the reversal of times brought
The year in which the gods appointed him to return
To his house, to Ithaca (but where and in the arms of true friends he
All did not escape from anxiety), the gods were filled with pity20
All; Poseidon alone persisted in persecuting Odysseus,
God-like husband, until he reached his homeland.
But at that time he was in a remote country of the Ethiopians
(Extreme people settled in two ways: one, where descends
God is luminous, others, where it rises), so that there from the people25
Lush obese bulls and rams take the hecatomb.
There he, sitting at a feast, had fun; the other gods
At times they were gathered in the halls of Zeves.
With them people and immortals, the father begins a conversation;
In his thoughts was Aegistus blameless (his own Atridov30
Son, the famous Orestes, killed); and thinking about it
Zeus the Olympian addresses the word to the assembly of the gods:
“It's strange how mortal people blame us gods for everything!
Evil is from us, they say; but don't you often
Death, contrary to fate, is brought on by madness?35
So is Aegisthus: is it not fate, in spite of the wife of Atrids
Did he take him by killing him when he returned to his homeland?
He knew the true death; from us was sharp-eyed to him
Ermius, the destroyer of Argus, was sent down to kill
He did not dare to encroach on his husband and refrained from marrying his wife.40
“Revenge for Atris will be done by the hand of Orestes when he
He wants to enter his house, having matured, as an heir, ”so it was
Hermias said - in vain! did not touch Aegist's heart
God is gracious with advice, and he paid for everything at once.”45
Zeus said: “Our father, Kronion, the supreme ruler,
Your truth, he deserved death, and so let him die
Every such villain! But now it breaks my heart
With his heavy fate, Odysseus is cunning; long time ago
Suffering, separated from his own, on an island, embraced by waves50
The navel of the wide sea, wooded, where the nymph rules,
Daughter of Atlas, the thief who knows the seas
All the depths and which alone supports the bulk
Long huge pillars pushing the sky and the earth apart.
By the power of Atlanta, the daughter of Odysseus, shedding tears,55
Holds, with the magic of insidious and caressing words about Ithaca
Memory hoping to destroy it. But wishing in vain
To see at least smoke rising from the native shores in the distance,
Death alone he prays. Compassion will not enter
In your heart, Olympian? Are you not satisfied with gifts60
He honored in the Trojan land, in the midst of the Achaean ships there
Making sacrifices to you? Why are you angry, Kronion?”
Objecting to her, the cloud-collector Kronion answered:
“Strange, my daughter, a word has come out of your mouth.
I forgot Odysseus, immortal like a man,65
So distinguished in the host of people and mind and diligent
Offering sacrifices to the gods, boundless heaven to the lords?
No! Poseidon is the enveloper of the earth, he stubbornly feuds with him,
All indignant because the Cyclops Polyphemus is divine
He is blinded by him: the strongest of the Cyclopes, Phosoy a nymph,70
Daughter of Fork, lord of the desert-salty sea,
He was born from her union with Poseidon in deep
Grote. While the earth shaker Poseidon Odysseus
To betray death and not powerful, but, chasing the sea everywhere,
He leads him away from Ithaca. Let's think together75
How would he return his homeland. Poseidon refuse
Must from anger: one with all the immortals in a dispute,
Despite the eternal gods, without success, he will be angry.
Here is the bright-eyed Zeus daughter of Athenaeus Pallas
Zeus said: “Our father, Kronion, the supreme ruler!80
If it pleases the blessed gods to see the homeland
Could Odysseus the cunning, then Ermius the argus-killer,
The performer of the will of the gods, let him be on the island of Ogygsky
To the nymph, beautifully curly-haired was sent down from us to announce to her
Our verdict is unchanged, that the time has come to return85
In the land of his Odyssey, in trouble constant. I
I'll go straight to Ithaca to excite the son of Odysseus
Fill his heart with anger and courage, so that he calls
He is at the council of the thick-haired Achaeans and in the house of the Odysseus
The entrance was forbidden to suitors, who mercilessly destroy him90
Small cattle and bulls, crooked-horned and slow-moving.
Sparta and Pylos sandy then he will visit to know,
Are there any rumors about the dear father and his return,
Also, so that a good reputation is established in people about him.
When she finished, she tied golden soles to her feet,95
Ambrosial, everywhere it is above water and above solid
The boundless bosom of the earth is lightly carried by the wind;
Then she took a war spear, studded with copper,
Solid, heavy, huge, it also fights in anger
She is the strength of the heroes, the birth of the thunderous god.100
The goddess stepped violently from the top of Olympus to Ithaca.
There in the yard, at the threshold of the doors of the Odyssey house,
She stood with a copper-sharp spear, clothed in the image
Guest, ruler of the Tafians, Mentes; brought together
All the suitors, riotous husbands, there the goddess saw;105
Playing dice, they sat in front of the entrance on the skins
Bulls killed by them; and the heralds, establishing the table,
Together with the agile slaves they ran: they poured
Water with wine in the pier craters; and those nostril
Having washed the tables with a sponge, they were moved and various meats110
Having cut a lot, they carried it. Goddess Athena
Before the other Telemachus the god-like saw. Regrettable
With his heart, in the circle of suitors, he sat, thinking about one thing:
Where is the noble father and how, returning to his homeland,
He disperses predators throughout his dwelling,115
The authorities will perceive and will again be their master.
In such thoughts with the suitors, sitting, he saw Athena;
He immediately got up and hurried to the entrance, indignantly
In the heart that the wanderer was forced to wait outside the threshold;
getting closer
He took the stranger's right hand, took his spear,120
Then he raised his voice and threw out a winged word:
“Rejoice, stranger; come to us; we will gladly treat you;
You will declare your need to us, being satisfied with our food.
Having finished, he went ahead, followed by Pallas Athenaeus.
With her, entering the banquet chamber, to the high column125
Right with a spear he came up and hid it there in a setting
Smoothly hewn, where they were locked in the old days
The spears of King Odysseus, in constant trouble, were,
To rich armchairs, skillfully made, bringing Athena,
He invited her to sit in them, covering them in advance with a patterned130
Cloth; for the feet there was a bench; then he put
A chair carved for yourself at a distance from others, so that the guest
The noise of the wildly merry crowd did not spoil the dinner,
Also, to secretly ask him about his distant father.
Then she brought a silver hand to the tub to wash them135
A golden washstand filled with cold water, a slave,
Smooth then pushed the table; put on it
Housekeeper bread with various edibles, from the stock
Issued by her willingly; on the dishes, lifting them high,
The local clerk brought various meat and, having offered it to them,140
He placed golden cups on the table in front of them;
The herald began to look for wine to be filled more often
Cups. Grooms came in, riotous men, and sat down
Chin on armchairs and chairs; the heralds brought water
Wash their hands; the slaves brought them bread in baskets;145
The youths poured cups with a light drink to the brim.
They raised their hands to the prepared food; when
The hunger of their delicious food was satisfied, it entered them
There is something else in the heart - the desire for sweet singing and dancing:
To feast they are an adornment; and a ringing zither herald150
Femiya gave, to the singer, in front of them at all times
Sing to the compelled; Striking the strings, he sang beautifully.
Then Telemachus carefully said to the bright-eyed Athena,
He bowed his head to her so that others would not hear him:
“My dear guest, do not be angry with me for my frankness;155
Here they have fun; they have only music and singing on their minds;
It's easy: they devour someone else's without pay, wealth
Husband, whose white bones, perhaps, or rain
Somewhere it wets on the shore, or the waves roll along the seaside.
If he suddenly appeared before them in Ithaca, then everything would160
Instead of saving both clothes and gold, they began
Just pray that their legs are faster.
But he died, comprehended by an angry fate, and consolation
No to us, although sometimes they come from earthly people
News that he will return, there will be no return for him.165
Who are you? What tribe are you? Where do you live? Who is your father?
Who is your mother? On what ship and what way
Arrived in Ithaca and who are your sailors? To our edge
(This, of course, I know myself) you didn’t come on foot.170
Also speak frankly, so that I may know the whole truth:
Was it the first time you visited Ithaca, or have you already been here
Guest of the Odysseys? In those days, foreigners gathered a lot
In our house: my parent loved to treat people.175
“I will tell you everything frankly; I am King Anchialus
Wise son, called Mentes, I rule the people
Cheerful Tafians; and now my ship to Ithaca
Together with my people I led, traveling dark
By sea to the peoples of a different language; I want in Temes180
Get copper by exchanging shiny iron for it;
I put my own ship under the forested slope of Neyon
On the field, in the pier of Retre, far from the city. Our
Ancestors have long been considered guests to each other; This,
Perhaps you yourself often hear when you visit185
The grandfather of the hero Laertes ... and he, they say, no longer walks
More to the city, but far away lives in the field, dejected
Grief, with the old maid, who, the old man of peace,
Reinforces him with food when he gets tired, dragging
Across the field back and forth in the midst of his grapes.190
I am with you because they told me that your father
At home ... but it is clear that the gods delayed him on the way:
For the noble Odysseus has not yet died on earth;
Somewhere, surrounded by the sea abyss, on a wave-embracing
The island is locked alive, or maybe he suffers in captivity195
Wild predators who forcibly took possession of it. But listen
What I will predict to you, what almighty gods to me
They invested in the heart, which will inevitably come true, like myself
I believe, although I am not a prophet and I am inexperienced in guessing by birds.
He will not be long apart from his dear homeland, at least200
He was bound by iron bonds; but return home
He will find the right remedy: he is cunning for inventions.
You tell me now, without hiding anything from me:
Do I truly see in you the son of Odysseus? You are wonderful
With his head and beautiful eyes he is similar; still me205
I remember him; in the old days we saw each other often;
It was before sailing to Troy, where from the Achaeans
The best with him in their steep-sided ships rushed.
From that time on, neither he nor I met him anywhere.”210
I will tell you everything frankly, so that you can know the whole truth.
Mother assures me that I am his son, but I myself do not know:
It is probably impossible for us to know who our father is.
It would be better, however, I wished that I was not so ill-fated
The husband was the father; in his possessions he is to old age b late215
Lived. But if you ask, then he, from the living
The most unfortunate now, my father, as people think.
The daughter of the light-eyed Zeus, Athena, answered him:
“It seems that it is pleasing to the immortals that he was not without glory in the future
Your house, when Penelope was given such as you220
Son. Now tell me without hiding anything from me
What's going on here? What congregation? Do you give
Are you celebrating a holiday or a wedding? Not a folding feast here
Certainly.
It only seems that your guests are unbridled in your
They are outrageous at home: every decent person in society with them225
Be ashamed, seeing their shameful behavior.”
“My good guest,” answered the judicious son of Odysseus,
If you want to know, then I will tell you frankly.
Once our house was full of wealth; he was respected
All while that husband was inseparably here.230
Now the hostile gods have decided otherwise, having covered
His fate is impregnable darkness for the whole world;
I would be less upset about him when he died:
If in the Trojan land among the warlike comrades he died
Or in the arms of friends, having endured the war, he died here,235
The tomb hill above it would have been poured by the Achaean people,
He would leave great glory to his son for all time ...
Now the Harpies have taken him, and he has gone missing,
Forgotten by the light, graveless, one contrition and cries
Leaving a legacy for my son. But I'm not only talking about him240
crying; the gods sent me another great grief:
Everyone who is famous and strong on our different islands,
The first people of Dulikhia, Zama, forest Zakynthos,
The first people of Ithaca rocky mother Penelope
They stubbornly push for marriage and rob our estate;245
The mother does not want to enter into a hated marriage, nor from marriage
He has no means to escape; and they devour mercilessly
Our goodness and myself will finally be ruined.”
The goddess Athena answered him with great anger:
“Woe! I see how distant your father is to you now250
It is necessary to deal with shameless suitors with a strong hand.
Oh, if he entered those doors, returning suddenly,
In a helmet, covered with a shield, in his hand two copper-pointed spears! ..
So for the first time I saw him at the time when he
In our house he rejoiced with wine, having visited in Ether255
Ila, son of Mermer (and that side of the distant
King Odysseus reached on his fast ship;
Poison, deadly to people, he was looking for in order to give them drink
Their arrows, encrusted with copper; but Eli refused
Give him poison, fearing to irritate the all-seeing gods;260
My father endowed it with him out of great friendship with him).
If in the form of such Odysseus suddenly appeared to the suitors,
Marriage would be made to them, an inevitable fate comprehended, bitter.
But - we, of course, do not know that - in the bosom of the immortals
Hidden: is it appointed from above for him, returning, to destroy them265
In this dwelling or not. We now think collectively
How would you clean your house from robbers yourself.
Listen to what I say, and notice to yourself that you will hear:
Tomorrow, calling the noble Achaeans to the council, before them
Announce everything, calling the immortals as witnesses of the truth;270
After that, demand that all the suitors go home;
Mother, if marriage is not disgusting to her heart,
You suggest that you return to the house of the powerful father,
Where, having prepared everything necessary for marriage, a rich dowry
A dear daughter, as befits a dignity, he will endow her.275
I also zealously advise, if you accept my advice:
A strong ship with twenty equipped rowers, set off
Himself for his distant father, to find out what
In people there is a rumor about him, or hear a prophecy about him
Ossa, who always repeats Zeves' word to people.280
Pylos first visit, you know that the divine Nestor
Will say; then Menelaus find the golden-haired in Sparta:
He arrived home last of all the copper-plated Achaeans.
If you hear that your parent is alive, that he will return,
Wait for him a year, patiently enduring oppression; when285
Rumor will say that he died, that he is no longer among the living,
Then, immediately returning to the dear land of the fathers,
In honor of him, the mound of the grave here is an embankment and the usual magnificent
Perform a feast on him; Get Penelope to marry you.
After, when you arrange everything in the proper order,290
Having firmly decided, with a prudent mind, think up a means,
How would you suitors who forcibly seized your house,
In it, destroy either by deception, or by sheer force; you
You can’t be a child anymore, you’ve gone out of childhood;
Do you know what a divine youth Orestes is before the whole295
He was adorned with light with honor, marking Aegisthu, with which
Was his glorious parent slain maliciously?
So it is with you, my beloved friend, so beautifully ripened,
It must be firm so that your name and descendants are praised.
The time, however, is for me to return to my swift ship.300
To companions, waiting, of course, for me with impatience and boredom.
You take care of yourself, respecting what I said.
“My dear guest,” answered the judicious son of Odysseus,
Desiring my benefits, you speak to me as to a son
Good father; I will not forget what you advised.305
But wait, though you are in a hurry to go; it's cool here
Having refreshed your bath and limbs and soul, you will return
You are on a ship, a rich gift to the pleasure of the heart
Taking it from me so that I can keep it as a keepsake, as a custom
There is between people, so that they say goodbye, guests give each other.310
The daughter of the light-eyed Zeus, Athena, answered him:
"No! Don't hold me back, I'm in a hurry to get on the road;
Your gift, promised me so cordially by you,
Returning to you, I will accept and take you home gratefully,
Having received something dear as a gift, and giving dearly himself.”315
With these words Zeus' bright-eyed daughter disappeared,
Quick invisibly bird suddenly flying away. Settled
Firmness and courage she is in Telemakhov's heart, livelier
Recall making him about his father; but he penetrated the soul
Mystery and felt fear, guessing that he was talking with God.320
Then he, the divine husband, approached the suitors; In front of them
The famous singer sang, and with deep attention they sat
They are silent; about the sad return of the Achaeans from Troy,
Once established by the goddess Athena, he sang.
In the upper rest, hearing inspired singing,325
Penelope hurried down the high steps,
Elder Ikaria's wise daughter: they went down together with her
Two of her maids; and she, the god among women,
Entering that chamber where her suitors feasted,
Near the pillar, the ceiling holding there high, became,330
Covering your cheeks with a shiny head veil;
On the right and on the left, the maids stood respectfully; queen
With weeping, she then addressed the inspired word to the singer:
“Phemius, you know so many others that delight the soul
Songs composed by singers to the glory of gods and heroes;335
Sing one of them, sitting before the assembly, one; and in silence
Guests will listen to her for wine; but stop what you started
a sad song; my heart skips a beat when i
I hear her: of all, I got the most severe grief;
Having lost such a husband, I always mourn for the deceased,340
So full of his glory and Hellas and Argos.
“Dear mother,” objected the judicious son of Odysseus,
How do you want the singer to ban our pleasure
Then to sing that his heart awakens in him? Guilty
This is not a singer, but Zeus is guilty, sending from above345
People of high spirit will be inspired by their will.
No, do not prevent the singer about the sad return of the Danae
Sing - with great praise people listen to that song,
Every time with her, as with a new one, admiring her soul;
You yourself will find in it not sadness, but sadness delight:350
Was not one from the gods condemned to lose the return day
King Odysseus, and many other famous people died.
But good luck: do, as you should, the order of the economy,
Yarn, weaving; see that the slaves are diligent in their work
Were our own: to speak is not a woman’s business, but a business355
Husband, and now mine: I am my only master.
So he said; amazed, Penelope went back;
To the heart of the words of the wise son, having accepted and at rest
Shut up on top, in the circle of close maids
She wept bitterly for her Odysseus,360
The goddess Athena did not bring sweet sleep to her eyes.
That sometimes the grooms in the darkened chamber were noisy,
Arguing about which of them will share the bed with Penelope.
Turning to them, the judicious son of Odysseus said:
“You suitors of Penelope, arrogant with violent pride,365
Let us now quietly have fun: interrupt your noisy
Dispute; it is more fitting for us to pay attention to the chanter who,
Our hearing is captivating, like the gods with high inspiration.
Tomorrow morning I invite you all to gather in the square.
There, I will tell you publicly to your face, so that you all clean up370
My house; establish other feasts, your own, not ours
Spending on them and watching in turn in their treats.
If you find what is more pleasant and easier for you
To destroy one and all arbitrarily, without payment - devour
All; but on you I will call the gods; and Zeus won't slow down375
To strike you for a lie: then inevitably all of you,
Likewise, without pay, you will perish in the house that you have plundered.”
He fell silent. Grooms, biting their lips with annoyance,
Those who were struck by his bold word were surprised at him.
But Antinous, the son of Evpeytov, answered him, objecting:380
“The gods themselves, of course, taught you, Telemachus
To be so arrogant and impudent in words, and trouble for us when you
In wave-embracing Ithaca, by the will of Kronion, you will
Our king, already having the right to do so by birth!”
The sensible son of Odysseus meekly answered him:385
“Friend of Antinous, do not be angry with me for my frankness:
If Zeus gave me dominion, I would gladly accept.
Or do you think that the royal lot of all is worse in the world?
No, of course, being a king is not bad; wealth in the royal
The house accumulates soon, and he himself is in honor of the people.390
But among the Achaeans of the wave-embracing Ithaca there is
Many worthy of power, both old and young; between them
You choose when King Odysseus is no more.
In my house, I am the only master; I belong here
Power over slaves, for us Odysseus obtained in battles.395
Here Eurymachus, the son of Polybius, answered Telemachus like this:
“About Thelema, we do not know - that is hidden in the bosom of the immortals, -
Who is appointed over the Achaeans of the wave-embracing Ithaca
Reign; in your house, of course, you are the only ruler;
No, there will not be, as long as Ithaca is inhabited,400
There is no one here who would dare to encroach on your property.
But I would like to know, my dear, about the current guest.
What is his name? What fatherland does he glorify
Earth? What kind and tribe is he? Where he was born?
Did he come to you with the news of the desired return of your father?405
Or visited us, having come to Ithaca for his own needs?
Suddenly he disappeared from here, without waiting for at least
A little
We reviewed; He was not a simple man, of course.”
“Friend Eurymachus,” answered the judicious son of Odysseus, “410
The day of meeting with my father is forever lost to me; I won't
Believe no more rumors about his imminent return,
Below the vain prophecies about him, to which, calling
In the house of fortunetellers, the mother comes running. And our current guest
Was Odyssey's guest; he hails from Taphos, Mentes,415
The son of Anchialus, the wise king, rules the people
Cheerful Tafians. But, as I said, I was convinced
In his heart Telemachus that he saw the immortal goddess.
Those, again turning to dance and sweet song,
They began to make noise again in anticipation of the night; when420
Black night in the midst of their cheerful noise has come,
Everyone went home to indulge in carefree peace.
Soon Telemachus himself in his high chamber (on a beautiful
The courtyard was facing it with a vast view in front of the windows),
After seeing everyone off, he went, thinking to himself about many things.425
Carrying a lighted torch, in front of him with careful zeal
There was Eurycleia, the intelligent daughter of Pevsenorids Ops;
She was bought in blooming years by Laertes - he paid
Twenty bulls, and her with her well-behaved wife
In his house he respected equally, and did not allow himself430
Lodge touch her, feared female jealousy.
Carrying the torch, Eurycleia led Telemachus - behind him
From childhood she went and pleased him more diligently
Other slaves. She opened into the rich bedroom
doors; he sat down on the bed and, taking off his thin shirt,435
He threw it into the hands of a caring old woman; carefully
Folded into folds and angled, on the nail of Eurycleus a shirt
Beside the bed, artfully chiseled, hung; quiet
She left the bedroom; closed the door with a silver handle;
I tightened the latch tightly with a belt; then she left.440
He is all night on a bed covered with soft sheepskin,
In his heart he pondered the path established by the goddess Athena.
Name: Odysseus (Odysseus)
A country: Greece
Creator: ancient Greek mythology
Activity: king of Ithaca
Family status: married
Odysseus: Character Story
The hero of the mythology of the ancient Greeks, the king of the island of Ithaca, a participant in the Trojan War, a brave warrior and a skilled speaker. In the Iliad, he is present as a key character. In the poem "Odyssey" - the main character. A feature of Odysseus is a dodgy character, the ability to cunningly get out of dangerous situations, saving himself and his comrades. Therefore, "cunning" has become one of the constant epithets of the hero.
History of creation
The image of Odysseus became a reflection of the era of the development of the sea by the Greeks. The situations when the warriors set sail on their ships and their connection with their relatives was cut off for a long time found their mythological embodiment in the story of the wanderings of Odysseus. Homer (Iliad, Odyssey), Hecuba, Cyclops, Ajax, Philoctetes and other authors wrote about the adventures of the hero and his journey home to his wife Penelope.
Various episodes from the life of the hero are captured in the form of drawings on Greek vases. According to them, you can restore the alleged appearance of the hero. Odysseus is a mature bearded man often depicted wearing the oval cap worn by Greek sailors.
Biography
Odysseus was born from the marriage of the Argonaut Laertes, king of Ithaca, and the granddaughter of the god Hermes - Anticlea. The hero's grandfather Autolycus bore the proud title of "the most thieving of men", was a clever swindler and personally from Hermes, his father, received permission to swear by the name of this god and break oaths. Odysseus himself is married to Penelope, who gave birth to the hero's son Telemachus.
Odysseus met his future wife Penelope in Sparta, where he arrived, among other suitors, to woo Elena the Beautiful. There were many who wanted to marry, but Elena's father was afraid to make a choice in favor of one person, so as not to incur the wrath of the others. The cunning Odysseus gave a fresh idea - to give the girl the right to vote, so that she chooses the groom herself, and bind the suitors with an oath that, if necessary, they will all help Elena's future husband.
Helen chose Menelaus, the son of the Mycenaean king. Odysseus laid eyes on Penelope. Penelope's father gave his word that he would give his daughter to the one who won the race. When Odysseus became the winner, his father tried to dissuade Penelope from this marriage and stay at home. Odysseus repeated his trick and let the bride choose herself - to stay with her father or go with him, and she, despite the persuasion of the parent, chose the hero. Having played the wedding, Odysseus and his young wife returned to Ithaca.
When Paris kidnapped Helen, the former suitors were gathering for the Trojan War. The oracle predicted to Odysseus that if he went under Troy, he would return home after 20 years, poor and without companions. The hero tried to "slope" from this event. Odysseus tried to pretend to be crazy, but was exposed.
The man began to sow the field with salt, harnessing a bull and a horse to the plow, but when his newborn son was thrown under the plow, he was forced to stop. So it became clear that Odysseus was fully aware of his actions, and the hero had to go to war. According to Homer, the hero was persuaded to go under Troy by King Agamemnon, who came to Ithaca for this.
Under Troy, Odysseus comes with 12 ships. When ships come ashore, no one wants to get off. Another prediction promises that the first person to set foot on the land of Troy will certainly perish. Nobody wants to be the first, so Odysseus jumps off the ship, and people follow him. The cunning hero makes a deceptive maneuver and throws a shield under his feet, so that it turns out that it was not he who first set foot on the Trojan land, but the one who jumped off after him.
During the war, Odysseus manages to settle personal scores by exposing as a traitor the man who threw his son under the plow, thereby forcing the hero to go to war. A number of conditions are necessary for victory, and Odysseus fulfills them one by one. Produces a bow, which remained with Philoctetes, abandoned at the beginning of the war on the island and embittered at the others. Together with Diomedes, he steals a statue of the goddess Athena from Troy. Finally, Odysseus gives the idea with the famous Trojan horse, thanks to which, along with other warriors, he falls outside the walls of the city.
After the victory at Troy, the ships turn back and Odysseus's wanderings by sea begin. The hero experiences many misadventures, during which he loses ships and crew, and returns to Ithaca 10 years after sailing from the coast of Troy. In Ithaca, meanwhile, the suitors are besieging Penelope, claiming that Odysseus died long ago and it would be necessary to remarry, choosing one of them. The hero, turned by Athena into an old man, comes to his own palace, where no one recognizes him, except for the old nanny and the dog.
Penelope offers the suitors a competition for their hand - to pull the bow of Odysseus and shoot an arrow through 12 rings. The grooms insult Odysseus in the guise of an old man, but none of them can cope with the bow. Then Odysseus himself shoots an arrow, thus revealing himself, and then, together with his grown-up son Telemachus, arranges a bloody battle and kills the suitors.
However, the hero's journey does not end there. The relatives of the suitors he killed are demanding trial. Odysseus, by decision of the arbitrator, is expelled from Ithaca for 10 years, where the son of the hero Telemachus remains king. In addition, the god is angry with the hero, whom the hero offended by blinding the son of the god Polyphemus, the giant Cyclops.
To appease the god, Odysseus must walk through the mountains with an oar on his shoulders to find a land where people have never heard of the sea. Odysseus finds land where his oar is mistaken for a shovel and stops there. Poseidon forgives the hero after he makes sacrifices, and Odysseus himself marries the local queen.
The further fate of the hero in different sources is described in different ways. Odysseus either died in foreign lands (in different versions - in Aetolia, Etruria, Arcadia, etc.), not returning home, or returned after the expiration of the exile to Ithaca, where he was mistakenly killed by his own son, born of the sorceress Circe. There is even a version according to which Odysseus was turned into a horse and died in this guise from old age.
legends
The most famous adventures of the hero happened on the way home from Troy and are described in Homer's poem "The Odyssey". Returning, the ships of Odysseus moor to one or another island inhabited by mythological creatures, and each time the hero loses some of the people. Lotuses grow on the island of lotophages, granting oblivion to those who eat them. On the island of the Cyclopes lives the one-eyed ogre Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon. The heroes try to find shelter for the night in Polyphemus' cave, and he eats some of Odysseus' men.
The hero and the surviving companions blind Polyphemus, gouging out the giant's only eye with a pointed stake, and then escape with the help of sheep. The blind giant examines the sheep by touch before releasing them from the cave, but does not find the heroes clinging to the animal's fur from below, and so they get out of the cave. However, Odysseus calls the giant his real name, and he turns to his father Poseidon with a cry for help. Since then, Poseidon has been angry with Odysseus, which does not make the hero's journey home by sea easier.
Having escaped from Polyphemus, the heroes end up on the island of the wind god Eol. He presents Odysseus with a fur, inside of which the winds are hidden. The hero must not untie this fur until he sees the shores of his native Ithaca. Odysseus and his team almost get home, but his people, thinking that there is a treasure hidden inside the fur, untie it while the hero is sleeping, release the winds into the wild, and the ship carries far into the sea.
On the island of the sorceress Circe, Odysseus's companions turn into animals after tasting treats, and the hero himself conceives a son with the sorceress, who, according to one version, will cause his death. With Circe, the hero spends a year, and then goes on and passes the island of sirens, who enchant and destroy sailors with singing, and then swims between the huge whirlpool Charybdis and the six-headed monster Scylla, which devours six more crew members.
Gradually, Odysseus loses all his companions and on the island of the nymph Calypso finds himself alone. The nymph falls in love with Odysseus, and the hero spends 7 years with her, because there is not a single ship on the island to sail away. In the end, Hermes appears to the nymph and orders the hero to be released. Odysseus is finally able to build a raft and sail away.
- The name of the hero has become a household name. The word "odyssey" means a long journey with many obstacles and adventures and is often found in contexts far removed from ancient Greek realities. For example, in the title of the film "Space Odyssey 2001", filmed in 1968 based on the story of Arthur C. Clarke, or in the title of the adventure novel "Odyssey".
- In the literature of the New Age, one can often find the image of Odysseus - reworked or taken "as is". In the book Eric, a character named Windrisseus appears, an ironically reimagined variation on the theme of Odysseus. In 2000, the two-volume novel Odysseus, Son of Laertes by Henry Lyon Oldie was released, where the story is told from the perspective of the hero.
- The image of Odysseus also penetrated the cinema. In 2013, the Franco-Italian TV series Odysseus was released, which is not about the hero’s wanderings, but about the family that is waiting for his return, about the intrigues and conspiracies of suitors who want to seize the throne, and about the events that take place after The king returns to the island. In 2008, Terry Ingram's adventure film Odysseus: Journey to the Underworld was released, where the actor played the hero.
- Odysseus is one of the characters in the Age of Mythology strategy game released in 2002.
The Odyssey was the second poem after the Iliad, the creation of which is attributed to the great ancient Greek poet Homer. According to researchers, the work was written in the 8th century BC, perhaps a little later. The poem is divided into 24 songs and consists of 12110 verses. Presumably, the "Odyssey" was created on the Asia Minor coast of Hellas, where the Ionian tribes lived (currently Turkey is located on this territory).
Probably, the primordial "Odyssey" does not exist. However, many of the plots and mythological characters mentioned in the poem already existed at the time of the creation of the work. In addition, echoes of Hittite mythology and Minoan culture can be found in the poem. Despite the fact that many researchers find features of various dialects of Greek in the Odyssey, the work does not correspond to any of the regional variants of the language. It is possible that Homer used the Ionian dialect, but a huge number of archaic forms testify to belonging to the Mycenaean era. Elements of the Aeolian dialect are found, the origin of which is unknown. A significant number of inflectional forms used in the poem have never been used in live colloquial speech.
Like the Iliad, the Odyssey begins with an appeal to the Muse, whom the author asks to tell about the "experienced husband."
The poem describes the events that took place 10 years after the fall of Troy. The protagonist Odysseus, returning home after the war, was captured by the nymph Calypso, who refuses to let him go. Faithful wife Penelope is waiting for Odysseus in Ithaca. Every day, numerous applicants for a hand and heart woo her. Penelope is sure that Odysseus will return, and refuses everyone. The gods gathered in council decide to make Athena their messenger. The goddess comes to Telemachus, the son of the protagonist, and encourages him to go to Sparta and Pylos to find out about the fate of Odysseus.
Nestor, the king of Pylos, gives Telemachus some information about the Achaean leaders, and then invites him to contact Menelaus in Sparta, from whom the young man learns that his father became a prisoner of Calypso. Upon learning of Telemachus' departure, Penelope's numerous suitors want to ambush and kill him when he returns home.
Through Hermes, the gods give the order to Calypso to release the prisoner. Having received the long-awaited freedom, Odysseus builds a raft and sets sail. Poseidon, with whom the protagonist is in conflict, raises a storm. However, Odysseus managed to survive and get to the island of Scheria. Phaeacs live here - sailors with fast ships. The protagonist meets Nausicaa, the daughter of the local king Alcinous, who arranges a feast in honor of his guest. During the holiday, Odysseus tells about his adventures that happened to him before he got to the island of Calypso. After listening to the guest's story, the faeacs want to help him return home. However, Poseidon again tries to kill the hated Odysseus and turns the ship of the feacs into a cliff. Athena turned the protagonist into a beggarly old man. Odysseus goes to live with the swineherd Eumeus.
Returning home, Telemachus was able to avoid an ambush set by his mother's suitors. Then the protagonist's son sends Eumea to the swineherd, where he meets his father. Arriving at the palace, Odysseus found that no one recognized him. The servants mock and laugh at him. The protagonist intends to take revenge on his wife's suitors. Penelope decided to arrange a competition between applicants for a hand and a heart: it is necessary to pass an arrow through 12 rings using her husband's bow. Only the true owner of the bow was able to cope with this task. Odysseus tells his wife a secret that was known only to the two of them, thanks to which Penelope finally recognizes her husband. Enraged, Odysseus kills all the servants and suitors of his wife who mocked him. The relatives of the dead rebel, but Odysseus manages to make peace with them.
Despite the fact that the main character trait of Odysseus is heroism, the author does not try to emphasize this trait. Events take place after the end of the war in Troy, that is, the reader does not have the opportunity to evaluate the main character on the battlefield. Instead, the author wants to show completely different qualities of his character.
The image of Odysseus has two dissimilar sides. On the one hand, this is a patriot, devoted to his homeland, a loving son, husband and parent. The protagonist is not just a talented military leader, he is well versed in trade, hunting, carpentry and maritime affairs. All actions of the hero are guided by an irresistible desire to return to the family.
The other side of the Odyssey is not as perfect as the first. The author does not hide the fact that the brave warrior and navigator enjoys his adventures and in the depths of his soul wishes that the return home would be delayed. He likes to overcome all sorts of obstacles, pretend and go for tricks. Odysseus is able to show greed and cruelty. He, without hesitation, cheats on his faithful wife, lies for his own benefit. The author points out minor, but very unpleasant details. For example, at a feast, the main character chooses the best piece for himself. At some point, Homer realizes that he "went too far", and rehabilitates Odysseus, forcing him to mourn his dead comrades.
Analysis of the work
Chronology of events
The odyssey itself, that is, the wanderings of the protagonist, took 10 years. Moreover, all the events of the poem fit in 40 days. Researchers from the US National Academy of Sciences, relying on the astronomical signs mentioned in the work, were able to establish that the protagonist returned home on April 16, 1178 BC.
It is assumed that the character of Odysseus appeared long before the creation of the poem. Researchers believe that the main character is a pre-Greek figure, that is, the image was not created by the ancient Greeks themselves, but borrowed. Passing into Greek folklore, Odysseus received a Hellenized name.
At least 2 folklore plots can be found in the poem. Firstly, this is a story about a son who went in search of his father. Secondly, the plot is about the head of the family, who returns to his homeland after many years of wandering for one reason or another. The husband usually returns on the day of his wife's wedding with another man. The wife, considering her first husband dead, tries to arrange her happiness a second time. At first, no one recognizes the Stranger, but then they still manage to identify him by some sign, for example, a scar.
It is possible to draw analogies not only with ancient Greek folklore, but also with well-known works of world literature. The most striking example is the novel "Dead Souls".
Features of the work
"Odyssey" has a symmetrical composition. This means that both the beginning and the end of the poem are dedicated to the events in Ithaca. The compositional center is the story of the protagonist about his journey.
Narrative style
The description of wanderings is conducted in the first person, that is, the protagonist speaks directly. The feature is traditional for the works of this genre. A similar technique is known from Egyptian literature. It was often used in the folklore of seafarers.
