Mostly from Edith Hamilton's account of The Odyssey, this slide shows the summary of Odysseus' adventures plus his pre-adventure stories after the Fall of Troy.

2. Odysseus has been away from
his home in Ithaca for a total of
20 years.
His son, Telemachus, has
become a man and his wife
Penelope is assumed to be a
widow by the people of Ithaca.

5. Suitors come to woo Penelope
but she remains faithful to
Odysseus, believing he is still
alive.
The suitors continue to live in
Odysseus’s house until
Penelope agrees to marry one of
them.

6. She holds the suitors off by
promising them she will
marry one of them when she
finishes weaving a shroud for
Odysseus’ father
They give in to her promise
and agree to let her finish

7. Every day she works on the
shroud but secretly undoes it at
night.
The suitors eventually find out
about her scheme and catch her
in the act.
They become more
unmanageable than ever.

8. The Greeks have been away at war for 10
years.
The Greeks defeat the Trojans with the help
of Athena and Poseidon.
The Greeks go mad with victory the night
they sacked the city of Troy.
The Greeks violate the prophetess
Cassandra in Athena’s temple

9. Athena turns against the
Greeks and convinces
Poseidon to do the same.
This causes the Greeks to
be terribly punished on
their journey back home.

11. Troy
After the victory at Troy, Odysseus and
his men begin their journey home from
here.

12. The winds blew Odysseus and his
men to Ismarus, a city in Thrace
where the warring Cicones lived
Odysseus’ men plundered the city
and killed many people
At dawn, the Cicones attacked the
sleeping Greeks

14. Six warriors from each
ship died upon the
beach
Thus, began
Odysseus’ journey

15. Athena’s anger subsides
and decides to set things
right to bring Odysseus
home.
Although Poseidon is still
angry with Odysseus,
Athena asks the other gods
to help him come home.

16. She also goes to Ithaca in
disguise and asks Telemachus to
search for his father.
Telemachus seeks the help and
advice of Menelaus in Sparta
He says he has heard from
Proteus that he is being held a
prisoner of love by sea nymph
Calypso.

18. Lotus eaters
The inhabitants try
to feed some of the
men their flower
food that makes
them forget reality
and lose their
longing to get home.

19. Lotus eaters
Odysseus had to
drag them back to
the ship and chain
them as they wept
to stay in the Lotus
Land.

21. Cyclops Polyphemus
Hungry and tired
the men come
across the cave of
Polyphemus where
Odysseus lost many
men.

22. Cyclops
Polyphemus
By blinding the
Cyclops, Poseidon
became even more
angry with
Odysseus

24. Aeolus, keeper of the winds
The men come to the country of
the winds where Aeolus receives
them with hospitality.
As a gift, Aeolus gives
Odysseus a parting gift of a
leather sack full of all the storm
winds.

25. Aeolus, keeper of the winds
Odysseus can sail home
safely as long as he keeps the
sack closed.
His crew, thinking the sack is
full of gold, opens the sack
and unleashes a storm

26. .

27. Telepylus, land of the
Laestrygons
The Laestrygons are giant
cannibals who ate most of
Odysseus’ men
Odysseus’ ship was saved
because it was parked out of the
shore

29. Circe, a beautiful but dangerous witch
Some of the men go ahead and
encounter Circe who turns them into
pigs.
One man escapes and returns to
Odysseus to tell him what happened.
Armed with an herb Hermes has given
him that would not affect him from
Circe’s magic, Odysseus saves his men

30. Circe, a beautiful but dangerous witch
She falls in love with Odysseus and
changes his crew back into human form
and they live in luxury at her house for a
year.
After having enough, Circe uses her
magic to tell them how to get home
• They must travel to Hades and speak to the
dead prophet Teiresias.

31. Odysseus and his men
lure Teiresias’ spirit
with blood and asks for
help.
•He tells Odysseus’ he
will eventually get
home and advises the
men not to kill oxen
belonging to the sun.

32. .

33. The Sirens-
woman that lured
man to death by
singing
Odysseus’ men
put some wax on
their ear

34. He did not put any
wax on his own but
he asked his men to
tie him on the boat
Odysseus listened to
the Sirens for more
clues in going home

35. .

36. Six of his crew lost their
lives
Scylla is a six-headed
monster while Charybdis
is a whirlpool

37. .

38. They finally arrive at the island
of the Sun where the hungry
men kill and eat his cattle (ox)
while Odysseus is away.
The sun destroys the ship and
drowns everyone but Odysseus.

40. At the same time, Hermes visits
Calypso and tells her of Zeus's
command to let Odysseus go.
She finally gives into Zeus’s
command and gives Odysseus
all the necessities he would
need to make a raft to get home.

41. On his journey home, Poseidon
catches sight of him and sends a
storm to wreck his ship.
The goddess Ino, who feels
sorry, gives him her veil to
protect him from harm in the
water.

42. `1` 1
.

43. He swims for 2 days and
finally reaches the land of the
Phaeacians and their king.
The king’s daughter finds
him naked and filthy on the
shore.

44. She leads him to the king
where he is received warmly
and kindly.
The King say he will make
sure he gets home and lets him
eat and sleep at his house.

45. Odysseus tells his story
After hearing this, the
Phaeacians make a ship for him
to get home.
Athena helps him
Odysseus is disguised as a
beggar so he will be welcomed
into his palace.

46. .

47. .

48. The next day, Penelope presents
the suitors with a challenge:
whoever can string Odysseus’ bow
and shoot an arrow through twelve
rings would be able to marry her.
All the suitors try and fail but
when the beggar asks for a try they
all laugh at him.

49. .

50. The suitors, taken off guard go for their
weapons but Telemachus hid them all.
They try to run away but the doors are
all locked as Odysseus slaughters them
all.
Odysseus finally reveals himself to
Penelope and after 20 years of
separation, they live happily ever after.