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Retold by Jon Blake

Our hero, Ulysses, was awakened by Minerva (who had taken the form of a shepherd) who told him he had finally reached Ithaca, but he would not recognize it as his land. It had been twenty years since Ulysses had stepped foot in Ithaca and a lot had changed. Minerva told Ulysses the situation at hand regarding his wife. For many years, nobles from neighboring lands had come to court Penelope (Ulysses’ wife) and take her hand in marriage. Almost all believed Ulysses was dead, so the suitors came in and ruled over Ulysses’ people and land. They ate his food and they drank his wine. His son, Telemachus, had grown into a young man and was on a quest to search for his long lost father. Minerva had already appeared before Telemachus and told him return home.

Minerva told Ulysses that now was the time for his revenge. In order for him to complete his destiny, his true identity must be hidden for now. She transformed him into a ragged old beggar and sent him onward to his palace, where his faithful servant, Eumaeus, would receive him kindly.

When Telemachus first reached Ithaca, he found Eumaeus with the old beggar. In the days of antiquity, it was acceptable to treat a peasant or beggar with disrespect if you were of higher class. Telemachus, being an honorable man, treated the beggar with kindness (unbeknownst to him that it was his father). Eumaeus warned Telemachus of a plot among the suitors to murder him before he reached the palace, so to spoil this conspiracy; Eumaeus went privately to tell Penelope of her son’s return. While Eumaeus was gone, Minerva ordered Ulysses to now reveal himself to his son. So in a flash of light he transformed back into the vigorous, heroic man that he was. At first Telemachus thought he must be immortal, so he kneeled before his father asking what deity he was beholding. Ulysses told his son who he was, and they held each other with joy, tears running down the faces of both men. The two came up with a plan to get their vengeance on the suitors. Telemachus would go forth and mingle with the suitors as he would have, but Ulysses would go as a beggar, and ask permission to enter the hall. Ulysses warned Telemachus that he should not act sympathetic to him in any way, no matter how rude the suitors were to him in beggar form. Even if they beat him, Telemachus must act as though he were a stranger.

While walking through the courtyard of the palace (before he reaches the entrance), Ulysses saw his old dog, Argus. Argus had been his companion through many years and many hunts, so when he passed by, the old do raised its head to recognize its master. The suitors celebrated the return of Telemachus, but were secretly dumbstruck at the failure of their plot. Soon, Ulysses entered. The suitors treated him with nastiness and hate. They sneered him and one suitor struck him with a stool, and laughter from the rest of the suitors ensued. Telemachus wanted to punish the suitors for their actions against his father, but he held on to his emotions and stayed apathetic.

Penelope announced that the time had come to pick a new husband. Either Ulysses was dead or was never going to return. It was decided that a test of skill would decide who would be the husband. This test was in shooting with the bow and arrow. Penelope and Telemachus led the suitors into the armory hall, where the contest would take place. However, Telemachus ordered the suitors to abandon their weapons, so that one of them could not make a rash decision in the heat of competition.

In the armory were twelve rings lined in front of each other, and laid out was the sacred bow of Ulysses, a bow that had been given to Ulysses by his warrior friends. Penelope told the suitors that the first to shoot an arrow through all twelve rings would win her as their prize. First, however, the string had to be set into the bow, and Penelope asked Telemachus to string it. Telemachus struggled with the bow, it was way too stiff for his ability and he soon gave up, admitting that he could not string it. The most insolent of the suitors took the bow from him, telling him in a cocky manner that he would do it. However, the suitor’s efforts were just as useless as Telemachus’s. The beggar (Ulysses, had followed them into the armory. He asked if he could have a try. The suitors would have beaten him for his words, but Telemachus ordered that the old man should have a fair turn. Ulysses stringed the bow with the hands of a master, he knocked an arrow and shot it through all twelve targets. The suitors were in complete shock, but before they could speak, Ulysses said, “And now for another mark!” Ulysses turned and shot the most insolent of the suitors through the neck, killing him instantly. At this point the suitors panicked, and they ran for the door. Much to their surprise, it had been barred by the servant Eumaeus.

Now, Ulysses announced himself as the true king of Ithaca, and transformed into his true appearance. He told the suitors that he wanted his revenge, and then he killed every one of them. Ulysses was left possessor of his kingdom and husband of his wife once again.

Characters:
Ulysses (aka Odysseus) & Argus

Penelope

Telemachus

Minerva

Eumaeus

The Suitors (booooo)

**Cities in USA:**
Minerva, Kentucky Minerva, New York Minerva, Ohio Ithaca, Nebraska Ithaca, New York Ithaca College, New York Ithaca, Ohio Penelope, Texas Ulysses, Kansas Ulysses, Kentucky Ulysses, Nebraska Ulysses, Pennsylvania

Companies:
Odyssey - The 10-year sea voyage endured by the Trojan War hero, Odysseus, as he sought to return home to Ithica; Odyssey Travel is a well-known travel agency; Odyssey Cruise Lines is a cruise company; Odyssey Records is a record company; there's even an Odyssey Golf Club company...you get the drift, Odyssey is a very popular modern mythological rip-off... Minerva - Roman name for Athena, who gifted the olive tree to humans; Minerva Oil Company is an international exporter of fine food products.

= Ulysses - a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson =

** Ulysses Alfred Lord Tennyson ** By this still hearth, among these barren crags, Matched with an aged wife, I mete and dole Unequal laws unto a savage race, That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.
 * It little profits that an idle king,

I cannot rest from travel: I will drink Life to the lees: all times I have enjoyed Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those That loved me, and alone; on shore, and when Through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades Vext the dim sea: I am become a name; For always roaming with a hungry heart ** And manners, climates, councils, governments, Myself not least, but honoured of them all; And drunk delight of battle with my peers; Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy. I am part of all that I have met; Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough Gleams that untravelled world, whose margin fades For ever and for ever when I move. How dull it is to pause, to make an end, To rust unburnished, not to shine in use! As though to breath were life. Life piled on life Were all to little, and of one to me Little remains: but every hour is saved From that eternal silence, something m **** ore, A bringer of new things; and vile it were For some three suns to store and hoard myself, And this gray spirit yearning in desire To follow knowledge like a sinking star, Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
 * Much have I seen and known; cities of men

This is my son, mine own Telemachus, To whom I leave the scepter and the isle Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfill ** A rugged people, and through soft degrees Subdue them to the useful and the good. Most blameless is he, centered in the sphere Of common duties, decent not to fail In offices of tenderness, and pay Meet adoration to my household gods, When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.
 * This labour, by slow prudence to make mild

There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail: There gloom the dark broad seas. My mariners, Souls that have toiled, and wrought, and thought with me That ever with a frolic welcome took The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed Free hearts, free foreheads you and I are old; Old age had yet his honour and his toil; Death closes all: but something ere the end, Some work of noble note, may yet be done, Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods. The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks: The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends, 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world. ** The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths Of all the western stars, until I die. It may be that the gulfs will wash us down: It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles, And see the great Achilles, whom we knew. Though much is taken, much abides; and though We are not now that strength which in the old days Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are, One equal-temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. ** Alfred Lord Tennyson (found [|here]) **
 * Push off, and sitting well in order smite
 * Ulysses

Sociology:
====During the time The Odyssey was set in, beggars were treated differently than you might think. Typically, beggars were treated as guests, "as traveler and storyteller, the beggar was admitted in the halls of chieftains and often treated like a guest..." When one of the suitors hit Ulysses (as a beggar),even the other suitors were disgusted .====

Geography:
====Ithaca is a real place in Greece, but people have argued about whether or not the description of Ithaca in the Odyssey matches with modern day Ithaca. More information====

(More) Art:
|| The Fate of the Suitors: THE COMIC PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 THE END
 * [[image:penelope.jpg caption="Waterhouse’s painting ‘Penelope and the Suitors’ (1912)"]]
 * [[image:suitors3.jpg caption="Classic Greek"]] ||  ||