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    Odysseus has been gone from home for 20 years. The first ten were spent fighting in the Trojan War, and the other ten were spent on the high seas facing endless turmoil and adventures (if you are interested to read any of these, go to Story #9). Thanks to Poseidon, his journey has been delayed to say the least.  He ends up on the island of the Phaeacian's whose kind king and queen have promised him safe passage to his home Ithaca. While Odysseus tells the king and queen of his wanderings, all is not well at home in Ithaca. All hope of Odysseus returning home has all but completely vanished. Odysseus' wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, are the only two who keep this hope alive. Penelope is bombarded by hundreds of male suitors who want nothing more than to sit beside her and share the throne of Ithaca. She does anything and everything she can to keep them at bay, trying to stall because she still believed her beloved husband would return. Now Penelope was no fool. In fact she had quite the trick that she employed to keep the suitors at a safe distance. She promised the suitors that when she finished weaving a shroud (for her father-in-law's eventual death), that she would choose a husband. For three years she would weave by day and at night she would sneak in to unravel all that she had done. This actually deceived the suitors, until one of her servants betrayed her and informed the suitors what she had been doing.
    Not only was Penelope under an incredible amount of stress and anxiety thanks to the suitors but her son, Telemachus, was also under quite a bit of stress. Telemachus was the man of the house and heir to the throne, but he was also pushed around by the hundreds of suitors. They would eat and drink all that they pleased (since hospitality was a so highly regarded they could not force them to leave). Telemachus got the pleasure of watching these low-lifes have their way with his mother, eat and drink his own food, and long for his father whom he had never truly met since he was only one when his father left for Troy. Telemachus sets out to find his father.

    As promised, King Alcinious of the Phaeacian's provides safe passage back to Ithaca for Odysseus. This angers Poseidon, who apparently just didn't get enough of torturing Odysseus for 10 years, enough to complain to Zeus that the Phaeacian's should be punished for their generosity. Zeus reluctantly agrees, but the punishment stands and a mountain is placed around the port of the Phaeacian's. (Alcinious would eventually sacrifice to try and appease Poseidon, which works, and all is well in the land of the Phaeacian's).

    Finally Odysseus sets foot on his homeland of Ithaca, but all is far from over for Odysseus. Before the king can return to his throne, Athena stops him and briefs him about what has been going on in his absence (i.e. the suitors). Athena disguises Odysseus as an old beggar so that he may gain information safely without being noticed. He meets his loyal swineherd Eumaeus, who doesn't realize he is talking to his king. Eumaeus praises his former king and it is apparent that he still believes his master is alive. Word arrives that Telemachus has returned to Ithaca safely but that he could not find his father. Eumaeus leaves to inform the queen that her son has returned home safely, and Athena appears to Telemachus and tell him to go to the pig farm immediately upon his arrival. She again alters Odysseus' appearance by taking off the disguise of the beggar and returns him to his former self so that he may finally reveal himself to his son. (Now you must realize the drama of this scene. Telemachus has truly never met his father, because Odysseus has been gone since Telemachus was one year old. Telemachus has felt lost his entire life, without his father, and Odysseus has as well. This is the point when the two actually meet and put all those painful years to rest.) Telemachus enters the pig farm and begins a dialogue with the old beggar sitting there. The old beggar asks him about what has been happening, (all to test his loyalty) and after Odysseus realizes it is his beloved son after all, Athena removes the disguise and the two embrace at last (Picture below).

    After father and son got reacquainted, it was back to the pressing matter at hand. Yep, you guessed it those darn suitors! The two began to form a plan that would bring down these suitors, allow Odysseus to reappear to all including Penelope and regain the throne that was rightfully his. Quite a daunting task. Telemachus informed his father that there were over 108 suitors, each with servant so that meant they would have to dispatch of over 200 men. Odysseus tells his son that even though this seems impossible, they have Athena and Zeus on their side (which was true and if there was anyone that you want on your side it was these two!!). They decide that Telemachus should return to town and mix in with the suitors, Odysseus, in disguise, will follow behind him. Odysseus knows that he will be treated very badly by the suitors, being dressed as a beggar, and no matter what the suitors say or do they must not strike back until the time is right. On Odysseus' signal, Telemachus is to gather all of the suitors weapons and place them in a storage shed, and if he is asked why he is doing this he is to say he is doing it to protect the gear. He is to only leave out weapons for himself and Odysseus. Little do they know, but at the same time the suitors are devising a plan to assassinate Telemachus. Antinious, the most aggressive of the suitors, devises a plan to kill him and seize the throne and divide the lands among the suitors. Only one suitor steps forth to voice any opposition, Amphinomus, the suitors all agree that this would be too rash to kill the prince.

    Telemachus and Odysseus arrive at the castle gate. Telemachus goes forth to greet his mother, while Odysseus accompanied by the swineherd Eumaeus and dressed as the beggar enter as well. They enter the banquet hall, and immediately Odysseus is bullied by the suitors. In fact Antinious, (yes the same one that plotted to kill Telemachus) throws a stool at Odysseus, and strikes him against the head, but father and son refrain from exacting their revenge. (There is a little bit of humor here that some may not realize. Picture an old beggar who can barely walk. Then imagine a young, strong man throw a freaking stool at his head, and the old man not only doesn't fall down but keeps walking!! Something should have clued these suitors in, but they don't really strike me as the brightest guys, so this too goes right over their heads.) Penelope requests that the beggar meet with her in private, but Odysseus says that he will do it later.

    Later on that evening, the beggar makes his way to meet the queen. Athena makes her look even more beautiful than ever. Odysseus and her have a lengthy discussion in which, the beggar/Odysseus informs the queen that he knew her husband quite well. Penelope is very suspicious, but bids the stranger good night. She orders her servant Euryclia, (who was also the king's personal servant) to bathe the guest. Eurycia notices that the stranger's body remarkably resembles her former master's. All doubt is put aside when she notices a distinguishing scar upon the stranger's knee, (which the king suffered from a boar's tusk at an early age) and realizes that she is bathing the king indeed. Odysseus makes her swear that she will not reveal his presence to Penelope. Odysseus also instructs Telemachus that the time has come to hide the suitors' weapons. Odysseus then rejoins Penelope, where she informs him that the following day she will conduct a contest to ultimately select a husband and satisfy the suitors. The contest will be the successful completion of a feat that only the great Odysseus was able to accomplish. The man must string Odysseus' great bow, and shoot an arrow through a straight row of twelve axes. Odysseus very enthusiastically approves of her plan. Before he drifts off to sleep, Odysseus prays to Zeus and Athena to give him strength and to help him succeed in battle.

    The next day is a day of feasting because it is the feast day of Apollo, the god of archery, (how fitting!). The suitors continue their obnoxious behavior and continue to eat and drink as they please, as well as continuing to taunt the beggar/Odysseus. The suitors are warned one more time, this time by Theocylmeneous, that if they continue to their behavior they will be very sorry for it. Again the suitors laugh and continue to enjoy themselves at other's expense.

    Penelope enters the room and tells everyone of the contest. She reveals the great bow of Odysseus, and at once the suitors try with all their might to string the great bow, but none can even come close. While they struggle, Odysseus takes his faithful servants Eumeaus and Philoetius and informs them of his true identity and his plan for the suitors. They are shocked that their master has returned and enthusiastically agree to help. Odysseus re-enters the room and as the suitors are still trying to string the bow he asks if he may have a try. The suitors laugh, but agree. Odysseus walks up to the bow, strings it with ease and sends an arrow straight through the twelve axes. The suitors are shocked and know immediately that the beggar is not who he appears to be. Telemachus joins his father and prepares to face the suitors.
 
    Odysseus strings his bow and sends his first arrow straight at the leader of the suitors, Antinious, right through his throat. The doors are then locked and the great battle is on. One of the suitors attempts to go to the storeroom to retrieve the suitors' armor, but is stopped by Eumaeus and Philoetius. One by one, Odysseus picks of the suitors, with Telemachus' help. After a quick battle the suitors are all dispatched, and Odysseus is victorious.

    Word reaches Penelope that her husband has finally returned, but she cannot believe it. She decides to enter the great hall for herself to see if it was true, and she finds Telemachus there with what appears to be her husband. She is shocked to say the least. Odysseus instructs Telemachus to stage a "fake" wedding so that a passerby might not think anything is suspicious. He takes Penelope by the hand and Penelope's concerns' for the stranger's identity is eased. Odysseus reigned for many years after, happily, with his beloved Penelope and son, Telemachus.

    I would have to say that the tale of Odysseus and 'The Odyssey' is probably my favorite of all the heroes that I covered throughout the semester. Odysseus' tale is full of adventure and danger but is also about loyalty, love and devotion. I would have to say that Odysseus is the ultimate hero. He vanquishes a giant, man-eating Cyclops, destroys the city of Troy, and even dispatches hundreds of evil suitors. He shows that through determination and strength of will are two key characteristics for a hero to possess. Odysseus also shows that not only does a hero need physical strength but great mental strength as well. Odysseus is a very admirable character and truly one of the greatest heroes in Greek mythology but one of the greatest heroes in all of literature.

    After retelling the tales of some of the greatest heroes in all of Greek mythology I feel I am now qualified to answer this question that I posed at the beginning of the semester. One thing that I realized that each "hero" brings something different to the table. Heracles is known for his brute, physical strength, while Odysseus, is known for his resourcefullness, and cunning. The more of these stories that I read the more I realized that heroes come in many shapes and forms. There is no clear cut formula that defines what makes a hero. In fact after reading and retelling some of these tales I realized that some of these celebrated heroes weren't very heroic at all.
    Jason is the first "hero" that I decided wasn't very heroic. He obtains the Golden Fleece completely through the help of others, and really only follows the directions of others. He shows a very weak moral character, in that he dumps the one person truly responsible for his success and that was Medea. He shows that despite his strength and heroic accomplishments, his weak moral character doesn't make him admirable and heroic at all.
    Achilles is another one that I decided wasn't heroic at all. He also exhibits a very weak moral character and shows how truly selfish and greedy that he is. He is almost up to one point cowardly. He is not an honorable character at all especially after what he does by disgracing the body of Hektor. He is not worthy of the title of "hero".
    Other than those two every other tale that I covered, the main character did truly exhibit heroic qualities. Heracles, Perseus, Theseus, Odysseus and Hektor all are ture heroes. All of these characters show that not only does physical strength and great accomplishments make a hero, but also strong moral character and an inner strength are what makes true heroes. To do what is right and to not be afraid in the process is what is truly heroic.
Unselfish acts such as:
-Hektor sacrificing his life and facing certain death to try and save Troy
-Perseus stopping to save Andromeda and risking his life for her
-Theseus unselfishly ridding the rodes to Athens of terrible villians
-Odysseus staying devoted to his wife and son and doing everything he can to return home safe to them
-Heracles sacrificing his life as well to complete the 12 Labors and make his life whole again as well as help others
    If this is how we choose to view a hero: unselfish, strong moral character, courageous, strong (inside and out), and kind, then all of these characters that I mentioned above with the exclusion of Jason & Achilles are truly heroes.