قصة الكتاب :
\r\n\r\nThe Odyssey is one of the oldest andmost famous epic poems written in the Eighth Century BC by the great Greekpoet, Homer. The poem was written in 24 books and it is considered a major keyin understanding Greek mythology.\r\n\r\nThe story of the epic is the story ofits hero (protagonist), Odysseus King of Ithaca; the Trojan horse was his idea.After the end of the siege of Troy which lasted for ten years, the warriorsreturned to their houses except Odysseus who was cursed by “Poseidon” who transformedhis return journey into a long and agonizing trip that lasted seven yearsduring which Odysseus’s wife Penelope insisted on waiting her husband’s returnand refused to marry any of the many suitors who wanted her.\r\n\r\nOdysseus’s journey took him to Greece’smost known islands, from Ogygia, to Corfu, to the lōtophagoi, and fromCumae to Circe, to the Strait of Messina and the Aeolian Islands, toCapri, then to Sicily and back again to Ithaca. In each island, Odysseus facedmany horrors made by the gods, but he also saw many forms of compassion fromthe other gods.\r\n\r\nBut the “Odyssey” epic does not beginby talking about Odysseus, but about his son Telemachus from his wife Penelope.Telemachus is the center of the novel in the first four books of the epic. Hetravels those lands protected by the Goddess “Athena” in search of his fatherwhom he has not seen for twenty years, that is from the day on which the Trojanwar started.\r\n\r\nIt is useful to briefly mention thethings that Odysseus encountered in each island he visited. In the first visit,Ogygia, Odysseus was held captive by the nymph “Calypso” for seven yearsuntil “Zeus” sent his son “Hermes” to release him.\r\n\r\nOn the island of lōtophagoi theinhabitants of the island offered Odysseus their magical lotus flower. He whoeats from this flower forgets everything and falls in love with the island.However, Odysseus succeeded in avoiding this trap and left the island just tofall in the hands of Polyphemus, son of Poseidon, who was a Cyclops.Odysseus succeeds in blinding the Cyclops’s eye which made “Poseidon” evenangrier on him. After a lot of effort, Odysseus made it to the Island of Circewhere the witch-goddess Circe lives. Circe transformed Odysseus’s men into pigs and forcedOdysseus to become her lover. But “Hermes”, son of “Zeus”, saved Odysseus usinga special herb that makes him resist Circe’s magic. From there he went to theStrait of Messina where he faced the sea snake “Scylla” who had six heads andfeeds on sailors of the sea. Odysseus also faced “Charybdis” a monster thatswallows a huge amount of water, before belching it back out again, creatinglarge whirlpools capable of dragging ships underwater and drown sailors.\r\n\r\nIn the Aeolian Islands Odysseus’ssailors open up a bag a bag in which “Zeus” had bound fast the winds. However, the sailors loosened it and unwittingly let the winds go freeand drown the ships. Odysseus then reaches to the island of Capri where hemeets the nymphs who lure sailors to throwing themselves into the sea. Odysseusblocked the sailors’ ears with wax so that they can’t hear the bewitching songand tied himself to the mast until he safely reached the island of Sicily, orthe Island of the Sun, where he found “Apollo’s” sheep pasture. The sailors atefrom the meat of these sheep which made “Apollo” angry so much so that hedestroyed their ships. From Sicily Odysseus travelled back to Ithaca where hemet his wife Penelope who was working on weaving an endless wedding dress.Odysseus killed all the noble men who harassed his wife during a dinner towhich they were invited by him.