After the Trojan War, Odysseus refused to thank Poseidon, proclaiming that he, not the gods, had won the war. This blasphemy was not taken lightly by Poseidon. So Poseidon made sure that Odysseus was blown off course. They came upon an island where Odysseus sent some of his men. Odysseus found that the natives offered them lotuses, for the people were the Lotus-Eaters, and they found that it made any traveler forget of home. So Odysseus and his men forced the men who ate the lotuses back on the ship and they sailed on. They came upon Siciliy ( though they did not know where they were) and took refuge in a cave. There they found food, but soon a Cyclop named Polyphemus came in and sealed teh entrance with a giant boulder. He fed upon two of Odysseus' men, and demanded to know what they were doing. Odysseus came up with a clever plan, and he gave the Cyclop wine until he was drugged. While drugged, Polyphemus asked Odysseus what was his name, and Odysseus replied "Nobody". Polyphemus laughed and proclaimed that for the wine, Polyphemus would eat him last, and then feasted on two more men. As he fell asleep, Odysseus and his men took an olive branch and carved it. They burned the tip and shoved it into the single eye of Odysseus. As Polyphemus awoke in agonizing pain, he opened the gate by moving the giant boulder and yelled out to his brothers. They asked him what was the matter, but he replied " Nobody has wounded me". So the Cyclopes left him, and Polyphemus felt the backs of his sheep, checking to see of Odysseus and his men were riding on them. Indeed they were, but they were riding on the bottoms of them. As Odysseus and his men boarded their ship, Odysseus yelled out to Polyphemus that his true name was Odysseus. Polyphemus in vain threw boulders, and eventually yelled to his father, Poseidon, that Odysseus had wounded him, and this spurned Poseidon's hatred further. Odysseus visited a hostile village and then came upon the land of Aelous, King of Winds, who gave willingly a bag of winds. The bag of winds carried Odysseus and his men almost to Ithaca, but while he slept, Odysseus' men opened the bag and released the bad winds, and thus the ship was blown off course again. This tine, Aelous was not helpful and refused to give the winds again. Odysseus eventually came upon the island of the goddess/sorceress Circe. Odysseus sent some of his men out to find what there was on the island. Only one came back and told Odysseus that the others went into the palace of a sorceress who fed them, but then turned them into pigs. Odysseus himself went to investigate, and on his way to Circe, Hermes came and gave him the herb Moly, which he instructed him to eat, for it kept him safe from the magic of Circe. Odysseus came to Circe, and she tried to seduce him and whispered the magic, but he managed to overcome it, and he pulled out his sword. Circe was impressed and infatuated with Odysseus, and she requested that Odysseus stay with her in her bed for one year, and she would let him go and turn his friends back into humans. When he agreed, the men transformed back into normal. They stayed for a year and Circe instructed Odysseus to go to the Underworld and offer a ram, and consult the dead seer, Tireseas and ask what to do. Odysseus did so and consulted him. Tireseas gave him advice on his journey, including not to eat the sacred cattle of Hyperion, and Odysseus consulted some of his dead fellows, including his mother. When Odysseus returned to Circe, she instructed him that when he comes upon the monster Scylla and Charybdis, that he was not to fight Scylla, and to avoid Charybdis, or risk losing all of his men rather then a few. Odysseus followed her instructions and lost six men to Scylla, each for her six barking heads that surrounded her torso. They eventually came to an island where the sacred cattle of Hyperion roamed. Odysseus wanred them not to touch the cattle, despite their hunger. But eventually they disobeyed, and one night they were shipwrecked, and Odysseus alone survived. He drifted to the island of Calypso, goddess of silence, who kept Odysseus for many years till Zeus sent Hermes requesting she let him go, or Zeus would sink her island. Odysseus built a raft and sailed for home, but he was shipwrecked, but the goddess Ino gave him a smecial raft belt, and he was carried off to Phoenicia, where he told his tale. He left there riding on a ship to Ithaca. There, he was visited by Athena, incognito, till she revealed herself and they plotted how he would return. He visited his faithful swineheard Eumaeus, and there he was disguised as an old man, till his son Telemachus arrived and Odysseus revealed himself to him. Odysseus and Telemachus went into the palace, and the next day they had a competition for the suitors, whoever could string the bow of Odysseus and shot it through a row of axes perfectely would be Penelope's bride. Odysseus disguised went last after all the suitors failed and strung the bow with ease, then he shot through the axes. After that, he revealed himself as King Odysseus, and shot each and every one of the Suitors with Telemachus. Odysseus convinced his wife Penelope that it was him by describing their bed. The relatives of the suitors returned to fight with Odysseus, but they eventually regained peace.

When the Trojan War came about, Odysseus left Telemachus as an infant and Penelope had to alone take care of him. But in his absence, suitors began coming to the palace of Odysseus requesting Penelope to marry. Penelope refused constantly. In the meanwhile, Athena watched Telemachus and took favor. She convinced him to speak up to the suitors, though in vain, and in the form of the man Mentor, convinced him to visit King Menelaus and King Nestor to hear of his father. As he was gone, the suitors were more determined. Penelope created a ruse by saying that she would pick a suitor to marry once she had finished making a shroud for her deceased husband. But every night she would undo the work, until she was enventually discovered. The suitors grew more and more impatient. Telemachus heard nothing of his father, but he grew more mature and willing to stand up to the suitors, and on his way back at the bidding of Athena, he took a different route, for the suitors had planned an ambush. When Telemachus went to Eumaeus, there he met his father, Odysseus, in disguise, and he revealed himself. Telemachus took Odysseus to the palace to see what the suitors had done. The next day Penelope made a contest where whoever strung the bow of Odysseus and shot an arrow through axes in a row would marry Penelope. Odysseus, disguised as an old man, easily did this and revealed himself as the deceased king. He and Telemachus fought the suitors, and Telemachus managed to fight back the relatives of the suitors.