| It is around 1200BC by our reckoning, and on the Greek island of Ithaca the Lady Penelope and her almost grown-up son, Telemachus, have increasing fears. The Trojan War took ten years, and the Greeks won. But ten years later the cunning Odysseus, greatest of the war-heroes, has still not returned home to his lands and his place in society. He is missing presumed dead, and a hundred rich suitors are now encamped in his palace, eating them out of house and home, all the time hoping for the hand of the rich and beautiful Penelope in marriage. Odysseus has had more adventures on the long journey home than he did during the war (told in 'The Iliad'). Telemachus decides to take ship himself to find his father, or confirm him dead.
We pick up his voyage of adventure when he is almost home, just as a sea storm is tragically released by his own men, who open a magical sack he holds onboard which contains the four winds and is enabling them to sail easily and safely west. Most of the rest of the story is artfully told in flashback by Odysseus as he narrates to his hosts how he was shipwrecked, and eventually loses all his men on the second weary voyage home. For three years on the high seas he and his men encounter and mostly survive The Lotus Eaters, the giant Cyclops, Circe the enchantress, the Underworld, the Sirens, and the twin monsters Scylla and Charybdis. Seven he spends trapped on the island of the amorous nymph Calypso until he is released. Eventually Odysseus returns to Ithaca all alone, in disguise as a filthy beggar and unsure if he will find his home intact or his friends and household faithful. He meets his own son, who has inherited his father's strength and spirit, but lacks experience. Now he too has returned and is spoiling for a fight with the arrogant suitors in the family homestead. Together they plot revenge on the greedy nobles and hope to restore the family fortune. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book? - very sensitive (sigh) Time/era of story - ancient Greece Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Exploring into the wild Yes kind of story - water adventure Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 40's-50's Ethnicity/Nationality Main Adversary Identity: - natural phenomena Has magical powers? Yes Magical/mental powers How sensitive is this character? Intelligence - Genius Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 10 () Europe Yes European country: - Greece Water? Yes Water: - warship - drowning - sail boat - lost at sea Misc setting Writing Style Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog |
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