I bet you know the feeling of having to wait forever for the night bus, only to then board the wrong train and ending up on the wrong side of the city. It’s when a simple journey home transforms into an odyssey. However, that’s nothing compared to the original story – the true odyssey of Ulysses.
Ulysses was the king of Ithaca and played his part in the siege of Troy. But when he offended Poseidon, god of the sea, his journey home turned into a real odyssey. It took him 10 years to travel home: eleven of his twelve ships sank, and all of his men were either eaten alive, drowned or turned into pigs.
The adventures themselves weren’t too bad either. He blinded a dangerous Cyclops, deceived a witch, battled sea monsters and explored the whole of the Mediterranean. Finally, when he arrived home, old and incredibly exhausted, he found his wife surrounded by men. Believe me, you don’t want to mess with a man who has endured such pain and tragedy. He killed every single last one of the wretches who dared to lay eyes on his woman, but not before he showed them who the rightful king was. As for his wife, she had never stopped loving him. Everything went back to the way it had been. Boy, I sure do love me a happy ending!
Whether or not this actually happened is entirely up to you to decide. Maybe this was purely fiction on Homer’s part. Who knows?
