Is it really Odysseus?

Penelope is completely shocked that her long lost  husband is back, really and truly back. She is unable to speak or move because of how utterly amazed that her loving Odysseus is back home in Ithaca after all these years. Telemachus begins to shout at his mother. ' Father has traveled all this way back home and you don't even say a single word to him!'  Telemachus is furious at Penelope for being this way to his father. Penelope wants proof that his is actually her husband. She then tells a maid to move her bed out into the hall way so that Odysseus may have a place to sleep for the night. Now, when the bed had been constructed, one of the posts was a live tree that went through the floor and roof, making Penelope's bed impossible of movement. When Odysseus said that the bed was incapable of movement Penelope knew that this was her dearly beloved husband she had missed so. and just as Odysseus and Telemachus had re-united, Odysseus and Penelope shared a tearful and emotion reunion. The End!

I must kill them!

Antinous unties the losing suitors against the winning Odysseus. Odysseus knows that in order to marry Penelope, return to living the palace and keeping his kingdom, he must, kill all the suitors. Every single one of them. Philoetius, the cow herd, and Eumaeus, the swine herd, inform Odysseus that even though he has been gone for many many years, they still like him much more than the evil suitors, and agree to help him battle the suitors.  Together, Telemachus, Odysseus, Eumaeus and Philoetius must kill all the suitors. And there are more than four of them.  First Odysseus knows the men won't be as brave with out their leader. Antinous shall be the first to die. Antinous doesn't believe Odysseus is capable of killing him. Antinous grabs a glass and begins to drink, as he drinks his head tilts back. Then Odysseus grabs his bow and shoots Antinous, right in the throat! Now that he is dead, Telemachus, Eumaeus, Philoetius and Odysseus make quick work of offing the other suitors.  Previously, in private, Odysseus had told his son, the swine and cow herds to make sure all the women were in their rooms, and now matter what they hear, not to come out and to remove all of the other men's weapons from the room. Leaving only Odysseus with any weapons.  The bodies and warm blood hit the cool marble floors, causing steam to rise. And with that Athena turns Odysseus back to himself.  But what will Penelope think?

The test!

To determine which suitor she is to marry, Penelope has created a challenging test.  Each of the many eager suitors must string Odysseus' greatly oversized bow. Then they are required to shoot the stringed bow through one dozen iron ax handles with out touching any of the handles. Only Odysseus is capable of either of these challenging feats.  The first man steps up and can barely move the bow enough to even attempt stringing it, let alone shoot it through one dozen ax handles! Many more men attempt to finish Penelope's test, but all fail.  Odysseus than asks if he may be worthy of trying to complete the challenge.  Penelope approves, meaning, she thinks this beggar is worthy of being marred to her.  Odysseus sits down with his bow, effortlessly strings it, and all while still seated, expertly shoots the bow through all one dozen iron ax handles. Perfectly.

Visting with Penelope

The beggar travels to the palace so he may inform Penelope about what he has heard regarding the whereabouts of her long lost and greatly missed husband, Odysseus.  During the delightfully tasty meal, the suitors are very rude, poking fun at the beggar. After the meal, Penelope invites the beggar to her rooms.  There Penelope, not the most secretive of women, lets it slip that she has decided to move on from Odysseus and marry one of the many suitors, clamoring to marry her.  Penelope has designed a test to determine which of the men she is to marry.  Odysseus can not believe what he has just been told. Now he knows he must take the test, because only he is worthy of marring the beautiful Penelope.

Telemachus returns! ( to Ithaca)

Odysseus' son, Telemachus, had left home to see if he could find any word on his father.  Telemachus was only a small boy when his father had left.  On Telemachus' way into Ithaca, he visits Eumaeus', a swineherd, hut.  Eumaeus informs Telemachus that his mother is still being pestered by the many suitors who wish to marry her now that Odysseus is gone.  Athena has cleverly disguised the strong and brave Odysseus as a poor, lonely beggar.  The ' beggar' is also visiting the swineherd's hovel.  This means Telemachus will not recognize his father.  The three men share a meal together.  Eumaeus then goes to inform Penelope about her son's arrival back home.  While Eumaeus is gone, Athena appears and changes Odysseus back into his handsome self.  Telemachus does not believe his eyes and assumes it is just a cheap trick.  But Odysseus is able to convince his son of his true identity and together they have an emotional reunion.

Don't touch! (the cattle)

Upon arrival at the island of the Sun god, Helios, and his cattle, Odysseus warns all men 'Do NOT touch these cattle!' For Teiresias has warned Odysseus, touching the cattle will make the sun god very angry. Terrible, violent storms last for about a month, leaving the men with no food or clean drinking water.  Odysseus has gone farther inland to pray.  While Odysseus is away, a sailor Eurylochus convinces the other men that eating just one cow, can't cause any harm. And it is much better than starving to death.  Well, then Odysseus wakes up to discover his men have been feasting on some cattle! Odysseus is quite angry and 'yells' at the god, for allowing him to snooze while his men ate the cattle. Accordining to Teiresias, terrible, awful things will now occur.  Lampetia, Helios' faithful daughter, and guard of his cattle, informs her father of what Odysseus' men have done.

Singing, Eating, and Whirlpools (aka: Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis)

After returning to Circe, she informs him of how to avoid the dangers approaching him and his men.  To escape the Sirens' beautiful voices, Odysseus must plug his men’s ears with wax, softened by being held in his hands, so they are not to hear the Sirens magical singing, for if they do, they will stop the rowing and all the men will die.  After plugging their ears, the men must tie Odysseus to the ship’s mast, so he may hear the Sirens but not be stuck listening their voices forever. Next, Circe informs them that when they pass by Scylla- they will lose 6 men, but Charybdis, the deadly whirlpool, will take the whole boat! So according to Circe, it would be in the men's best interest to stay closer to the shore of Scylla than Charybdis, because it is always better to lose 6 than the entire ship.