Gods and Goddesses: Friend or Foe?

          My struggle to get back is tough not only because the challenges I face are tough, but some of the gods are really mean to me. Poseidon has always been a buzz kill and always sends a giant storm or some other kind of disaster to my ship right when I see any kind of land. When I saw the outline of the Phaecieans’ land, the sky turned really black, I heard and saw some thunderbolts in the area, and mini-whirlpools started forming around my ship. More and more clouds came until I thought I could reach out and touch them. The worst wasn’t over. A huge wave came crashing down on my ship, and the wind snapped my mast. My ship went undersea, and I thought this was the end for me. I swam, clung onto a few pieces of my ship, and came across a nymph who gave me a special rag that made me immortal for a few minutes, so I barely managed to swim and float to the shore. She said that as soon as I surface, though, I should throw it away and turn away from it. I’m kind of curious what happened with the rag. Other than that, Calypso has also caused me grief. She just did not get that I have a home, I have a wife, and that I want to see these two things before I die. I mean, I guess it be a little wrong for me to complain, especially when she gave me food, shared her bed and took pretty good care of me, but she can’t forget that I also had a life back home, where I belong. But, she finally agreed to let me go, for some strange reason. I thought I did see Hermes floating up in the sky for a few seconds, but I was both tired and crying, so I don’t really know if that was him. Another goddess who gave me a pretty big scare is Circe. She seemed really nice according to what my men said, but Eurylochus, one of my more lazier and less courageous men came running back, panting trying to explain to us what awful thing happened to my men. When he caught his breath, he said that none of the men ever came out, and he heard squealing noises inside Circe’s palace. I went to go investigate but, a god helped me. Hermes explained that Circe turned my men into pigs with a magic potion. Maybe it was Hermes that I saw while I was on Ogygia, Calypso’s island; he is definitely one of the more helpful gods. He gave me a plant to eat so that the potion would not get to me. Sure enough, when I went to Circe’s palace, I heard some squealing noise. I barged inside and negotiated with the goddess, and she let us stay in her palace for a year. I guess this is her apology to us. Anyway, I hope that the gods, especially Poseidon, forgives me someday. After all, his son is the one who wanted to eat me and rip my men and half.

Somebody loves me!!

Today, I woke up in the arms of the cunning Calypso. This is the last day I will be  stuck on the island with her. I only have one source of joy in my life right now. The joy came earlier when I heard a wonderful song about my life here on Calypso’s Island. This blog must really be working if people know of my torment here on this dreaded island. The name of the song was “Trouble in Paradise”. I heard the song on 104.1. I could only hear it because Calypso was out in the fields with her maidens catching fish. Calypso doesn’t enjoy when I listen to music. Thanks to the gods that she is allowing me to leave today. The producers of the song were group of young female artists name, Lauren, Nora, and Rebekah. Oh how lovely that song is. I suggest anyone with the capability to listen to the song should surely hear it. The producers are from Athens. They must be goddesses, friends of Athena, if they could produce such a wonderful master piece. It talks about how I am a war hero and have been through so much pain. I wonder how they knew that; it is so true. It also speaks on how in – love Calypso is with me. I would like someone who hears the song in Ithaca to send it to my gorgeous Penelope.

There’ another song that played on 106.5 FM earlier, it was made by a group of young ladies, Sara and Elise. The name of the song is “Dear old Calypso”. I really don’t see why anyone would want to remember Calypso. She has done so much harm to my spirit by not letting me go to my rightful birthplace, Ithaca. I heard that both of the songs were made by a group of Ithacan men who wanted to secretly tell my story, without receiving criticism from people in the city. When I return, I will poor wine for those men who risked dishonor to tell my dreadful story. It brings happiness to know that my people in Ithaca still remember me. The radio station should offer money for anyone who has the capability to make beautiful music like the songs I heard. I really believe who ever made those songs have good souls that the gods should bless their families.

This is so cool! This has to be one of my best days on this dreadful island! The radio station, 104.1, just announced that there’s a third song written about me. They also said that the songs are coming from a Humanities class that devotes all of their time studying of my journey. I am very elated that pair of artists Ryuji and Brandon wrote it themselves. The name of the song is, “My Life Sucks”. That song speaks to my present state so well. My life is really terrible being on this island with the evil Calypso. I miss my home very much. I have to go noe because Calypso is coming into the house.

Hospitality

Hello World,

            I have been reflecting on that fact that despite all of my suffering, I have met some people who were very hospitable when I entered there home as an unusual stranger from the sea. The hospitality I have received on my voyage shows that there are good people in the world besides those evil Trojans. This moral value hospitality should be acquired by all people. I have received so much hospitality recently on my journey back to Ithaca. The hospitality of Calypso deserves acknowledgment, even though at the time I didn’t want it. Oh how Calypso and her young nymphs would bathe me in fresh water and rub me down with oils. In my own homeland I didn’t receive such pleasures as fresh water to bathe in every evening. If anything gave me joy from staying on that island with Calypso was the amount of hospitality I got from her. She treated me like her cave was mine. I had no limit to my ability to make ones self at home. The hospitality in way pacified my amount of internal suffering from not being at home with my family. I have also witnessed Calypso being hospitable to others in her home. One day while I was out I noticed that the god Hermes had come to visit her home. (I am not really sure of the reason why he came.) But I saw Calypso pull up a chair beside hers and immediately begin to mix a sweet wine, the best of them all, for Hermes to drink delightedly. In a world with so much sorrow we need to see some form of kindness. I think this kindness can bestowed on others through hospitality.

            I am currently residing in the halls of King Alcinous of Phaeacia. From the moment I first met the wonderful and very beautiful princess Nausicaa, she was nothing but kind beyond comparison. She didn’t know who I was or where I had come from, and yet she allowed me to dress in her families clothes and follow her into the city. She allowed me to feel like I was back in my own splendid city of Ithaca. Nausicaa gave me a bathe, food, and drink to nourish my spirit from the troubles I have endured. I say making someone feel comfortable in your own home as if it was theirs is the fundamental idea for hospitality. It’s a dishonor for someone to turn a stranger away when they come to your home for help or just for a short stay. When I finally reached the palace the king, queen, and lords all treated me with consideration for my state of turmoil. I shall never in my life forget this wonderful family. I instantly was treated like a member of the court and not a stranger from some far off land. King Alcinous moved his won son from the table so I could have somewhere to sit. If that isn’t hospitality, I surely cannot tell you what must be. They gave me food and drink until I was rid of my hunger. I have been in this house a couple of days now. I am enjoying myself but I still yearn for my home. If anyone can tell Penelope I am ok, it would be greatly appreciated.

Deception and Disguise: Keys to Survival

          My journey of trying to get back to Ithaca is tough. It calls for perseverance, courage, physical and mental strength, and wits. Wits are probably the most important. Nobody who’s not smart could go through what I’m going through right now. I think that a way to maybe keep on surviving is to disguise myself and act cunningly. After all, my cunningness saved me from the Cyclops; I gave him some wine, and he drank it until he was pretty drunk. Then, I told him that my name was ‘nobody’ before I shoved that burning stake into his eye. It was pretty funny when the Cyclops screamed, “Nobody blinded me, or nobody hurt me!” Because of my cunningness, all the other Cyclopes thought the other Cyclops was crazy and probably had too much to drink, which he did. I made fun of him while we rowed away from the island on which he lived. I told him that we completely won and dominated him. For a second I was laughing, but a huge boulder landed a few feet away from my ship. That monster can throw. After a while, I told him it was me, that Odysseus that blinded him, but he threw a giant chunk of a cliff toward my ship. My friends and shipmates on the ship were pleading with me to stop, so I decided to, so they wouldn’t get too angry with me. The point is, telling the Cyclops that my name was ‘nobody’ is the reason why other Cyclops didn’t gang up on us and tear us up. If I want to keep on surviving, I think disguising myself and being deceptive is the key for survival. I sometimes deceive others not necessarily to bring harm to them. For example, when I washed up on the Phaeciean’s land, I saw a girl washing clothes and playing with her friends after I woke up from the previous night, where I’d just managed to get out of a giant storm. The girl was kind enough to hand me some clothes and give me some food. I asked her if I could go back with her to the palace, but we decided that it was best for me to take disguise, hide in the gardens for a while, and go to the palace without the girl so nobody would think I was on a date with her, especially when so many men were trying to marry her. So, I went with our plan, and weirdly enough, a strange fog kind of followed me everywhere I went. I guess this helped me, since not too many people could have spotted me. Eventually, I came across a girl who guided me to the palace. The point here is that, if I walked with the princess, many of the men who were trying to marry her would be mad at me, since I, not giving any effort towards the princess, would have looked like I was going on a date with her. In short, I think it’s safe to say that deception and disguise can be used for my safety and also my companions’ safety.

My Heartache and I

Hello, my name Odysseus, the great king of Ithaca. I was sent from my homeland, Ithaca, to fight in the great Trojan War. My son and wife, Telemachus and Penelope, have been left to survive on their own in my palace. The reason why I am not at home from the first place is because I had to go overseas to Troy to fight in the Trojan war. The war started when the beautiful wife of Menelaus, Helen, was kidnapped from her home in Sparta. All the men were recruited and had to leave their homes to save her including myself, and I lost many of my men, some who where known for their legendary fighting capability, while fighting in Troy. Thanks to the great god Zeus and the Trojan horse, we won that great battle. I was very cunning in that battle, I must say. It was my idea to hide with my men in a wooden horse, which had been wheeled into Troy. We got out of the horse, when nobody was suspicious and defeated the Trojans. But not all of the gods, like Zeus, are friendly. Poseidon continues to torment my men and my crew with massive waves and storms. He is angry at me not without a reason; I blinded his son in defense of my life. My men had been washed up on an island near Cythera, and we decided to investigate a nearby cave. We discovered many foods and sheep; however, a one-eyed giant, the Cyclops, eventually found us, trapped us in his lair, and ate a handful of my men. With my life in danger, we got the giant drunk with wine, shoved a burning stake in his eye and ran away to our ships. Ever since this incident, Poseidon has sworn revenge on me. I believe that I may not return home to see my family and kinsmen because of his misgivings. Recently, all I can think of is my family and my wonderful palace. Although goddesses caress me and care for me, tears stream down my face.  The lovely nymph, Calpso, is holding me hostage in her cave. I shall not lie, her comforts are keeping me very pacified, but I value my family and home even more. I am both a hero and a coward; I have won the battle against the Trojans and have endured Poseidon’s forces, but tears stream down my face whenever I think of my home and family. I cannot endure the pain that has been given to me. However, the tide may have turned; today Calypso has agreed to release me from her island. She has even given me the finest foods and wines. At first, I was very mad; I was suspecting that she had a new plot to bring further misery to me, as she released me without any hesitation. However, she swore on I am writing this blog to inform everyone at home about my journey back to Ithaca. I am not sure if I will return.