The Odyessy

Episode 8: Odysseus has been living out peaceful days with Calypso for 7 years. But waves of nostalgia wash over him, and the memories of his wife, his son and his island never cease to torment him. Hermes, sent by Zeus, under pressure from Athena, comes to ask Calypso to let the king of Ithaca leave. But Poseidon, still obsessed with revenge, destroys his boat and Odysseus finds himself alone on the shore of an unknown island, once again. Meanwhile, Telemachus, who left for Sparta to meet Menelaus, returns to Ithaca. He tells his mother that Odysseus is alive and leaves, getting out of the Suitors’ reach – as they are trying to set him up. Odysseus, for his part, meets the Princess Nausicaa who leads him to her parents. At a banquet, he tells the story of his never-ending journey that moves the Phaeacians. They promise to take him to Ithaca. But at the end of the crossing, Odysseus does not recognize the island where they shipped him. Once again, he feels cursed by the gods.

Episode 7: Odysseus' fleet tries to avoid Charybdis, the first sea monster ready to swallow them, but Scylla, a horrible multi-headed creature, destroys three of his ships. The last few hours have been grueling, and the sailors want to rest on the island of Helios, which is now in sight. Odysseus has been warned by Tiresias: under no circumstances should they harm the Sun God's cows, or else they will all lose their lives. The sailors promise. But after a few days, awaiting for Odysseus to fall asleep, they slaughter the animals and devour them. Odysseus is at his wit's end, and all flee. Helios demands a penalty from Zeus, who is happy to oblige. After this terrible storm, Odysseus is alone. He is drifting off on flotsam and jetsam, to the island of Calypso, who falls in love with him. She comforts him and looks after him. She even offers him... immortality.

Episode 9: The Suitors, informed by Melantho – one of Penelope's servants – learned that the queen had fooled them. They locked her up in the gynaeceum. Meanwhile, Odysseus meets Athena who tells him that he is indeed in Ithaca. Joy gives way to anger against the one who, according to him, has abandoned him. She however turns him into a beggar so that he will go unnoticed, and advises him to take refuge with Eumaeus, the pig farmer. There, he finds his son Telemachus. The two of them then go to the palace. Odysseus, under his beggar's clothes, is mistreated by the Suitors who are celebrating the king's death. Eurycleia, the palace’s old maid, proposes to wash his feet, and recognizes the scar of her long-lost master. But Odysseus asks her to remain silent...

Episode 10: Penelope is now forced to choose a husband among the Suitors. She offers them a test to decide who among them is the most worthy: with the bow of Odysseus, they must shoot an arrow and pass it through twelve axes. Telemachus, then the Suitors test their mettle without success, before the beggar also offers to try his luck. He succeeds, and reveals his true face: he is Odysseus, the legitimate king of Ithaca. The massacre of the Suitors begins. Later, Telemachus has all the servants who betrayed Penelope hanged. Odysseus then convinces Penelope of his identity. Faced with Athena, he asserts his beliefs: the gods, who have allowed the massacre of Troy, are unjust, and no longer deserve to be worshiped. Zeus then understands that the end of the gods is near. The rest of Odysseus’ life is told by the poets. Some say that he was killed by Telegonus, son of Circe, father unknown. Odysseus, the great hero is also a mere mortal. The thread of his life is cut, as his condition implies.

Episode 6: Curiosity getting the best of him, Odysseus delves into the depths of the Underworld. He meets the souls of the Greek heroes who fought with him in the city of Troy. Agamemnon, first, who tells him about his terrible death. Then the divine Achilles, whose exploits will be sung for a long time to come. But Achilles tells him that he regrets having died in glory, rather than living a peaceful existence. Odysseus, back on his boat, resents the gods for having condemned his brave companions to death. But he soon faces another danger: the Sirens. He covers his men's ears and asks them to tie him securely to the ship's mast, so that he can hear their infamous song. But for the fleet, it is out of the frying pan and into the fire: after the sirens are gone, they are faced with Charybdis and Scylla, two sea monsters ready to swallow them up...

Episode 5: A year has passed. It is time for Odysseus and his men to leave the witch Circe’s island and return to Ithaca. To do so, they must first go to meet the prophet Tiresias in the Underworld. Only he can tell them what to do to appease Poseidon's wrath. So they leave for the land of the Cimmerians where, after having made a sacrifice to attract the soul of Tiresias, they are soon assailed by ghosts. Odysseus speaks with his mother, Anticlea, who died of grief. Then with Tiresias who tells them about the difficulties they will encounter, and how to avoid them. From Olympus, Zeus is enraged to know that once again, Odysseus defies the gods by going to hell, a place forbidden to mortals...

Episode 4: In Ithaca, Queen Penelope endures the presence of Suitors who covet her hand, and the throne of her husband Odysseus – who disappeared more than 10 years ago. She devises a stratagem: she tells them that she will marry one of them when she has finished weaving a burial shroud for old Laertes, Odysseus’ father. Meanwhile, on the sea, Odysseus' men are reeling from the ordeals they have gone through. Once bitten twice shy, they approach the next island with extra caution. Setting out as scouts, some of them meet the witch Circe in her home. But after welcoming and feeding them, she turns them into pigs. Helped by the god Hermes, Odysseus in turn confronts the witch. Beguiled by the warrior she was waiting for, she gives the sailors their appearance back. They all decide to stay for a while on this island that turned out quite welcoming.

Episode 3: Odysseus and his companions are trapped in the Cyclops’ cave. But he is a man with a plan. He carves out a stake and, after having drunk Polyphemus under the table, drives it into his one eye. The men escape thanks to one last trick: they tie themselves up to the sheep's underbellies to get out of the cave right under the Cyclops’ nose. Alas, when he reaches his boat, Odysseus’s anger gets the best of him: he reveals his name to the Cyclops, who calls upon his father, the god Poseidon, to avenge him. Immediately, a storm erupts.The battered fleet has to land on the island of Aeolus, who offers them a wineskin holding all the winds that could prevent them from reaching their destination, Ithaca. But, convinced that it contains a treasure, the sailors seize it. Their greed releases a flurry of winds that push them back to Aeolus’. This time, convinced that a curse weighs on Odysseus, the master of the winds refuses to help him...

Episode 2: 10 years earlier, as the Greek warriors had just razed Troy. Devastated by this “war for nothing” which has caused so many deaths, Odysseus is indignant against the gods, guilty of having let this carnage happen. He wishes for nothing more than to return to his kingdom, the island of Ithaca. During his crew's first stopover at the Cicones’, he stops the fighting, appalled. Further down the road, he meets the Lotus-eaters, who offer him a fruit that can make him forget everything. But Athena intervenes to prevent him from ingesting it. He finally arrives on the Cyclopes’ island, which piques his interest. But curiosity killed the cat: Odysseus and his companions have a deadly encounter with Polyphemus in his cave. The cyclops kills two men before our hero can even dare to move...

A 2020 Arte France - Rosebud Production, History, Animation, Fantasy Documentary series with English narration. Ten years after the sack of Troy by the Greek army, Zeus is alone on Olympus, left alone in his palace by the other gods. His daughter Athena is the only one remaining at his side. She tries to convince her father to help Odysseus, the last Greek fighter who has not yet returned home to Ithaca. Episode 2: There, his wife Penelope is under pressure from her Suitors, who dream of taking Odysseus’ throne. Aided by the goddess Athena, his son Telemachus decides to go to Sparta – the home of King Menelaus. As he got home from Troy several years ago already, he tells Telemachus about the death of his brother, the king of kings Agamemnon. But above all, he tells him of what he learned on his way back: Odysseus is still alive.