Homeward Bound

Cherry

By luigi_pagano

Mon, 14 Oct 2024
  • 159 reads
2 comments
 

Where is Odysseus? People ask
They're expecting him to return
after completing the critical task
of making sure that Ilium burns

Troy's opponents easily succeed;
Penelope's husband can go home
but the gods in Olympus decreed
that the lord of Ithaca must roam.

He blinded the one-eyed Cyclops
Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon
who orders the right wind to stop
therefore the ships cannot sail on.

So Odysseus spends many years 
with the nymph Calypso and Circe.
Whilst Penelope shed bitter tears,
the cruel gods showed no mercy.

For a decade the Ithacan drifted
from Charybdis to ravenous Scylla
till the sanctions were finally lifted
and he could go home in a flotilla.

 

© Luigi Pagano 2024

Certificate U
Poem
Mutevoli pensieri
Historical Fiction
Inspiration Point (work that responds to our weekly writing cue)

Comments

Submitted by Nolan on

Nobody could have taken it seriously, those days even, obviously all just stories. Made it up as you go along. The gods and heroes are more like celebritries and that. The ancient ledgends, I can't think anybody, those days even, could believe tt but it is not nonsence but he meaning is more in insight of human nature and psychology. In that respect the stories are extremely valuable.

But you seem very interested Luigi, you've been reading up on it!

And hey soon, it's good to be back home again!

See you! Nolan Brown &

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Hi Nolan. Archeologists have excavated a site in Turkey they believe to be the city of Troy and the remains suggest that it was settled around 3000 BC. Most historians now agree that the Trojan War did happen at the time described by Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey as evidence of fire and a small number of arrowheads were found among the ruins. It might not have been as big as the conflict described by the poet and unlikely to have lasted ten years. As for divine interventions, they are obviously mythical but even nowadays when two countries go to war against each other, both claim to have God on their side.

Best wishes, Luigi