The big, big war called the Trojan War had just finished. A super smart king named Odysseus was so happy! "Time to go home!" he thought. He wanted to see his wife, Queen Penelope, and his son, Telemachus, on their island of Ithaca. But oh dear, his trip home was going to be much, much longer than he expected!

First, Odysseus and his sailors landed on an island where people ate special lotus flowers. If you ate one, you'd forget all about home and just want to stay and eat flowers forever! Odysseus had to drag his men back to the ships. "No more snacks for you!" he probably said.

Next, they met a giant with only one eye in the middle of his forehead! His name was Polyphemus, and he was a Cyclops. He trapped Odysseus and his men in his cave. But Odysseus was clever. He told the giant his name was "Nobody." When Odysseus poked the giant's eye (ouch!), Polyphemus shouted, "Nobody is hurting me!" So, the other giants didn't come to help. Odysseus and his men escaped by hiding under the giant's fluffy sheep. But the giant's dad was Poseidon, the god of the sea, and he was NOT happy with Odysseus. This made the sea journey very tricky!

Then, a friendly god of the winds gave Odysseus a bag. "All the bad winds are in here," he said. "Don't open it!" But when Odysseus was asleep, his curious sailors thought it was full of treasure. WHOOSH! They opened it, and all the bad winds blew them far, far away from home. Oops!

They met a tricky sorceress named Circe. She turned some of Odysseus's men into oink-oink pigs! Luckily, a helpful god gave Odysseus a special plant so he wouldn't turn into a pig too. Circe was surprised he didn't change, and she turned his men back into humans. They actually stayed with her for a whole year!

Odysseus even had to visit the spooky underworld to get advice on how to get home. Then, they sailed past the Sirens, creatures who sang beautiful songs that made sailors crash their ships. Odysseus put soft wax in his sailors' ears so they couldn't hear. He wanted to hear the songs, so he had his men tie him very tightly to the ship's mast. He heard the songs and wanted to jump, but he couldn't! Phew!

They had to sail between a scary six-headed monster named Scylla and a giant whirlpool called Charybdis. It was a very tight squeeze, and Scylla snatched a few sailors. Oh no!

Later, they landed on an island with special cows belonging to the sun god. Odysseus warned his men, "Don't eat the cows!" But they were so hungry, they didn't listen. The sun god was very angry, and a big storm came and wrecked their last ship. Only Odysseus survived, floating on a piece of wood.

He floated all alone to an island where a beautiful nymph named Calypso lived. She liked Odysseus so much, she kept him there for seven long years! Odysseus missed his home terribly. Finally, the gods told Calypso, "Let him go!" She helped him build a raft, and he set sail again.

After another storm (thanks, Poseidon!), he washed up on an island where kind people, the Phaeacians, found him. He told them all his amazing adventures, and they gave him a ship to finally, finally sail back to Ithaca.

When he got to Ithaca, the goddess Athena disguised him as an old, wrinkly beggar so he could see what was happening. His home was full of noisy, rude men who all wanted to marry Queen Penelope and become king! Penelope missed Odysseus very much and didn't want to marry any of them.

His old dog, Argos, who was just a puppy when Odysseus left, recognized him right away, wagged his tail, and then lay down for his final sleep, happy to see his master one last time.

Penelope, clever like Odysseus, made a challenge. She said, "Whoever can string Odysseus's giant bow and shoot an arrow through twelve axe heads can marry me!" All the rude men tried, but they couldn't even bend the bow.
Then, the old beggar (who was really Odysseus!) asked for a try. The rude men laughed. But he picked up the bow, strung it easily, and TWANG! The arrow flew straight through all the axe heads!

He threw off his disguise. "I am Odysseus!" he shouted. With help from his son Telemachus and a few loyal servants, he fought the rude men and won back his kingdom.

Penelope wasn't sure it was really him at first. So, she tested him with a secret about their bed. When Odysseus knew the secret, she knew it was truly him! They had the biggest, happiest hug ever. After twenty long years of adventures and troubles, Odysseus was finally home.

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