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Scylla & Charybdis

Dear Diary,

Remember the advice Circe gave us? Well, I followed them, and still ended up in some deep trouble. Scylla took 6 of my strongest men with her arms, gulping them all down. Can you believe it, six whole men?! I couldn’t believe she did such a thing. At least she didn’t take my whole ship, like Circe said. Six is better than everyone I guess. My men and I continued on sail, then stopping at the island of Helio’s cattle. A storm hit, just my luck right? We were stuck on the island, for a whole month. Nothing in sight to eat after a while, so we began slaughtering the cow for steak. Finding out we are on the island, Helio is furious and asks Zeus for revenge. We set sail once again, and another disaster happened, our ship was struck with Zeus’ thunderbolt. All of my men died, except me. I was grateful to still be alive, confident to return to Ithaca, but I mourned for my men. I no longer have any help, now this journey was on me. Something great happened though, I continued sailing and managed to make it past Scylla and Charybdis. I was alone and drifted in the open sea for nine days. I finally came upon an island, where lived Calypso. She kept me imprisoned for seven years, but she didn’t think that was what she was doing. I will find a way out of this place though, returning home to who I belong to, my dear Penelope.

See you soon Ithaca,

Odysseus

Elpenor

Dear Diary,

As promised, I sent my men back to Circe’s island to get the body of Elpenor. We burned him as he wished and said our goodbyes to our great friend. We stayed with Circe’s last night. It was beneficial because she gave me some advice for my trip and my men and I didn’t have to suffer that night. Circe told me to steer clear of the sirens and avoid clashing rocks while on sail. I need to make sure to remember those two things or else my men and I might be in big trouble. I hope we make it home safe, but right now I’m just focused on actually getting home. Ithaca, I miss you.

See you soon Ithaca,

Odysseus

House Of Death

Dear Diary,

I went to the House of Death with my men. There, I saw the great Elpenor, a companion I lost while on our journey home. I missed Elpenor so much that when he asked me for a favor, I was so happy to do it. Elpenor asked me to give him the proper burial, which of course, I promised to do so. After Elpenor, I saw my mother, my beauty. She told me about Ithaca, how it is nothing without me and the suitors are trying to take over. She also told me how my dear wife, Penelope, she is grieving for me, suffering for my absence. I miss her diary, I want to be with my wife again. When can I return home, to my son, my wife, and my castle? I need to get home quickly, Penelope seems to be nothing without me. After I spoke with mother and a couple other fellows, I boarded my ship with my men and we set sail. Now, as I travel, all I will think about is Penelope. I miss her so much, you can’t even imagine. I wonder how she is doing without me, what she’s going to do with life. Get me home safe and soon, someone.

See you soon Ithaca,

Odysseus

Circe

Dear Diary,

Today my men and were continuing on our journey to Ithaca, already nine days away from Aeolia. Many of my men were acting funny for some reason, looking suspicious and whispering things in each other’s ears for me not to hear. But I didn’t mind and fell asleep, deep of exhaustion. Before we had left the island Aiolis, the king provided us with a bag of winds, but I didn’t tell my men. While I was sleeping, I guess they opened the bag of winds which brought us back to Aeolia, where I begged the king for more help. Aiolis realized how I was cursed by Poseidon which made him say no to me and he didn’t help my men and I. So my men and I left the island, continuing on sail for six more days. We came upon the land of Lamos, the land of the Laistrygones. The king, Antiphated greeted us by eating one of my men, and of course the rest of us left right away in fear of being eaten also. We continued sailing and came upon Aeaia, home of the goddess Circe. I sent my men to explore the island, obviously I didn’t go alone due to previous accidents. For some reason Eurylochus stayed behind when Circe invited the rest of the men in the palace. He watched the men secretly and saw Circe turn them into pigs. Eurylochus ran to the ship and reported to me what he saw and I grabbed weapons and armor to go save my men. Hermes came upon me as I was marching up to the palace, giving me advice and an herb, moly. I then got to the palace and saw my men, all of them in the form of pigs. Circe didn’t use magic upon me of course since I agreed to make love to her and she agreed to turn my men back to their natural forms. I followed all of Circe’s instructions, whatever it took to get my men back. Circe finally restored my men and invited us all to stay with her and rest, which we did, for a whole entire year. After a year was over, my men began to annoy me, asking when we will leave. I then asked Circe to help us get back to the sea and sail home. She told me I couldn’t return home until I reach the land of the dead to see Tiresias, who has further instructions for me, as she said. She gave me simple instructions on how to get there and what to do once I approach Tiresias. That night, my men and I slept peacefully, to be prepared for our travels to come. For some reason, one of my crew members got drunk, wandered onto the rooftop, and fell of the roof to his death. No one noticed because everyone was getting the ship ready, but I can’t believe we lost another member. Circe disappeared, leaving us with a black ewe and ram as sacrifice required to enter the Underworld. So much happened throughout this year of my life. Losing a crew member, staying with a stranger for a year, being disloyal to Penelope, and having more sufferings to come was not what I was looking for at this point in time. I need to just get to the Underworld and get to Ithaca as soon as I can to reunite with my love, Penelope. Diary, I miss her so much.

See you soon Ithaca,

Odysseus