I Am Laertes' Son

Odyssey Notes:

I am Laertes' Son.

Princess Nausicaa takes him to the palace where her parents greet this striking stranger (whom Athena has made appear taller, more massive, with red gold crisping hair like hyacinth) with great politeness. Like all good Greeks who respect the laws of their gods and know that the ties between guests and hosts are sacred, the King and Queen offer the stranger wine and food. After he has eaten his fill, the court minstrel asks him what topic of song he would like the minstrel to sing. The stranger requests a song about the exploits of the Greek hero Odysseus at Troy, and his endless wandering, and his men lost at sea. As the minstrel begins to sing tears begin to fall from the stranger's eyes. The King can no longer hide his curiosity and asks, "Who are you?" The stranger's words, "I am Laertes'son, Odysseus, I mean..." are met with shock and amazement. Here is the great Greek warrior long thought dead, found alive at last seating in our palace!

Odysseus begins recounting his ceaseless attempts to return home after the fall of Troy twenty years ago.

The story is told in "Medea Res" which means in the "middle of". Notice that the book picks up ten years after the fall of Troy and after the occurrence of most of the events. Odysseus tells the story to the Court of Alcinous in flash back format. The stories of the Island of the Cicones, the Land of the Lotus Eaters, The Bag of Winds, the Island of Polyphemus the Cyclops, Circe the Witch, the Land of the Dead, back to the Island of Circe the Witch, the Sirens, Scylla, Charybdis and Thrinakia, the Island of Helios, the Sun God, all are recounted by Odysseus to the Court of Alcinous, and we the audience experience these stories in flashback. The real time occurrences are The Island of Calypso, The Court of Alcinous and his return to Ithaca where he struggles to regain his home.