A refugee like you. His name is Demodocus.
He lived in Troy, the beautiful city which..
..the Acheans demolished after the siege.
He lost his sight in fire.
Nausica, you tell the stranger one untruth.
Troy didn't fall in just war,..
..but by deceit. My guests know that well..
..but all others should hear, because that..
..event will stay in memory forever. We were in the 10th year of war.
Like always, in front of us, near the river Scamander..
..the swarms of ships like summer flies..
..gathered around a jar with milk.
First ships of the Foceans,than the Myceneans (meekaenaens-not miceeneeans),..
..than the Atens, then on the edge of the shore Korintians.
We never succeeded to count them all till..
..one morning, not believing our eyes, we saw the abandoned..
.. military camp, the ships all gone, and we hoped..
..that Troy was saved.
Unfortunate us, not to see deceit!
One wooden horse stood there, higher than our gates.
We thought they left that to appease the gods..
..for safe return. How naive and pious we were.
Gods above, thank you! Thank you for inspiring..
..those barbarians to retreat, to put them back to reason and mercy..
..into soul. So I promise you that this gift..
..will be honored as it deserves,..
..even it was made by our enemies.
Reason and mercy of the Acheans?
They are no more, and that's all that matters!
What use of that which is reason?
We shouldn't pay heed to this.
We should erase any trace of them, I tell you Priam..
..and to all of you! - I understand about them.
The Acheans landed on the shores and attacked us..
..over a long and unjust siege because of Helena..
..which is hijacked, and which we would never have kidnapped from Menelaus..
..and she is now with us against her will.
We have a host of dead, but the Acheans paid severely..
..their madness and this horse is a gift..
..to the gods, a gift of repentance. - It seems that you decide to forget..
..all these victims we endured during all these years? How can you..
..respect a gift from your enemies! - True Laoocon, but this is a gift to the gods,..
..the holy thing, so shall we insult the gods?
That's a gift to their gods, not ours!
But we are the same human kin, and our gods are the same!
Listen to me Priam, don't leave anything of the Acheans undemolished!
Dismantle it to pieces! Leave it there!
-Let him rot here! -No. We should take it inside..
..the city. We are not to be afraid now we had won!
True, that's important, Priam is right, we won!
There was a tent of those bloodfirsty Agamemnon. And here those of Odysseus.
Odysseus, Agamemnon, Menelaus! You could do nothing to Troy!
And now even the sea can spoil your return!
The siege is over. We won! They'll not come back. We won!
Burn it! Only then they wont return! Burn it!
Stop with the blasphemy and bring the horse in!
*whispers* They'll bring us to the town.
So everyone agreed with Priam that we must..
..bring it inside the walls.
We placed him as a war trophy near the Athena temple.
Woe to us, we celebrated that evening..
..thinking that the long siege has come to an end. And that was exactly..
..what Odysseus wanted when he build the horse.
He and his companion spawn out of it.
They run to a gate to open it to their troops who..
..with their ships returned to the beaches,..
..armed to the teeth. And city slept.
And I slept too. Then I saw that from every part of the town ..
..arose big flames and fires. Screams of living people mixed,..
..with the cracking sound of fire. And above the flames I saw..
..on the highest tower, 2 Achean warriors..
..holding a small child to his feet. It was Astinax *or Astianax*,..
..son of Hector. They raise him and throw..
..him into the abyss from the high tower. And so in a sad lake of blood,..
..Priamus offspring vanished. And that was the last thing that I saw.
*He was killed by Neoptolemus, monstrous son of Achilles, who also..*
*..killed Priam near the altar. Angering gods, he was later killed by the priests of Apollo.*
Who are you stranger when you mour the fate of Troy?
I'm the one who destroyed them. I'm the one who deceived them.
- You are Odysseus? - Yes.
[Narrator: Meanwhile, on Ithaca, surrounded by sea, suitors..]
[..besieging the home of Odysseus, ruled as in their houses.]
You come here. Leave it. You set a fire..
*music in background, tumultous sounds*
- Look who's coming. - Who?
I'm Antimedontes, coming from Argus, *Argos on Peloponessus*..
..and I've heared that the queen of Ithaca decided not to wait any more..
..for her husband. So I've come to compete for her wedding.
I've brought enough treasure, so I can compete with anyone.
If being rich is the only thing you have, then leave from Ithaca.
Penelope is virtuose, and can't be bribed....
[Narrator: The news that Telemachus had gone never to return..]
[..spread out. So Penelope was facing alone..]
[..the numerous enemies. Whoever had anything from wealth or power..]
[..sooner or later will show up to ask for that throne..]
[..which no man or family protected.]
[The gods wished so, that Telemachus doesn't have brothers..]
[..like he didn't have a father right now.]
I want to speak with the queen!
- The Queen doesn't come here any more. - Why?
Because her son went away.
Pe-ne-lo-pe,Pe-ne-lo-pe...
[Narrator: But Penelope couldn't leave the fate..]
[..of Achean women, that when their fathers and brothers..]
[..gave them for first marriage as virgins, that that first died *i.e. she remains faithfull*.]
*In background suitors scream: Pe-ne-lo-pe..*
[Narrator: Penelope stays beside her maidens,..]
[..of whom some betray her and some resist..]
[..the attempts of suitors.]
-This one is cheap. -Mine is like that one, take her!
I don't like this. I'm faithfull to Penelope!
[Narrator: Telemachus and Pisistrat, son of Nestor,..]
[..has arrived under the walls of Sparta where Menelaus rules.]
- Did you ever imagine this big city? - I never saw the real city.
Now you'll see Helen!
[Narrator: Helena comes down from high walls.]
[Greatest princess contest for her hand.]
[Menelaus get her.] *That was before the events with Paris*
[Helen, daughter of Leda and Tindareus, offspring of Zeus, fatal woman]
*Zeus in form of a swan f... Leda*
Anything new in Pylos? The memory of your father Nestor..
..is always dear to my heart. - I bring you a guest. He comes from Ithaca..
..son of Odysseus. - I'll tell you my name.
I know you are Telemachus I want to prove to you that I remember..
..your dad and all those who because of me..
..left their fatherland: warlords of Acheans who go to walls of Troy,..
..far away and a lot of them killed.
It's my guilt that you didn't know your father yet.
- Why are you speaking like that? Is he dead? - I don't know..
..Very little I know of today. I can tell you only about the past,..
..Telemachus.I can tell you where I saw your father the last time.
My father consulted Telemachus asking Menelaus about his father...
Recently he came back, and he traveled a lot they say.
Yes, maybe he knows, come with me.
[Narrator: Menelaus made his death mask,*of gold*..]
[..crumbled with heavy thoughts. He also travels very much..]
[..at sea till he finds the way home.]
8 years sucked out all his youth, because of the risky return.]
*About the mostly catastrophic returns of Acheans, exist epic Nostoi=Returns. Now lost*
[Thus absence of Odysseus eclipsed all fate of other..]
[..rulers of Achean cities.]
*They greet at Tolos, beehive shaped tomb*
So, in my house comes the son,..
..of my dear friend. Welcome boy.
Let me see you again. Son of Odysseus!
Menelaus, he needs you. Nestor consulted him..
..that he search for news about his father from you.
Old Nestor gives you good advice.
Ah, how I would like to welcome your father here. I would give him home here..
..bring him from Ithaca..
..so that we always be together as neighbors..
..and to waste like that the last years of our lives. But fate decided differently.
Now it's useless to speak what would be.
Telemachus home is under siege by people who rob him and fraight.
I've heared what happens on Ithaca, but you boy..
..why do you let that happen? Are the people against you? Or your mother?
I attempted to raise the people. Our island needs a king,..
..not a boy. Everyone who can raise his hand on thr throne of Ithaca.
Only my mother prevents them. No one can help us!
Only if Odysseus returned....
Ah that damn war! How many damages he makes!
Hororible evil it brought to us! Look weapon..
..of Agamemnon, my brother, treacherously murdered..
..at his doorstep after his return from Troy. He didn't die in battle..
..with an enemy worthy of him. Nor sea devours him.
*He was killed by Clitemnestra,h is wife, to avenge their daughter Iphigenia, and protect her lover Aegistus*
He was killed by treason, and now I alone rule this city.
That's the price I paid with the house of Atreus, because of war.
What are you hiding sir? Why don't you tell me, what do you know..
..about my father? The queen, you tell me please.
As soon as I've arrived, I saw you knew the bitter truth..
..but you don't have too much mercy. Tell me please, is my father dead?
We know something about your father, but we don't know if you can endure.
Be brave and listen to me carefully.
Your father lives, but he is like dead. Proteus tells me that.
*By Homer Proteus is sea god and by Herodotus a king of Egypt-Merenptah?*.
He has seen Odysseus surrounded by sea, without shipmates to return.
[Narrator: And Helen got an idea.]
[In the wine she pours a cure which softens anger and pain that gives oblivion]
[Those skills the daughter of Zeus knew, and that medicant gives her Polidamna *egiptian*.]
*That was when Menelaus returned from Troy and stranded in Egypt*
*relaxing music*
Drink wine and listen. I'll tell you what happened before..
..and you'll understand that anyway.
I want to tell you all the adventures of Odysseus,..
..but only those that I know.
[Narrator: So Helen starts:]
It was the last year of the war. I waited in Troy that arms..
..decide victory and to whom I'll belong.
I was in the temple of Apollo, and Cassandra..
..making offerings.
Oh Apollo! You who are only among gods..
..who stay favored to this wretched town, reveal me a secret!
They persecute me and I run. Give me a break. *Cassandra was..
*..condemned to foretell a future but no one to believe her*
-I won't harm you, just help me! -Who are you? From where? How did you come in?
I'm a frigian soldier, ally of the Trojans with whom..
..I fight Acheans for years to defend a city.
Last night against my will, I was drawn into battle..
..and barely escaped. They won't dare to search for me in a temple.
*fleeing to the temple provides protection. Thus sanctuary*
But you are all wounded! Your face..
..all smeared with blood. You scare me. Or I just see blood everywhere?
That's blood girl.. war spares no one..
..so not as miserable like myself. If you could give me something..?
Poor soldier,I can give you anything!
Except one advice. Run! Run if you can from this..
..condemded city full of corpses.
Why do you speak like that? Is prophecy speaking out of you?
You don't know me? Never heared of Cassandra,..
..daughter of Priam? The god Apollo speaks through me but no one will listen.
I'll listen. But how can I believe? You say the city will fall..
..but I see his high walls unconquered and defiant.
9 years the city stands the attacks of the Achean hordes..
..with so many heroes who conquered cities like this one.
Only one will be enough to ruin it.
Maybe you know that the town is out of food? Or water?
Or some illnes is among the defenders?
Oh listen Cassandra, at least her, listen Cassandra inspired by Apollo.
Wait stranger. I wanna to see you also!
Your face is tainted with blood, truly, but your wounds are strange.
They look as self-afflicted. Why? That they don't recognize you?
But you can't deceive me like you did with Cassandra.
You are not Frigian, friend of Troy, You are enemy!
You sneak into the city and mix with the wounded,..
..to commit some sabotage. You look like the face from the past.
You who come out of the darkness with a bloody face,..
..you are Odysseus I recognize you instantly..
..and shudder when I saw. I follow thee..
..to see shall you dare to come here in the temple,..
..near the house of Priam. What for? Why?
I knew I'll find you there. Why are you hiding here..
..near the altar, when the city will fall..
..and your husband will seek for you to redeem his honor?
That will never happen!
Under the condition that the Trojans don't revenge on you..
..for all the years of misery you brought on them! - You are a spy!
I've heared you! You deceive naive Cassandra..
..with news she didn't know about the war and the soldiers.
- I'll give you to them to kill you! - No, you won't do that..
..because in your heart you are still Greek, even if 10 years..
..we suffer all because of your guilt! - Enough. I don't want to listen any more!
I won't betray you, but I don't want to see you in the temple.
Leave me to my destiny. Leave me to my destiny whatever it is!
Tremble? Are you afraid? You the daughter of Zeus?
Helen, if you would return to Menelaus, all this would gone.
No Odysseus. If you only know..
..how much I cry because of the guilt aloted by Afrodite.
Afrodita or your lust?
The gods arrange our lives, so my lust doesn't count.
So what holds you here?
Only one person does trust me in this town and only he is worthy..
..of my pity. Father of this house-Priam.
Because of my guilt he lost his best sons:
..Hector is dead, Paris is dead, the most bravest Trojans dead..
..and others, many others, well didn't you hear Cassandra?,..
..Many will perish. Blood, always blood, and never reproach from Priam.
When I come here with Paris he accept me as his own daughter.
And I remain to him like a daughter and thus I'll remain to the end.
If you speak about the end of this city you won't wait too long.
I didn't want this war, I'm forced into it, and now I want only to finish it..
..no matter what. *Odysseus pretend mad to avoid war. He plough beach and sow salt*
All I saw in the city, perfectly fits into my plan.
What plan Odysseus? You are very famous because of your cunningness. *gk:metis*
Is that what you would like that people remember you for?
The acts of people brought me to such choice.
And if I must carry that burden, I'll carry it bravely.
Who knows how many times he remembered his words,..
..maybe even now, wherever he is.
[Narrator: Odysseus is in the throne room of Alcinoo court.] *gk: megaron i.e.mega room*
[His hosts leave him alone and he didn't know why.]
[But when the time arrives he discloses his true name..]
[..he was afraid that Feacians will hesitate to give him a ship to return to his homeland.]
[Because the name of the man tells his destiny..]
[..which he can't comprehend? *Odysseus=hatefull,wrathfull* He wasn't assured he was to return..]
[..secured by those who can everything. *gods* Thus thinks Odysseus..]
[..asking himself if is it prudent to disclose his past also.]
Forgive us we leave you alone. We assembled..
..to discuss your unexpected arrival. We never..
..thought we'll have glorious man among us.
Don't appologise Alcinous, I respect you too much.
Now you can better understand my eagerness to return..
..to my homeland. Your help restores me to life.
Why so much haste Odysseus? Don't you wish to rest for a while?
Tell us something about you. In 10 years you have..
..had many adventures. 10 years is too much. Tell us..
..about the adventures of a king who left Troy with an army..
..but comes alone on raft. About a man who was considered dead..
..and who wishes to be considered dead, since he hid his name from us.
We bring down the walls of Troy. I sailed with Menelaus and Nestor..
..but a sudden storm broke up the fleet.
With my ships I arrived in the land of Lestrygons. *Thrace in Greece*
My companions started to plunder the land. The Kikonians defended themselves..
..and killed a lot of my man. We left 72 unburied,..
..6 from every ship. Sailing against Big Dipper *north*,..
..around cape Malia *south of Greece* a strong current throw us..
..on the shores of the savage Lestrygonians. The company wants..
..to anchor in the harbor, but I wanted to scout the place first..
..and find the sentry point. It was justified to move..
..but the rest of them, carelessly, landed and..
..heared the sound of war. The other cries immediately appeared.
*In Odyssey, the episode with the Lestrigonians appears much later. Od.10,80*
There wasn't time to loose, and I retreat, but in the harbour..
..we saw the giant Lestrigonians throwing huge rocks on our ships destroying them.
People tried to escape by swimming but they were hunted down by the tridents like fish.
- And how did you escape? - They couldn't reach me..
..because I stayed out of the harbour. - Only your ship remained?
In the end, yes. We were the last company.
After the demise of the others, I became even more dear to them,..
..because they grew up with me, we were friends from childhood.
Today they are only names. Euriloch, my cousin.
On deck he was the helmsman *gk. kybernetes thus cybernetics*,and in combat my right hand.
He was sensible and wise. Filetor, on Ithaca we hunted..
..together. Once a wild boar wound me..
..in the thight and I still have a scar. Filetor grasps him..
..with both hands, overturns him and stabbed him to death.
Heraclio, I knew his family and sons.
Politus, the most strongest of all. Elpenor wasn't strong..
..and not qute wise but he was..
..wvry dear,more than others, just because he was week.
And thus from the army which left Ithaca, so few remain.
I realise how irrelevant things are..
..when I saw how the dark forces work..
..against our return. - What dark forces?
Which road would return us in the shortest way to Ithaca..
..that we never found? We get lost forever..
..on vast sea, without way. When we barely glimps our land,..
..storm would cast us away to roam again..
..till the next storm enrages the sea,..
..and I'll remember that till the end of my life. It was like..
.. some invisible giant hand, throwing the ship to the bottom of the abyss.
You are the great king Odysseus, but still you are only a man.
And according to what you are saying it seems you are a man who tries..
..to succeed alone with reason. Lets ask the gods for us and you Odysseus..
..maybe we find our answers and you find your answers.
*sounds of seagulls, sea and wind*
-Sacrifices give answer. -What answer?
Unfavorable. My people is scared. It couldn't interpret..
..so you'll. - Not me. I know that Athena was..
..always near me during fight in Troy,..
..thus with her beside me, I always knew what to do.
But when I was at sea I would hear voices of the gods.
Maybe thus is my heart restless and I want to know more.
Why are you hiding about your voyage?
-Why are you asking about it? -You have survived many things,and you have much..
..suffered.We realize that as soon you have arrived..
..and we show you our compassion. But if it is god..
..who is your enemy, as the omens say, tell us every secret.
I told you everything, everything I could understand from my..
..encounters with people and things. - Did you have encounter which..
..doesn't belong to the realm of men?
- Yes. - When? - One day we entered..
..into a river seeking drinking water -- -Please Odysseus..
..I would like you to tell us about that first this evening. - Yes.
We sail in a great river with sharp clifs.
We searched to anchor, to take some water.
By the stars I calculated that this was the shore of Lybia,..
..but the most distant shore from us, on the very edge of Oceanus..
..where the Sun sunks into the abyss. *Hercules pilars, as the border of Oceanus,..*
*..are discovered later* If this was correct,..
..then we were drawn away from home, not closer.
*sound of wind and splashes*
*Lybia was called by the Greeks all lands west of the Nile*
My men didn't know that, but I was restless and worried,..
..like I have a premonition, and also because we found things..
..which looked like someone left them.
I send 3 men in recconaissance mission in the morning,..
..just when we arrived. I hoped they will find something..
..by which I can navigate. After many hours, those men..
..didn't return and we all become nervous.
I was afraid of a new danger, as their disappearance..
..prolonged. I didn't know what to do.
3 more who won't see Ithaca again!
They must have fallen into a trap in this savage land.
*wind blows*
Odysseus, we should take a distance from the shores before the night falls.
If you are afraid, I'll go search for your shipmates.
I didn't wish to impose my will, I couldn't manage like in Troy,..
..where I had warriors beside me, not people that are scared for their lives.
Only by own example I could reestablish myself as a leader.
- And did they follow? - Three friends we have lost,..
..and if we would abandoned them to their fate, that would mean that we are united only in fear.
Fear for our wn survival, fear which isn't friendly..
..but only our enemy. Without a goal, without order, there is no hope.
But accepting this temptation, they followed me.
As we progress away from the river, The Sun becoms hotter.
The ground was scorched. We felt dry scent in the air,..
..the scent of some flower. And so we arrived into a village inhabited by men..
..who feed themselves with that flower bitten in mills.
*sound of mills*
I have already prepared myself to see my men..
..killed or in danger, but instead they sit there among blackskin people..
..behaving strangely and dressed as natives.
Why didn't you return to the ship? Because of this?
Odysseus, what are you afraid of?
They offered us their hospitality even they don't know the laws of Zeus.
Nature teaches them that, The lotus flower grows..
..and they make sweet powder from it. Taste, taste it!
It makes you forget everything like we never need to go from Ithaca.
Who waits for us there anyway? Who remembers us?
Your father Egyptius, remember him. Remember your bride that you have left..
..one month before marriage. She may raise you a son one day.
My father is old or dead, my brides sleep with another,
And my son, even if I had brothers, they wouldn't recognize me!
-What kind of father am I? -People only find new troubles,..
..so why then taking risk again? - Even at home suffering awaits us.
Eat this lotus. We'll stay in peace forever.
Truly, some divinity brought us into this land. *i.e. land of Lotuseaters*
As I live,I won't let someone forget his home.
Don't listen to him...
Take them to a ship! I order you to take them!
-Tie them! Don't listen to them. hey are out of their mind!
*lament and moan*
We found people like us.
As I understand, all what happened..
..is that there is a flower which removes memory or wish for it and the past.
Still, seeing those friends, I dreamt about returning..
..and because of the stretching of the ship I have the feeling..
..that winds, currents and forces beyond us..
..already have drawn us away from known sea routes.
We sailed for 18 days..
..and then came in a great archipelago..
..whose islands are near eachother. *sound of waves and ships wooden structure*
- Why don't you sleep Euriloch? - Why are you not sleeping? What..
..troubles you Odysseus? -Nothing,go to sleep..
..like others. Tomorow we go to hunt on island.
Why you need me if you are hidding your thoughts?
Why you don't tell me what troubles you?
Sky... Sky have no stars..
..since we left Lotuseaters.
Sky is clear, but no constellation visible. Very strange.
And a sailor cannot navigate if he hasn't guiding stars.
*To Acheans beside Grate Bear: Arcturus,Sirius,Orion,Pleiadees,Hyadees*
Odysseus,...
*It was navigated also by:Sun,Moon, waves,winds,birds.*
..we are lost.
Good sailor is never lost, and danger exist..
..only in our minds. Go to sleep.
One thing more isn't clear: on these islands,..
..we didn't find any human traces, even people often..
..go to sea. Is it possible that they never get there?
Do they avoid these lands or something hid them?
- But we did manage to get here. - Yes, but why?
Many unexplainable things happened..
..since we left Troy in flames: quarrel among the heroes,..
..disperse of the fleet, unnatural winds and storms..
..which cast us away from any known seas.
I don't know Euriloch where we are heading. I say that to you in confidence..
..but I beg you not to tell the others.
You must unite us Odysseus. So few have remain of us.
Think about us Odysseus, about our ship, and bring us home!
This land seems very fruitful!
It's excellent for farming. It's good for sowing..
..and also it is inhabitated beside wild goats.
-Look! - Where? -There, that's smoke.
-The reassembly squad and we should return backward. -Why? Without to find out..
..who lives here? You return alone.
I am scared. And beside that who can live on this island?
Some lonely savage. Please Odysseus, lets go.
Why didn't you loose the arrow? What are you thinking?
- About that man. - Why worrying about him?
Maybe he knows something we don't, but... you think that he is a savage,..
..maybe, but even a savage deserves that we visit him.
He is also a man. We want to walk beside him without to find..
..something about him and without exchange of gifts.
*dramatic music*
Whats this?
This isn't a human footprint!
- Some giant.- Or god. - Or monster,..
..Odysseus, I beg you to sail away ASAP or we'll regret.
Yes, but maybe we'll be guests to some god.
I procceed with the 12 most bravest men. I thought..
..that we are strong enough to resist any challenge.
The rest I left to protect the ship and make him ready.
We followed the footprints.
I brought some vessels and full sacks of wine.
And that wasn't ordinary wine, but a gift from Maron,..
..the priest of Apollo. It was very strong.
Every cup must be watered down with 20 cups of water.
*Greeks never drinks pure wine, but mix it with water*
Footprints ended before the cave which looks modest from the outside,..
..almost like a hollow in rock, but inside it was huge..
..and our steps echoed how we progressed inside.
Hi!
And you claim that there lived a monster?
Look at the ropes. They are twisted wisely. Look at the knots.
Taste some cheese. - It's good! - Make as only shepherds know.
Euriloch, look! Our hosts bed.
There is a room for all our crew.
And just look at pillow, incredible!
Lets measure! 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8.
8 steps? Impossible that's for a man!
Yes. The axe is so big it can be uses as an anchor.
Think about the strenght of who can hold this.
Sweet, shiny, fresh,... Scently!
Take the cheese and everything we can take --
And fled away? - Yes. We aren't..
..thieves. And its too late anyway. Hear? *sheeps*
Our host has returned.
asterisk@krstarica.com corrected by info@wiseoldgoat.com