Original subtitles

THE ODYSSEY

A face!

A fleet!

A war!

A man!

A thought!

A trick!

A trick to breach the walls of Troy!

And burn it screaming to the ground!

What does this mean?

A gift

for Athena.

We share the same gods.

Respect their offering.

Save it from the waves!

Take it to Athena's temple.

The war is over.

Face!

Fleet!

War!

Man!

Stop!

Not this song.

Mama's boy!

Run, my boy,

run!

I want to remind them whose wine they're drinking.

I don't want Odysseus's song. I want Odysseus.

Then why do you entertain suitors in his house night after night?

In this world,

a man does what he chooses, and I do what I can.

I'm a man now, Mom.

So throw them out.

Break Zeus's law and see what they do if you give them that excuse?

I've already lost one husband.

I don't want to lose a son.

My dad's coming back. - Then where is he?

It's been eight years since Troy fell,

and almost twenty years since he left us.

Where is he?

We have to welcome him like we've welcomed all of you.

Are you calling us beggars?

I'm saying you've been welcome here for three years.

We've enjoyed your hospitality

because your mother refuses to choose.

She is already married. - Odysseus is dead.

What do you know about my father?

That his meat is tough and his wine is bad.

You've been drinking his best for two years straight.

I know he hasn't returned.

Not yet.

You pine for a father

you didn't even know,

like some sniveling bastard.

No one is sure who their father is.

You can't be sure about mine.

I knew him.

As children, we watched him hunt.

I tried to volunteer for Troy.

He told me to stay

and watch over you.

But...

Sparta is full of veterans from Troy.

It's a gold mine of information.

Are you the son of Odysseus?

Go to Sparta.

Go to Menelaus.

He will receive you.

The queen wants to speak to the stranger.

She hungers for news.

But give her no false hope.

She has a way of knowing if anyone has seen Odysseus.

Do you see this man?

He is almost blind,

but he beats travelers to death

when they lie about my father.

Too fast.

How do you know?

You don't need eyes to hear a hasty combination.

Mentor, push him.

Too fast.

He's as friendly as you are!

He only answered to your father.

Where did he dig him up?

They met here.

- I'll take it. - For your boy?

For hunting.

Damned if he wasn't right.

Hold still.

How ugly a scar do you want?

Why do you always pluck your bowstring? - It's only fair.

- To warn your prey? - To fight honorably.

You weren't fighting. You were hunting.

Hunting is battle in disguise.

Clever, but your cleverness will get you into trouble.

Try again,

less rushed and more precise.

You can't win with perfect defense alone.

Draw the attack.

How? - Hesitate.

Open your belly to your opponent's blade. Their attack becomes yours.

Did you teach my father that?

No. He taught me.

He said:

\"You won't always be the strongest or the fastest,

so be the smartest.\"

What would he do

if he found these suitors in his home?

I can't even imagine what he would do to them.

There are so many of them.

Cut down a couple and the rest will cave—

these bullies and cowards.

Most were old enough to go to Troy, but when they saw Agamemnon's sail,

their fathers hid them.

He knew Agamemnon's war would take many years and lives.

So he raised his army by lot.

Name? - Sinon.

- Draw. - No.

- Name? - Antinous.

Draw.

Yes.

By lot?

Antinous says he volunteered.

They're up to something.

Your son wants to replace Sinon.

I'm not going to let him.

He needs to stay here and care for his family.

He can watch over your son, too. - Of course.

He's with me.

He wanted Antinous to watch over me?

Odysseus was sensitive to a father's shame.

He felt for them.

You and your mother meant more to him than promises of glory.

He knew this would take years.

Did he tell my mother?

That's a question for her.

Will he ever come back?

Argos thinks so.

I've never seen a dog live for 20 years.

He has long outlived his master.

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt.

I'm in no hurry.

The elders decreed that once I finish your grandfather's shroud,

I will have to remarry.

Why?

Ithaca has gone too long without a king.

They want security.

From what?

The Sea People.

Those are travelers' tales.

Travelers tell us about the world, about the fall of Troy,

and they all speak of attacks by the Sea People.

Who are the Sea People?

No one knows, but the elders want Ithaca prepared.

Prepared?

Our civilization is the greatest ever known.

Look at this great house,

stones as old as knowledge,

left at the mercy of greedy, unwanted guests.

The structure is nothing

without people's respect for its meaning.

The law of Zeus.

Treat others as you wish to be treated.

When they trample it, they destroy everything.

How can you imagine marrying one of them?

Because long ago...

your father asked me to.

Agamemnon is our king.

The Trojans took his brother's wife. - Or she ran away with them.

Either way, the walls of Troy are said to be impregnable.

We'll sit outside that great city

and try to draw them into battle.

And the years will pass. Telemachus will grow,

and you will learn to live without me.

Menelaus will give up on Helen.

This is Agamemnon's pretext

to break Troy's control over the trade routes.

He won't let it pass.

Ever.

And if you refuse?

He will take our son.

He wouldn't.

He sacrificed his own daughter

for a favorable wind.

Why would the gods want his daughter's life?

The power of a sacrifice

depends on what it costs the one who makes it.

That's monstrous.

I'm committed.

I won't be back soon,

if I return at all.

What if we run away?

Took your fastest ship and brightest crew,

and headed for the horizon,

holding hands on deck,

rowing west at dusk,

chasing the escaping sun?

There's a world beyond these walls.

Agamemnon's vengeance

would fall on all of Ithaca.

Promise me this.

If I do not return

before Telemachus comes of age,

promise me

you'll marry another.

Enough sacrifices.

Love is not a sacrifice.

Of course it is.

And I don't want you to make it.

It's not up to you.

Promise me.

Promise me you'll come back.

What if I can't?

Then your memory won't make my decisions for me.

Take my pin.

Always wear it, and Athena will bring you home.

I'm not sure it suits me.

If travelers claim they have seen you,

I will ask what you were wearing,

and I will know if they are lying.

If the Sea People are real,

Ithaca now has no king to raise an army.

I can take the throne.

Come.

String it.

That's not fair!

You said only he could string this bow.

He let others try.

He lined up the axes...

No one else ever succeeded.

They're bleeding us dry,

so you'll marry one of them before I can claim the throne.

The traveler told me Menelaus returned years ago.

Everyone returned. - Those who survived!

Maybe he is dead.

Then this palace would be mine.

We must find out,

and I must go to Menelaus for that.

Telemachus, those suitors mean you harm.

Do you think I don't know?

Every night they push me to give them the excuse they need.

And out there, on the seas, on the roads,

they won't need an excuse. You just won't come back.

You don't want me to claim the throne.

You want to keep me in my place so you can remain queen of Ithaca.

I'm tired of being queen without my king!

Without your king?

Or just a king?

And you think you are ready to replace your father?

You are a child.

Too loud, Melanthius.

Take off your spurs in the palace. You're a cowherd, not a horseman.

And you're a swineherd. What right have you to tell me that?

Our master left me in charge of his herdsmen.

We haven't had a master for years, you old blind fool.

And you're as unwelcome here as that dog.

Argos.

Argos.

Master, he did nothing.

So the stink is you?

Leave this old dog alone.

Which one? - Both of us.

What did you say, little slave?

He just got carried away. Argos is my father's hunting dog.

A hunting dog?

Look at that thing.

Get it out of here before it dies.

Don't touch! Can't you see he's in pain?

Then I'll put him out of his misery.

Leave him alone!

Did you see?

Did you all see?

He attacked me! I have my rights!

Please!

Don't hurt my son.

Easy, Polybus.

The young pup lost his head. Show some mercy.

Drink more of his wine. I'll handle this.

This is my father's hunting dog.

He lives only to see Odysseus return.

I'll throw him on the dung heap outside, so he'll see him a little sooner.

This dog stays outside!

Next time, think twice before you offer your life for an animal.

Eurycleia...

take supplies down to the ships. Tell no one.

with people you trust.

This will break your mother's heart.

If I stay, they'll force me to fight. No one will back me.

I have to find out what happened to my father.

Ithaca will support me if Odysseus is truly dead.

The suitors will never allow that. You'll never make it back alive.

Tell Mentor to meet me at the ships just before dawn.

What do you want me to tell your mother?

To hold out for as long as she can.

The ship is ready. The tide is right.

Have I ever told you that you have wise eyes, the eyes of Athena?

Once or twice.

Aren't you going to ask where we're going?

Where are we going? - To find my dad.

He's alive. I can feel it in the wind and waves.

He's out there somewhere—wandering, injured, lost. I don't know.

But he is alive.

More dreams?

I'm drowning

in some

dark place.

Firelight on stone. I don't know.

Don't you want to remember?

Why can't gods speak in ways we understand?

Who doesn't understand thunder?

Or fire?

A child's smile? A good harvest?

You hide yourselves from us.

Look.

Who's moving that cloud?

Who's massing those birds?

Who stirs the water?

Who were you talking to?

Athena came to me again.

She tells me to remember.

To leave. - Why leave?

We have everything we need.

How long have I been here, Calypso?

I have a home somewhere.

There's someone

out there.

How do you know?

I don't know.

I feel it.

What we have here could last forever.

Forever is for gods.

Are you a goddess?

You want to remember. What if memory destroys your happiness?

Then it wasn't real.

Don't eat any more. - But I love them.

Stop eating the lotus.

Tell me what you remember.

After Troy.

Troy?

We won the war.

And then?

Ten years on this fucking beach!

We're going home!

Remember those we leave behind here.

Do we have enough provisions?

We've taken enough from Troy.

Another stop or two won't kill us.

Pull in the oars.

At ease!

Pull in the oars!

We'll raise the sail and follow the southerly winds.

Agamemnon's rowing west on the known provisions route.

He has more mouths to feed.

We'll find somewhere to land.

It's risky.

I've followed Agamemnon long enough.

With a little luck and good winds,

we'll see some of the world and still get home before Agamemnon.

Keep the Great Bear on the right.

Look at this!

Land!

Do you see it?

Lucky bastard.

We're down to our last supplies.

Assemble a landing party.

Food and water. Enough for three weeks.

What if they won't give it?

How badly do you want to get home?

Get your weapons ready!

Begging. Borrowing.

Bargaining.

Why did they abandon the village instead of welcoming us?

They mistook us for the Sea People.

We are Greeks from Ithaca.

Maybe you heard of our victory at Troy.

We're heading west on the southerly winds.

If we keep this course,

we won't like what we find.

After years of war,

no one could stand between my men

and their homeland.

Not even me.

Then something happened.

Chasing the escaping sun?

Land!

There you go.

Lucky bastard.

Sheep live in flocks.

Let's follow it.

Someone lives here.

And makes cheese.

Pretty good.

And there's plenty! - Let's go.

We brought nothing to trade.

The law of Zeus.

Does whoever lives here know the law of Zeus, or even Zeus?

Everyone's heard of Zeus's law.

Get the fire going.

We'll welcome the owner back.

Get away from the fire.

Scatter!

I think it's asleep.

Wait.

The rock.

We can't move the rock.

We'll be trapped.

Spread the word. In the morning,

when it lets out its flock,

we'll rush the entrance.

Get some rest.

Come on!

We might wedge something in the entrance to leave a gap.

Maybe.

But what?

This log.

It will notice.

We'll put the thinner end in the fire.

How much rope do we have?

How big is the flock?

A couple dozen, maybe.

There are too many of us.

When it comes back, two of us go out.

Or get killed.

Run low through the flock toward the entrance, then split wide.

So he only catches one. - Exactly.

Four of us go out, two by two.

Why risk more men?

He ate two of us last night.

He'll want two more.

What do we do with the body? - What do you mean?

Leave it to rot here?

As food for this thing?

We honor our dead, Odysseus.

He died so we could escape. We'll honor him by escaping.

Poseidon, vengeance!

It speaks.

Why didn't it say anything earlier?

Do you talk to ants?

Should we try to reason with it?

I think we're past that.

What are you doing?

Row!

Harder!

Why did you have to fire that arrow?

We lost good soldiers to that beast.

And that beast

was the son of Poseidon.

When we put out his eye, we heard him crying his name.

That thing was a monster.

I heard it, too.

So now the sea is against us? - And the wind.

How are we to return if Poseidon is against us?

We can't live by omens and sacrifices.

How many times since Troy have I heard you weeping, praying to Athena?

Couldn't you have shown mercy?

Take this.

Wear it

to remember those we couldn't bury.

The gods help those who help themselves.

From then on,

with every stormy sea or headwind,

the men believed themselves cursed.

But where is my crew?

When will you let me see my men?

If I could just talk to them, they'd help me remember

that I have a wife, children, maybe a son.

How long have I been here?

A long time.

If I had a son,

how old would he be now?

I don't know how to speak to a king.

You'll be fine.

Keep your mouth shut, and if anyone asks,

we're traders from Crete.

We'll decide how to approach the king.

Welcome!

Thank you. You seem to be having quite...

This way.

Where are you taking us?

The king insists on meeting strangers himself.

Sit.

Not you.

You.

Accept our hospitality as Zeus requires,

before perhaps telling us who you are.

You picked the right day to arrive.

We're celebrating my daughter's wedding.

Tomorrow she leaves to start a new life.

You don't look like a beggar. Do you know who I am?

I am Menelaus,

son of Atreus, brother of Agamemnon,

husband of Helen.

Perhaps you've heard of her.

This is the face

that launched a thousand ships.

Well, perhaps only five hundred now.

So many left on Troy's battlefield for that face.

Or because of your brother's ambition.

This one looks familiar.

Ajax,

Patroclus,

Achilles.

I don't miss them as much as one particular warrior.

He was the smartest of us all.

Ten years we rotted on that beach,

deadlocked, fighting among ourselves until one man

found a way.

Odysseus.

Have you heard the story of the horse?

But have you heard it from the inside?

We spent days in there,

crammed inside before the ships set sail.

Odysseus wanted no one to know, not even Sinon,

the soldier we left behind.

With the first two tides, men drowned right in front of us.

We soaked silently in piss and shit.

A gift

for Athena.

We share the same gods.

Respect their gift.

We must burn it!

Burn it!

This is a gift for Athena!

This is a gift for Athena!

To the gates!

He waited for a moonless night to cover the plain of Troy.

Everyone to the gates!

To the gates!

Come on!

You know the rest.

Moved by my telling? You should hear the poets sing it.

I have heard them.

They weren't there with you.

With your father, Odysseus.

You look so much like him.

When did you last see him?

In Troy.

The gods granted us a righteous victory...

Righteous?

They granted our righteous victory, but did not bless our voyages.

It took me years to return. He did not.

Some did and wished they hadn't.

Tell him

what happened to your brother.

The fate the gods decreed for him after your righteous struggle.

About his hero's welcome? - No!

About how Agamemnon made it home years before us?

How he was welcomed by his queen, my twin, Clytemnestra.

Tell him how she... - No!

He isn't here to hear about my brother!

He must know of his father.

I know nothing about Odysseus since Troy.

Nothing?

Not from any of your men?

Or Agamemnon's? Or traders or travelers?

Have you come to gather rumors and tales?

Then you've come to the right place.

Anyone want to spin a tale about Odysseus?

Some say he is rich, some say poor,

some say he perished or is imprisoned. What say you?

Imprisoned?

What prison

could hold such a man?

Tell me what you remember.

The rest will come.

The men grew more convinced that I had offended Poseidon.

We were hit by storm after storm,

all pushing us off course,

and became truly lost.

Hello.

We come in peace.

We just need some food.

Food!

Don't you understand? - He's only a child.

Then what are his parents like?

It's okay.

Quickly, back to the ships!

My bow!

Wait.

Row! - Wait!

Go!

Row! - Wait!

Come on!

Get this tub moving!

Turn to port.

Follow the coast.

What if they have ships? - We need to get as far away as possible.

Without provisions, we cannot make a blind crossing.

We've lost our way.

We must find food and get our bearings.

To port.

There!

Smoke, there!

Follow the shore. We're beaching there!

Raise the oars!

Form a landing party.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

Leave someone with the boats.

We think you should stay.

We?

All of us

still alive.

Is this a mutiny?

That's up to you.

Give me your bow. I'll make sure we eat tonight,

no matter what you find.

No, no. It's okay.

It's all right. No one's going to hurt you.

If I do what you want.

No one's going to hurt you.

My name's Eurylochus. And you?

Circe.

Circe, we need food. Badly.

I have food.

A lot of food.

You'll let me?

Your weapons and armor,

put them out back.

Do you like wine?

Why do you have so much?

You never know when strangers will come.

These men,

with their appetites.

Too much is never enough.

Eurylochus!

They haven't come back! Is no one here?

Give me your dagger.

Stay by the boats!

Come on. Come here!

Do you come from the sea?

Are you alone?

My pigs have taken a liking to you.

Are you hungry?

Leave your weapons at the door

and enjoy the hospitality of Zeus.

Grab a hog. You can slaughter it for dinner.

Whoever you are, you're clearly not a farmer.

Here.

This stew smells good.

That's enough for just us.

Who says it's just us?

Who else is here?

Who indeed?

You say you're alone,

but no one comes here alone.

No?

You can only reach this place by sea.

Where are your shipmates?

I'm looking for them.

Has anyone come this way?

But you prepared all this food. - Do you doubt me?

You?

A traveler who's clearly starving, yet hasn't touched the food,

who claims to be a sailor

yet wears the armor of a great warrior,

and breaks the law of Zeus,

by carrying a dagger into his hostess's house.

You have a sharp eye.

Sharpened by the gods.

Do they grant you insights?

Truths,

sometimes.

Would they tell you where I could find my men?

Your men? - That's right.

They would.

Would you tell me?

Perhaps.

If you give me your dagger.

But why would I help a liar who refuses my hospitality?

Your men were here. Now they're gone.

They moved on?

Leaving their rings?

I wouldn't.

No! - I don't know who this girl is to you,

but put down that dagger or I'll strangle her to find out.

Spare her. - Family?

Mother?

Your sister?

You turned her into this, and my men into pigs.

I didn't turn your men into anything. Look at them!

This is who they really are. Look!

Base, disgusting,

primal urges that you value in battle.

They've raped and pillaged across the world for you.

You think that's against their nature— that they did it only on your orders?

A true commander sees his men's savagery as discipline.

You don't seem that deluded,

but you still sent them here,

where I live alone.

A gang of filthy soldiers

with empty bellies and hot blood!

Did you think they would respect me

in my own home?

Look at them. Know your own men!

Did they hurt you?

They would have.

They only want to go home.

Let them go home.

Turn back.

Turn back.

Put your disguises back on.

Turn back.

Put your disguises back on.

Odysseus.

Back to the ship. Take all the food you can carry.

Leave the meat.

Don't leave this witch alive.

Who gave her her powers? Your gods.

Fill the jugs and skins at the stream.

Be ready to sail at dawn.

Why do you leave her like that?

We get on better this way.

I'm sorry if we offended you.

We can't get home without your help.

We need to know the way to the trade routes.

You are too lost.

What do you mean?

Only blind Tiresias can tell you how to go home.

Tiresias? In Hades.

Nobody sails into hell and comes back.

You will.

Sail north, into the twilight.

Then head inland until the river of fire

meets a river of ice.

There, you must dig a trench

and fill it with the blood of sacrifice.

summon the dead

and find out how to get home.

You,

not your men.

You'd curse them?

Not a curse.

The truth.

Your men do not want you to defy the gods,

But the gods say only you make it home.

Then I will defy the gods.

Sinon.

This is Odysseus.

Sinon,

this is Odysseus.

Let him drink, Odysseus,

and you will hear his story.

Odysseus?

You lied to everyone.

Did you have to lie to me too?

I needed you to believe.

Why did you volunteer?

Don't you remember?

I begged to take Antinous's place,

He'd been called.

He offered money to your family if you'd take his place.

If the Trojans don't let me live,

if I never make it home,

take this back to my father.

Tell him everything I did.

Odysseus?

Feel free to embellish.

You didn't trust me with the truth?

You knew I'd die for you!

Dying men tell the truth. I needed you to believe.

I died for your lie on that beach.

I know, I was there with you.

I heard you repeat, with your dying breath, the lie

that won us the war.

I was so close that I could smell your blood.

What comfort could that give me,

not knowing you were in that horse until the dead told me?

Which dead?

Many veterans of your campaigns walk these shores.

The dead gather to lament the living

and greet the newly dead.

My father's shade found me first.

To comfort you? - Shades don't comfort.

They want word of the living who wronged them.

My father died in poverty,

alone,

begging for scraps from people like Antinous.

Did Antinous cheat you?

And he is probably doing the same to you.

How? - Who's looking after your family in Ithaca?

My wife is of no concern.

Talk to Agamemnon about homecomings.

Agamemnon's here?

You buried me at Troy with respect.

thank you,

but spare a thought for those you didn't.

It's not always possible.

When you get home,

take a ship,

head west into the unknown until you find land.

And there, offer a sacrifice

and honor your men.

Do you still have the lot?

Of course.

If you make it home,

give Antinous back his shame.

I will.

My lord.

Odysseus.

How are you here?

We won the war. You headed for home.

Odysseus,

the most brilliant of all my generals, would never be snared as I was.

Were you cast adrift like us?

My misfortune was that I returned,

that I was welcomed by my beautiful wife,

bathed,

anointed,

made soft,

only to learn the hardest lesson:

that I'd left poison in her heart years before,

the good part of her heart had gone.

She and her lover had been plotting my murder for years.

Odysseus?

My son Orestes,

did he avenge me?

My lord, how could I know?

I am still trying to get home.

Don't make my mistake.

Don't walk in the front door expecting garlands and praise.

Come in disguise.

take your time,

assess.

Do you see?

I know what I have to do. - Some of what you have to do.

My prophecy is not for their ears.

Back to the ship.

Sail southwest,

past the sirens.

Their song lures your men onto the rocks. They all die.

I won't let that happen.

I'll block their ears with wax.

Past the sirens,

you choose between the whirlpool Charybdis and the monster Scylla.

The whirlpool will kill you all,

the monster in the cliff will kill only six.

But your determination not to sacrifice any more lives will kill everyone.

I'll do what I have to.

At the end, when starvation and mutiny threaten,

they demand to land where the sun god grazes his cattle.

They slaughter Apollo's herd.

Zeus kills them for it.

Do you see?

I'll stop them.

Why do you value these men's lives more than those you've already lost?

I can still save them from the gods.

But not from themselves.

What is that?

Your unburied crew.

They want you to share their dishonor.

Let's go!

Is this our fate?

Is this our destiny?

We rode out of hell,

leaving behind so many fallen comrades.

I have to save the rest.

What happened to them?

Did they leave me here?

Are they coming back?

Did you do something to them?

Did you do something to them?

Eat.

You told me not to eat the lotus flower.

Just tonight, so you can get some sleep.

And tomorrow, when you're ready, you will remember.

You will remember your crew,

your family.

A wife?

I have a wife?

It's all right, Melantho.

Strangers don't come in here.

Screen or no screen,

after three years of feasting together, we're far from strangers, Penelope.

Are you trying to marry me or ruin my reputation?

Melantho can be discreet.

I'm actually here out of concern for your reputation.

Everyone sees how hard you work.

Slow, steady progress.

But every night you unravel what you've done.

Leave us.

You can't expect her to be loyal to a master she never even knew.

I expect her to be loyal to me.

And she will be when you're married to me.

Slaves have no choice

but to be loyal to the future,

and this household is waiting for a master,

just as Ithaca is a kingdom waiting for a king.

Ithaca's king is coming back.

No, he's not.

Did you know that as a boy I tried to go with him to Troy?

He never told me that.

Odysseus refused to let me.

He knew that Ithaca needed a future without him.

And he saw me as part of that future.

I won't tell the other suitors about

your deception.

Finish your weaving.

It's time to let him go.

Why would you marry someone who loves someone else?

Your loyalty to Odysseus

is one of your finest qualities.

I love you.

I want you to choose me and end all this.

You can't tell me you're not tired

of the waiting, of the uncertainty.

You've done your duty

year after year,

after year.

It's time to think of yourself,

to live again.

That's what Odysseus would have wanted.

I'll take care of all your needs.

My queen.

And my son?

The throne is his. He is the heir.

Unless we have a child of our own.

Where is Telemachus?

He's gone inland,

to visit his grandfather.

She's lying,

he sailed.

He went in search of his father.

Where?

To Sparta,

to Menelaus.

Well, should we go there?

You are always too loud, Melanthius, for a cowherd!

He was listening!

I was coming for Argos.

That dog stays here. Go back to the farm.

We need your pigs. We'll send Melanthius.

You're no longer welcome in this palace, old man.

I answer to my mistress.

Does she even know your name?

Now go.

Telemachus will have to return by the temple at Pylos.

Take your men and wait there.

So you can stay and try to charm the queen?

I don't think so.

He needs to die on that road.

Irus has a plan.

I want everyone in his party dead, in a ditch with their throats slit.

Telemachus and his men will be ready for bandits on the road to Pylos.

but if bandits take the temple from the priests before they arrive...

Then bring me part of Telemachus as proof.

His nose.

Would you recognize him only by his nose?

And his ears too.

Who taught you?

My father's swineherd.

His swineherd? His most loyal servant.

Odysseus left his most loyal servant behind?

He was always the smartest.

The only one Agamemnon ever listened to.

Should have listened harder.

May I ask what happened to your brother?

His wife betrayed him,

she killed him.

What did you do to them?

His son Orestes killed them both.

He killed his own mother?

He avenged his father,

but you don't have to worry.

Your mother has nothing in common with Clytemnestra.

Maybe not,

but the suitors have convinced the elders it's time she remarried.

It's not a good time for an empty throne.

You've heard the stories of the people from the sea.

Have you been raided? - Not yet, but the attacks seem closer.

Sparta is ready.

What about Ithaca?

Would she be able to raise an army and defend herself?

Someone's got to take the throne.

Then the battle is there, not here, son.

You've run from the trouble

and left your mother at the mercy of the suitors.

Should I hire mercenaries?

Go home and kill them all?

Murder rich and powerful guests in your own home?

You'd be exiled.

What then?

You must evict them without violating Zeus's law.

I have to take the throne

and know if Odysseus is alive.

This has nothing to do with a father you never knew.

You have to lead,

no matter what's happened to Odysseus.

You need to remember.

No, I don't.

I don't need to know the truth. I'm happy here with you.

Then why are you gathering the bones of your old ship to make a raft?

Remember your crew,

your journey.

I heard the song of the sirens.

Put wax in the men's ears.

None for me. Tie me to the mast.

Why? - I want to hear the sirens' song.

That's a bad idea. No one's ever heard the song and lived.

That's why it's a good idea. I'll be the first.

No matter how hard I plead,

don't untie me until we're well clear.

Check the men's ears.

A week's rations for the first who says, "I hear!"

What was the sirens' song?

All the things you want it to be,

and then

everything you wish you'd never wished for.

It was that delicious itch you go to scratch,

but find it's under the skin and you can't reach it.

So the delicious itch becomes unbearable.

It told you what you most want

is what you most can't have.

And what you most can't have

is what you already had

and lost.

It was the song of every promise I failed to keep.

It told me that I don't really want to go home.

White water!

Straight ahead!

Charybdis,

the monstrous whirlpool.

Hoist the sails!

Quickly!

Raise the anchor!

Can we head out to sea?

It's already got us.

Course north!

We might make that channel. - It's too narrow.

Make for the whirlpool,

steer down the slope to build enough speed to shoot out the other side.

Don't be afraid. We can do it.

We're making for the channel! The channel!

Oars in!

Starboard oars,

prepare to hold water!

On my signal!

Oars out!

We made it through!

We did it!

We did it.

You guys...

Hold the course!

Hold the course!

You knew

and you didn't tell us!

If I'd told you, you wouldn't have chosen this way.

And those men would still be alive?

No, we'd all be dead!

You had no right!

I had every right and every responsibility!

That whirlpool would have destroyed the ship and every one of us.

This way we live. - Some of us live!

What else did Tiresias tell you?

I'm gonna put in there.

We can't land there. That's the Sun God's island!

We need to make repairs!

These men are exhausted! We lost six shipmates!

We're gonna put in and rest up on dry land.

You're all going to die!

You asked what Tiresias told me.

He said you're all going to die

if you slaughter

the Sun God's cattle that graze on this island.

You will all die.

That's fine.

We'll put in. We'll cook our own provisions.

We'll pick fruit.

We'll get water. Nothing more.

Swear to it.

All of you.

See?

The wind took us right in.

We'll rest up, do the repairs,

and set out as soon as the wind changes.

Grab that line!

Did your crew keep their promise?

Yes.

For a long time.

But the wind never changed.

The steady onshore breeze that made it so easy for us to land

made it impossible to leave.

And our provisions ran out.

Run!

Did you think that if you ate quietly, the Sun God wouldn't notice?

We thought you wouldn't notice.

I am not the problem,

I wanted you to live.

Tiresias told you. Circe told you. The gods told you.

The gods don't speak in ways we understand.

Who doesn't understand pain,

blood, or death?

When you watch your men die, do you see chance or consequence?

I see consequence. I see my failure.

What if their deaths marked their own failure?

I lead them.

I led them here.

And who led you?

Why do you put yourself above the gods? Why do you claim responsibility?

Why don't you want to go home?

What did you expect?

They ran out of food.

Have some pity.

My pity is what put us on that damn island!

I told you what would happen! - Yes, you did.

And we decided we'd rather drown than starve.

Well, now's our chance.

The wind has dropped!

The calm lasted just long enough to lure us onto Poseidon's ocean,

under Zeus's sky.

Steer us against the wind!

Let us pray to the gods!

Steer us against the wind!

Steer us against the wind!

Give it to the gods!

Brace!

Brace for the tempest!

The last thing I remember was the harsh hand of Zeus.

Eurylochus!

I don't know what happened to my men.

Yes, you do.

Exactly what you told them would happen.

I washed up on your shore alone.

You washed up on my shore

with some of your boat and none of your crew,

half-dead, unconscious.

I watched you, lost,

for days

and weeks.

I knew the lotus would ease your awakening,

so your pain would be more of the body than the mind.

And it did.

You liked it so much.

you ate of it willingly.

And as I cared for you...

Thank you.

I came to love you.

How long have I been here?

I kept telling myself to stop giving it to you,

that you were strong enough to remember.

How long, Calypso? - You were happy.

And you were happy.

We were happy for years.

For years?

Seven years.

You fed me lotus flower and held me captive.

I saved your life.

I rebuilt your body,

but I couldn't bring myself to rebuild your mind.

You have been happy,

but your heart

was always somewhere else,

and your mind was bound to follow eventually.

How could you?

The lotus clouds the mind

and stops the will, but it doesn't change who you are.

You weren't ready to go home, for whatever reason.

I am now.

As I always knew you would be.

How?

You were clutching something when I found you. Your hand wouldn't open for weeks.

You'd call out,

Mostly Athena,

but sometimes you would say another name.

Penelope.

Help me go home.

I am.

You're a man who needs to control his fate.

But you cannot control this.

You must give yourself to the storm,

give yourself to Poseidon,

and take your punishment.

Zeus won't let him kill you.

Give up the fight. Give up control and live.

It's a leap of faith

you've never yet made, Odysseus.

Odysseus?

Where am I?

Don't you recognize your own home?

Zeus welcomes you, strangers.

How many are you?

Half a dozen.

In need of a meal?

And supplies

for the road.

Where are you headed? We need pigs.

We're going all the way to Pylos.

Are you pilgrims?

Do we look like pilgrims?

I can't see well.

As Zeus demands, I offer you a meal, but these pigs aren't mine to sell.

Oh, don't worry. - We're not paying.

Give my greetings to your mother.

Tell her I'm sorry

for Troy and for everything that happened in my name.

I'm sorry I had no news of your father.

No, you had news.

not where he is, but who he is.

And now, more than ever, I hope to meet him one day.

Where are your guard dogs, old man?

I'm burning their bodies.

Can Zeus offer you food and drink, stranger?

Were you attacked?

Did those dogs save your farmhands?

No. First, we burned his brothers.

What happened to Ithaca?

Darkness.

The law of Zeus lies in pieces,

a kingdom without a king since my master died.

Your master?

Odysseus.

The hero of the Trojan War.

But Odysseus is alive.

Another beggar with his false hopes!

Enough!

Telemachus...

Telemachus?

He's in danger. I can't help him.

Others in Ithaca must be willing to help Odysseus's son.

The palace is controlled by the suitors.

No one remains loyal to Odysseus.

What about the queen?

Beautiful, blameless Penelope,

held hostage by the worst men,

soon to be forced into marriage.

What could she do without even her son?

Here, drink.

What's the danger to Telemachus?

He is on his way back from Sparta.

The suitors sent bandits to Pylos to ambush him at the temple.

Give me food for the road.

You won't catch up with the bandits.

If I can reach Pylos before Telemachus, I can warn him.

Why are you helping?

If I tell you, don't be angry.

I served under Odysseus at Troy. - Really?

He was a harsh taskmaster. - Oh, but fair.

Fair, and worth following.

You loved him?

Like a son.

Well, he's not dead.

Is he coming home?

Soon.

Bringing vengeance.

The most terrible.

Don't talk. We don't want people realizing who you are.

Well, maybe we shouldn't have brought a guard.

We'll be glad we did if we have trouble on the road.

I bear a message. Wait!

Eumaeus sends me!

Find that beggar.

Your men must wait out here. The weapons, too.

Zeus welcomes you, strangers.

Have you traveled far?

Not that far.

You're here to rest for the night?

We're here to make a sacrifice to Athena.

And whatever hospitality you can offer might be considered.

Of course. Get that beggar out of here.

He has a message for me.

Did Eumaeus send you?

Yes, sir.

Well, what's the message?

It's private.

These men are...

These men are priests.

This is your moment to leave, old man.

Go, stranger.

I already spared one old man this week,

but he was blind. I won't spare two.

Not bad for a beggar.

No one is born a beggar.

Take this priest's robes and put them over your armor.

Help me with his body. - We have to leave him.

No. We have to slip out.

That's not how you honor the dead. - That is how you stay alive.

He was my teacher.

He might have been Athena in disguise. - His name was Mentor.

When you're out of danger, we'll go into the unknown west to honor him.

These men were sent by the suitors.

There will be more of them. We need to get on the road.

By night? - Safer than staying here.

Mentor's at the heart of Athena's oldest temple.

For now, we'll honor him in flame.

In the fire!

So how does a beggar come to know Mentor?

I told you. I wasn't always a beggar.

You have wise eyes. Athena's eyes.

Don't look for gods in men. You'll just be disappointed.

Well, then tell me who you are.

My name is Sinon,

I'm an old soldier who fought under your father's command at Troy.

You knew my father?

I've been taking orders from him for longer than I care to remember.

Wait, he's alive?

He's alive.

Well, where is he?

He's close by

and sent me ahead to assess the situation.

Well, Mother's not gonna believe it. - No, you can't tell her.

What, nothing?

Tell her...

he's decided it's time she remarried.

He doesn't need to test my mother. How can he doubt her?

He doesn't,

but she has every reason to have forgotten him.

Are there any loyal servants left?

Some.

When Odysseus reveals himself, everyone will be loyal.

We need to gather the suitors at the palace.

That's never a problem.

Do you bring gifts from Menelaus?

Yes, on my ship.

Good.

Come back as a prince.

Call a banquet.

I'll be there.

What will you do at the banquet?

Beg.

The clearest view of a man is from below.

How many suitors are there?

Dozens.

- But if all his men are like you... - He doesn't have any men.

What, it's just you?

And you.

Telemachus is back. - What?

Telemachus is back!

Who says so? - Everyone!

Where is Telemachus?

My queen, it's best if you stay upstairs!

Is it true?

He returned!

I'm back.

I thought tonight we could celebrate.

If we have anything left to celebrate with.

Don't worry. My brave suitors will shower us with gifts to honor your return.

So glad to see you're safe, Telemachus.

Glad to see you on your feet.

It's about time we took you back to the palace.

What did you learn about your father?

Nothing.

Stories from the war, but no one knew what happened to him after he left Troy.

I'm sorry, Mom.

Everyone in Sparta is talking about a coming catastrophe,

an age of darkness brought on by people from the sea violating Zeus's law.

Those stories are true.

our civilization is collapsing.

Menelaus is concerned that we can't raise an army with an empty throne,

so we came up with a plan.

What plan?

There's one way to get the suitors to leave.

It's time for you to choose.

You want me to remarry?

If you remarry, the other suitors will leave,

and then I'm only dealing with one of them.

I'm almost of age. I'll tell the elders I learned of Odysseus's death in Sparta.

Menelaus will back me up, and they'll let me assume the throne.

So you deny your father, and I leave my home to live with one of these snakes?

That's your plan? - Would you have a better one?

Lock the door, set a fire,

and burn the bastards!

Do you think if I remarry, life goes back to the way it was?

That world is gone.

And in this one,

they're not giving up power to you or Odysseus.

If he returned, they'd have him killed,

like you will.

If I kill them,

their families will demand revenge. I'd be exiled.

And without me, the throne would be lost.

Because only a man can sit on it.

"An empty throne"?

I've been sitting on this empty throne for twenty years.

My knowledge, my years of experience

are all nothing compared with the bristles on your chin.

Do you want peace

or do you want revenge?

I want Odysseus!

Sing,

O Muse, of a face!

A face!

A fleet!

A war!

At Troy!

Sing, O Muse, of a man!

A man!

An idea!

Cunning!

Eumaeus, walk ahead of me.

Argos.

You should bury him up on the cliffs.

Where you found each other?

You are Odysseus.

You are my father.

I am a beggar.

And you,

are the worthy,

beautiful son

of Odysseus.

A son who,

when you finally meet,

will make him so proud.

Welcome home,

stranger.

Because the darkness of victory

shrouds the brightest of legends

and makes bards and blind beggars of us all!

Accept the hospitality of Zeus.

Get the stranger some food.

No, sir.

I'll just make the rounds with the bowl.

Had to invite another one of these filthy plate lickers today?

What's one more beggar at this feast?

We need to kill him before he regains his position with the elders.

How?

Provoke him.

Get him to grab one of the weapons.

He is no longer our young pup to be mocked.

So we'll return tonight to slaughter him.

Fuck off, man. - Please.

It's been days since I've eaten. - I told you to fuck off.

You can't be generous with food that's not even yours?

There's no room in your bowl.

Yes, there is.

Here you go.

I suppose you want something from me now. - No.

I have something for you.

You have something for me?

You have something for me!

What could a filthy old plate licker like you

possibly have

that I could want?

Actually, it's yours.

I was asked to return it to you.

It's not mine.

No?

Where did you get this?

Don't turn your back on me!

Antinous.

You can't treat a beggar like that. - It's Zeus's law.

Zeus's law?

You think this is a god?

You think this is a god in disguise?

Are you?

Are you a god,

plate licker?

I am a veteran of the Trojan War.

A veteran of the Trojan War.

What is your name, veteran?

Sinon.

Does that name mean anything to you?

- No. - It honors the bravest young man I ever met.

Sinon?

Wasn't that a shepherd's boy?

I don't remember that.

Yeah, yeah. He wanted you to take his place.

Where did you find this?

Where you will soon be.

Meaning?

In Hades.

Enough!

The feast is over.

Let's go.

It's not mine!

The queen would like to speak with you.

Stay till everyone's left and the fires are out, then.

...

Hello, traveler.

My queen.

Melantho,

have Eurycleia wash the stranger's feet.

That's not necessary.

My husband insisted we honor guests as family.

You know of Odysseus, my husband?

Of course.

From the songs.

I was at Troy, ma'am.

The songs probably seem silly.

They make me cry...

Why?

For what was lost.

The lives?

And the years.

Everything.

Did you know Odysseus in Troy?

I did.

Was there some detail of how he dressed?

Something he wore?

He wore a strange pin.

Strange?

Beautiful,

but out of place!

Describe it.

I'll get more water.

It was a beautiful

gold pin,

a figure of Athena encircled by vines.

Did he wear it often?

He never took it off.

How is it that you made it home when Odysseus could not?

I'm not home. Not yet.

Why not?

It's not always an easy thing, a homecoming.

That's as true for Odysseus as for me.

The Odysseus I knew

would have found or fought his way back to me,

no matter what.

What if the Odysseus you knew lost his way?

What if,

one night,

in a strange city,

he saw things

that made him think the home he knew

couldn't possibly be there anymore?

What if,

when he left the belly of the horse

and opened the gates of Troy,

he saw ten years of rage

pour into that city in one night?

Come, everyone!

Quick!

We had left them

a gift,

a peace offering,

which they took

to their home.

We violated all that's ever sacred

between people,

and turned a fight...

Destroy their idols!

into a hunt.

To burn the walls of Troy

was to burn the world entire,

including his home.

What if he knew

that very night,

as he walked through fires

of anarchy and pain?

And in the days of sweaty celebrations to follow,

what if he knew exactly

what he'd done?

what you all had done.

One man's idea,

one man's trick,

to break Zeus's law

forever.

We lived in a world of palaces,

of trade

and of language,

blind to its beauty,

until we broke it.

You are the Sea People.

Yes, my queen.

The breaking of Zeus's law is spreading like a plague.

Our age of bronze is collapsing.

Maybe he couldn't bear to see the ruins of what he'd done

anywhere,

least of all his home.

But Odysseus is alive

and he'll be here when you need him most.

Well,

I've been living in his ruins long enough.

Bring the suitors at dawn. Remove the arms from the hall.

In a few hours, one suitor will be happy, and the rest angry, vengeful men.

No weapons will be allowed during the contest

and the doors will be locked.

I'll marry whoever completes my challenge.

How will we take on the suitors?

Not "we".

Their blood belongs on my hands.

Or you'd face exile.

Won't you?

Just make sure they can't get those weapons.

I'll see to it.

Even unarmed, there are so many of them,

and you won't have a weapon.

Well, I'll have a weapon.

Your mother's seen to that.

Gather the servants you trust

to lock the arms in the upper storage room.

Quickly, put the weapons away.

Quick.

Zeus seems interested in the outcome.

But what's the trial?

For years,

while my husband's been gone,

you've commandeered this palace for your feasting.

Your excuse was you wanted to win my hand in marriage.

As I've listened to you party,

and fight,

corrupt my servants,

and disrespect my home,

I wanted nothing more than for Odysseus to return and see all this for himself.

But last night,

I realized

he's not here now,

and he never will be.

So,

I stand ready to marry anyone here

who can string this hunting bow

and shoot an arrow through those twelve axes.

Step up

and show me who you are.

Eumaeus?

Who's first?

Give me that bow.

It can't be done.

By you.

As a child, I saw Odysseus do it with ease.

Then you do it.

I'll wait my turn.

Why don't we warm the bow and oil the string?

This bow hasn't been strung in years.

Your turn.

There's no need.

The queen has made her point:

We can't replace Odysseus.

Some of us have always known that,

and some of us would have followed that great man to Troy,

if he'd let us.

But he never came back.

so choose the best of us,

all of us who failed your test.

I haven't.

Somebody get these beggars out of here!

The doors are locked until the trial's over.

The trial is over.

I want to try.

Give it a rest.

He has the right to try.

If he won't, he may as well.

You're making a mockery of your mother's wishes.

My mother's wishes are for you all to burn.

He's an old archer.

Look at the expert at work.

Sponger!

Give up, old man!

What are you afraid of?

that's enough.

Let him try.

You're Odysseus.

You'd better stay down.

Go!

Is it him?

It is him!

Grab the weapons!

Where are the weapons? - Upstairs.

Go get them!

What are you waiting for?

He will kill us all.

Watch out!

I told you! Too loud, cowherd!

Yes!

Take the swords!

Take the shields!

The spears!

Use the spears!

Did you think you could kill us all?

As long as I kill you!

Finish him.

Father.

When you get to Hades...

tell my men

I will head west and honor them.

And tell Sinon,

I gave you back your shame.

And now?

Did you defeat them?

Is he dead?

We broke the fragile bonds between people.

And for centuries of darkness to follow,

the stories of Troy

will only be sung.

Odysseus, my love!

Odysseus,

my love,

you've returned.

At last,

in the final hour

to see my beloved Ithaca

for the last time.

No. You can't.

Not now, please. I've waited so long.

You can't die.

Not death,

exile.

Telemachus will be king.

We'll head into the unknown west

to honor my men

together.

Take your fastest ship

and greatest crew,

and head for the horizon.

Chasing the escaping sun.

Why will these stories survive only in song?

Because songs will be all that remains to remember those of us who could write.

Civilization will rise again.

And a dawn will break over the darkening world,

and our mistakes will once again be forgotten.