Original subtitles

A trick to break the walls of Troy, it's in the ground.

Common gods respect their offering.

Save it from the waves, take it to Athena's temple.

The war is over.

Not this time.

Tell them if who's wine they're drinking.

I don't want Odysseus to song, I want Odysseus.

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

In this world, a man does what he chooses.

I do what I can.

I am a man.

No, Mom.

So throw them out.

Break Zeus' law and see what they do to you if you give them that excuse.

I've already lost a husband.

I don't want to lose a son.

Dad's coming back.

Where is he?

Eight years since Troy fell.

Almost 20 since he left us.

Where is he?

All of you.

Are you calling us beggars?

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

We've only enjoyed your hospitality for so long.

Because your mother won't choose.

She's already married.

Odysseus is dead.

What do you know about my dad?

I know he kept stringing cattle with bad wine.

You had the best of it the first two seasons.

And I know he never came home.

Not yet.

You're pining for a daddy you didn't even know.

Like some sniveling bastard.

Well since none of us can really know who our fathers are,

don't claim that I'm lying.

But I did know him.

As boys.

We watched him hunt.

I tried to volunteer for his expedition to Troy.

He told me to stay here and keep an eye on you.

Me or my mother?

You can't blame me for looking.

My dad is coming home.

And his hospitality won't be as generous as hers.

So he doesn't follow Zeus' law then?

Zeus' law tells us to treat strangers as we'd be treated

because they might be gods in disguise.

I think we've established, Antinous, that you are not a god.

This one certainly doesn't smell like a god.

Wouldn't be much of a disguise if he did.

Careful.

He might strike you down right now.

That thunder was luck.

I don't know.

You have wise eyes.

Seen his eyes.

Here.

You sailed with traitors?

From Sparta.

Has Menelaus come home from the war?

Years ago.

Odysseus never came back?

We don't even know if he's alive.

Have you heard anything?

The song of how he won the war.

We've all heard that.

Anything else?

No.

But Sparta is full of Trojan war veterans.

Someone will know something.

You're Odysseus' son?

Go to Sparta.

Go.

See Menelaus.

He'd welcome you.

The queen wants to speak to the stranger.

She lifts her nose.

Just don't try to give her any false hope.

She has some way of knowing whether a person

has actually seen Odysseus.

You see that man?

He can't see much anymore but that doesn't

stop him beating travelers to death

in exchange for lies about my father.

Too fast.

How can you know?

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

Mentor push him.

Too fast.

He's as friendly as you.

He only answered to your father.

Where'd he get him from?

He met right here.

I'll take him.

For your boy?

For a hunting dog.

Damned if he wasn't right.

But still, how bad a scar do you want?

Why do you always pluck your bow?

It's only fair.

To warn your prey?

To fight with honor.

But you weren't fighting, you were hunting.

Hunting's nothing but fighting with stealth.

Clever.

Clever but your cleverness is gonna get you in trouble.

Try again.

This time not as fast or precise.

You can't win with a perfect defense.

Draw the attack.

How?

Hesitate.

Open your belly to your opponent's blade.

Their attack becomes your chance.

You teach my father that?

No, no.

He taught me.

He said you're not always going to be the strongest or the fastest.

So be the smartest.

What would he do, huh?

If he came back here to find all these suitors in his house?

Don't.

I can't even let myself imagine what he'd do to them.

There are so many.

Cut a couple down, the others cave, bullies and cowards.

Most of them were old enough to go to Troy,

but when they saw Agamemnon sail, their fathers hit them.

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

So he raised his army by lottery.

Name?

Sinon.

Draw.

No.

Name?

Antinous.

Draw.

Yes.

By lots?

Antinous told me he volunteered.

Your boy's trying to take Sinon's place.

I'm not going to let him.

He needs to stay here, take care of his family.

You can watch over your boy, too.

Of course.

He's with me.

He wanted Antinous to look after me.

No, no, no.

But Odysseus was sensitive to a father's shame.

He fell for his father's.

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

So he knew it would be years.

Did he tell my mother?

That's a question for her.

You may ask, is he ever coming back?

Hargis thinks so.

Never known a dog reads 20.

But he's long outlived his master.

I didn't mean to stop you.

The elders decreed when I finish your grandfather's burial shroud,

it'll be time to remarry.

Why?

Ithaca's been without a king too long.

They want security.

From what?

People from the sea.

That's just Traveler's Tales.

All we know of the world is Traveler's Tales.

That's how we found out Troy had fallen.

Now they all tell stories of attacks by people from the sea.

And who are the people from the sea?

No one knows.

But the elders wanted the good to be prepared.

Prepared?

Part of the greatest civilization ever known.

Look at this great house.

It's known as old as knowledge.

Had the mercy of some greedy, unwanted guests.

The structure's nothing without people's respect for its meaning.

Zeus's law.

Treat others as you would be treated.

And they abuse that.

They destroy everything.

So how could you think of marrying one of them?

Because a long time ago, your father asked me to.

Hagamemnon is our king.

The Trojans took his brother to life.

Or she ran away with them.

Either way, the walls of Troy

are said to be impregnable.

We'll sit outside that great city,

trying to draw them into battle.

As the years go by, the Telemachus grows.

And you learn life without me.

Menelaus will give up on Helen.

This is Hagamemnon's excuse

to break Troy's control of the trading routes.

Won't let it pass.

If he refused, he would never.

He sacrificed his own daughter for favorable wins.

God's want his daughter's life.

The power of a sacrifice

is in the cost to the person making it.

Return soon.

If at all.

The brightest crew and headed for the horizon,

held hands on deck as we rode west at dusk,

chasing the escaping sun.

There's a world beyond these walls.

Vengeance.

You'll take another husband.

Enough sacrifice.

Love's not a sacrifice.

Of course it is.

I want you to make it.

It's not up to you.

No.

Promise me you'll come back.

Then your memory won't be making my decisions.

I'm not sure it suits me.

If the people from the sea are real,

right now, Ithaca has no king or he's an army.

I could take this role.

That's not fair.

You said only he could string this bow.

He was happy to let others try.

He'd line up all the axes.

Mom, they're bleeding us dry,

so you'll be forced to choose one of them before I can claim the throne myself.

The traveler told me Menelaus returned years ago.

They've all returned.

All who survived.

Maybe he is dead.

And if he is, then this is my palace.

We need to know.

I have to go to Menelaus to find out the truth.

Do that because these suitors mean you harm.

Oh, you think I don't know that?

Dad, every night they push me to give them the excuse they need.

I'm out there on the sea, on the road.

You don't want me to claim the throne myself.

You just want to keep me in my place so that you can stay queen of Ithaca.

I've had enough of being queen of Ithaca without my king.

Without your king or a king?

You're ready to take your father's place, your child.

Too loud, Melanthius.

Don't wear your spurs in the palace, you're a cowherd.

Not a horse.

And you're a pig farmer.

And who are you to talk to me like that?

A servant our master left in charge of his herdsmen.

The master is long gone, you blind old fool.

And you're about as welcome here as that dog is.

Argus!

Argus!

Argus!

Argus!

Say, he didn't do anything?

So that stink is you?

Leave the old dog alone.

Which one?

Both of us.

What did you say?

He just got carried away.

Argus is my father's hunting dog.

His hunting dog?

Look at that thing.

Get it out of here, we're trying to-

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

Okay.

You might put it out of his misery.

Leave him alone!

My son!

Easy, easy.

Young pup lost his head.

Show some mercy.

Drink some more of his wine.

I'll take care of this.

It's my father's hunting dog.

He's only living to see Odysseus return.

He's fine.

I'll put him on the dung heap out front so he can greet his master a little sooner.

That dog stays out there!

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

You're clear.

He's the only people you trust.

You pricked 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 be behind me if they know Odysseus is dead.

His suitors will never know that.

You will never make it back alive again.

Tell Lintor 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.

Ships ready, tides right.

Have I ever told you that you have Y's eyes, Athena's eyes?

Once or twice.

You haven't even asked me where we're going yet.

Where are we going?

I'll find my dad.

He's alive.

I can feel it in the wind and the waves.

He's out there somewhere.

Wandering, injured, lost.

I don't know.

But he's alive.

More dreams?

Men drowning.

Inside some dark space.

Firelight on stone.

I don't know.

Don't you want to remember?

Why can't God speak in ways we understand?

Who doesn't understand thunder?

The fire.

A child's smile.

Good harvest.

You hide yourselves from us.

Look.

Who's moving that cloud?

Massing those birds?

Who's moving the water?

Who were you talking to?

Athena came to me again.

She's telling me to remember.

To leave.

Why would you 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.

What we have here could last forever.

Forever is for God's.

Are you a God?

You want to remember,

but what if remembering destroys your happiness?

Then it wasn't real.

No.

No more.

But I love it.

Stop eating the lotus.

Tell me what you want.

Tell me what you remember.

After Troy.

We won the war.

And then what?

Ten years on this fucking beach.

Let's go home.

Remember who we leave here.

Do we have enough provisions?

We've taken enough from Troy.

Another stop or two won't kill us.

It's still the oars.

We'll raise the sail.

Follow the southerly winds.

Yes, sir.

Agamemnon's rowing west on the known provisions route.

He's got more mouths to feed.

We'll find places to land.

Are you sure it's a risk?

I've followed Agamemnon long enough.

With a little luck and the right winds,

we'll see some of the world

still be home before Agamemnon.

Just keep the bear on the right.

Lucky bastard.

We're down to our last supplies.

Assemble a landing party.

Food and water.

Enough for three weeks.

What if it won't give it?

How badly do you want to get home?

Get your weapons ready.

Raging.

Move it.

Harrowing.

Pondering.

Ask him why they abandoned their village

instead of welcoming us.

Why didn't you welcome us?

We didn't know.

We were passing by for the sea people.

You're not one of them.

This says they thought we were the sea people.

No.

We're Greeks.

From Ithaca.

Maybe you heard of our victory at Troy.

We're headed west on the southerly winds.

If you're going to show your loyalty,

I hope you didn't do it.

You won't like what you'll find there.

He says if we go that way,

we won't like the things we'll find.

After years of war,

no one could stand between my men

and home.

Not even me.

Something happened?

Key bastard.

Someone lives here.

Yeah, they make cheese.

Pretty good.

There's a lot of it.

We should leave.

We've brought nothing to trade with.

Zeus' law.

I don't know if whoever lives here

has heard of Zeus' law.

Or Zeus for that matter.

Everyone's heard of Zeus' law.

Get the fire going.

We'll welcome the owner back.

Get away from the fire.

Let's out its flock.

We'll rush the entrance.

Rest up.

Jam something in the cave mouth.

Leave a gap.

Maybe.

But what?

There's law.

It'll notice.

But grab the thin end,

put it in the fire.

How much rope do we have?

How big's the flock?

A couple dozen, maybe.

That's too many of us.

When it comes back,

two of us have to get out.

Or at least get killed.

Run low through the flock

towards the entrance

and then split wide.

So we can only grab one of them?

Right.

Four of us should make the run.

Two and two.

Why risk more men?

He ate two of us last night.

But one other two before he sleeps.

Go, go, go!

What about it?

We just leave him here to run?

Has food for that thing?

Dead Odysseus.

He died helping us escape.

We'll honor him by escaping.

He can talk.

Why didn't he talk before?

Do you talk to ants?

Should we reason with it?

We're past that.

What are you doing?

No!

You lost good soldiers to that beast.

Yeah, and that beast

was the son of Poseidon.

What?

When we put its eye out,

we heard it crying his name.

That thing was a monster.

I heard it too.

So now the sea is against us?

And the wind.

Why are we supposed to get home

with Poseidon against us?

We can't live by omens and sacrifices.

Do you know how many times

I've heard you weeping,

praying to Athena since we left Troy?

Couldn't you have shown some mercy?

Take this.

Wear it.

To remember those we couldn't bury.

The gods helped those who helped themselves.

From that moment,

every rough sea or headwind

told the crew we were 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.

But if anyone asks,

we're traitors from Crete.

Then we'll figure out

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.

Sid, not you.

You're a boy of hospitality.

As Zeus demands,

the aircraft should tell us who you are.

You'll take the right day to arrive.

Feast on my daughter's wedding.

Tomorrow she leaves

to start a new life.

You don't look like a beggar.

Imagine you know who I am.

I'm not last.

The son of Atreus.

Brother of Agamemnon.

The husband of Helen.

Perhaps you've heard of Helen.

Face.

I launched a thousand ships.

That may be now just 500.

Left on the battlefields of Troy

for that face.

For your brother's ambition.

This one looks familiar.

Hey, Jax.

Achilles.

I don't miss him as much as one

particular warrior.

He was the smartest of us all.

Ten years we rotted on that beach.

Deadlocked to one man.

You ever hear the story of the horse?

What did you hear from the inside, man?

We were in there for days.

We squeezed inside before the ship set sail.

And as yet he knew that no one could know

that we were inside.

Not even sinning.

The soldier we left behind.

The first two tides are men drowned

right in front of us.

Are they silent?

Or piss and shit?

A gift.

Some gods respect their offering.

When did you last see a free...

Righteous.

The gods granted our righteous victory

but did not bless our voyages.

Took me years to get home.

And he didn't.

Some did and wish they hadn't.

Tell him.

Tell him about your brother.

About the fate to the gods

bestowed on him after your righteous struggle.

About his hero's welcome.

About how Agamemnon made it home years before us.

Tell him how he was welcomed by his queen,

my twin sister Clytemnestra.

No, no.

Tell him how she...

No!

He does not want to hear about my brother!

Not from any of your men.

Or Agamemnon's were traitors to travelers.

You come here for somers.

Is that what you're interested in?

Gossip.

You're in the right place.

Anyone want to spin a story about Odysseus?

Some say he's rich or some say poor.

Some say he perished.

Some say he's in prison.

What say you?

In prison.

Out of prison.

Tell me what you do remember.

Men became more and more convinced

that I defended Poseidon.

We're here in peace.

We just need some food.

We need food.

Can you understand that?

It's just a child.

If that's a child, what about its parents?

It's okay.

No, no, no, no.

Follow the ghost.

What if they have ships?

We need to get as far away as possible.

We've lost our way.

We need to find food and get our bearings.

Turn to port.

A nitrogen at the beach!

Form a landing party.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

Leave someone with the tenders.

We think you should stay.

We?

All of us.

Still alive.

Is this a mutiny?

That's up to you.

Give me your boat.

I'll make sure we eat tonight.

No matter what you find.

No, no, it's okay.

It's okay.

It's all right.

No one's gonna hurt you.

If I do what you want.

No one is going to hurt you.

My name's Urilicus.

What's your name?

Cersei.

Cersei?

We need food.

Badly.

We have food.

You let me.

Your weapons.

Your armor.

Put it out the back.

You like my meat?

Why?

Do you have so much?

You never know when strangers will come.

Or them.

What's their appetites?

Too much is never enough.

URILICUS!

Give me your dagger.

Why don't you just come here?

Did 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.

Enjoy the hospitality of Zeus.

Grab a hog.

You can slaughter it for your dinner.

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

Here.

That 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 all alone.

But no one comes here alone.

No?

You can only reach this spot by sea.

Where are your shipmates?

I'm looking for them.

Anyone happen to come this way?

But you prepared all this food.

You're questioning me?

You?

The traveler who's clearly starving.

It hasn't touched the food in front of him.

Claims to be a sailor, yet wears a great warrior's armor.

And who breaks Zeus's law by bringing a dagger into his hostess's house.

You have sharp eyes.

Sharpened by the gods.

Do they grant you insights?

Truths.

Sometimes.

Would they tell you where I could find my men?

You're a man.

That's right.

They would.

And would you tell me?

Perhaps.

If you give me your dagger.

Why would I help a liar who refuses my hospitality?

I remember here earlier.

Now they're not.

Who, Don?

Yes.

Leaving their rings.

I don't know who this girl is to you.

If you don't put that knife down, I will throttle it to find her.

Don't hurt her.

Family.

Mother.

Your sister.

You did this to her like you turned my men into pigs.

I didn't turn your men into anything.

Look at them.

This is who they are.

Look at them.

Base.

Disgusting.

Primal urges that you value in battle.

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

And you think that's against their nature?

You think they only did that because you ordered them to?

A true commander thinks his men's savagery is actually discipline.

And you don't seem that deluded.

But you sent them to me here.

On my own.

A gang of filthy soldiers with empty bellies and hot blood.

You thought they'd respect me and my home?

Look at them.

Know your own men.

They would've.

They just want to go home.

Let them.

Odysseus.

Back to the ship.

Take all the food you can carry.

Leave the meat.

You're not gonna let her live.

She's a witch.

Who gave her powers?

You're gods.

Fill the jugs and skins of the stream.

Be ready to sail at dawn.

Why leave her like this?

We get on better this way.

I'm sorry if we offended you.

We can't get back without your help.

We need to know the way to the trade routes.

You're 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.

Head north into the twilight and head inland until a river of fire meets a river of ice.

There you must dig a trench and fill it with the blood of sacrifice.

Gather the dead and learn how you go home.

You.

Not your men.

You'd curse them?

Not a curse.

A truce.

Your men don't want you to defy the gods.

The gods say only you make it home.

Then I defy the gods.

Sinai.

It's Odysseus.

Sinai.

It's Odysseus.

Then you will hear his testimony.

Odysseus?

Yes.

You lied to everyone.

Did you have to lie to me?

I needed you to believe.

Why did you have to volunteer?

Don't you remember how I came here?

I begged to take Antinous's place.

He'd been called.

He offered money for your family if you 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 add some stuff.

You didn't trust me with the truth.

You knew I'd die for you.

Dying meant 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 the lie with your dying breath,

winning us the war.

I was right there, inches from you, smelling your blood.

What comfort could that give me?

Not knowing you were beside that horse until the dead told me.

Which dead?

A lot of veterans of your campaigns walk these shores.

The dead meet to lament the living and greet the newly dead.

My father was the first shade to find me.

To comfort you.

Shades don't comfort.

They want word of the living who wronged them.

My father had died in poverty, alone,

begging for scraps from people like Antinous.

Antinous cheated you?

Aziz no doubt cheating you.

How?

Who's in Ithaca looking after your wife and son?

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 into the unknown west till you find land.

And there, give 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're headed for home.

Odysseus, the most brilliant of all my generals.

You would never be snared as I was.

When you cast a drift, like us.

No, my misfortune was to make it home.

To be welcomed by my beautiful wife,

bathed, anointed, made soft,

to learn the hardest lesson.

I'd left a poison in her heart years before.

Good part of her heart had gone.

She and her lover had plotted my murder for years.

Odysseus,

Odysseus, yes.

My son Orestes, did he avenge me?

My lord, how could I know?

I'm 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.

Odysseus, 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 in the sea takes all of your lives.

The monster in the cliffs, only six.

But your determination to not sacrifice any more lives

kills all of them.

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 own barrier, Dishonor.

So many fallen comrade.

I have to save the rest.

What's happened to them?

Did they leave me here?

Are they coming back?

Did you do something to them?

Did you do something to them?

You told me not to eat the lotus flower.

Just tonight so you can get some sleep.

And tomorrow when you're ready,

you'll remember for your family.

Family?

Do I have a wife?

It's all right, Melantho.

Strangers don't come in here.

Scream or no scream,

after three years of feasting together,

we're far from strangers, Melody.

Are you trying to marry me or ruin my reputation?

Melantho can be discreet.

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

Oh?

Everyone sees how hard you work.

Slow, steady progress.

But every night you've been unraveling that work.

You can't expect her to be loyal to her master.

She never even knew.

I expect her to be loyal to me.

Then she will be.

And you're married to me.

Slaves have no choice but to be loyal to the future.

This is a household waiting for a master,

just as Ethika is a kingdom waiting for a king.

Ethika's king is coming back.

No, he's not.

Do you know that as a boy,

I tried to go with him to Troy?

He never told me that.

Desi's refused to let me.

He knew that Ethika needed a future without him.

And he saw me as part of that future.

I'll never tell other suitors about your deception.

Finish your weaving.

Why would you want to 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.

Tell me you're not tired.

The waiting, the uncertainty, your duty.

I'll take care of all your needs.

And my son?

The throne is his.

He's the heir, unless we have a child of our own.

Where is Telemachus?

He's gone inland to visit his grandfather.

He's gone from here to his father.

Where?

He's gone to Sparta, to Menelaus.

Well, should we go there?

No.

Move out, Melanthius.

I told you you're a coward.

He was listening.

No, no, no, no.

I was coming for Argus.

I told you that dog stays there.

Go back to the farm.

When 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 come back by the temple at Pylos.

You take your man away from there.

Well, he can stay and try and charm the queen.

I don't think so.

He needs to die on that road, and Iris has a plan.

Iris!

I need everyone in his party dead in a ditch, throats open.

Telemachus and his men will be ready for the bandits

who work the road between here and Pylos.

But if some of them took the temple from the priests

before they arrived, then bring me part of Telemachus' proof.

His nose.

Would you know him only by his nose?

His ears, too.

Who taught you?

My father's swineherd.

Swineherd?

As most loyal servant.

Odysseus left his most loyal servant behind.

He always was the smartest.

Only one Agamemnon ever listened to.

Should have listened harder.

Can I ask what happened to your brother?

His wife betrayed him and murdered him.

What did you do to him?

We sent arrestees.

He killed them both.

But he killed his own mother?

He avenged his father.

But you don't have to worry.

Your mother has nothing in common with Clytemestra.

Maybe not.

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

Yeah.

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

I've heard the stories.

People from the sea.

Have you been raided?

Not yet, but the attacks, they do seem closer.

Sparta's ready.

What about Ithaca?

She'd be able to raise an army, defend herself.

Someone's got to take the throne.

Then the battle is there, not here, son.

You've run from the problem.

Left your mother, the mercy of the suitors.

Should I hire mercenaries?

Go back 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.

I have to know if Odysseus is alive.

This has nothing to do with a father you've never known.

You have to lead, son, 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.

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

Remember your crew.

Your journey.

I heard the sound of the sirens.

Put the wax in the men's ears.

None for me.

Tie me to the mast.

Why?

I want to hear the siren's song.

No.

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, do not untie me until we're well clear.

Check the men's ears.

Awake's rations for the first.

Yes, sir.

What was the siren's song?

You know all the things you want it to be.

The things you wish you never wished for.

A delicious itch, you go to scratch.

To find it's under the skin, you can't reach it.

So the delicious itch becomes unbearable.

Told you what you most want is what you most, you most can't have.

All the promises I failed to keep told me I don't really want to go home.

Charybdis.

A monstrous whirlpool.

Hoist the sails.

Come on, let's go.

We head out to sea.

It's already got us.

We might make that canyon.

It's too narrow.

Make for the whirlpool.

If you steer down the slope, we can make enough way to shoot out the other side.

Don't be afraid.

We can do it.

We're making for the channel.

We're making for the channel.

If I 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.

The whirlpool would have destroyed the ship and all of us.

This way we live.

Some of us live.

Yes.

What else did Tiresias tell you?

I'm gonna put in there.

There.

That's the Sun God's Isle.

We men are exhausted.

I'm on six shipments.

You're gonna put in, we're gonna rest up on dry land.

You're all gonna die.

You asked me what Tiresias told me.

He said you're all gonna die.

If you slaughter the Sun God's cattle, which graze on that island, you'll 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.

We'll set out as soon as the wind changes.

Grab that line.

Did the 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.

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

We thought you wouldn't notice.

I'm not the problem.

I wanted you to live.

Tiresias told you.

Circe told you.

The gods told you.

You gods don't speak in ways we understand.

Who doesn't understand pain or blood or death?

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

I see consequence.

I see my failure.

What if their deaths aren't your failure, but theirs?

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?

They ran out of food.

Have some pity.

My pity is what put us on this damn island.

I told you what would happen.

Yes, you did.

And we decided we would rather drown than starve.

Well, now's our chance.

The wind has dropped!

The wind has dropped!

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

under Zeus' sky.

It was the harsh hand of Zeus.

Exactly what you told them would happen.

Washed up on my shore with some of your boat and none of your crew.

Left dead, unconscious for days and two weeks.

I knew the lotus would ease your awakening

so that your pain was more of the body than the mind.

And it did.

So willingly cared for you.

I came to love you.

Kept telling myself to stop giving it to you.

That you were strong enough to remember.

How long, Cullep's honey?

You were so happy.

You were happy.

We were so happy.

For years.

Years?

Seven years.

You fed me lotus flower and held me captive.

I saved your life.

I rebuilt your body.

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

You have been happy.

Your heart was just always somewhere else.

And your mind was bound to follow eventually.

How could you?

The lotus clouds the mind and saps 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 to Athena.

But sometimes you would say another name.

Help me.

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.

Need of a meal?

And supplies.

For the road.

Where you headed?

We need pigs.

We're going all the way to Pylos.

Are you pilgrims?

Do we look like pilgrims?

I don't see well.

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.

Sir, I had no news of your father.

No, you had news.

Not of where he is, but who he is.

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

Where are your watchdogs, old man?

I'm burning their bodies.

Can Zeus offer you food, Drake stranger?

Were you attacked?

The dog saved your farmhands.

Oh, he burned his brothers first.

What's happened to Ithaca?

Darkness.

Zeus's laws smashed to pieces.

A kingdom without a king since my master died.

Your master?

Odysseus.

Yes.

Hero of the Trojan War.

But Odysseus is alive.

No more, no more, no more!

No more, no more, no more, no more!

Telemachus.

Telemachus, Telemachus.

Telemachus.

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

There must be others in Ithaca that would help Odysseus's son.

Palus is controlled by Sudeis.

No one's still loyal to Odysseus.

What about the queen?

Beautiful, wise 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's on his way back from Sparta.

The Sudeis sent Pantheon to Palus to ambush him at the temple.

Give me food for the road.

You'll never catch up with the bandits.

If I can get to Palus before Telemachus arrives, I can warn him.

Why are you helping?

If I tell you, don't be angry.

I served with Odysseus at Troy.

Really?

He was a harsh taskmaster.

Oh, but fair.

Fair and worthy of following.

You loved him.

Like a son.

He's not dead.

Is she coming home?

Soon.

Bringing events.

Bringing it all.

Well talked.

You 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.

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 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.

He may have sent you.

Yes, sir.

Well, what's the message?

It's private.

These men are pr-

These men are pr-

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-

I'm for a beggar.

No one's born a beggar.

We'll take this priest's robes.

Put him 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.

And when you are safe,

we'll travel to the unknown west,

and we will 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.

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 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.

He sent me ahead to assess the situation.

Well, Mother's not gonna believe.

No, you can't tell her.

What, nothing?

Tell her.

Tell her he 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?

Some.

Well, at least he shows himself off.

We need to gather the suitors at the palace.

That's never a problem.

You have gifts for Menelaus?

Yeah, 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.

If all of his men are like you, then...

He doesn't have any men.

But it's just you?

And you.

What?

Let me kiss his back.

Who's seeing this?

Everyone's seeing it.

Where's Telemachus?

My queen!

Surely your place is up there.

You're home.

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 your safe return.

Glad to see you on your feet.

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

Did you hear 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.

Some 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?

The 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 that 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 and go 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, he'd have to kill him.

Like you will.

If I kill them, their families will demand revenge.

I'd be exiled.

And without me, the throne will be lost.

Because only a man can sit on it.

Empty throne?

I've been sitting on that empty throne for 20 years.

My knowledge, my years of experience,

that's all nothing compared with the bristles on your chin.

Do you want peace?

Or do you want revenge?

I want Odysseus!

Sing!

Muse of a face!

A face!

A war!

At Troy!

Sing Muse of a man!

Man, go ahead.

You should bury him up on the cliff.

Where you met your Odysseus.

You're my father.

I'm a beggar.

And you are the worthy of Odysseus.

Of whom, when you do finally meet, he will be so proud.

Well, come on.

Stranger.

Because the darkness of victory

shrouds the rightist allegiance

and make bars to blind beggars of us all.

Accept the hospitality of Zeus.

Get the stranger some food.

No, sir.

I'll just make the rounds with a 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's not the same young pup he used to be.

He may come back tonight.

Let me cut his tongue.

Fuck off, old 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.

So there is.

There 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.

It's not mine.

No?

Where did you get this?

Turn your back on me!

Continuous.

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'm a veteran of the Trojan War.

A veteran of the Trojan War.

And what's your name, veteran?

Synod.

Does that name mean something to you?

No.

I use it to honor the bravest young man I ever met.

Synod?

I'm not just Shepard's boy.

I don't remember that.

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

Where does he find us?

Where he'll soon be.

And where is that?

Hades.

It's not mine!

A queen would like to speak with you.

Stay till everyone's left and the fire's on them.

Hello, traveler.

Melanthal, have your clay wash the stranger's feet.

That's not necessary.

My husband insisted we honor guests as family.

You know of a disease, my husband?

Of course.

Of the souls.

I was at Troy, ma'am.

And the songs probably seem selling.

They make me cry.

Why?

For what was lost.

The lives?

And the years.

Everything.

Did you know it was just at Troy?

I did.

Was there some detail of how he dressed?

Something he wore?

He wore a strange pin.

Beautiful.

But out of place.

Describe it.

I'll get more water.

It was a beautiful 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

and one night if he knew exactly what he'd done the sea spreading like

and maybe he couldn't bear to see the ruins of what he'd done.

But Odysseus is alive and he'll be here when you need him most.

I've been living in his ruins long enough.

Bring the shooters at dawn.

Remove the arms from the hall.

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

Ron's draws a man on so we'll have no weapons at the trial 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 an arm there are so many of them and you won't have a weapon.

Well I'll have a weapon.

Your mother's Saint Devat.

Gather the servants you trust.

Lock the arms in the upper storage room.

She seems interested in the outcome.

What was the trial?

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 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.

He never will be.

I stand ready to marry anyone here who can string this hunting bow

and shoot an arrow through those 12 axes.

And show me who you are.

Eumaeus.

Who's first?

Give me the bow.

It can't be done.

By you.

As a boy 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 it?

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.

Some of us would have followed that great man, Detroit, if he'd let us.

But he never came back.

So choose the best of us here.

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 a 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.

Look at the expert at work.

Old man, forget it!

That's enough.

Centuries of darkness to follow.

The stories of Troy will only be sung.

You can't. Not now. Not now, please.

Why will the stories only be sung?

Because songs will be all they have to remember those of us who could write.

Civilization will rise again.

A new dawn will break over the darkened world.

And our mistakes will once again be forgotten.