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THE ODYSSEY based on Homer's epic poem

EPISODE EIGHT

Come on, each of you in his turn, gentlemen...

...starting with you, Leodes

(Leodes was the only one to disapprove the arrogance of other lords...)

(...of course, he also coveted the queen's hand...)

(...but he loved Penelope, and prayed that one day she will follow him...)

(...and give him descendants since Odysseus vanished forever...)

My veil!

(Testing the bow, Leodes soon grew tired...)

(...his hands were moist and his muscles got limp ...).

(...he would have to find some other Greek lady...)

(...to make his bridal offerings...)

(...he did not know Odysseus would seal his fate...)

This bow shall take so many lives!

Better to die, than missing your purpose in life!

Better to die!

You think no one can bend this bow just because you failed?

You were not born to be an archer...

...but others will have tighter muscles.

Your turn!

Come on!

If you help me do justice, you will live here as my own sons.

Tell the women to stay in their rooms, so they can hear...

...you Eumaeus and Philoetius lock the gates to the hall...

...so none of the lords can escape.

(Every lord tried and failed, to draw the king of Ithaca's bow...)

(...Athena stopped them all...)

Now comes Eurymachus. He tries and persists, to no avail.

...he doesn't know either the bow is under a spell.

It's all over, Eurymachus. These lame muscles leave you no chance.

Alright, I am out, but how will you do? Just you try, Antinous.

My friends, it's getting late. Tomorrow, we celebrate Apollo the archer...

...let us delay the joust to tomorrow.

Noble lords, please let me try once too.

Tomorrow, Apollo will chose among you whom he pleases...

...but for today, give me a chance to stretch the string...

...to test what remains of my strength.

Are you out of your mind?

Such a funny request! Who do you think you are?

If by miracle, you succeed, you would not get away alive.

Why threaten him, Antinous?

Do you suppose the stranger wins and makes me his wife?

- It is impossible, my queen! - So why not let him try?

You ask us why! Think what people would say...

...if the beggar achieves what the lord has failed!

- Eumaeus! Bring the bow to our guest!

The lords may resume tomorrow.

Until then, I am still in command.

The old man grasps the bow, proving it all over...

...warming it on the flame, one side then the other...

...seeing whether years had not hurt the horns...

...this man fancies bows and arrows...

...he must have such a tool at home...

I tell you, haughty lords, he is likely to string this bow...

...like I string the peg of my lyre ...

...his dismal hands stretch the weapon's string...

...the beggar is about to win with ease, like a game...

...and now the string sings, like the twitter of a swallow.

He went mad!

You dogs!

You believed that I would never come back from Troy?

You wasted my substance, wooed my wife...

...fearing neither the wrath of Gods nor the blame of men!

Time has come for you to die!

Telemachus! Expect no mercy from me!

None of you shall come out alive!

The bell has tolled for revenge and for dread.

Like terrified sheep...

...they look around to flee and escape their death...

...but the gates are locked ...and I am frightened too!

If you really are good king Odysseus, then your anger is just...

...but the causer lies here for all his evil deeds...

...Antinous was responsible for scheming this wedding!

He wanted power over Ithaca after killing your son.

...but we will pay you in full for all we ate and drunk...

- Repay me, Eurymachus? - Each one shall pay a fine...

...worth twenty oxen, bronze, gold, all you say Odysseus...

Your offer is worthless, what I claim is your life, Eurymachus!

I claim all your lives!

You will not get out, Odysseus ordered it!

Stay, no one will escape! Back! Stop! Back!

You betrayed the master with the usurpers!

You shameless bitches, your time is out! The king will not spare you!

Open the gates! Let us out!

Open the gates!

Open the gates!

I will kill you all!

Will you show up? Come!

This was your last arrow Odysseus, stop!

Catch this!

All are crying...

No shelter, nor salvation to the suitors. Athena is merciless...

...they fight no longer, they just run all around like hens scared of thunder...

...as eagles descend in circles, down on their petrified preys...

Silence for all of you!

Come forward!

Zeus!

(A bride cried over her dying groom...)

(...a bride cried on her knees, despair tearing her heart apart...)

(...and Odysseus stopped, stunned by his own revenge.)

Stop, Telemachus! Enough!

(Next to him was Mentor, his father's friend)

Where are the strength and courage you displayed when fighting for Helen?

...and that wasn't his father's friend, but Athena taking Mentor's shape

- What are you doing, when taking back your home? Weeping?

You must be strong, tough!

...I will be inflexible...

...ruthless!

Eumaeus, Philoetius! Find them! We have to kill them all!

- How many times had the Gods warned you...

...to honor loyalty and dignity of men.

You understood too late it was dangerous to ignore.

Blind and deaf, they claim Gods are unfair...

...while only they are to blame, they all pay back their crimes...

...and fate is cruel to those who sinned for years.

You who saw the slaughter, do not fear to be doomed...

...those who never betrayed know that justice can be reckless...

...and its clean eyes can be eclipsed by blood.

Now all is fulfilled, the Gods gave their judgement.

All is fulfilled.

Euryclea, open!

Open the gates!

(Odysseus looked around in the vast hall...)

(...to see who escaped the slaughter...)

(...but all he saw were lifeless bodies, bathed in blood...)

(...like fish thrown by seamen on the shore...)

No! Not him! Spare the poet!

My eyes saw your revenge. My song will tell it forever.

You can kill me now, but you will be sorry.

I will not kill you, Phemius.

You shall sing so that men know good deeds from evil ones...

Go, you are free.

Telemachus, the first task is now over.

We killed the foremost youth of Ithaca. We just had to do it.

We must expect their fathers and brothers, to seek revenge...

...let's save time. It will be rough.

Now I'm too tired to face their anger.

I have an idea...Telemachus!

Gather musicians to play loud....

...let believe Ithaca celebrates a party...

...and thus forgets the dead!

Here are the servants who betrayed you. They confessed.

After some vain efforts to murder us, they tried to flee.

Don't you move!

Euryclea says only twelve have misbehaved with the suitors...

...it's enough to punish these as an example to the others!

Down on your knees!

Odysseus, do you want to watch them die?

Let them first cleanse the hall and remove the dead.

Philoetius, bring me sulphur to purify the air.

Go to Penelope and tell her what happened. Wait!

First light me a fire, Eumaeus.

Dear child, your husband has returned. Odysseus has returned!

Haven't you heard, Penelope? I told you that Odysseus was here, among us.

Have I changed much?

I will dress up.

Help me!

Don't be afraid, girls, your fidelity shall be rewarded.

Do you hear these sounds?

I see lights up there.

This is a wedding tune. The queen has chosen among the lords...

...she gave up waiting for her husband's return.

I had recognized him, but he clapped my mouth with both hands.

He would have taken my life, if I had betrayed him, Penelope.

He is a real man, a wise man who kept his plans secret.

...cautious and reckless, he trusted no one.

No one!

Like the sleeper, after a nightmare...

...waking up wide-eyed in the morning...

...soon forgetful of dangers...

Get out!

You are alive!

You are alive, my son!

Mother, why don't you rush into his arms?

In the arms of a stranger, why?

A stranger? What do you mean, mother?

He is unknown to me...my son...

Yesterday, he was only a beggar!

That's how he introduced himself...

...I thought I saw my husband I thought I saw Odysseus...

He said he was Aeton from Cnossos.

...I saw the man whom I waited for, patiently, for twenty years...

...he showed me no trust...

...he lied, as though I would betray him...

...yes, to me, his own wife...

Why? Why?

I kept quiet. Odysseus's wife should be strong...

...but hiding your joy when twenty years waiting are finally rewarded...

...was my steadiness not obvious enough?

You have your proof.

But now my turn has come... ...to demand a proof.

Between spouses are tokens which others cannot know.

If he really is Odysseus...

...he will find such a secret sign to show me he did not forget...

...the years he did not doubt me.

Have a bed ready for me, my queen.

I am exhausted. Please order.

My bed!

Prepare Odysseus's bed... and move it here.

Who could move that bed, Penelope?

I carved it myself inside an olive tree.

My son, Telemachus, you do not know what it means to us...

...since childhood, your mother saw the tree grow every year...

...she wanted me to build our bed sparing its majestic stump.

...so I built the walls of the wedding room around the tree...

...I was young then...

You were not born, my son.

(As the sight of the land, is welcome to the shipwrecked...)

(...when Poseidon smashes his ship with storm and waves...)

(...even so welcome was her husband to Penelope...)

Odysseus, you have yet another duty to fulfil.

One more in Ithaca has waited for you. Your father.

Go to him. He retired on an old farm with some servants...

...and never comes to the court anymore. Go now...

...dusk is the right time...

...when the old think about those who are no more.

Wait for me here.

(Anticleas's voice :)

Your father has grown old and sad waiting for you in vain.

He doesn't come to town, but dwells among the servants.

Like a savage, he sleeps near the fire in the winter...

...on a heap of olive tree leaves in the summer...

...sighing about Odysseus, hopeless and weak, until dark.

Come!

Memories...

My father planted this tree...

How much time has passed!

But if I had to cut it, I would.

- There is nobody. - I know where he is.

- Father! - - My son! It is truly you!

Get up... - No! No!

My son...

...you finally returned.

Oh father, it hurts to see you like this...

True, I was a king before, and now my only luxury ...

...are these hides to protect my fingers from thorns.

But I managed to keep a privilege...

See!

This good blade is solid bronze.

The only left from my former weapons...

...but it helped me clear the fields from stones and cultivate.

I think you will have occasions to use it even better.

I went to the palace.

I killed all of my wife's suitors, and none has survived.

The Gods exist on Olympus, since you avenged at last, my son.

(The servants prepared a bath for Laertes...)

(...the water was carried from very far...)

(...while Telemachus, Eumaeus and Philoetius were guarding the house...)

Father, now you came to live like a poor peasant.

Yes, I live like my servants. My bed is a heap of straw...

...like them, I feed on olives, cheese and a few bread crusts...

...produced with my own hands, working from dawn to dusk...

...without being a slave. I would have been at the court.

I know what you're thinking.

True, I shouldn't have gone.

...I left Penelope and your son defend themselves alone...

...facing infamous lords eager to take your place while you were away...

...I have not been king for so long, son, king I am no more...

...since the day I trusted this island to your care.

Such a young king you were, brave and strong already...

...and cunning like a fox. You liked power, and I did not..

Thus I have relinquished, for you take my place.

Soon after, you left for Troy with your warriors...

We waited for ten years.

Respect from the people earned the queen years of peace...

...her loyalty was an asset to Telemachus...

...many seasons went by...

...your mother passed away, not seeing you again...

...and as all Ithaca's men , I believed myself you were lost forever...

How could I find the strength?

My lord, all is prepared for your son to see you...

...the way he wished on the day of his return.

Dolios was always kind to me...

...helping me find in this lonely and silent retreat...

...this quiet happiness, the Gods award me at the evening of my life.

Father, you preserved your royal garment.

You will have to put it on to fight one more time.

Bad luck brought him back to our island, out of nowhere.

Cursed be Penelope, who nurtured hope and delusion.

Hope made our sons woo her! Delusion of succcess...

He landed at the tip of the island next to the swineherd's home...

...servants saw him coming...

...and his son Telemachus landed there too on his way back from Pylos...

...he was certainly informed.

Then they went to the court.

Odysseus was dressed in rags...

...like a beggar, holding on to a stick...

...no one knew it was him, of course...

...and our youth teased him as any other beggar...

...but his iron heart endured every insult, and planned the day of doom...

...with Telemachus, his son, he hid the weapons in the hall...

Then Penelope, the hypocrite...

...offered the lords to marry the one who would stretch the string of a bow...

...that had belonged to Odysseus..

None of the young men could stretch the bow...

...only Odysseus could...

...he stood in front of them, looked at them with despise...

...and shot a first arrow, striking Antinous in the chest...

...then, arrows flew all around all collapsed one on top of the other...

...he slaughtered them all. Nothing but cries and groans...

...the ground smoked from blood!

He killed them all!

Not one was spared!

Antinous!

My son! My beloved son!

Antinous!

Fathers, mothers, and stunned families will make solemn funerals.

And then, may them forget!

Antinous! Antinous!

- They were young and wealthy. - And yet they asked for more...

...may noble blood not fall back on the poor and innocent...

Father, take this blade, it has toiled land enough.

We must act and take the lead.

Better face the fathers, before relatives come to their help.

Today will be decided who will be king of Ithaca.

How much longer will this strife last, Odysseus?

No my son, don't get me wrong...

...I am not afraid, you know that.

What a joy to retrieve in battle the flame of my distant youth!

What a more glorious death could I wish for?

But you alone did justice...

...justice was on your side, would it still be if you continued?

The Gods protected you, now you are surrounded by silence.

Master, to defend the honoor of your house, we took weapons and stroke first...

...would it be right to spill more blood?

...should not the fathers and brothers take their swords instead...

...to avenge their own?

Offer them honorable peace. If they decline, then we will fight.

Let's show ourselves lenient, we'll avoid a useless slaughter...

...maybe they will accept your justice, and your rule in Ithaca!

No! Without fight, we shall never have peace!

You must avenge, Ithacans. Your murdered sons deserve it...

...our sons killed by a wild boar, a man without honor!

Too young he became king, now this land is bleeding !

He slaughtered the foremost of our youth...

...first sacrificed in Troy, then struck by his own hands..

How many escaped his rage and thirst for revenge?

He returned, but what about our sons? Our ships, our soldiers, our sailors?

Gather your servants. Give them weapons.

Reach to those on other islands, whose sons were savagely killed...

...just like ours!

We will soon have enough troops to march against him...

...to destroy his house, to burn his harvests, and we will be avenged!

(Halitherses began to speak...)

(He could see the past and the future, and his words were wise...)

Listen to me, Ithacans! Your weakness led to tragedy...

...you would hear neither me, nor Mentor, and your sons, out of stubborn pride...

...have committed evil, defying the Gods...

...dishonoring the wife of a hero.

Let us not head for misery!

You false prophet, misery would be not to avenge our sons!

Let's go, it is your duty to make Odysseus pay for his deeds...

You know that. What are you waiting for?

- He must have fled to Pylos or Sparta, where he has mighty allies.

No, he is still on Ithaca, I saw him...

...he went out to the fields with Telemachus and two servants...

...to the old farm where his father dwells...

If this is true, let's not waste time talking. We must attack him now!

This is a sign from the Gods!

(Athena said to Zeus :...)

(Oh, son of Cronos, you supreme ruler...)

(...do you wish to push war further or settle peace between adversaries?)

(Why such a question, my daughter? Zeus answered...)

(Haven't you ordered yourself that Odysseus would return?)

(Let's give them oblivion, said Athena.)

(Let's give them peace and oblivion, said Zeus.)

Stop Laertes!

Bloodshed would be no use.

I say this to you too, bloodshed would be no use.

Lets peace be among you.

Peace on Ithaca, our island!

Offer a fee to the offended...

...and live together in peace.

Let peace be our common wealth, forever!

Live in peace now...

Let peace be upon you!

(Athena was watching over Penelope...)

(She gave her a sweet slumber, washing her face with ambrosia.)

(...she shed grace and beauty over her, mader more noble, more majestic...)

(...whiter than sawn ivory...)

Oh, Odysseus...

Strange...

I feel we won't have nights like this any more.

But I'm not sad though...

How often have I imagined this moment...

...when I would speak to you at last...

I only spoke with the Gods, and failed to understand them...

...whereas your love would have made everything clear.

Every time you wish, your will find your bed ready.

Never be afraid to tell me what you think...

...or what a god has inspired you. I am here now.

Soon I think, I'll go at sea again.

Tiresias foretold me...

...until I meet a people who never saw the sea, I will not find peace...

...a people eating no salt...

...knowing nothing about ships and oars...

...then, knowledge will come to me without effort...

...there, I shall stick my oar into the ground...

...offer sacrifices to Poseidon, and then return...

...my life shall ebb away gently, once I am full of years...

...and peace of mind, blessed by my own people...

...thus spoke Tiresias.

One day, his prophecy shall come to pass.

Our fate is in the hands of the Gods...

...they have power on our lives...

...and nothing can else be done...

...but to watch and to listen...

...our joys and pains come from them...

...as our life and our death.

(After listening to the wise words of Penelope...)

(...Athena went back to the Olympus, where Gods are said to live eternally...)

(...where no storm ever blows, where no rain ever falls...)

(...where no cloud ever hides the shimmering light of the infinite sky.)

THE END