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He is exiled like you. His name is Demodocus.

He is from Troy, a beautiful city which the Greeks defeated and destroyed.

He lost his sight when the city was burned.

- Nausicaa, what you told your guest was not the exact truth.

Troy was not conquered by a fight, but by a ploy.

Many here know the story...

...but all others should learn...

...so that its memory remains forever.

Troy was in its tenth year of war.

The Scamander plain and the beaches were swarming with soldiers...

...with boats, with tents, like a swarm of flies around a jar milk.

Such was the daily sight we had from our walls for ten years...

...their number was so big, we could never figure it out.

..the outcome was still in the hands of the Gods...

...and one morning, suddenly, we saw all the ships were gone...

...even the camps had been deserted...

...and of course, we thought that Troy was saved.

Alas! we did not see the danger.

They had left a tall wooden horse there...

...a homage the Gods for a safe return...

How naive and pious we were!

- Gods above, thank you for inspiring the soul of the barbarians...

...for putting them back to reason, to mercy, and above all, to retreat...

...I hereby proclaim and promise...

...that this offering will be honored, even if made by our enemies.

- Are the Greek so pious? - They're gone, this is what matters...

What do we care whether or no they are pious?

- We should not care indeed, nor should we honor this...

...we must erase every trace of them...

...I am not only addressing Priam, but all of you!

- I understand why you speak this way...

The Greeks have taken the beaches and besieged us for ten years...

...quite unjustly, because they said Helen had been abducted...

...whereas she lives among us by her own free will.

We would have sent her back to Menelaus, if she had wished...

True, many of us died, but the Greeks have paid a high price...

...and this horse is a gift of repentance to the Gods...

- Will you forget so fast ten years of suffering?

And can you honor your enemy's work, however pious?

- What counts is not the enemy, but the offering...

...and if it is holy as I believe, destroying it would offend the Gods.

- That is a gift to their Gods, not ours!

- We are of common stock, and have the same Gods!

- I implore you to listen, nothing must remain from these Barbarians!

- Let's tear it apart! - Let's put it away!

- No, move it down to the plain to rot with the remains of the camps!

-No! We must take it inside the city...

...and have no fear, for we have won, and this is what matters.

- Yes, Priam is right. -They have fled!

Here was the tent of cruel Agamemnon! And here was Odysseus!

Odysseus, Agamemnon, Menelaus! You could do nothing against Troy!

Now may the sea engulf you all !

The siege is over. We won! They will never come back. We won!

We must burn it! Listen to me, I beg of you all!

- Stop this blasphemy and drag the horse into the city!

- They're taking us inside Troy.

We all agreed with Priam that the offering should be honored in the city...

After much effort, it was placed near the temple of Athena.

...a woeful night, that yet felt blessed, since the long siege was over ...

...then, everything went as Odysseus had planned...

...when he imagined his lethal strategy.

At dark, the warriors came out from the horse and opened the gates...

...as all their companions, who had waited outside...

...had come back in arms and rushed into the city...

...while it was asleep.

I awoke in the middle of the flames...

..surrounded by screams and shrieks...

...the tumult of cries mixed with the cracking sound of fire...

...at the top of the highest tower, I saw two Greek warriors...

...holding a child by his feet. It was Astyanax, Hector's only son...

...they threw him to the ground, crushing Priam's offspring forever...

...and that was the last I could see...

...flames had burned my eyes, my mind was left with this gruesome picture...

...my last sight before the long night.

Who are you, stranger, mourning the fate of Troy?

- I am the one who caused its ruin...

...the one who imagined the ploy...

- You are Odysseus?

- Yes.

(Meanwhile, in Ithaca, the suitors had taken control...)

(...each day more arrogant than before.)

You stay here and take care of the fire. The others, you come with me...

The heat must be high!

- Look who's coming...there! - Who is he?

- I am Amphimedontes from Argus...

...I heard that the queen of Ithaca stopped waiting and would marry again...

...I have come to compete...

...my wealth is big enough, to surpass anyone...

- If wealth is all you have, then you can go back home...

Penelope is righteous, and cannot be bribed...

(Everyone thought Telemachus would never return...)

(...since the suitors had decided to put him to death...)

(...so that whoever had any wealth...)

(...showed up to claim the throne...)

(...no longer protected by any legitimate heir.)

(...as the Gods had given Odysseus one only son...)

- I came to speak to the queen!

- The queen does not appear anymore. - Why?

- Well, her son is gone on trip!

Pe-ne-lo-pe, Pe-ne-lo-pe...

(But Penelope would not yield to the tradition...)

(...that family gave a woman a new husband if she lost her first...)

(She remained alone in her chamber, with some of her maids...)

(...while some others had sided with the suitors.)

- These girls cost nothing. Take one for yourself!

- Not this one though, she is faithful to Penelope!

(Telemachus and Pisistratus, son of Nestor, arrived at Sparta)

Sparta where Menelaus ruled.

- Did you ever see such a city? - I see a real city for the first time.

- Now you shall see Helen too!

(Helen welcomes them.)

(Helen for whom every prince had fought, for whom Menelaus had been chosen)

(Helen, daughter of Leda, offspring of Zeus, Helen, the fatal woman)

What news do you bring from Pylos?

The memory of your father Nestor is always dear to my heart.

I bring you a guest. He comes from Ithaca. He is Odysseus's son.

- Give me the pleasure to speak his name. I know you are Telemachus.

I want to prove to you that I did not forget your father...

... nor all those who because of me...

... left their fatherland, all the Greeks princes who sailed ...

... to far away Troy, so many of them died.

It's my fault if you never knew your father.

- Why do you say that, Helen? Is he dead? - I don't know...

... I know very little about today. I can only tell you about the past...

I can tell you where and how I saw Odysseus for the last time.

-My father advised Telemachus to ask Menelaus if he heard about Odysseus

He came back recently, and visited many lands on his journey.

-Yes, maybe he knows. Come with me.

(Gloomy thoughts on his mind, Menelaus had his death mask prepared)

(Before returning, he had wandered on sea for long.)

(Eight years of perils had consumed his youth.)

(Besides, Odysseus's vanishing was to him a sign of the doom...)

(...that had befallen all the Greek princes.)

Well, here is the son of a very dear friend of mine...

... the dearest of all my friends. Welcome boy.

Let me have a look at you again!

The son of Odysseus!

-He needs you, Menelaus. Nestor advised him to come to you...

... to have news of his father.

-Old Nestor always gives good advice.

How I would have liked to welcome your father here!

... I would have given him a home, and made him leave Ithaca...

... to spend the rest of our years together.

But destiny has decided otherwise.

-No use talking about what could not be.

Telemachus's home is under siege by people who rob and threaten him.

-I was informed about what happens in Ithaca...

But you boy, why do you allow this?

Is the people against you? Or against your mother?

-I tried to raise the people, but they want a king, not a boy.

There is nothing I can do.

Anyone now can raise his hand on the throne.

My mother cannot stand alone. No one can help her!

We need Odysseus back...

-How wrong this war has been!

How dreadful its aftermath!

Look! The weapons of Agamemnon, my brother...

...killed on his doorstep upon his return from Troy...

... he did not fight an enemy worthy of him, no!...

...he was not engulfed by the sea like many others, no!...

He was murdered treacherously, and I have no more joy ruling this land.

This is the price I paid for the war that we Atrids have started.

-Sir, I feel you don't tell me all... What do you know about my father?

My queen, I beg you.

As soon as you welcomed me, I saw you knew a bitter truth...

... don't bother to spare me. Tell me please, is my father dead?

-We do know something about your father...

...but can you endure it?

If so, listen to me carefully.

Your father is alive...

...but he might as well be dead.

I know this from the prophet Proteus.

Odysseus is lost in the middle of the seas, without a ship...

... his companions are dead, thus he cannot go back to his homeland

(Then Helen pours a herb into the wine...)

(...to soothe anger and pain, and give oblivion.)

- Drink this wine and listen. I will tell you of ancient events...

... that may help understand who Odysseus was.

I will not tell you all of his deeds...

... but one thing I am alone to remember.

(Then Helen said :)

It was the last year of the war. I waited in Troy that arms...

... decided victory, anxious for my fate.

I was in the temple of Apollo, where Cassandra made offerings...

...so that the Gods would be merciful.

-Oh Apollo! You, alone among Gods...

... to still favor this wretched town, tell me what you know!

-They are after me, I am on the run.

Let me rest for a while. I shall do you no harm. Help me!

-Who are you? Where are you from?

-I am a Phrygian soldier...

... an ally of Troy, I have been defending the city for years against the Greeks.

Tonight, I was drawn against my will into a fight between soldiers...

... and I barely escaped. They won't look for me in a temple.

-But you are wounded! Your face is smeared with blood, you scare me!

Or maybe is it me who sees blood everywhere?

-No, this is real blood, war spares no one, least as miserable as I am...

Could you give me something?

- Poor soldier, I have nothing to give you...

...except for an advice. Go! Flee if you can...

... far away from this godforsaken city, already full of corpses.

-Why do you say this? Is prophecy speaking out of you?

-You don't know me? No one told you about Cassandra, Priam's daughter?

The god Apollo speaks through me, but no one will listen.

-I will listen. But can I believe you?

You say the city is condemned, while its high walls are untouched...

Troy has been resisting for nine years...

... there are not enough Greek soldiers to make it fall.

-It will take only one to put it on its knees.

-So what is it? Is the city running out of food or water?

Or is there some disease among the people?

- Oh, listen to Cassandra....

...let there be at least one who listens to me and hears the words of Apollo...

-Wait, stranger. I am not afraid at your sight!

Your face is bathed in blood, but your wounds look strange.

They look self-inflicted. Why? Do you fear to be recognized?

You cannot fool me like Cassandra.

You are no Phrygian, no ally of Troy, You are an enemy!

You sneaked into the city probably mixed with the wounded...

... you came to set up some trap...

You look like a shadow from a distant past.

You burst out of the night under a horrible mask of blood, but I know...

... you are Odysseus I recognize you, now I'm sure...

... and I shiver to realize you are now inside the city.

I had followed you to see if you dared enter the temple...

... so close to the house of Priam.

What for? Why?

-I knew I would find you here. You will come and hide here...

...once the city falls, and your husband comes to get you.

-What you say will never happen!

-The Trojans could revenge on you for all these years of misery...

-You came as a spy!

I heard you taking advantage of Cassandra's innocence...

... to pry about the city and the soldiers. I will have you killed!

-No, you will not do that because you are Greek...

... and still Greek in your heart, even we suffered ten years by your fault!

-Enough! Go! I don't want to hear!

I won't betray you, but I beg you to leave this temple...

and leave me to my destiny, whatever it may be!

-You shudder? What are you afraid of? You are the daughter of Zeus!

Helen, if you returned to Menelaus, all this would end.

-No. If you knew my grief about the mistake that Aphrodite once...

-The goddess Aphrodite or was it your passion?

-When Gods decide of our lives, passions count no longer.

-So what holds you here then?

- Only one person in Troy still has mercy for Helen's fate...

...the master of this house, Priam.

Because of me, Priam saw his sons die...

... he lost Hector, he lost Paris...

...and so many worthy Trojans...

... so much blood, sweat and tears, haven't you heard Cassandra?...

... many more will perish. Blood, and blood again...

And yet never I had a single reproach from Priam.

When I came with Paris, he treated me as a daughter...

...I am still a daughter to this home and so I shall remain to the end.

- If you mean the end of Troy, you will not have long to wait, Helen.

I did not want this war, I was forced into it...

...and now I only want it to finish, whatever it takes.

All I saw today in the city, is enough for my plan.

-What is your plan, Odysseus?

You are renowned to be a sly man...

Is that how you want to be remembered?

-The deeds of men led me to that choice.

And if I must carry that burden, I will carry it bravely.

-How often since then has this choice weighed on his mind?

Perhaps even right now, wherever he may be.

(Odysseus remained alone in the throne room at the court of Alcinous...)

(...he didn't know why his hosts had left him...)

(...he thought that the disclosure of his name might have made them wary...)

(...fearing that the Phaeacians would now hesitate to give him a ship...)

(...and wondering in vain what fate the Gods would allot him.)

(He couldn't know that they had planned his return to Ithaca...)

(...maybe the tale of his adventures would satisfy the curiosity of Alcinous...)

(...and win the decision from the Phaeacians).

Forgive us for leaving you on your own.

...we wanted to discuss your unexpected arrival among us ...

...we could not imagine welcoming a man of such renown.

- I have nothing to forgive, you have honored me so much...

...now you understand even better my need to go back to Ithaca...

...if you agreed to help me, you would restore my life.

- Why hurry so much, Odysseus? Wouldn't you like to rest for a while?

Tell us about yourself...

During those ten years, you must have seen and done a lot.

...ten years is a long time..

...tell us how a king who left for Troy with a whole army...

...arrived to Phaeacia alone on a raft ...

...a king whom all thought was dead, and who wanted to be thought dead...

...since he concealed his name from us...

- After Troy was sacked, I left with Menelaus and Nestor...

...but a sudden storm broke up the fleet.

Some time after, my ships stranded on the shore of the Cicones..

My men, who knew nothing but war, went to plunder...

But the Cicones defended their homes, and killed many of them

...72 were left unburied, six for every ship...

...we sailed northwards, and the winds and currents...

...finally carried us to the shores of the wild Lestrygons...

...my men wanted to enter the harbour...

...but I deemed safer to scout the place first... and anchored near a small cape...

...it proved a wise move. As soon as the others landed.....

...we could hear the sound of war drums in the distance ...

...to which shouts responded at once from all around...

They tried to sail back, but it was too late...

...from the cliffs, the Lestrygons threw huge rocks and smashed the ships...

...the men tried to swim away...

...but the savages skewered them just like fish...

- And how did you escape? - I was out of the harbor...

...they could not reach me.

- So then you had only one ship left? -Yes...

...it was the last one, carrying my last companions..

They became even dearer to me...

...because of all my childhood friends, only those were left...

Today, only their names remain...

Eurylochus, my cousin...

On deck, he was the helmsman, and in combat, my right hand...

...he was sensible and cautious.

Philetor, we used to hunt together...

...once a wild boar wounded me in the thigh, I still have the scar...

...Philetor seized him with both hands, raised him up...

...threw him on a rock, and finally stabbed him with his knife.

Heraclius, I knew his family well...

Polites, the strongest of all...

Elpenor was not strong, and the Gods had not favored him with wisdom either...

...but his weakness made him even dearer to me..

Of the mighty army which once left Ithaca, no one remained but us.

I appreciated my comrades even more...

...once I knew that some dark force was opposing our return...

- Why some dark force?

- Because never again we could find the shortest way to Ithaca...

...one day, we had arrived at long last in sight of our homeland...

...but a storm cast us away, and we were lost once more...

...and a second storm came, even worse, enraging the sea...

...it felt as if a huge hand was grasping our ship...

...and tried to attract it into the abyss.

- Although a great king, you remain a man, Odysseus...

...who tries to understand his pains by reason only.

...It is unlikely you succeed by yourself...

Let us ask the Gods, Odysseus, both for you and for us.

...then maybe we will have an answer.

- Tonight the oracles gave their answer.

- What was it? - Not good...

...my people is afraid, because they have no explanation...

...maybe you have. - I don't...

...I only know Athena was always with me under the walls of Troy...

...then I knew for certain what to do and what not.

But once at sea I could no longer hear the Gods.

Anxiety in my heart made me need to know, to understand.

- Now you must tell us what you omitted from your journey.

- Why do you say that?

- You went through many hardships and ordeals.

...we all realized that from the first day...

...and we respected your silence...

...but if a god is against you, as the omens suggest...

...take any secret off your heart.

- I told you all I could about my contacts with men...

...and with nature...

- Have you met any non human creatures?

- Yes.

- When?

- One day..., as we sailed a river upstream to find water...

- No, please wait!

Rather tell it in front of the assembly tonight.

- Yes.

- We were sailing on a wide river surrounded by steep cliffs.

We tried to anchor somewhere, to renew our water supply.

Watching the stars, I had reckoned that this was the coast of mists...

...most distant from our land, at the very end of the Ocean...

...where the sun sets.

If this was correct, we were drawn always further from home, and not closer...

My men were not aware of that, but they seemed to worry...

Premonition? ...maybe.

...but actually, we had found some mysterious item...

...left behind...by someone.

I had sent three men to explore when we just landed, and I hoped...

...they would come back with some useful information...

...many hours had passed...

...and they had not come back, all my men were anxious...

Like them, I felt an obscure danger.....

...the vanishing of these three was a bad sign indeed.

- Three more we will never see again, Odysseus.

They probably fell into some new trap..

This land must be home to savages.

- Odysseus!

We must get away from here before dark.

- If you are scared, I'll go alone to find our mates.

I did not try to impose my will, like I used to do in Troy...

...in Troy, this was war, not the frightening unknown.

Giving the example was the only way to keep control.

- And did they follow you? - Three friends had lost their way...

...abandoning them would clearly mean that nothing kept us together...

...but fear... fear of all for their own survival...

...fear of no longer being able to count on friends in front of danger...

...the end of all hope...

But they overcame it, and all followed me.

As we moved further away from the river...

...the sun was blazing, the earth was scorched...

...the air exuded a peculiar fragrance, a scent of flower...

...we came to a village where a tribe was eating flowers...

...after crushing them in a mortar.

I expected to find my men dead, or in serious danger...

...instead I found them smiling, among these strange people...

...like they had always known them.

- Why didn't you return to the ship? What is this this?

-Odysseus...

...you scared them away...

...they gave us a most friendly welcome...

...although they do not know Zeus.

Nature created them so, they grow the lotus flower...

...and make such a sweet pulp from it. Taste it yourself, just try!

It lets you forget everything, it feels like I never knew Ithaca...

- Who remembers us there anyway? After so many years...

...can you tell me?

- Your father, old Egyptius, remembers you...

...you left your bride after one month, she might have given you a son!

- My father died of old age, my wife sleeps at another man's side...

...if I have a son, he never saw me, what father am I to him?

- We will just endure more, why try it further?

- Sorrows certainly expect us at home.

- Eat this lotus, and stay here in peace...

...a god must have guided us to this land...

As long as I live no one will forget his homeland!

- Let 's stay here... - Take them back to the ship!

I order you to take them! Tie them up!

Don't listen to them! You see their mind is altered!

Those we had met were human...

...and we had just learned there was a flower that gave oblivion...

...yet, seeing my once nostalgic friends taken by force back to the ship...

...made me feel we were bound always further from mankind.

We sailed for eighteen days...

...then came to a cluster of small islands...

...each next to the other...

- Why don't you sleep, Eurylochus? - Why don't you sleep, Odysseus?

...why are you worried? - Leave it, go to rest...

Tomorrow, we'll go hunting on this island.

- What use am I to you if you keep silent?

Tell me what troubles you and keeps you sleepless.

- Well...the sky...,

...I can see no stars since we left the island of the Lotus Eaters.

There are no clouds though. This is very strange.

- And a sailor cannot sail without stars, right?

Odysseus...

...are we lost?

...A good sailor is never lost...

.. and perils often only exist in our minds...

...now go to rest!

- I cannot sleep on this island...

...no trace of humans, yet the soil is fertile...

...many men travel on seas how come none ever got here?

Why would they avoid this place? Does something conceal it from them?

- We arrived here easily though. - Yes, then how come?

- Many strange things happened since we left Troy...

...the quarrel among heroes, the destruction of all our fleet...

...storms, adverse winds, now another eerie shore...

What to the Gods want? Should we pay for our victory?

I confess that future looks gloomy, but please don't tell the others...

Odysseus, let us keep together! So few of us remain...

Think of us, your shipmates, and guide us!

Look how fertile this soil is! Anything would grow here...

It would be a joy to plow, yet no one uses it...

...excepted for wild goats.

- Look over there! - What? -There, that smoke...

- Let's get away from here, fast... -Why?

Without knowing who lives here? You were sorry to find nobody.

- But now I am scared, Odysseus...

...only a savage can leave such a generous soil to waste!

Please Odysseus, let's gather the men and flee!

Why didn't you shoot? What's on your mind?

- That man... - Does he matter to you, Odysseus?

- We have to discover what we don't know...

...and even a savage deserves to be known.

He is still a man. Should we leave as ignorants...

...without exchanging gifts, like thieves or robbers?

What is there?

- A footprint, but... this is a giant's foot!

- Or maybe a god's... - A monster's, Odysseus, a monster!

...let's go away from here, quick!

- We could be the guests of a god...

I went to explore with twelve men, chosen among the bravest.

...I thought this was enough to face any dangerous surprise.

The others I sent back to the ship, ready to cast off swiftly if needed .

We followed the footprints.

I brought some food and gifts with me...

...and in a goatskin sack, there was wine...

...of a special sort. It was a sweet dark wine...

...offered to me by a priest of Apollo...

...and so strong that drinking it with ease would take...

...twenty measures of water per cup.

The footprints led us to a cave...

From the outside, it looked small, a mere hole in the rock.....

...but once inside, it turned out to be huge...

...and our steps echoed like in a temple.

And you claim that a monster lives here?

Look at the rope. It is craftily woven...

Look at those knots...

...and taste the cheese!

- Mmm, good... - Real shepherd work. Enjoy!

Look at our host's bed!

There is space for all our crew...

And this is the pillow, unbelievable!

I will figure out his size.

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8.

...8 steps!

- This cannot be the size of a human! - Right!

The axe is also big enough to use as an anchor.

- If one was strong enough to carry it...

- Sweet perfume... And what a taste!

- Pity to leave this cheese, Let's take it...

- And flee? - Right!

- We are no thieves...

Anyway, it is too late. Hear?

Here comes our host back with his flock..