n his epic poem the "Odyssey."

The story of the "Odyssey" might serve us for a tale in itself, but as
it is in no sense historical we give it here in epitome.

We are told that during the wanderings of Ulysses his island kingdom of
Ithaca had been invaded by a throng of insolent suitors of his wife
Penelope, who occupied his castle and wasted his substance in riotous
living. His son Telemachus, indignant at this, set sail in search of his
father, whom he knew to be somewhere upon the seas. Landing at Sparta,
he found Menelaus living with Helen in a magnificent castle, richly
ornamented with gold, silver, and bronze, and learned from him that his
father was then in the island of Ogygia, where he had been long detained
by the nymph Calypso.

The wanderer had experienced numerous adventures. He had encountered the
one-eyed giant Polyphemus, who feasted on the fattest of the Greeks,
while the others escaped by boring out his single eye. He had passed the
land of the Lotus-Eaters, to whose magic some of the Greeks succumbed.
In the island of Circe some of his followers were turned into swine. But
the hero overcame this enchantress, and while in her land visited the
realm of the departed and had interviews with the shades of the dead.
He afterwards passed in safety through the frightful gulf of Scylla and
Charybdis, and visited the wind-god AEolus, who gave him a fair wind
home, and all the foul winds tied up in a bag. But the curious Greeks
untied the bag, and the ship was blown far from her course. His
followers afterwards killed the sacred oxen of the sun, for which they
were punished by being wrecked. All were lost except Ulysses, who
floated on a mast to the island of Calypso. With this charming nymph he
dwelt for seven years.

Finally, at the command of the gods, Calypso set her willing captive
adrift on a raft of trees. This raft was shattered in a storm, but
Ulysses swam to the island of Phaeacia, where he was rescued by Nausicaa,
the king's daughter, and brought to the palace. Thence, in a Phaeacian
ship, he finally reached Ithaca.

Here new adventures awaited him. He sought his palace disguised as an
old beggar, so that of all there, only his old dog knew him. The
faithful animal staggered to his feet, feebly expressed his joy, and
fell dead. Telemachus had now returned, and led his disguised father
into the palace, where the suitors were at their revels. Penelope,
instructed what to do, now brought forth the