The Adventures of Odysseus and The Tales of Troy - Part 7
September 8, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readAt dawn on the twentieth day, after a storm had shattered his raft and the sea had nearly drowned him, Odysseus crawled ashore on a strange coast, naked and exhausted, and fell asleep beneath a pair of tangled olive trees. He had been held for years on Kalypso’s island, longing for home while the nymph offered him immortality. Now, at last, the gods had intervened. Athena had persuaded Zeus to let Odysseus go, and Hermes had delivered the command to Kalypso. She released him reluctantly, helped him build a raft, and sent him on his way with provisions and a course to follow by the stars. But Poseidon, still angry over the blinding of his son the Cyclops, stirred up a storm that shattered the raft and left Odysseus fighting for his life in the open sea.
How the gods set Odysseus free
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:51) **Opening & Episode Context** - Host recaps prior events (Priam and Achilles, the Wooden Horse) and sets up Part Two of the story, focusing on Odysseus's journey home.
- 2 (03:36) **Gods Debate Odysseus's Fate** - Athena speaks at the council of the gods, winning Zeus's pledge that Odysseus will be allowed to return home, despite Poseidon's anger.
- 3 (05:04) **Hermes Confronts Calypso** - Hermes arrives on Calypso's beautiful island and delivers Zeus's command that she must let Odysseus go.
- 4 (08:01) **Calypso Helps Odysseus Build a Raft** - Calypso relents and helps Odysseus construct a raft, providing provisions and guidance for his journey.
- 5 (11:07) **Poseidon's Storm and the Wreck of the Raft** - Poseidon sends a fierce storm that destroys Odysseus's raft, leaving him struggling for his life in the sea.
- 6 (12:26) **Ino's Veil and the Swim to Shore** - Guided by Ino's veil, Odysseus endures two days and nights in the sea before sighting land, but faces a dangerous rocky shore.
- 7 (14:26) **Odysseus Reaches the River's Mouth** - Odysseus prays to a river god for mercy and safely reaches the shore, collapsing from exhaustion.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
Coming up, the story finally returns to Odysseus himself, still stranded far from home on the beautiful island of Calypso. At last, the gods decide that his long captivity must end, but his journey across the sea proves anything but safe. After facing a terrifying storm and being cast helplessly onto a strange shore, Odysseus encounters the young princess Nausicaa, whose kindness may offer him his first real hope of getting home.
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Previously in part 6
Previously, the story reached one of its most moving moments as the ageing King Priam bravely entered the Greek camp to beg Achilles for the return of Hector’s body. Faced with Priam’s grief, Achilles was reminded of his own father and of the terrible losses caused by war, and for a time anger gave way to compassion.
The story then returned to the final days of Troy and to the cunning of Odysseus. The Greeks devised the famous wooden horse, hiding warriors inside while the rest of the army appeared to sail away, and the Trojans brought the strange offering within their city walls. That night, the hidden Greeks emerged, opened the gates to their returning army, and the long war finally came to an end.
Menelaus finished telling Telemachus what he knew of Odysseus and sent him away with renewed hope that his father was still alive. Telemachus then began his journey back towards Ithaka, where danger still waited for him—and where the story of Odysseus was drawing ever closer to home.
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