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IN WHICH: Odysseus is entertained by the rhapsode Demodacus, who is inspired to tell our hero his own story. An athletic competition gives rise to tension, which another story dispels. The entertainment continues over roasted boar, where art and life collide in a third and final story.

FOOTNOTES: More about this episode.

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IN WHICH: Odysseus casts an epic gaze over the palace of King Alcinous and Queen Arete, who demonstrate their hospitality and provide our hero with hope.

VISUAL FOOTNOTES FOR THIS EPISODE CAN BE SEEN HERE

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IN WHICH: We explore the lineage of King Alcinous, Odysseus's host, tracing his family line back to the notorious and ill-fated race of Giants.

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IN WHICH: We return from an unexpected hiatus with a "party piece" - a performance of an excerpt from Alexander Pope's 1726 verse translation of The Odyssey, Book V.

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IN WHICH: Odysseus is rescued by a young princess engaged in pursuits of domestic management. Athena returns him to a state of manly elegance, and the princess promises him a speedy return to his homeland on a magical ship.

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IN WHICH: Odysseus uses guile and deceit to attain The Bow of Heracles from Philoctetes, the man he betrayed and abandoned ten years before.

Watch a video of "The Speckled Bull" - an Irish folktale descended from the myth of Heracles and Achelous HERE.

See artwork related to this episode HERE.

Email Tom Lee HERE

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IN WHICH: We recount the Roman story of the Achilleid, detailing how the immortal nymph Thetis tried to protect her all-too-mortal son Achilles from the perils of the Trojan War and how "wily Odysseus" contrived to foil her schemes.

SEE ARTWORK RELATED TO THIS EPISODE HERE.

E-MAIL TOM LEE HERE.

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IN WHICH we explore the most repeated poetic line in all of the Odyssey and learn the tragic story of Eos, goddess of the dawn, who kindled the wrath of Aphrodite and was cursed ever after to a life of unrequited lust. Ouch.

Also, we delve into the misty past of the great citadel of Troy and learn how gods helped to create it, and to (almost) destroy it.

Notes, images and music for this episode can be FOUND HERE.

E-mail Tom Lee HERE