The Odyssey

Odysseys returns to Ithaca in Book 13. Athena reveals herself, and she and Odysseus plan how to rid the palace of the suitors.

After Odysseus finishes his story, Alcinous tells him that he has endured enough and will return home. He instructs his people to bring gifts. At dawn, they load the ship that will bear Odysseus home, then feast, sacrifice, and listen to Demodocus. Though anxious to go home, Odysseus thanks the Phaeacians for their help and gifts, reiterates his desire to leave, and expresses hope of finding his family safe and his wife loyal. The Phaeacians praise his speech, then pray and offer libations to the gods. Odysseus gives Arete a cup and offers wishes for her family’s happiness.

He boards the ship, settles onto a bed that has been made for him, and falls asleep as the ship swiftly speeds him home. At dawn, it arrives at a secluded harbor on Ithaca. The crewmen carry the sleeping Odysseus and his gifts to land, settling him on the sand and placing his gifts in a safe, inconspicuous spot.

Poseidon complains to Zeus that “I will lose all my standing with the gods” (320). He did not interfere with Odysseus’s homecoming because Zeus promised it, but now the Phaeacians, Poseidon’s “very own descendants” (320), have dishonored him by bringing Odysseus home.