Of Waves and War

Author's Note

Author's Note

The Odyssey and Odysseus in general have been my favorite things since when I first read it in middle school. I love writing Odysseus's character, and I was desperate to do him justice by accurately representing not only his aspects as a world weary hero, but also as a trickster.
All chapter titles and the opening quote are from Emily Wilson's fantastic translation of the Odysessy, which was my primary source material.

Eulises/Odysseus

Odysseus is the original unreliable narrator. Homer tells us right out his accounts might be false. Also his stories of his exploits notably change depending on who he's telling them to. His PTSD is referenced a few times, namely when he is with the Pheneceans.

Telemachus

Odysseus is supposed to have been gone for 20 years, making Telemachus at least 21 when his father returns. However he tends to act younger, so I chose to simply make him younger and compress the timeline a little.

Penelope

I mostly wrote this because I wanted to not only give Penelope's inner monologue, but also because she's such an awesome character. She tricks her husband, the master of lying, twice in their brief encounters. She holds off the suitors, raises Telemachus alone, and is all around bad ass in the Odyssey.

Sadly, Homer never explains how she and Odysseus met specifically. So I added that. I wanted to graft their past relationship onto the narrative to provide background as to why they are soulmates, and showing how they get along.

General Note: Please please please do not ship Odysseus and Circe or Calypso. The Odyssey makes it incredibly clear Calypso is keeping him prisoner as essentially a sex slave. The original poem refers to his exact relationship with Circe less, but there is no doubt Odysseus had little to no agency in that situation, which makes it rape. Yes, rape. Despite Eulises' own confusion about the situation in that he wishes he could have done something else, that does not make it less rape. She coerced him into having sex. That's it. His own guilt over it does NOT make it his fault. If the genders were reversed in this situation we wouldn't hesitate to call it rape.

Circe (in this version) even seems to realize she wants a real relationship (it's heavily implied she's been raped), and she regrets her actions. That makes her possibly sympathetic, but it doesn't change her crime. Non-consensual sex is rape, period. Eulises states in his narrative he doesn't know what will happen to him (or his men, who she is holding captive) if he denies her, ergo it is not consensual.

In the Odyssey we learn about Circe's island through Odysseus' heavily edited account to the Pheneceans, and he brushes over the incident in general. However, the fact remains she is a goddess who turned his men into pigs, he's a mortal, ergo she still holds the agency and could definitely be seen as coercing him.

Many people interpret Odysseus as willingly sleeping with Calypso and Circe, this really isn't at all supported in the Odyssey but everyone is free to have their own preferred version. There are many other legends or fragments there of that refer to the events of the Odyssey with somewhat conflicting information. This book is based on the characters as presented in the Iliad and Odyssey.