A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

12 ODYSSEUS. ODYSSEUS.
have been called Nanus or Nannus. (Tzetz. ad 303, 631, &c.). When Agamemnon was unwilling
Lycophr. 1244.) to sacrifice Iphigeneia to Artemis, and the Greeks
When Odysseus was a young man, he went to were in great difficulty, Odysseus, feigning anger,
see his grandfather Autolycus near the foot of threatened to return home, but went to Mycenae,
Mount Parnassus. There, while engaged in the and induced Clytaemnestra by various pretences to
chase, he was wounded by a boar in his knee, by send Iphigenia to Aulis (Dict. Cret. i. 20; comp.
the scar of which he was subsequently recognized Eurip. Iph. Aul. 100, &c.). On his voyage to
by Eurycleia. Laden with rich presents he re- Troy he wrestled in Lesbos with Philomeleides,
turned from the palace of his grandfather to Ithaca. the king of the island, and conquered him (Od. iv.
(Homrn. Od. xix. 413, &c.) Even at that age he is 342). According to others, Odysseus and Diodescribed as distinguished for his courage, his medes slew him by a stratagem. During the siege
knowledge of navigation, his eloquence and skill of Troy he distinguished himself as a valiant and
as a negotiator; for,on one occasion, when the Mes- undaunted warrior (II. iv. 494, v. 677, vii. 168,
senlians had carried off some sheep from Ithaca, xi. 396, 404, &c. xiv. 82), but more particularly as
Laertes sent him to Messene to demand repa- a cunning, prudent, and eloquent spy andnegotiator,
ration.,He there met with Iphitus, who was and many instances are related in which he was of
seeking the horses stolen from him, and who gave the greatest service to the Greeks by these powers.
him the famous bow of Eurytus. This bow Several distinguished Trojans fell by his hand.
Odysseus used only in Ithaca, regarding it as too After the death of Achilles he contended for his
great a treasure to be employed in the field, and armour with the Telamonian Ajax, and gained the
it was so strong that none of the suitors was able prize (Od. xi. 545; Ov. Met. xiii. init.). He is
to handle it. (Od. xxi. 14, &c.) On one occasion said by some to have devised the stratagem of the
he went to the Thesprotian Ephyra, to fetch from wooden horse (Philostr. Her. x. 12), and he was
Ilus, the son of Mermerus, poison for his arrows; one of the heroes that were concealed in its belly,
but as he could not get it there, he afterwards and prevented them answering Helen, that they
obtained it from Anchialus of Taphus. (Od. i. might not be discovered (Od. iv. 280, &c. viii. 494,
259, &c.) Some accounts also state that he went xi. 525). When the horse was opened he and
to Sparta is one of the suitors of Helen, and he Menelaus were the first that jumped out and hasis said to have advised Tyndareus to make the tened to the house of Deiphobus, where he consuitors swear, that they would defend the chosen quered in the fearful struggle (Od. viii. 517). He
bridegroom against any one that should insult him is also said to have taken part in carrying off the
on Helen's accouut. Tyndareus, to show him his palladium. (Virg. Aen. ii. 164.)
gratitude, persuaded his brother Icarius to give But no part of his adventures is so celebrated in
Penelope in marriage to Odysseus; or, according ancient story as his wanderings after the destruction
to others, Odysseus gained her by conquering his of Troy, and his ultimate return to Ithaca, which
competitors in the footrace. (Apollod. iii. 10. ~ 9; form the subject of the Homeric poem called after
Paus. iii. 12. ~ 2.) But Homer mentions nothing him the Odyssey. After the taking of Troy one
of all this, and he states that Agamemnon, who portion of the Greeks sailed away, and another
visited him in Ithaca, prevailed upon him only with Agamemnon remained behind on the Trojan
with great difficulty to join the Greeks in their coast. Odysseus at first joined the former, but
expedition against Troy. (Od.. xxiv. 116, &c.) when he had sailed as far as Tenedos, he returned
Other traditions relate that he was visited by to Agamemnon (Od. iii. 163). Afterwards, howMenelaus and Agameninon, and that more espe- ever, he determined to sail home, but was thrown
cially Palamedes induced him to join the Greeks. by a storm upon the coast of Ismarus, a town of
For when Palamedes came, it is said, Odysseus the Cicones, in Thrace, north of the island of
pretended to be mad: he yoked an ass and an ox Lemnos. He there ravaged and plundered the
to a plough, and began to sow salt. Palamedes, town, and as he was not able to induce his men to
to try him, placed the infant Telemachus before depart in time, the Cicones hastened towards the
the plough, whereupon the father could not con- coast from the interior, and slew 72 of his comtinue to play his part. He stopped the plough, panions (Od. ix. 39, &c.). From thence he was
and was obliged to undertake the fulfilment of the driven by a north wind towards Maleia and to the
promise he had made when lie was one of the Lotophagi on the coast of Libya. Some of his
suitors of Helen. (Tzetz. ad Lye. 818.) This oc- companions were so much delighted with the taste
currence is said to have been the cause of his of the lotus that they wanted to remain in the
hatred of Palamedes. (Hygin. Fab. 95.) Being country, but Odysseus compelled them to embark
now himself gained for the undertaking, lie con- again, and continued his voyage (Od. ix. 67, 84,
trived to discover Achilles, who was concealed 94, &c.). In one day he reached the goat-island,
among the daughters of king Lycomedes, and situated north of the country of the Lotophagi
without whom, according to a prophecy of Calchas, (Od. ix. 116). He there left behind eleven ships,
the expedition against Troy could not be under- and with one he sailed to the neighbouring island
taken. (Apollod. iii. 13. ~ 8; comp. ACHILLES.) of the Cyclopes (the western coast of Sicily), where
Before, however, the Greeks set out against Troy, with twelve companions he entered the cave of the
Odysseus, in conjunction with Menelaus (and Cyclops Polyphemus, a son of Poseidon and Thoosa.
Palamedes, Dict. Cret. i. 4.),' went to Troy, where This giant devoured one after another six of the
he was hospitably received, for the purpose of companions of Odysseus, and kept the unfortunate
inducing the Trojans by amicable means to restore Odysseus and the six others as prisoners in his
Helen and her treasures. (II. iii. 205, &c.) cave. Il order to save himself Odysseus contrived
When the Greeks were assembled in the port of to make the monster drunk with wine, and then
Aulis, he joined them with twelve ships and men with a burning pole deprived him of his one eye.
from Cephallene, Ithaca, Neriton, Crocyleia, Za- He now succeeded in making his escape with his
cynthus, Samos, and the coast of Epeirus (11. ii. friends, by concealing himself and them under the