Summary: Book 10 The Achaeans sail from the land of the Cyclops to the home of Aeolus, ruler of the winds. Aeolus presents Odysseus with a bag containing all of the winds, and he stirs up a westerly wind to guide Odysseus and his crew home.
When trying to get home, Odysseus and his men's ship gets blown off course because of a big storm. After being thrown around, all over sea for nine days, they finally found land. The land that they found might not have been the best option for them, since it already took so much time to get home.
Summary: Book 12 Odysseus returns to Aeaea, where he buries Elpenor and spends one last night with Circe. She describes the obstacles that he will face on his voyage home and tells him how to negotiate them. As he sets sail, Odysseus passes Circe's counsel on to his men.
Summary: Book 20 Tormented by the loss of her husband and her commitment to remarry, Penelope wakes and prays for Artemis to kill her. Her distress wakes Odysseus, who asks Zeus for a good omen. Zeus responds with a clap of thunder, and, at once, a maid in an adjacent room is heard cursing the suitors.
Reluctantly, Odysseus tells the Phaeacians the sorry tale of his wanderings. From Troy, the winds sweep him and his men to Ismarus, city of the Cicones. The men plunder the land and, carried away by greed, stay until the reinforced ranks of the Cicones turn on them and attack.
After identifying himself to the Phaeacians at the feast, Odysseus tells the story of his wanderings. Following the victory at Troy, he and his men sail to Ismarus, the stronghold of the Cicones. With apparent ease, they sack the city, kill the men, enslave the women, and enjoy a rich haul of plunder.
Summary: Book 15 Athena travels to Sparta, where she finds Telemachus and Pisistratus, Nestor's son. She tells Telemachus he must hurry home to Ithaca before the suitors succeed in winning his mother's hand. She also warns him of the ambush that they have set and explains how to avoid it.
In Book 14 of The Odyssey, a disguised Odysseus spends time with his swineherd, Eumaios. Although the dogs nearly attack Odysseus when he first arrives, Eumaios calls them off. Despite not having much because of the greedy suitors, Eumaios is a hospitable host.
Summary: Book 21 Penelope gets Odysseus's bow out of the storeroom and announces that she will marry the suitor who can string it and then shoot an arrow through a line of twelve axes. Telemachus sets up the axes and then tries his own hand at the bow, but fails in his attempt to string it.
In Book 23 of The Odyssey, Penelope sees Odysseus without his disguise, but still refuses to believe it is really him. Meanwhile, Odysseus wants everyone to act as if there is a wedding and Penelope has remarried, to hide his slaughter of the suitors from outsiders.
Summary: Book 18 Another beggar, Arnaeus (nicknamed Irus), saunters into the palace. For a beggar, he is rather brash: he insults Odysseus and challenges him to a boxing match. He thinks that he will make quick work of the old man, but Athena gives Odysseus extra strength and stature.
In Book 24 of The Odyssey, Hermes, the messenger of gods, takes the spirits of the whining suitors to the underworld, where Achilles and Agamemnon talk about each other's deaths. Back on earth, Odysseus goes to Laertes's farm, and proves his identity to his grief-stricken father.