The Odyssey (2026) Movie Script

1
A TIME OF APPARENT MAGIC...
A face...
A fleet...
A war...
A man...
A thought...
A trick...
A trick to break the walls of Troy.
And burn it! Scream it to the ground!
What does it mean?
A gift.
For Athena.
Common gods.
Respect their offering.
Save it from the waves!
Take it to Athena's temple!
The war is over.
A face...
A fleet...
A war...
A man...
Stop!
Not this song.
Mama's boy!
Run, run, little man!
Run!
I want to remind them of
whose wine they're drinking.
I don't want Odysseus's song.
I want Odysseus.
Then why do you entertain
suitors in his house night after night?
In this world, a man does what he chooses.
I do what I can.
I am a man now, Mom.
So throw them out.
Break Zeus's law and see what they
do to you if you give them that excuse.
I've already lost a husband.
I don't want to lose a son.
My dad's coming back.
Where is he?
Eight years since Troy fell.
Almost twenty since he left us.
Where is he?
We have to welcome him
like we welcomed all of you.
Are you calling us beggars?
I'm saying you've been
welcome here for three years.
We've only enjoyed your
hospitality for so long...
because your mother won't choose.
She's already married.
Odysseus is dead.
What do you know about my dad?
I know he kept stringing cattle and bad wine.
But you had the best of it
during the first two seasons.
I know he never came home.
Not yet.
You're pining for a daddy
you didn't even know.
Like some sniffling bastard.
Well, since none of us can't
really know who our fathers are,
don't claim that I'm lying.
But I did know him.
As boys. We watched him hunt.
I tried to volunteer for
his expedition to Troy.
But he told me to stay
and keep an eye on you.
On me or my mother?
You can't blame me for looking.
My dad is coming home.
And his hospitality won't
be as generous as hers.
So he doesn't follow Zeus's law then?
Zeus's law tells us to treat
strangers as we be treated
because they might be gods in disguise.
I think it's established,
Antinous, that you are not a god.
Well, this one certainly
doesn't smell like a god.
Wouldn't be much of a disguise if he did.
Careful.
He might strike you down, right now.
Come.
That thunder was luck.
I don't know. You have wise eyes.
Athena's eyes. Here.
You sail with the traders?
From Sparta.
Has Menelaus come home from the war?
Years ago. Odysseus never came back?
We don't even know if he's
alive. Do you know anything?
The song of how he won the war.
We've all heard that. Anything else?
No.
But Sparta is full of
veterans of the Trojan War.
Someone will know something.
Are you Odysseus's son? Go to Sparta.
Go. And see Menelaus.
He'll welcome you.
The queen wants to speak to the stranger.
She lives for news.
Just don't try to give her any false hope.
She has some way of knowing whether
a person has actually seen Odysseus.
You see that man?
He can't see much anymore
but that doesn't stop him
from beating travelers to death,
in exchange for lies about my father.
No, no. Too fast.
How can you know?
You don't need eyes to
hear a hasty combination.
Mentor, push him.
No, no. Too fast.
He's as friendly as you.
He only answered to your father.
Where did he get him from?
He met right here.
Come on.
I'll take him.
For your boy?
For a hunting dog.
Damned if he wasn't right.
Hold still. How bad a scar do you want?
Why do you always pluck your bow?
It's only fair.
To warn your prey?
To fight with honor.
You weren't fighting, you were hunting.
Ah, hunting's nothing
but fighting with stealth.
Clever. Clever, but your cleverness
is going to get you in trouble.
Try again.
This time, not as fast or precise.
You can't win with a perfect defense.
Draw the attack.
- How?
- Hesitate.
Open your belly to your opponent's blade.
Their attack becomes your chance.
You teach my father that?
No, no, he taught me.
He said, "You're not always going to be the
strongest or the fastest...
so be the smartest."
What would he do, huh?
If he came back here to find
all these suitors in his house?
No. I can't even let myself
imagine what he'd do to them.
There are so many.
Cut a couple down, the others
are cave bullies and cowards.
Most of them were old enough to go to Troy,
but when they saw Agamemnon's sail,
their fathers hid them.
And you knew Agamemnon's war
would take many years and many lives.
So he raised his army by lottery.
- Name?
- Sinon.
Draw. No.
- Name?
- Antinous.
Draw.
Yes.
By lots?
Antinous told me he volunteered.
I think they're up to something.
Your boy's trying to take Sinon's place.
I'm not going to let him.
He needs to stay here,
take care of his family.
You can watch over your boy too.
Of course.
He's with me.
Well, he wanted Antinous to look after me.
No, no, no.
But Odysseus was
sensitive to a father's shame.
He fell for these fathers.
You and your mother meant
more to him than promises of glory.
So he knew it would be years.
Did he tell my mother?
That's a question for her.
You may ask, is he ever coming back?
Argos thinks so.
Never known a dog reach twenty.
But he's long outlived his master.
I didn't mean to stop you.
I'm in no hurry.
The elder's decreed when I finish
your grandfather's burial shroud,
It'll be time to remarry.
Why?
Ithaca's been without a king too long.
They want security.
From what?
The people from the sea.
That's just traveler's tales.
All we know of the world is traveler's tales.
That's how we found out Troy had fallen.
Now they all tell stories of
attacks by people from the sea.
And who are the people from the sea?
No one knows, but the elders
wanted the good to be prepared.
Prepared?
Part of the greatest civilization ever known.
Look at this great house.
Stones as old as knowledge.
At the mercy of some greedy, unwanted guests.
The structure's nothing.
Without people's respect for its meaning.
Zeus's law.
To treat others as you would be treated.
And they abuse that and
they destroy everything.
So how could you think
of marrying one of them?
Because a long time ago...
your father asked me to.
Agamemnon is our king.
The Trojans took his brother's wife.
Or she ran away with them.
Either way, the walls of Troy
are said to be impregnable.
We'll sit outside that great city,
trying to draw them into battle.
As years go by, Telemachus grows,
and you learn life without me.
Menelaus will give up on Helen.
This is Agamemnon's excuse...
to break Troy's control
of the trading routes.
He won't let it pass. Ever.
Well, and if you refuse?
He'll take our son.
He would never.
He sacrificed his own
daughter for favorable winds.
Well, the gods want his daughter's life?
The power of a sacrifice is in
the cost to the person making it.
It's monstrous.
And committed.
I won't return soon.
If at all.
What if we ran?
Took your fastest ship,
the greatest crew,
and headed for the horizon.
Held hands on deck as we rode
west at dusk...
chasing the escaping sun.
There's a world beyond these walls.
Agamemnon's vengeance
would fall on all of Ithaca.
Promise me.
If I don't return...
by the time Telemachus comes of age...
promise me...
you'll take another husband.
Enough sacrifices.
Love's not a sacrifice.
Of course it is.
I don't want you to make it.
It's not up to you.
Promise me.
No.
Promise me you'll come back.
What if I can't?
Then your memory won't
be making my decisions.
Take my pin.
Wear it always.
Athena will bring you home.
I'm not sure it suits me.
When travelers claim to have seen you...
I'll ask what you are wearing,
and I'll know if they're lying.
If the people from the sea are real.
Right now, Ithaca has no king nor an army.
I could take the throne.
Come.
String it.
That's not fair.
You said only he could string this bow.
He was happy to let others try.
He lined up all the axes.
Yes.
No one else ever did it.
Mom, they're bleeding us dry...
so you'll be forced to choose one of them...
before I can claim the throne myself.
The traveler told me
Menelaus returned years ago.
They've all returned.
All who survived.
Maybe he is dead.
And if he is, then this is my palace.
We need to know.
I have to go to Menelaus
to find out the truth.
Telemachus...
These suitors mean you harm.
Oh, you think I don't know that?
Every night they push me to
give them the excuse they need.
And out there on the sea, on the road?
They won't need an excuse.
You just won't come back.
You don't want me to claim the throne myself.
You just want to keep me in my place
so that you can stay queen of Ithaca.
I've had enough of being
queen of Ithaca without my king!
Without your king?
Or "a" king?
And you think you're ready
to take your father's palace?
You child.
Too loud, Melanthius.
Don't wear your spurs in the palace.
You're cowherd, not a horseman.
And you're a pig farmer, and
who are you to talk to me like that?
A servant our master left
in charge of his herdsman.
The master is long gone, you blind old fool.
And you're about as
welcome here as that dog ass.
Argus!
Argus!
Argus!
Argus!
Sir, he didn't do anything.
So that stink is you?
Leave the old dog alone.
- Which one?
- Both of us.
- What did you say to me, slave?
- You just got carried away.
Argus is my father's hunting dog.
His hunting dog?
Look at that thing.
Get it out of here.
Don't! Can't you see he's in pain?
Okay. Then I'll put it out of his misery.
Leave him alone!
Do you see?
You all see?
He attacked me!
I have the right.
Please!
Please don't hurt my son.
Easy, easy, Polybus.
Young pup lost his head. Show some mercy.
Look. Drink some more of his wine.
I'll take care of this.
It's my father's hunting dog.
He's only living to see Odysseus return.
He's fine.
I'll put him on a dung heap out front
so he can greet his master a little sooner.
That dog stays out there!
Next time think twice before
you offer up your life for an animal.
Eurycleia.
Prepare supplies.
Tell no one.
Use only people you trust.
You'll break your mother's heart.
If I stay, they'll force me to fight.
No one will back me.
I have to find out what
happened to my father.
Ithaca will be behind me if
they know Odysseus is dead.
The suitors will never allow that.
You will never make it back alive.
Tell Mentor to meet me at
the ships just before dawn.
What do you want me to tell your mother?
To hold out for as long as you can.
Ship's ready. Tide's right.
Have I ever told you that you have wise eyes?
Athena's eyes?
Once or twice.
You haven't even asked
me where we're going yet.
Where are we going?
We'll find my dad.
He's alive. I can feel it in
the wind and the waves.
He's out there somewhere.
Wandering, injured, lost. I don't know.
But he's alive.
More dreams?
Men drowning inside.
Locked in.
Some dark space.
Firelight on stone. I don't know.
Don't you want to remember?
Why can't God speak in ways we understand?
Who doesn't understand thunder?
A fire?
A child's smile? A good harvest?
You hide yourselves from us.
Look.
Who's moving that cloud?
Massing those birds?
Who's moving the water?
Who were you talking to?
Athena came to me again.
She's telling me to remember.
To leave.
Why would you leave?
We have everything we need.
How long have I been here, Calypso?
I have a home somewhere.
There's someone out there.
How do you know?
I don't know.
I feel.
What we have here could last forever.
Forever is for God.
For your God.
You want to remember, but what if
remembering destroys your happiness?
Then it wasn't real.
No.
- No more.
- But I love it.
Stop eating the lotus.
Tell me what you remember.
After Troy.
Troy.
We won the war.
And then what?
Ten years on this fucking beach.
Let's go home.
Remember who we leave here.
Do we have enough provisions?
We've taken enough from Troy.
Another stop or two won't kill us.
And pull!
And pull!
And pull!
And...
Stow the oars.
Rest!
Stow the oars!
We'll raise the sail.
Follow the southerly winds.
Yes, sir.
Agamemnon's rowing west
on the known provisions route.
He's got more mouths to feed.
We'll find places to land.
Are you sure it's a risk?
We've followed Agamemnon long enough.
With a little luck and the right wind,
we'll see some of the world...
and still be home before Agamemnon.
Stay firm!
Just keep the bear on the right.
Odysseus!
Land!
See?
You lucky bastard.
We're down to our last supplies.
Assemble a landing party.
Food and water. Enough for three weeks.
What if they won't give it?
How badly do you want to get home?
Get your weapons ready!
Begging...
Borrowing...
Looting...
Ask him why they abandoned
their village instead of welcoming us.
They thought we were the sea people.
No.
We're Greeks. From Ithaca.
Maybe you heard our victory at Troy?
We're headed west on the southerly winds.
He says if we go that way...
we won't like the things we'll find.
After years of war...
no one could stand between my men and home.
Not even me.
Didn't something happen?
Chasing the escaping sun.
Land!
Land!
There you go.
Lucky bastard.
No, no, no.
Sheep come in flocks.
Let's follow.
Someone lives here.
Yeah, they make cheese.
Pretty good.
There's a lot of it.
We should leave.
We brought nothing to trade with.
Zeus's law.
I don't know if whoever lives
here has heard of Zeus's law.
Or Zeus, for that matter.
Everyone's heard of Zeus's law.
Get the fire going!
We'll welcome the owner back.
Get away from the fire.
Spread out!
I think it's asleep.
Wait.
The rock.
We can't move the rock.
We'd be trapped.
Spread the word.
In the morning, when it lets out
its flock, we'll rush the entrance.
Rest up.
Go!
Go!
Can we jam something in the cave mouth?
Leave a gap?
Maybe.
But what?
This log.
It'll notice.
But grab the thin end. Put it in the fire.
How much rope do we have?
How big is the flock?
Couple dozen, maybe.
Not too many of us.
When it comes back,
two of us have to get out.
Or at least get killed.
Run low through the flock towards
the entrance and then split wide.
So we can only grab one of them.
Right.
Four of us should make the run.
Two and two.
Why risk more men?
There ain't two of us last night.
We're warming up the two before he sleeps.
Go, go, go!
What about his body?
What about him?
We'll just leave him here to rot?
As food for that thing?
We honor our dead, Odysseus.
He died helping us escape.
We honor him by escaping.
Father Poseidon, they blinded me.
Vengeance, father. Vengeance for my pain.
Poseidon, vengeance for my pain.
It can talk.
Why not talk before?
Do you talk to ants?
Should we reason with it?
I think we're past that.
What are you doing?
No!
Let's go. Run, run! Run!
Get on!
Go!
- Go, go, go!
- Go, go!
Go!
Go!
Why do you have to fire that arrow?
We lost good soldiers to that beast.
Yeah, and that beast was the son of Poseidon.
What?
When we put its eye out,
we heard it crying his name.
That thing was a monster.
I heard it too.
So now the sea is against us?
And the wind.
Why are we supposed to get
home with Poseidon against us?
We can't live by omens and sacrifices.
Do you know how many times I've heard you
weeping, praying to
Athena since we left Troy?
Couldn't you have shown some mercy?
Take this.
Wear it.
Remember those we couldn't bury.
The gods help those who help themselves.
From that moment, every rough sea or
headwind...
told the crew we were cursed.
But where is my crew?
When will you let me see my men?
If I could just talk to them,
they'd help me remember.
Did I have a wife?
Children, maybe a son?
How long have I been here?
A long time.
If I had a son,
how old would he be now?
I don't know how to speak to a king.
You'll be fine.
Keep your mouth shut.
But if anyone asks, we're traders from Crete.
And we'll figure out
how to approach the king.
Welcome.
Thank you. This is all quite...
This way.
Where are you taking us?
The king insists on
meeting strangers himself.
Sit.
Not you.
You.
Enjoy our hospitality.
As Zeus demands.
But perhaps you should tell us who you are.
You picked the right day to arrive.
Feast of my daughter's wedding.
Tomorrow she leaves to start a new life.
You don't look like a beggar.
Imagine you know who I am.
I'm Menelaus, son of Atreus.
Brother of Agamemnon.
Husband of Helen.
Perhaps you've heard of Helen.
Face. I launched a thousand ships.
That may be now just five hundred.
Somebody left on the
battlefields of Troy for that face.
For your brother's ambition.
This one looks familiar.
Ajax...
Patroclus...
Achilles...
I don't miss them as much
as one particular warrior.
He was the smartest of us all.
Deadlocked.
Fighting amongst ourselves until one day...
They found a way.
Odysseus.
Did we hear the story of the horse?
What did you hear from the inside?
We were in there for days.
We squeezed inside before the ship set sail.
Odysseus, he knew that no one
could know that we were inside.
Not even Sinon, the soldier we left behind.
The first two tides, our men
drowned right in front of us.
We were silent, between piss and shit.
A gift.
For Athena.
Common gods.
Respect their offering.
We have to burn it!
Burn it! Burn it!
It's an offering for Athena!
It's an offering for Athena!
The gates!
He knew to wait for a moonless
night around the plains of Troy.
Go! Go!
- They're attacking the city!
- To the gates!
To the gates!
Go, go!
The city is under attack!
Come on!
Go, go!
I think you know the rest.
You're moved by my telling. You
sure you've heard the bards singing?
I have.
But they weren't there with all of you.
With your father.
Odysseus.
You look so much like him.
When did you last see him?
Troy.
The gods granted us a righteous victory.
Righteous.
The gods granted our righteous
victory but did not bless our voyages.
Took me years to get home.
But he didn't.
Some did and wish they hadn't.
Tell him.
- Tell him about your brother.
- No.
About the fate the gods bestowed
on him after your righteous struggle.
- No.
- About his hero's welcome.
- No.
- About how Agamemnon
made it home years before us.
Tell him how he was welcomed by
his queen, my twin sister Clytemnestra.
No, no. He does not want
to hear about my brother!
He must know of his father.
I know nothing of Odysseus since Troy.
Nothing?
Not from any of your men?
Or Agamemnon's merchants
that travel the rest of the world?
Did you come here for rumors? Is
that what you're interested in? Gossip?
Are you in the right place?
Anyone want to spin a story about Odysseus?
Some say he's rich or some say poor.
Some say he perished,
some say he's imprisoned.
- What say you?
- Imprisoned?
What kind of prison
could hold a man like that?
Tell me what you do, remember.
The rest will come.
And the men became more and more
convinced that I defended Poseidon.
Ready!
Pull!
And pull!
Pull!
Were hit by storm after
storm, all pushing us off course.
Until we were truly lost.
And pull! And pull!
Pull!
And pull! And pull!
Row!
Hello.
We're here in peace.
We just need some food.
We need food.
- Can't you understand that?
- It's just a child.
If that's a child, what about its parents?
Hey, shh, it's okay.
No, no, no, no. Shh!
Go, go!
Back to the ship!
Go, go! Go!
Run! Run faster!
Give me my bow! My bow!
Go!
Go! Go!
Row!
Wait!
And pull!
Wait!
And pull!
And pull!
And pull!
Go!
- Wait!
- Pull!
Wait!
The oars!
Nice! Move this bastard!
Turn to port.
Follow the coast.
What if they have ships?
We need to get as far away as possible.
We don't have supplies for a blind crossing.
We've lost our way.
We need to find food and get our bearings.
Turn to port.
There! Smoke there!
Go fast, we'll find the
anchorage at the beach.
Watch out!
Form a landing party.
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow.
Leave someone with the tenders.
We think you should stay.
- We?
- All of us.
Still alive.
Is this a mutiny?
That's up to you.
Give me your bow.
I'll make sure we eat tonight.
No matter what you find.
No, no, it's okay!
- Don't hurt me!
- Calm down.
- You're okay!
- No!
No one's gonna hurt you!
If I do what you want.
No one is going to hurt you.
My name's Eurylochus. What's your name?
Circe.
Circe, we need food. Badly.
I have food.
Lots of food.
Allow me.
Your weapons, your armor,
put it out the back.
You like my meat?
Why do you have so much?
You never know when strangers will come.
Men
with their appetites.
Too much is never enough.
Eurylochus!
They haven't come back yet!
- None of them?
- No!
Give me your dagger.
Stay with the boat!
Why don't you just come here?
Do you come from the sea?
Are you alone?
My pigs have taken a liking to you.
Are you hungry?
Leave your weapons at the door.
Enjoy the hospitality of Zeus.
Grab a hog. You can
slaughter it for your dinner.
Whoever you are, you're clearly not a farmer.
Here.
That stew smells good.
That's enough for just us.
Who says it's just us?
Who else is here?
Who indeed?
You say you're all alone,
but no one comes here alone.
No?
You can only reach this spot by sea.
So, where are your shipmates?
I'm looking for them.
Anyone happen to come this way?
But you prepared all this food?
You're questioning me? You?
The traveler who's clearly starving...
he hasn't touched the food in front of him.
Claims to be a sailor,
yet wears a great warrior's armor.
And who breaks Zeus's law
by bringing a dagger
into his hostess's house.
You have sharp eyes.
Sharpen by the gods.
Do they grant you insights?
Truths.
Sometimes.
Would they tell you
where I could find my men?
Your men?
That's right.
They would.
Then would you tell me?
Perhaps.
If you give me your dagger.
Why would I help a liar
who refuses my hospitality?
I remember we were here
earlier. Now they're not.
They moved on?
Yes.
Leaving their rings?
I wouldn't.
Don't!
I don't know who this crow is to you.
If you don't put that knife down, I
will throw you out of it to find her.
Don't hurt her.
Family?
Mother?
Your sister.
You did this to her like you
turned my men into pigs.
I didn't turn your men into anything.
Look at them. This is who
they are. Look at them!
Base. Disgusting.
The primal urges that you value in battle.
They've raped and pillaged
across the world for you.
And you think that's against their nature?
You think they only did that
because you ordered them too?
A true commander thinks his
men's savagery is actually discipline.
If you don't seem that deluded.
But you sent them to me here.
On my own.
A gang of filthy soldiers with
empty bellies and hot blood.
You thought they'd respect me and my home?
Look at them!
Know your own men.
Did they hurt you?
They would have.
They just want to go home.
Let them.
Come back.
Come back.
Come back.
Back into your disguise.
Back.
Back into your disguise.
Come back.
Back into your disguise.
Come back. Come back.
Come back.
Back into your disguise.
Come back.
Odysseus.
Back to the ship.
Take all the food you can carry.
Leave the meat.
You're not gonna let her live. She's a witch.
Who gave her powers?
Your gods.
Fill the jugs and skins of the stream.
Be ready to sail at dawn.
Why leave her like this?
We get on better this way.
I'm sorry if we offended you.
We can't get back without your help.
We need to know the way to the trade routes.
You're too lost.
What do you mean?
Only blind Tiresias can
tell you how to go home.
Tiresias?
In Hades.
Nobody sails into hell
and comes back.
You will.
Head north into the twilight.
And head inland.
until the river of fire
meets the river of ice.
There you must dig a trench.
And fill it with the blood of sacrifice.
Gather the dead.
And learn how you go home.
You.
Not your men.
You'd curse them?
Not a curse.
A truth.
Your men don't want you to defy the gods.
The gods say only you make it home.
Then I defy the gods.
Sinon.
It's Odysseus.
Sinon.
It's Odysseus.
Let him drink Odysseus.
Then you will hear his testimony.
Odysseus?
Yes.
You lied to everyone.
Did you have to lie to me?
I needed you to believe.
Why did you have to volunteer?
Don't you remember how I came here?
I begged to take Antinous' place.
He'd been called.
He offered money for your
family if you'd take his place.
If the Trojans don't let me live...
If I never make it home...
Take this back to my father.
Tell him everything I did.
Odysseus.
Feel free to add some stuff.
You didn't trust me with the truth?
You knew I'd die for you.
Dying men tell the truth.
I needed you to believe.
I died for your lie on that beach.
I know. I was there with you.
I heard you repeat the lie with
your dying breath, winning us the war.
I was right there, inches
from you, smelling your blood.
What comfort could that give me?
Not knowing you were inside
that horse until the dead told me.
Which dead?
A lot of veterans of your
campaigns walk these shores.
The dead meet to lament the
living and greet the newly dead.
My father was the first shade to find me.
To comfort you?
Shades don't comfort.
They want word of the
living who wronged them.
My father had died in poverty, alone,
begging for scraps from people like Antinous.
Antinous cheated you?
As he's no doubt cheating you.
- How?
Who's in Ithaca looking
after your wife and son?
My wife is of no concern.
Talk to Agamemnon about homecomings.
Agamemnon's here?
You buried me at Troy with respect.
Thank you.
But spare a thought for those you didn't.
It's not always possible.
When you get home, take a ship.
Head into the unknown
west till you find land.
And there, give sacrifice and honor your men.
Do you still have the lot?
Of course.
If you make it home, give
Antinous back his shame.
I will.
My lord.
Odysseus.
How are you here?
We won the war you headed for home.
Odysseus. The most
brilliant of all my generals.
He would never be snared as I was.
Will you cast a drift, like us?
No.
My misfortune was to make it home.
To be welcomed by my beautiful wife.
Bathed.
Anointed.
Made soft.
To learn the hardest lesson.
That I'd left a poison
in her heart years before.
Good part of her heart had gone
No. No.
She and her lover had
plotted my murder for years.
Odysseus.
Yes.
My son Orestes. Did he avenge me?
My lord, how could I know?
I'm still trying to get home.
Don't make my mistake.
Don't walk on the front door
expecting garlands and praise.
Come in disguise.
Take your time.
Assess.
Do you see?
I know what I have to do.
Some of what you have to do.
My prophecy is not for their ears.
Back to the ship.
Sail southwest, past the sirens.
Their song lures your men onto the rocks.
They'll all die.
I won't let that happen.
I'll block their ears. With wax.
Past the sirens.
You choose between the whirlpool
Charybdis and the monster Scylla.
The whirlpool in the
sea takes all of your lives.
The monster in the cliffs? Only six.
But your determination to not
sacrifice any more lives kills all of them.
I'll do what I have to.
At the end, when starvation
and mutiny threaten.
They demand to land where
the sun god grazes his cattle.
They slaughter Apollo's herd.
Zeus kills them for it.
Do you see?
I'll stop them.
Why do you value these men's lives
more than those you've already lost?
I can still save them from the gods.
But not from themselves.
What is that?
Your own buried crew.
Demanding you share their dishonor.
Let's go!
Cast off the lines!
We must set sail!
Is that our destiny?
Is that our fate?
We rode out of hell.
Leaving so many fallen comrades.
I have to save the rest.
What's happened to them?
Did they leave me here?
Are they coming back?
Did you do something to them?
Did you do something to them?
Have some.
You told me not to eat the lotus flower.
Just tonight.
So you can get some sleep.
And tomorrow, when
you're ready, you'll remember.
You'll remember your crew.
And your family.
Family.
A wife?
Do I have a wife?
What are you doing?
It's fine, Melantho.
Strangers don't come in here.
Screen or no screen.
After three years of feasting together,
we're far from strangers, Penelope.
Are you trying to marry
me or ruin my reputation?
Melantho can be discreet.
I'm actually here out of
concern for your reputation.
Everyone sees how hard you work.
Slow, steady progress.
But every night, you've
been unraveling that work.
Leave us.
You can't expect her to be loyal
to a master she never even knew.
I expect her to be loyal to me.
Then she will be.
When you marry me.
Slaves have no choice but
to be loyal to the future.
This is a household waiting for a master.
Just as Ithaca, just as a
kingdom waiting for a king.
Ithaca's king is coming back.
No, he's not.
Did you know that as a boy, I
tried to go with him to Troy?
He never told me that.
Odysseus refused to let me.
He knew that Ithaca
needed a future without him.
And he saw me as part of that future.
I'll never tell other suitors
about your... deception.
Finish your weaving.
It's time to let him go.
Why would you want to marry
someone who loves someone else?
Your loyalty to Odysseus is
one of your finest qualities.
I love you.
I want you to choose me and end all this.
You can't tell me you're not tired.
The waiting.
The uncertainty.
You've done your duty.
Year after year after year.
It's time to think of yourself.
It's time to live again.
It's what Odysseus would have wanted.
I'll take care of all your needs.
My queen.
And my son?
The throne is his.
He's the heir.
Unless we have a child of our own.
Where's Telemachus?
He's gone inland.
To visit his grandfather.
She lied.
He goes to the sea.
He's gone for years with his father.
Where?
He's gone to Sparta.
To Menelaus.
Well, should we go there?
No.
Too loud, Melanthius. I
told you you're a coward!
- He was listening!
- No, no!
No, no.
I was coming for Argus.
I told you that dog stays
there. Go back to the farm.
When we need your
pigs, we'll send Melanthius.
You're no longer welcome
in this palace, old man.
I answer to my mistress.
Does she even know your name?
Now go.
Telemachus will have to come
back by the temple at Pylos.
You take your man away from there.
Why, so you can stay and
try and charm the queen?
I don't think so.
He needs to die on that road.
And Eris has a plan.
Eris!
I need everyone in his party
dead, in a ditch, throats open.
Telemachus and his men will be ready
for the bandits
who work the road between here and Pylos.
But if some of them took the temple
from the priests before they arrived
Then bring me part of Telemachus' proof.
His nose.
Would you know him only by his nose?
His ears too.
Who taught you?
My father's swineherd.
Swineherd?
His best most loyal servant.
Odysseus left his most loyal servant behind.
He always was the smartest.
Only one Agamemnon ever listened to.
Should have listened harder.
Can I ask what happened to your brother?
His wife betrayed him and murdered him.
What did you do to him?
My son Orestes, he killed them both.
But he killed his own mother?
He avenged his father.
But you don't have to worry.
Your mother has nothing in
common with Clytemnestra.
Maybe not.
But the suitors have convinced
the elders it's time she remarried.
It's not a good time for an empty throne.
Heard the stories, people from the sea.
Have you been raided?
Not yet, but the attacks,
they do seem closer.
Sparta's ready.
What about Ithaca?
She'll be able to raise
an army, defend herself.
Someone's got to take the throne.
Then the battle is there, not here, son.
You've run from the problem.
Left your mother at the mercy of the suitors.
Should I hire mercenaries?
Go back and kill them all?
Murder rich and powerful
guests in your own home?
You'll be exiled.
What then?
You must evict them
without violating Zeus' law.
I have to take the throne.
I have to know if Odysseus is alive.
This has nothing to do with
a father you've never known.
You have to lead, son.
No matter what's happened to Odysseus.
You need to remember.
No, I don't.
I don't need to know the truth.
I'm happy here with you.
And why are you gathering the
bones of your old ship to make a raft?
Remember your crew.
I heard the song of the sirens.
Put the wax in the men's ears.
None for me. Tie me to the mast.
Why?
I want to hear the siren's song.
No.
That's a bad idea.
No one's ever heard the song and lived.
That's why it's a good
idea. I'll be the first.
No matter how hard I plead, do
not untie me until we're well clear.
Check the men's ears.
A week's rations for the first: "Yes, sir."!
What was the siren's song?
All the things you wanted to be.
Then, all the things you
wish you never wished for.
It was the delicious
itch you go to scratch...
They find it's under the skin
and you can't reach it.
So the delicious itch becomes unbearable.
I told you what you most want...
is what you most can't have.
And what you most can't have...
is what you already had...
and lost...
It was the song of all the
promises I failed to keep.
And it told me I don't
really want to go home.
Foam in the water!
Foam water ahead!
Charybdis.
The monstrous whirlpool.
Hoist the sails!
Come on, let's go!
Get the whirlpool shot!
Can we head out to sea?
It's already got us.
Get in the boat!
We have to get to the north! Get moving!
We might make that canyon.
It's too narrow.
Make for the whirlpool.
If you steer down the slope, we can make
enough way to shoot out the other side.
Don't be afraid, we can do it.
No. No!
We're making for the channel.
- Calm.
- We're making for the channel!
Oars in!
Get the oars in!
It's over an oars! Prepare to hold water!
On my signal!
Three
Two...
One...
Hard!
Great!
Hold it!
We made it!
We did it!
We did it! You guys
Row!
Row!
Row!
Row!
Keep us straight!
Row!
Row!
Keep us straight!
Pull!
You knew!
And you didn't tell us!
If I told you, you wouldn't
have chosen this way.
- And those men would still be alive!
- No!
We'd all be dead!
You had no right!
I had every right!
And every responsibility!
The whirlpool would have
destroyed the ship and all of us!
This way we live!
Some of us live!
Yes!
What else did Tiresias tell you?
I'm going to put in there
We can't land there!
That's the sun god's isle!
We need repairs!
These men are exhausted!
I want six shipmates!
I'm going to put in I'm
going to rest up on dry land.
You're all going to die!
You asked me what Tiresias told me?
He said you're all going to die.
If you slaughter the sun god's cattle
which graze on that island, you'll all die.
That's fine.
We'll put in.
We'll cook our own provisions.
We'll pick fruit. We'll get water.
Nothing more.
Swear to it.
All of you.
See?
The wind took us right in.
We'll rest up
Do the repairs and set out
as soon as the wind changes.
Grab that light!
Did the crew keep their promise?
Yes.
For a long time.
But the wind never changed.
The steady onshore breeze
that made it so easy for us to land
made it impossible to leave.
And our provisions ran out.
Go!
Did you think if you ate quietly
the sun god wouldn't notice?
We thought you wouldn't notice.
I'm not the problem.
I wanted you to live.
Tiresias told you.
Circe told you. The gods told you.
You gods don't speak in ways we understand.
Who doesn't understand pain?
Or blood or death?
When you watch your men die, do you
see chance or do you see consequence?
I see consequence. I see my failure.
What if their deaths aren't your failure?
I lead them.
I led them here.
And who led you?
Why do you put yourself above the gods?
Why do you claim responsibility?
Why don't you want to go home?
What do you expect?
They ran out of food!
Have some pity.
My pity is what put us on this damn island.
I told you what would happen.
Yes, you did.
And we decided we would
rather drown than starve.
Well, now's our chance.
The wind has dropped! The wind has dropped!
The calm was just long enough to
lure us out onto Poseidon's ocean.
Under Zeus' sky.
Bow into the wind!
To port! To port!
Pray to the gods!
Bow into the wind!
Beg for pardon! My wind!
Bow into the wind!
To the wind!
Odysseus!
Bow into the wind!
Put yourselves to the gods!
Pray to Poseidon!
Watch out!
The last thing I remember
was the harsh hand of Zeus.
Eurylochus!
I don't know what happened to my men.
Yes you do.
Exactly what you told them what happened.
I washed up on your shore alone.
You washed up on my shore with
some of your boat and none of your crew.
Half dead, unconscious.
I watched you lost for days into weeks.
I knew the lotus would ease your awakening
so that your pain was more
of the body than the mind.
And it did.
You liked it so much.
You ate it so willingly.
And as I cared for you.
Thank you.
I came to love you.
How long have I been here?
I kept telling myself
to stop giving it to you.
That you were strong enough to remember.
- How long, Calypso?
- But you were so happy.
You were happy.
We were so happy. For years.
Years?
Seven years.
You fed me lotus flower and held me captive.
I saved your life.
I rebuilt your body.
I just couldn't bring
myself to rebuild your mind.
You have been happy.
Your heart was just always somewhere else.
And your mind was bound to follow eventually.
How could you?
The lotus clouds the mind and stops the will.
But it doesn't change who you are.
You weren't ready to go
home for whatever reason.
I am now.
As I always knew you would be.
How?
You were clutching
something when I found you.
Your hand wouldn't open for weeks.
You'd call out.
Mostly to Athena,
but sometimes
you would say another name.
Penelope.
Help me go home.
I am.
You're a man who needs to control his fate.
But you cannot control this.
You must give yourself to the storm.
Give yourself to Poseidon.
And take your punishment.
Zeus won't let him kill you.
Give up the fight, give up control and live.
It's a leap of faith you've
never yet made Odysseus.
Odysseus.
Where am I?
Don't you recognize your own home?
Zeus welcomes you, strangers.
How many are you?
Half a dozen.
In need of a meal?
And supplies.
For the road.
Where are you headed?
We need pigs.
We're going all the way to Pylos.
Are you pilgrims?
Do we look like pilgrims?
I don't see well.
Zeus demands I offer you a meal,
but these pigs aren't mine to sell.
Oh, don't worry.
We're not paying.
Give my greetings to your mother.
Tell her I'm sorry.
I'm sorry for Troy, and for
everything that happened in my name.
I'm sorry I had no news of your father.
No, you had news.
Not of where he is, but who he is.
And now more than ever, I
hope to one day meet him.
Where are your watchdogs, old man?
I'm burning their bodies.
Can Zeus offer you food and drink, stranger?
Were you attacked?
The dogs saved your farmhands.
Oh, we burned his brothers first.
What happened to Ithaca?
Darkness.
Zeus's law smashed to pieces.
A kingdom without a
king since my master died.
Your master?
Odysseus.
Hero of the Trojan War.
But Odysseus is alive.
Beggars with false hopes! No more!
No more! No more! No more. No more.
Telemachus.
Telemachus.
He's in danger and I can't help him.
There must be others in Ithaca
that would help Odysseus's son.
How is this controlled by suitors?
No one is still loyal to Odysseus.
What about the queen?
Beautiful, wise Penelope.
Held hostage by the worst men.
Soon to be forced into marriage.
What could she do without even her son?
Here, drink.
What's the danger to Telemachus?
He's on his way back from Sparta.
The suitors send bandits to
Pylos to ambush him at the temple.
Give me food for the road.
You'll never catch up with the bandits.
If I can get to Pylos before
Telemachus arrives, I can warn him.
Why are you helping?
If I tell you, don't be angry.
I served with Odysseus at Troy.
Really?
He was a harsh taskmaster.
But fair.
Fair and worthy of following.
You loved him.
Like a son?
Well, he's not dead.
Is he coming home?
Soon.
Bringing vengeance?
Bringing it all.
Don't talk. We don't want
people realizing who you are.
Well, maybe we shouldn't
have brought a guard.
We'll be glad we did if we
have trouble on the road.
Move!
I bring a message. Wait.
Eumaeus sent me!
Find that beggar.
Your men must wait out here. The weapons too.
Zeus welcomes you strangers.
Have you traveled far?
Not that far.
You're here to rest for the night.
We're here to make sacrifice to Athena.
And whatever hospitality you
can offer might be considered.
Of course. Get that beggar out of here.
He has a message for me.
Did Eumaeus send you?
Yes, sir.
But what's the message?
He's private. They are...
They are priests.
This is your moment to leave, old man.
Go, stranger.
I already spared one old man this week.
But he was blind.
I won't spare
It's not bad for a beggar.
No one's born a beggar.
We'll take this priest's robes.
Put them over your armor.
Help me with his body.
We have to leave him.
- No.
- We have to slip out.
That's not how you honor the dead.
That is how you stay alive.
He was my teacher.
He might have been Athena in disguise.
His name was Mentor.
And when you are safe, we'll
travel to the unknown west.
And we will honor him.
These men were sent by the suitors.
There will be more of them
we need to get on the road.
By night?
Safer than staying here.
Mentor's at the heart of
Athena's oldest temple.
For now, we'll honor him in flame.
Fire!
Fire! Fire!
Fire! Fire!
Fire! Fire!
So how does a beggar come to know Mentor?
I told you. I wasn't always a beggar.
You have wise eyes.
- Athena's eyes
- Don't look for gods in men.
You'll just be disappointed.
Well, then tell me who you are.
My name is Sinon.
I'm an old soldier who fought
under your father at Troy.
You knew my father?
I've been taking orders from him
for longer than I care to remember.
Wait, he's alive?
He's alive.
Well, where is he?
He's close by.
He sent me ahead to assess the situation.
Well, Mother's not gonna believe it.
No, you can't tell her.
What, nothing?
Tell her.
Tell her he decided it's time she remarried.
He doesn't need to test my mother.
How can he doubt her?
He doesn't.
But she has every reason
to have forgotten him.
Are there any loyal servants?
Some.
Why, Odysseus shows himself all.
We need to gather the suitors at the palace.
That's never a problem.
You have gifts for Menelaus?
Yeah, on my ship.
Good.
Come back as a prince.
Call a banquet.
I'll be there.
What will you do at the banquet?
Beg.
The clearest view of a man is from below.
How many suitors are there?
Dozens.
- If all of his men are like you, then
- He doesn't have any men.
But it's just you?
And you.
Telemachus is back.
- What?
- Telemachus is back.
- Who's saying this?
- Everyone.
Where's Telemachus?
My queen! Surely your place is up there.
Is it true?
You're home.
I'm back.
I thought tonight we could celebrate.
If we have anything left to celebrate with.
Don't worry.
My brave suitors will shower us
with gifts to honor your return.
So glad to see your safe return.
Glad to see you on your feet.
It's about time we took
you back to the palace.
What did you hear about your father?
Nothing.
A story is from the war, but no one knew
what happened to him after he left Troy.
I'm sorry, Mom.
Everyone in Sparta is talking
about a coming catastrophe.
An age of darkness brought
on by people from the sea,
violating Zeus' law.
Some stories are true.
Our civilization is collapsing.
Menelaus is concerned
that we can't raise an army
with an empty throne.
So we came up with a plan.
What plan?
The one way to get the suitors to leave.
It's time for you to choose.
You want me to remarry?
If you remarry, the other suitors will leave.
And then I'm only dealing with one of them.
I'm almost of age.
I'll tell the elders that I learned
of Odysseus's death in Sparta.
Menelaus will back me up and
they'll let me assume the throne.
So you deny your father and I leave my home
and go live with one of these snakes.
- That's your plan.
- Would you have a better one?
Lock the door, set a fire,
and burn the bastards.
Do you think if I remarry, life
goes back to the way it was?
That world is gone.
And in this one, they're not
giving up power to you or Odysseus.
If he returned, he'd have to kill him.
Like you will.
If I kill them, their families
will demand revenge.
I'd be exiled.
And without me, the throne will be lost.
Because only a man can sit on it.
Empty throne?
I've been sitting on that
empty throne for 20 years!
My knowledge, my years
of experience, that's all
nothing compared to
the bristles on your chin.
Do you want peace?
- Or do you want revenge?
- I want Odysseus!
Sing, muse of a face!
A face!
A fleet!
A war!
At Troy!
Sing, muse of a man!
A man!
A thought!
A trick!
You may as well go ahead.
Odysseus.
You should bury him up on the cliffs.
Where you met.
You're Odysseus.
You're my father.
I'm a beggar.
And you
are the worthy
beautiful son of Odysseus.
Of whom when you do finally meet.
He will be so proud.
Welcome home... stranger.
Because the darkness of victory...
shrouds the rightest of legends.
And make bards and blind beggars of us all.
Accept the hospitality of Zeus.
Get the strangers some food.
No, sir.
I'll just make their ends with a bowl.
Had to invite another one of
these filthy plate lickers today.
What's one more beggar at this feast?
We need to kill him before he ever
gains his position with the elders.
How?
Bring wine!
Provoke him.
Get him to grab one of the weapons.
Isn't that the same young pup you used to be?
When we come back
tonight, let me cut his tongue.
- Fuck off, Olaf.
- Please.
It's been days since I've eaten.
I told you to fuck off.
You can't be generous with
food that's not even yours.
There's no room in your bowl.
Yes, there is.
So there is.
There you go.
I suppose you want something from me now.
No.
I have something for you.
You have something from me?
You have something from me!
What could a filthy old plate
licker like you possibly have
that I could want?
Actually, it's yours.
I was asked to return it.
It's not mine.
No.
Where did you get this?
Don't turn your back on me!
Antinous. You can't treat a beggar like that.
It's Zeus's law.
Zeus's law?
You think this is a god?
You think this is a god in disguise?
Are you?
Are you a god?
A plate licker?
No.
I'm a veteran of the Trojan War.
A veteran of the Trojan War.
And what's your name, veteran?
Sinon.
Does that name mean something to you?
No.
I use it to honor the bravest
young man I ever met.
Sinon?
Wasn't he the shepherd's boy?
I never remember that.
Yeah, yeah, he wanted you to take his place.
Where does he find this?
Where he'll soon be.
And where is that?
Hades.
Enough!
The feast is done!
Let's go.
That's not mine!
My queen would like to speak with you.
Stay till everyone's
left in the fires of the
Hello, traveler.
My queen.
Melantho? Have Eurykleia
washed the stranger's feet?
That's not necessary.
My husband insisted we
honor guests as family.
You know of Odysseus?
My husband?
Of course.
Who are the souls?
And the songs probably seem silly.
They make me cry.
Why?
For what was lost.
The lives?
And the years.
Everything.
Did you know Eurykleia at Troy?
I did.
Was there some detail of how
he dressed, something he wore?
He wore a strange pin.
Strange.
Beautiful.
But out of place.
Describe it.
I'll get more water.
It was a beautiful gold pin.
A figure of Athena encircled by vines.
Did he wear it often?
He never took it off.
How is it that you made it
home when Odysseus could not?
I'm not home. Not yet.
Why not?
It's not always an easy thing, a homecoming.
That's as true for Odysseus as for me.
The Odysseus I knew would have found or
fought his way back to me no matter what.
What if the Odysseus you knew lost his way?
What if, one night...
in a strange city...
saw things...
that made him think the home he knew...
couldn't possibly be there anymore?
What if...
when he left the belly of the horse,
and opened the gates of Troy,
he saw ten years of rage
pour into that city in one night?
Everyone, now!
We left them a gift.
An offering of peace
that they took into their home.
We violated all that's ever
sacred between people.
And turned a fight into a hunt.
Destroy their idols!
...into a hunt.
No, please.
To burn the walls of Troy was to burn
the world entire, including his home.
What if he knew that very night,
that night...
as he walked through
fires of anarchy and pain,
and in the days of sweaty
celebrations to follow,
what if he knew exactly what he'd done?
What all of you had done?
One man's idea.
One man's trick.
To break Zeus' law forever.
We lived in a world of palaces and trade.
A language
blind to its beauty.
Until we broke it.
You were the people from the sea?
Yes, my queen.
The breaking of Zeus' law
is spreading like plague.
Our age of bronze is collapsing.
And maybe he couldn't bear to
see the ruins of what he'd done.
Anywhere.
Least of all, his home.
Odysseus is alive.
And he'll be here when you need him most.
Well...
I've been living in his ruins long enough.
Bring the suitors at dawn.
Remove the arms from the hall.
In a few hours, one suitor will be
happy, and the rest, angry, vengeful men.
Broze provokes on so we'll have no weapons
at the trial, and the doors will be locked.
I'll marry whoever completes my challenge.
How will we take on the suitors?
Not we.
Their blood belongs on my hands.
Or you'd face exile.
Won't you?
Just make sure they can't get those weapons.
I'll see to it.
Even unarmed, there are so many of them.
And you won't have a weapon.
Well, I'll have a weapon.
Your mother's seen to that.
Gather the servants you trust.
Lock the arms in the upper storage room.
Yes. I'll take care of it.
Come on, come on. Bring the weapons up.
Quick, quick.
She seems interested in the outcome.
But what's the trial?
For years, while my
husband's been gone, you've
commandeered this palace for your feasting.
Your excuse was you wanted
to win my hand in marriage.
As I listen to you party, and fight,
corrupt my servants, and
disrespect my home...
I've wanted nothing more
than for Odysseus to return...
and see all this for himself.
But last night, I realized he's not here now.
He never will be.
So, I stand ready to marry
anyone here who can string this
hunting bow and shoot an
arrow through those twelve axes.
Step up.
And show me who you are.
Eumaeus.
Who's first?
Give me the bow.
It can't be done.
Hey, you.
It's a boy I saw Odysseus do with ease.
Then you do it.
I'll wait my turn.
Why don't we warm the bow and oil it?
This bow hasn't been strong in years.
Your turn.
There's no need.
The queen has made her point.
We can't replace Odysseus.
Some of us have always known that.
Some of us would have followed
that great man to Troy, if he'd let us.
But he never came back.
So choose the best of us here.
All of us who failed your test.
I haven't.
Somebody get these beggars out of here.
The doors are locked until the trial's over.
The trial is over.
I want to try.
Don't insist, old man.
He has a right to try.
If he won't, he may as well.
You're making a mockery
of your mother's wishes.
My mother's wishes are for you all to burn.
He's an old archer.
Hurry up.
Look at the expert at work.
Plate licker!
Hold that.
Forget it.
Hey, old man!
Hurry up!
Friend, that's enough.
- Let him try. Let him try.
- Come on.
You're Odysse-
Surely your place is down there.
Is it him?
It's him!
Protect the weapons.
Where are the weapons?
They're up a storm.
Get them!
They're gonna kill us all!
I told you. Too loud, coward.
No! No! No!
Eumaeus! Let me out!
Down!
No!
Take the swords!
The shields! The shields!
Spears!
Use the spears!
Thought you could kill us all.
As long as I kill you.
Finish this.
Dad!
When you get to Hades
Tell my men I will head west and honor them.
And tell Sinon
I gave you back your shame.
What happened?
Did he beat them?
Is he dead?
We broke the fragile bonds between men.
And for centuries of darkness to follow
the stories of Troy will only be sung.
Odysseus, my love.
Please, my love.
Odysseus.
My love. You got back.
At last.
The end.
To see my beloved Ithaca. One last time.
No. No.
No. You can't, no.
You can't. Not now.
Please. I waited so long.
You can't die.
Not death.
Exile.
Telemachus will be king.
We'll head into the unknown west.
To honor my men.
Together.
Take your fastest ship.
And your brightest crew.
And head for the horizon.
Chasing the escaping sun.
A face...
Why will the stories only be sung?
Because that's the only way they'll
remember those of us who knew how to write.
...a war...
Civilization will rise again.
...a man...
A new dawn will break
over the darkened world.
And our mistakes will be forgotten.
THE ODYSSEY