When he grew up, Odysseus became one of many princes and kings who went to Sparta and attempted to woo Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world. Helen’s stepfather Tyndareos was afraid the suitors might fight, especially when Helen chose her husband. With typical cunning, Odysseus told Tyndareos that he had a plan to ensure that the suitors did not fight. He promised to tell Tyndareos the plan if he could marry his niece, Penelope. Tyndareos agreed. Odysseus told the king to make all the suitors swear an oath promising to respect Helen’s choice, and to fight anyone who tried to part her from her husband. Helen chose Menelaus, and thanks to his plan, Odysseus also came home with a wife, Penelope.
When Trojan prince Paris fell in love with Helen and took her away to Troy, the suitors who had taken the oath were forced to go to Troy to win Helen back. Odysseus had taken the oath too, but he did not want to go; he loved his life in Ithaca with Penelope and their baby, Telemachus. Odysseus had also heard a prophecy that if he went to war, he would be away for many years.
When Odysseus did not come forward, Palamedes, a Greek prince renowned for his ingenuity, was sent to Ithaca to fetch him. Odysseus tried to avoid going to war by pretending to be insane, but Palamedes proved he was not.
Palamedes took the baby Telemachus and threatened him with his sword (in some versions of the myth, Palamedes laid the baby in front of a plow Odysseus was driving). Odysseus immediately ran to save his son, thus demonstrating that his insanity was an act. Lacking any further excuses,
Odysseus had no choice but to set off for Troy.
Right: This sculpture of Odysseus’s head was carved by Greek sculptor Polydorus (first century BCE).
World History
