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Odysseus or Ulysses (Greek Ὀδυσσεύς, Odusseus; Latin:
Ulixes, Ulysses), in Greek mythology pronounced /oʊˈdɪsiəs/,
was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic
poem, the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's
Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle.

King of Ithaca, husband of Penelope, father of Telemachus, and
son of Laërtes and Anticlea, Odysseus is renowned for his guile
and resourcefulness, and is hence known by the epithet Odysseus
the Cunning.  He is most famous for the ten eventful years he took
to return home after the ten-year Trojan War.
When the Achaean ships reached the beach of Troy, no one would
jump ashore, since there was an oracle that the first Achaean to
jump on Trojan soil would die. Odysseus tossed his shield on the
shore and jumped on his shield. He was followed by Protesilaus,
who jumped on Trojan soil and later became the first to die.  (oops!
I think someone should have listened DON'T YOU?!)

The Trojan Horse, that famous stratagem, was devised by
Odysseus. It was built by Epeius and filled with Greek warriors, led
by Odysseus. Beforehand, he made Menelaus swear to give him
whatever he wanted after they had taken Troy and was met with
concord. When the Horse was taken into Troy, Odysseus and
Menelaus descended from it and went directly to Prince
Deiphobos's house, where they engaged in a ferocious battle,
although some accounts say that Odysseus fought him and that
Menelaus came to find the dead body. Ultimately, however,
Deiphobos, who was then the leading son of Priam and Helen's
third husband, was killed. Menelaus was about to kill Helen for
leaving him when Odysseus took advantage of the earlier promise
and made him swear not to.
Penthesilea (Greek: Πενθεσίλεια)
or Penthesileia.  In Greek mythology,
she was an Amazonian queen,  
daughter of Ares and Otrera,and sister
of Hippolyta,  Antiope  and Melanippe.
Quintus Smyrnaeus explains more fully
than pseudo-Apollodorus how
Penthesilea came to be at Troy:  
Penthesilea had killed Hippolyta with a
spear when they were hunting deer; this
accident caused Penthesilea so much
grief that she wished only to die, but, as
a warrior and an Amazon, she had to do
it honorably and in battle. She therefore
was easily convinced to join in the
Trojan War, fighting on the side of
Troy's defenders
Achilles kills Penthesilea
Achilles (also Akhilleus or
Achilleus; Ancient Greek:
Ἀχιλλεύς) was a Greek hero of
the Trojan War, the central
character and the greatest
warrior of Homer's Iliad, which
takes for its theme the Wrath of
Achilles.
Achilles also has the attributes
of being the most handsome of
the heroes assembled against
Troy, as well as the best.

Later legends (beginning with a
poem by Statius in the first
century AD) state that Achillies
was invulnerable in all of his
body except for his heel. These
legends state that Achilles was
killed in battle by an arrow to the
heel, and so an "Achilles' heel"
has come to mean a person's
principal weakness.

The first two lines of the Iliad
read:

Sing, Goddess, of the rage, of
Peleus' son Achilles
The accursed rage, which
brought pain to thousands of
the Achaeans.

Achilles is the only mortal to
experience consuming rage
(menis). His anger is at some
times wavering, but at other
times he cannot be cooled. The
humanization of Achilles by the
events of the war is an
important theme of the narrative.
"Famous Names From Of The Time" (Pg 2)
Bio's of Penthesilea;Achilles;Odysseus or Ulysses;Trojan
Horse;Homer;Agamemnon;Xenophon;Dating The Odyssey
Head of Odysseus from a
Greek 2nd century BC
marble group representing
Odysseus blinding
Polyphemus,
Achilles was killed in battle by
an arrow to the heel, and so we
have an "Achilles' heel" OUCH!
Idealized portrayal of Homer
dating to the Hellenistic period.
British Museum.
Lived ca. 8th century
BCHomer (Ancient Greek:
Ὅμηρος, Hómēros) is a
legendary ancient Greek epic
poet, traditionally said to be the
author of the epic poems the
Iliad and the Odyssey. The
ancient Greeks generally
believed that Homer was a
historical individual, but modern
scholars are skeptical: no
reliable biographical information
has been handed down from
classical antiquityThe Odyssey
(Greek: Ὀδύσσεια or Odússeia)
is one of two major ancient
Greek epic poems attributed to
Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to
the Iliad, the other work
traditionally ascribed to Homer.
The poem mainly centers on the Greek hero Odysseus (or Ulysses,
as he was known in Roman myths) and his long journey home
following the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach
Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, it is assumed
he has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal
with a group of unruly suitors, called Proci, competing for
Penelope's hand in marriage.

It continues to be read in Homeric Greek and translated into
modern languages around the world.
Dating the Odyssey
In 2008, scientists Marcelo Magnasco and Constantino
Baikouzis at Rockefeller University used clues in the text and
astronomical data to attempt to pinpoint the time of Odysseus's
return from his journey after the Trojan War.

The first clue is Odysseus's sighting of Venus just before dawn
as he arrives on Ithaca. The second is a new moon on the night
before the massacre of the suitors. The final clue is a total
eclipse, falling over Ithaca around noon, when Penelope's
suitors sit down for their noon meal. The seer Theoclymenus
approaches the suitors and foretells their death, saying, "The
Sun has been obliterated from the sky, and an unlucky darkness
invades the world."

Doctors Baikouzis and Magnasco state that "the odds that
purely fictional references to these phenomena (so hard to
satisfy simultaneously) would coincide by accident with the only
eclipse of the century are minute." They conclude that these
three astronomical "references 'cohere,' in the sense that the
astronomical phenomena pinpoint the date of 16 April, 1178
B.C." as the most likely date of Odysseus' return.

This dating places the destruction of Troy, ten year before at the
end of the Trojan War, to 1188 B.C., which is close to the
archaeologically dated destruction of Troy VIIa of c1190 BC.
"COOL HUH!!!"
                                                        DEATH MASK OF AGAMEMNON

Agamemnon:
ancient Greek: Ἀγαμέμνων) is the son of King Atreus of Mycenae and Queen Aerope, the
brother of Menelaus and the husband of Clytemnestra; different mythological versions make him
the king either of Mycenae or of Argos. When Helen, the wife of Menelaus, was abducted by Paris of
Troy, Agamemnon was the commander of the Achaeans in the ensuing Trojan War. Upon his return
home, he was murdered by his wife Clytemnestra.
Agamemnon was the commander-in-chief of the Greeks during the Trojan War. During the fighting,
Agamemnon killed Antiphus. Agamemnon's teamster, Halaesus, later fought with Aeneas in Italy.
The Iliad tells the story of the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles in the final year of the war.
Agamemnon took an attractive slave and spoil of war Briseis from Achilles. Achilles, the greatest
warrior of the age, withdrew from battle in revenge and nearly cost the Greek armies the war.

Although not the equal of Achilles in bravery, Agamemnon was a dignified representative of kingly
authority. As commander-in-chief, he summoned the princes to the council and led the army in
battle. He took the field himself, and performed many heroic deeds until he was wounded and
forced to withdraw to his tent. His chief fault was his overwhelming haughtiness. An over-exalted
opinion of his position led him to insult Chryses and Achilles, thereby bringing great disaster upon
the Greeks Return to Greece.


"RETURN TO GREECE"

Orestes slaying AegisthusAfter a stormy voyage, Agamemnon and Cassandra landed in Argolis or
were blown off course and landed in Aegisthus' country. Clytemnestra, Agamemnon's wife, had
taken a lover, Aegisthus, and they invited Agamemnon to a banquet at which he was treacherously
slain. According to the account given by Pindar and the tragedians, Agamemnon was slain by his
wife alone in a bath, a blanket of cloth or a net having first been thrown over him to prevent
resistance. Clytemnestra also killed Cassandra. Her wrath at the sacrifice of Iphigenia, her jealousy
of Cassandra, and the possibility of going to war for Helen's affection are said to have been the
motives for her crime. Aegisthus then ruled Agamemnon's kingdom for a time, but the murder of
Agamemnon was eventually avenged by his son Orestes with the help of his daughter Electra by
murdering their own mother.
"Xenophon"
With a number of extant writings, Xenophon is noted for his
accounts of life in Greece, both in ancient times and during the
4th and 3rd centuries BCE. Formally a young student of
Socrates, he would later record a number of Socratic dialogues
as well as personal accounts of Socrates, whom he admired
greatly. As a young adult, Xenophon informally served in the
army under the Persian prince Cyrus the Younger, helping to
lead his contingent over land back to the Black Sea after Cyrus'
death in battle. His account of this journey, recorded in his
Anabasis, is read in academia today, though more for its
language than its testimony. Later joining the Spartan army,
Xenophon, not at all a nationalist, was exiled from Athens after
fighting against them in their war with Sparta. Eventually settling
in Scillus in southern Greece, Xenophon began a long trajectory
of writing--historical tracts, generalized works of instruction
(specifically on training and rearing animals), essays on the
military, politics and economics, as well as the aforementioned
Socratic works.  These latter works were both a recording of
some of Socrates' dialogues, as well as a general history of
Socrates' methods of teaching. Though Xenophon's Socratic
tracts are largely disregarded, Xenophon's Memorabilia is often
referenced as an account of Socrates' religious views.