The Iliad (Greece: circa 800 BC) When the Trojan Paris seduces and abducts Helen, the wife of Spartan King Menelaus, the Greek king enlists the aid of his brother, King Agamemnon, and other heroes of Mycenaean Greece and sails to Troy to begin a ten-year war. The Iliad begins in the ninth year when Agamemnon has alienated Achilles by taking his prize, the girl Briseis. Without his aid, the Greeks suffer at the hands of the Trojans, particularly the mightiest and most heroic, the warrior, leader and family man Hector. As the gods take sides, fortunes wax and wane on both sides until the Greek leaders encourage Agamemnon to apologize to Achilles. But it is the death of his companion Patroklus (who has donned Achilles's armor in an attempt to frighten the Trojans) that brings Achilles back to the war, where he slays Hector and is later killed himself when Paris shoots an arrow that lodges in the Greek's heel (the hero's only vulnerable spot; the origin of the term "Achilles heel" or "Achilles tendon"). Eventually, the crafty Odysseus devises the plan of the Trojan horse, and the Greeks sack and raze Troy.
The Odyssey (Greece: circa 800 BC) Homer's tale begins with Odysseus, several years after the Trojan War and sailingl homc, being honored at a banquet by the Phaeacians, upon whose shore he has washed up. Odysseus enterains his guests by telling them of his adventures since leaving Troy. His men first arrive at the land of the Lotus-Eaters, where the fruit of the isle induces them to stay, and Odysseus has to drag them away. They then encounter Polyphemus, the cyclops, who manages to trap and eat several of the men before Odysseus tricks the giant by getting him drunk and burning his eye out while he sleeps. After adventures with cannibals and the sun god, the remaining ships arrive at the island of Circe, a witch who turns the men into pigs and falls in love with Odysseus. He breaks her spell and leaves, but she agrees to help him on his journey home by telling him that he must visit the land of the dead to receive directions. After encountering monsters and heroes, Odysseus returns to the land of the living, where he sails past the Sirens, navigates between the monster Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis (the origin of the saying "between a rock and a hard place") and incurs the wrath of the sun god, Helios, when his men eat the god's cattle. When Helios destroys the remaining ships and men, Odysseus is washed up on the shore of Calypso, with whom he stays for seven years as her lover. But his yearning for home grows, so she sends him on his way on a raft, and he is brought to his present destination. With Athena's guidance, Odysseus returns to Ithaca, but first meets his son Telemachus, who informs him that suitors have besieged the queen, Penelope, insisting that she is free to marry as her husband has not returned for twenty years. But Penelope has put the men off by telling them she will marry when she finishes a weaving project, which she secretly unravels each night. Disguised as a beggar, Odysseus returns to the palace, where the suitors are engaged in an archery contest, each saying he can string the bow of the king. But each fails, and they laugh when the old beggar steps up to string the bow himself. But Odysseus succeeds and then slaughters the suitors, reclaiming his wife, son and home.
The Aeneid (Rome: circa 20 BC) After losing his family in the siege of Troy, Aeneas leaves with his men on the seas, only to be blown off course and land in Carthage. Aeneas entertains his audience with tales of his wanderings. He meets Queen Dido, falls in love with her, and consummates their relationship in a cave during a storm. But Zeus informs the Trojan that he is destined to found the greatest city in the world, and Aeneas leaves his newfound love. Dido is overcome by the Trojan's desertion, and when Aeneas sees smoke rising from the city he has sailed away from, he realizes it is Dido's funeral pyre. A storm drives the ships to the land where the ghost of Anchises, Aeneas's father, convinces his son to leave some of his men there and then instructs him to visit the land of the dead to see his father more fully and hear of his destiny. With the aid of the prophetess Sibyl (who first directs Aeneas to find the golden bough at the end of the wold). Aeneas descends to the underworld, where his father reminds him of his destiny. He also encounters Dido, but she refuses to speak to him. Finally, Aeneas and his men land in Italy, where they must fight and defeat the Latin people, which they do, and Aeneas founds the city of Rome.
The Ramayana (India: circa 100 AD) The god Vishnu, preserver of life, descends to earth in order to kill Ravana, a monster and enemy to both gods and humans. Vishnu is reborn as the four sons of King Dasa-ratha: Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana, and Satrughna. Rama, the greatest of these men, wins the hand of Sita, daughter of Mother Earth. King Dasa-ratha plans to give his kingdom to Rama, but Bharata's mother forces him to give it to her son instead, and Rama is banished for 14 years. Sita and Laskhmana accompany him. Bharata learns of his mother's treachery and tries to convince Rama to return, but he refuses. Rama receives weapons from the gods and defcats the entire Rahshasha army. Meanwhile, Sita is captured by Ravana, and Rama elicits the aid of the monkeys, who lead him to Ravana's secret hiding place, where they capture Sita and kill Ravana. Rama insists that Sita prove her purity by fire, and all return home where Rama rules for 10,000 years. But the people again question Sita's purity, and Rama banishes her. In exile she gives birth to Rama's twin sons. When Rama meets his sons years later, he asks Sita to return and face another test to prove her purity, but she refuses; instead she returns to Mother Earth. After another thousand years, Rama and his brothers return to heaven as Vishnu.
Beowulf (Britain: circa 900 AD) When the monster Grendel attacks King Hrothgar and his men in their home, Herot, the palace is deserted until the Dane Beowulf arrives to offer assistance. Beowulf and his men sleep in Herot that night, awaiting Grendel. When the monster appears, Beowulf feigns sleep, then grabs the monster's arm and tears it off, pinning it over the doorway as the monster flees home and dies. After the people celebrate, Grende'ls mother comes the next night to terrorize the company. Beowulf pursues the mother to her lair, hidden underwater, where he cuts her head of f. Beowulf is again celebrated by Hrothgar, and then the hero returns home. Years later, near the end of his life, Beowulf finds his own town threatened when a dragon is disturbed by the theft of an article of gold from his hoard. Beowulf ventures forth with a small group of men to defeat the dragon, but only one companion has the courage to aid the King, and Beowulf is slain by the dragon, but not before mortally wounding the monster.
The Song of Roland (France: circa 1100 AD) In the court of Charlemagne, Roland is the greatest knight. The enemies of the Christian French are the Moors, and Charlemagne and Roland ride into Spain to drive the heathen out. The Franks are successful in battle after battle until one of their own betrays them. Charlemagne and his officers ride forward toward France while Roland and his troops stay far behind, protecting the rear. But Roland and his men are ambushed and overcomne by large numbers of Moors. Roland fights valiantly, killing off more than his share of soldiers, but his vanity prevents him from sounding his horn for assistance, and he is slowly overwhelmed. When it is too late, Roland blows on his horn, and Charlemagne comes to his rescue. The Moors are defeated by the King's troops, but not before defeating Roland.
The Nibelungenlied (Germany: circa 1200 AD) Abandoned by his parents and raised by a troll named Mimer, Siegfried's first great adventure is the defeat of the dragon, Fafnir. Bathing in the dragon's blood, Siegfried is rendered invincible except for a spot where a leaf falls on his back, keeping the blood away. Siegfried later defeats a small group of dwarves and wins a treasure and the sword Balmung. When he comes to the court of King Gunther, the King enlists his aid in winning the hand of Brunhild, a foreign queen who has insisted that no man may wed her unless he can outdo her in a series of athletic events. Using a cape that hides him, Siegfried wins the contests in Gunther's place, and Brunhild returns to the King's court, where Siegfried marries Gunther's sister, Kriemhild. But when Kriemhild spitefully divulges to Brunhild that it was Siegfried, not Gunther, that actually won her hand, Brunhild rails against her husband and insists on revenge, wanting no less than the death of Siegfried. After long discussions, Gunther's brothers agree to the slaying, and they take Siegfried on a hunt where, at a pond where the warrior has stopped to drink, one brother drives a sword through the one spot in the hero's skin where he is vulnerable. Years later, in sorrow, Kriemhild has moved away to become the wife of Attila the Hun. Under the guise of burying the hatchet, she invites Gunther and her other brothers to visit her. But in her own act of treachery, she ambushes the men and kills then all, thus bringing an end to Gunther and his race.
King Arthur (England: circa 1400) When Uther Pendragon strikes a bargain to give up his son to the magician Merlin in exchange for the privilege of sleeping with Queen Igraine, Merlin later returns to claim the boy, giving him later to Sir Ector to raise. Not until Arthur disingenuously pulls the sword Excalibur from the stone is his noble birthright revealed. Young King Arthur unites the warring tribes of England, builds Camelot, and creates the 150 knights of the Round Table. But the search for the Holy Grail kills most of Arthur's knights, and when Lancelot, his beloved friend, abducts Queen Guinevere and takes her to France, Arthur is forced to pursue them to France and engage in futile war. Meanwhile, Arthur's kingdom is betrayed by Mordred, Arthur's son by his sister, the witch Morgana. Arthur returns to defend his kingdom and is joined at the battle's end by Lancelot, but all heroes and enemies are destroyed in the final hour, and at the last, Excalibur is tossed back into the hands of the Lady of the Lake.
Ouetzalcoatl (Native American: recorded circa 1500) Quetzacoatl was the son of Sun and the goddess Coatlicue. When Sun was murdered by the stars, Quetzacoatl was told and enlisted the help of a coyote, an eagle, a wolf and hundreds of moles to find the burial spot, where they dug up the body. As a man, Quetzacoatl taught the Toltecs how to grow food and work crafts. His enemy was Tezcatlipoca, who one day tried to kill Quetzacoatl by assuming the form of a jaguar and chasing the hero around the countryside. Later, Tezcatlipoca uses a mirror to convince the hero that he is aging and moving towards death. His fears are assuaged when Tezcatlipoca offers him a drink with promises that it will bring peace and happiness, but it only intoxicates Quetzacoatl, who, in his drunken state, forgets his people and sleeps with his sister. When the intoxication wears off, he is ashamed but stays with his people. But through a series of tricks, Tezcatlipoca deceives and destroys the people. Quetzalcoatl hides his treasures in the mountains and, looking again in the mirror, sees that he has become as old as he feared. He begins to seek out his father when demons instruct him to leave all his valuables and knowledge of earthly skills behind. Quetzacoatl agrees and performs a last series of tasks to improve the world and then sets out on a raft to join his father.
Kotan Utunnai (Japan: recorded 1880) Kotan Utunnai learns that a neighboring tribe, the Repunkur, killed his parents. Finding his father's war gear, he sets out to avenge their deaths. In Repunkur country, he finds that his brother is a prisoner; with the aid of his sister, he frees his brother and kills his captors. Kotan and his sister travel to Shipish to fight the Repunkur ruler. They rescue their older sister and kill her captors and then defeat two storm demons. They finally return to them homeland, where they are reunited with their older brother and older sister, and they live in peace.
Mwindo (African: recorded 1956) Chief Shemwindo, having forbidden his wives to give birth to a male child, becomes father of the boy Mwindo. He unsuccessfuly tries to kill his son. Mwindo overcomes all obstacles and finds Iyangura, his father's sister, in a different village. There too Mwindo overcomes those who would harm him. Mwindo sets out to get revenge. He destroys his father's village and the people who live there, but Shemwindo escapes. Mwindo follows his father into the Underworld. After performing many tasks for its ruler, he finally captures Shemwindo. Together they return to the surface of the earth. Mwindo restores the lives of his father's people. Peace is formally restored and the kingdom divided. When Mwindo kills a dragon, Master Lightning takes the hero into heaven and teaches him about his place in the universe. When Mwindo returns, he teaches his people about the good life.
