O D Y S S E U S

The most aggressive of the suitors, Antinous, attempts to have Telemachus murdered. Odysseus, the Super-Human, finally returns home. Penelope has laid the trap; Odysseus and their son slay the suitors. With Super-Human Odysseus and human Telemachus, we see an early example of the teaming of Super-Humans with humans, as with, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, or, Batman and Robin. Richard Keller Simon, in his book Trash Culture: Popular Culture And the Great Tradition, comments: "Individuals live for their own pleasure in the fictions that describe a golden age, a story form we can trace back as far as ancient Sumeria..." The word Odyssey is a noun meaning a long journey. James Joyce's novel Ulysses, 1922, is based on Homer's work, and took seven years to complete (1914-1921).

Odysseus takes deadly aim at Antinous, while Telemachus stands ready, weapons in hand, for the slaughter to come. From an 1886 engraving.