Plot
An elderly Homer (Perry Long) sits down in his home and begins writing a lost installment of the Odyssey, the tale of the Isle of the Mists, a story he felt was too terrible to tell before.
Years prior, Homer (Randal Edwards) is a member of Odysseus's (Arnold Vosloo) crew as they sail back to Ithaca following the Trojan War. The crew also includes Perimedes (JR Bourne), Eurylochus (Steve Bacic), Christos (Michael Antonakos) and others. During their travels, they become lost in a deep fog and encounter strange flying creatures who kill several men and drink their blood. The only thing that can kill the creatures is a wooden stake through the heart. In disarray, the crew lands at an island, the fabled Isle of the Mists, to affect repairs and recovery from the attack.
After more encounters with the winged creatures, the crew meets a mysterious woman (Stefanie von Pfetten) who takes them to her refuge in the woods. Much to their surprise, she appears to be immune to the attacks of the creatures. Some of the crew remains suspicious even as they accept food and shelter from the woman. They learn of the Hellfire Cross, a mystical sword sealed by the gods on the island, that they come to believe can help them survive. The remaining crew decide to recover the Hellfire Cross as part of their plan to relaunch their ship.
After receiving visions from Athena (Sonya Salomaa), Odysseus realizes the mysterious woman is not what she seems. She uses her powers to transform into Odysseus's wife Penelope (Leah Gibson) and seduces him. Her failure to account for Penelope aging since the last time Odysseus saw her makes him realize the illusion, but not before he has sex with her. Odysseus and his remaining men realize her true identity: Persephone, the wife of Hades who has been banished to the Isle of the Mists and sealed there by the Hellfire Cross. Persephone reveals that the winged creatures are her children by Hades, and that she plans to escape the island with them to rule the world. Furthermore, she is now pregnant with a son by Odysseus.
Odysseus and his men escape to the cave where the Hellfire Cross is sealed and obtain it, however, all but Odysseus and Homer die. They are confronted by Persephone, who thanks them for her freedom and attempts to convince Odysseus to serve her, as the Hellfire Cross cannot be wielded by a god. When he refuses, she tells them she will merely wait until her mortal son is born and ages instead. She starts to set the winged creatures free on the world and attempts to force Odysseus to cut his own throat, but he overcomes her power and impales her through the stomach, killing Persephone, their son and all the creatures. Some time after Persephone's death, Odysseus and Homer return to the sea and continue back to Ithaca.
Completing his story, the aged Homer muses about the origins of the winged creatures, how they could only be killed by a stake through the heart, and how they fear the sign of the cross. On the Isle of the Mists, Eurylochus - who was attacked by the creatures in the cave - has transformed into one of the creatures and flies off freely into the world.
Hades, in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also made him the last son to be regurgitated by his father. He and his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, defeated their father's generation of gods, the Titans, and claimed rulership over the cosmos. Hades received the underworld, Zeus the sky, and Poseidon the sea, with the solid earth, long the province of Gaia, available to all three concurrently. In artistic depictions, Hades is typically portrayed holding a bident and wearing his helm with Cerberus, the three-headed guard dog of the underworld, standing to his side.
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the Iliad, the poem is divided into 24 books. It follows the Greek hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the Trojan War. After the war, which lasted ten years, his journey lasted for ten additional years, during which time he encountered many perils and all his crew mates were killed. In his absence, Odysseus was assumed dead, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus had to contend with a group of unruly suitors who were competing for Penelope's hand in marriage.
Odysseus, also known by the Latin variant Ulysses, is 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 that same epic cycle.
Penelope is a character in Homer's Odyssey. She was the queen of Ithaca and was the daughter of Spartan king Icarius and naiad Periboea. Penelope is known for her fidelity to her husband Odysseus, despite the attention of more than a hundred suitors during his absence. In one source, Penelope's original name was Arnacia or Arnaea.
In Greek mythology, Eurylochus appears in Homer's Odyssey as second-in-command of Odysseus' ship during the return to Ithaca after the Trojan War. He is portrayed as an unpleasant, cowardly individual who undermines Odysseus and stirs up trouble.
In the Odyssey, Mentor was the son of Alcimus. In his old age Mentor was a friend of Odysseus. When Odysseus left for the Trojan War, he placed Mentor in charge of his son Telemachus, and of Odysseus' palace.
Aeaea, Ææa or Eëä was a mythological island said to be the home of the goddess-sorceress Circe. In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus tells Alcinous that he stayed here for one year on his way home to Ithaca. He says that he could not resist the need to be on this island, not so much for Circe but so that he does not resist the pull. The modern Greek scholar Ioannis Kakridis insists that any attempt at realistic identification is in vain, arguing that Homer vaguely located Aeaea somewhere in the eastern part of his world, perhaps near Colchis, since Circe was the sister of Aeëtes, king of Colchis, and because their paternal aunt the goddess Eos had her palace there.
The Telemachy is a term traditionally applied to the first four books of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. They are named so because, just as the Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus, they tell the story of Odysseus's son Telemachus as he journeys from home for the first time in search of news about his missing father.
Katabasis or catabasis is a descent of some type, such as moving downhill, the sinking of the winds or sun, a military retreat, a trip to the underworld, or a trip from the interior of a country down to the coast. The term has multiple related meanings in poetry, rhetoric, and modern psychology.
The Odyssey is a 1997 American mythology–adventure television miniseries based on the ancient Greek epic poem by Homer, the Odyssey. Directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, the miniseries aired in two parts beginning on May 18, 1997, on NBC. It was filmed in Malta, Turkey, parts of England and many other places around the Mediterranean, where the story takes place. The cast includes Armand Assante, Greta Scacchi, Irene Papas, Isabella Rossellini, Bernadette Peters, Eric Roberts, Geraldine Chaplin, Jeroen Krabbé, Christopher Lee and Vanessa Williams.
Class of the Titans is a Canadian animated television series produced by Studio B Productions and Nelvana Limited. It premiered on December 31, 2005, at 5 pm ET/PT on Teletoon with a special 90-minute presentation of the first three episodes. The series aired in the United States on Qubo from September 19, 2009, to October 24, 2009. On April 1, 2012, the series returned to Qubo as part of its Qubo Night Owl block replacing "Spliced" where it remained until July 25, 2020.
The Penelopiad is a novella by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. It was published in 2005 as part of the first set of books in the Canongate Myth Series where contemporary authors rewrite ancient myths. In The Penelopiad, Penelope reminisces on the events of the Odyssey, life in Hades, Odysseus, Helen of Troy, and her relationships with her parents. A Greek chorus of the twelve maids, who Odysseus believed were disloyal and whom Telemachus hanged, interrupt Penelope's narrative to express their view on events. The maids' interludes use a new genre each time, including a jump-rope rhyme, a lament, an idyll, a ballad, a lecture, a court trial and several types of songs.
In mythology, the Greek underworld is a distinct realm where an individual goes after death. The earliest idea of afterlife in Greek myth is that, at the moment of death, an individual's essence (psyche) is separated from the corpse and is transported to the underworld. In early mythology the dead were indiscriminately grouped together and lead a shadowy post-existence; however, in later mythology elements of post-mortem judgement began to emerge with good and bad people being separated. The underworld itself— commonly referred to as Hades (Aïdes), after its patron god, but also known by various metonyms—is described as being located at the periphery of the earth, either associated with the outer limits of the ocean or beneath the earth. Darkness and a lack of sunlight are common features associated with the underworld and, in this way, provide a direct contrast to both the 'normality' of the land of the living and also with the brightness associated with Mount Olympus. The underworld is also considered to be an invisible realm, which is understood both in relation to the permanent state of darkness but also a potential etymological link with Hades as the 'unseen place'. The underworld is made solely for the dead and so mortals do not enter it - with only a few heroic exceptions.
The Odyssean gods are the ancient Greek gods referenced in Homer's Odyssey.
The Returns from Troy are the stories of how the Greek leaders returned after their victory in the Trojan War. Many Achaean heroes did not return to their homes, but died or founded colonies outside the Greek mainland. The most famous returns are those of Odysseus, whose wanderings are narrated in the Odyssey, and Agamemnon, whose murder at the hands of his wife Clytemnestra was portrayed in Greek tragedy.
Mythic Warriors is a 1998-2000 animated television series, which featured retellings of popular Greek myths that were altered so as to be appropriate for younger audiences, produced by Nelvana and Marathon Media. Two seasons of episodes were produced in 1998 and 1999; then aired as reruns until 2000, when CBS' abolition of its children's programming resulted in its cancellation. The series was based on the book series Myth Men Guardians of the Legend written in 1996 and 1997 by Laura Geringer and illustrated by Peter Bollinger.
Christmas Caper is an ABC Family Original Movie. It aired on November 25, 2007 on ABC Family as part of their 25 Days of Christmas. The film stars Shannen Doherty, Ty Olsson, Sonya Salomaa and Stefanie von Pfetten.
In Greek mythology, the suitors of Penelope are one of the main subjects of Homer's Odyssey.
Mission Odyssey is a French-German animated TV series about the adventures of the ancient Greek hero Ulysses. The series is a production of BAF Berlin Animation Film GmbH & Co. Produktions KG, Marathon Filmproduktion, Maraton Animation, and M6 Metropole Television. Character design was created by David Gilson. Distributional rights were acquired in 2009 by the Your Family Entertainment AG, which is now holding indefinite broadcast rights including ancillary rights for almost all countries. The German premiere took place on 6 September 2002 on KIKA.
Alexios and Kassandra are two interconnected fictional characters in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed video game franchise, first appearing as the player characters of the 2018 video game Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Alexios and Kassandra are portrayed through performance capture by Michael Antonakos and Melissanthi Mahut respectively.
