“Unveiling the Untold: Discover the Enigmatic Lost Sequels of The Iliad That Could Rewrite History!”
The Returns is a side-quel of the Odyssey. It tells what happened to the other heroes on their way home and how their stories end. The Odyssey even recounts some of these returns. I’ll just summarize the return of three characters we mentioned so far. Menelaos and Agamemnon fight about how to get home, ultimately going their separate ways. At first Menelaos loses many of his ships and gets stranded in Egypt. Legend says he upsets the Egyptians by sacrificing two boys, and they force him out. Whatever the case, eventually he makes it home. Achilles’ ghost warns Agamemnon of what would happen on his return. His wife Clytemnestra had taken a lover. When Agamemnon arrives at Mycenae he’s murdered by Clytemnestra and her lover. Veterans of the Trojan War later avenge Agamemnon and kill his murderers. Neoptolemos follows his grandmother Thetis’ advice and makes his journey inland, eventually bumping into Odysseus.
After the Returns comes the Odyssey, and after the Odyssey is the Telegony. The Telegony is far removed from the events of the Trojan War and continues the story of Odysseus after his further 10 year journey. Just like the Iliad, you can read the Odyssey for yourselves, but the important parts to understanding the Telegony are thus: While he was off fighting, suitors began to harass his wife Penelope thinking that Odysseus is dead. They wanted to seize Odysseus’ lands for themselves. His son Telemachus, schemes with his mother and grandfather to keep this from happening. Penelope comes up with ruses to keep delaying the time when she is forced to pick a suitor. On his journey home, Odysseus comes across the witch Circe. He lives with her for a year and fathers a son, Telegonus. He returns home, slaughters Penelope’s suitors with the help of his son Telemachus, and returns to power in Ithaca.
