For many years, as you know, Odysseus fought with the other kings and captains in front of the walls of Troy. But when the city fell and the conquering armies set off in their ships for their own lands, they were all broken up and divided by quarrels among themselves, and also by violent storms at sea. Some of the kings after a time reached their homes in safety; but sweet Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, waited in vain for her husband’s return.

She did her best to rule the kingdom for him and to bring up her little son, Telemachus, in the way Odysseus would have liked, but she found the task very difficult. The nobles of the country began to do just as they chose and treated the palace of Odysseus exactly as if it were their own. Not only that, but one by one they came to Penelope, and, declaring that the king was dead, made her offers of marriage. Almost every morning one or another of them would seek out the queen, and, putting on quite absurd airs and graces, would propose to her! Penelope began by refusing them all indignantly, but her refusals made no difference. They kept on proposing as regularly as before. So at last, in despair, she called these foolish suitors together and made a bargain with them.

👉 And that's it for now! Subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already: Classicsness.com. And if you want to know more about classics and even learn Latin online, check out LatinFromScratch.com.

📚 Source: Once Upon A Time: Children’s Stories From The Classics (1920?) by Blanche Winder (1866-1930).