Blake Hoena - The Epic Adventures of Odysseus: An Interactive Mythological Adventure

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YOU are the mighty hero Odysseus. After 10 long years fighting in the , all you want is to return to your wife and son on the island of Ithaca. But your journey home will be dangerous. You will face mythical monsters, deadly witches, and powerful gods. Can you survive and return home?

Chapter One sets the scene. Then you choose which path to read. Follow the links at the bottom of each page as you read the stories. The decisions you make will change your outcome. After you finish one path, go back and read the others for new perspectives and more adventures. Use your device's back buttons or page navigation to jump back to your last choice.

YOU CHOOSE the path you take through this mythical adventure.

Its dark. You can only see faint glimmers of light through seams in the wooden planks. You raise a finger to your lips to quiet the soldiers around you. You cant risk being discovered.

May the gods be with us, you think.

You feel your hiding place shudder. You are moving slowly. The only sounds that reach your ears are the grunts of men straining and the creak of wooden wheels rolling. What feels like hours later, the movement stops.

Were inside, someone whispers.

You hear a loud clang. Its the city gates closing, you think.

You and your soldiers hide inside what storytellers will call the Trojan Horse. Its a large hollow statue made of wood.

For 10 years the Greek Army has battled the Trojans. But the walls around the city of Troy were built by gods. They are too strong to breech. That leaves one option to sneak inside the city.

The idea for the Trojan Horse came to you in a dream sent by Athena herself. The goddess of wisdom has supported Greece during the Trojan War. Now she has given you the key to victory.

After the sun sets and the city has quieted, you open a trap door in the hollow statue. A soldier lets down a rope, and you quickly descend. Your men follow.

To the gates! you command. Your soldiers spread out.

After leaving the Trojan Horse outside Troys gates, the rest of the Greek Army left the battlefield and hid. Your hope was that the Trojans would think the Greeks had given up and returned home. The Trojans would see the statue as a peace offering and bring it inside their walls.

That part of your plan worked. Now the Greek Army is supposed to sneak back to the battlefield after nightfall.

As you open the city gates, you see a mass of Greek soldiers ready for battle. Swords are drawn and shields are raised. Then a war cry echoes throughout the night. The Greek Army charges through the open gates.

The Trojans are taken by surprise. You hear a few clashes ring out as the Trojans try to fight back. But their city is quickly overrun. Victory is yours. After 10 long years, the war is finally over.

For days soldiers shout your name. Odysseus! Odysseus! they call. You have become one of the greatest heroes of the Trojan War.

But your adventures are not over. You need to sail home to Ithaca. You rule the tiny island off the western coast of Greece. You left behind your wife Penelope and young son Telemachus.

Before you set sail, you thank the Greek gods for helping you defeat Troy. You offer them a share of the treasure you looted. But you have a difficult journey ahead. So you offer one of the gods a special gift in hopes of a safe trip home. You leave a token on the gods altar. Which god to you ?

You decide to honor Poseidon, god of the seas. You have to travel through Poseidons domain to reach Ithaca, your home. You hope that the offered treasure will mean safe sailing for you and your crew.

When you set out the seas are calm, and the sky is sunny. You look forward to seeing your family soon.

But soon, dark storm clouds form overhead. Lightning dances across the sky followed by deafening thunderclaps. The wind picks up and whitecaps spread across the water.

You stand at the bow and watch the rolling clouds. One of your men, Eurylochus, joins you.

Zeus is angry, he says.

I fear you are right, you reply.

While Poseidon is god of the seas, Zeus is the ruler of the Greek gods, as well as god of the sky. He commands the winds and the storm clouds overhead. But Zeus is an angry and jealous god, who demands respect above all others.

Turning to your crew, you shout, Raise the sails. Tie everything down. Your sailors hurry to obey.

For the next few days, waves batter your ship. Every time the wind gusts, it feels like Zeus himself is swatting at you. The storm rages on. But just as you fear your ship will splinter apart, the winds die down and the clouds part.

Afterward you inspect your ship. Your crew looks beaten up and tired. Most of your supplies have been washed overboard. Some of the sails are torn. While all that is troubling, there is one thing that concerns you more.

Where has the storm blown us? you wonder.

You have no way of knowing. There is no land in sight. You are now lost. Still you sail on. You have no other choice.

As days turn into weeks, the sailors start to grumble. Your food supplies run low. You fear your mens anger and desperation will lead to a lie past the islands rocky shores. Hopefully there you will find fresh water and food.

You and 12 of your sailors row a boat ashore. You hike up to the green and begin your search for food. About midday, you find a cave. A well-worn path leads to the caves entrance.

It looks like someone lives there, one of your crew members says.

They could have food, another says.

You walk up to the caves entrance. The cave is dark, and you can only see the outlines of whats inside.

Hello! you shout, then listen. Nothing.

No one is home, you think.

Light a torch, you order one of your men. He hands it to you, and then you creep into the cave. After lighting some more torches, your crew follows. They spread out all around you.

Look at this! one shouts. Wheels of cheese. He holds up a large hunk of cheese for everyone to see.

Buckets of milk! another shouts. He lifts up a large pail. Milk sloshes down the sides.

Your sailors are hungry. One of your crew turns to you and says, We should take what we can carry and head back to the ship.

Others nod in agreement. One adds, Theres more than enough food here. It wont be missed.

You decide to wait outside the cave. You do not want to go inside someones home and be mistaken for a thief.