| Director | Uberto Pasolini |
|---|---|
| Budget | $20 million |
| Box office | $3.2 million |
Twenty years after setting off to fight in the Trojan War and surviving many trials, Odysseus washes up naked on the shores of his home island Ithaca. He is found and tended to by the slaves Eumaeus and Yias. Odysseus is dispirited and traumatized by his experiences and learns about the decline of his kingdom.
Odysseus's wife Penelope faces pressure to find a suitor, given that many believe her husband to be dead. Her son Telemachus is approached by the nobleman Antinous, who attempts to convince him to press Penelope into marriage. The young man refuses, distrusting Antinous and the Suitors of Penelope.
Penelope weaves her elderly father-in-law's burial shroud before his impending death. Telemachus asks her to take a suitor to end the chaos, but she refuses until she completes the shroud. Odysseus's father dies; the suitors interrupt his funeral to threaten Penelope and her son unless a decision is made. Penelope fends them off by saying that now, she must weave a cloak for her wedding and only then will she choose.
Eumaeus takes Odysseus to the palace, where the hunting dog Argos recognizes his master after a long wait and then dies. Odysseus poses as a beggar to ask for alms; the suitors abuse him. They force him to fight a huge man, but Odysseus kills him. Suspicious, Penelope speaks to Odysseus but ends up ordering him to be tended to and sent off after he refuses to answer her questions.
Odysseus's old nursemaid Eurycleia discovers his identity while bathing him, after recognizing a scar on the back of his leg. He bids her be silent. Antinous persuades the suitors to form a hunting party and kill Telemachus while he is out walking in the woods, but Odysseus intervenes and reveals himself to his son. Odysseus, Telemachus, and Eumaeus flee, while Yias is killed by the suitor Eurymachus. Failing to find their quarry, the hunting party returns to the palace. Telemachus and Eumaeus rebuke Odysseus for his cowardice and question why he would even bother to return, having heard rumors that he abandoned Penelope for Calypso.
Antinous discovers Penelope unraveling her weaving at night. The next day, Odysseus learns that his wife has decided on who shall marry her. He arrives at the palace right as Penelope tells the suitors that her choice is to make them compete with Odysseus's old bow, seeing if they can shoot an arrow through the holes of multiple axe heads, as he did in his youth. None of them can even string the bow properly, and Antinous goads them into once again threatening Penelope with harm.
Odysseus then offers to try, strings it, and shoots the arrow through the axe heads. He then starts killing the suitors as the royal servants close the doors to prevent escape. When his arrows run out, Odysseus relentlessly kills the few who remain by hand. Telemachus is tempted to flee, but he helps his father fight. Antinous surrenders, and Penelope, desirous of peace and tired of the violence, bids Telemachus let him live. Telemachus instead decapitates him as Penelope can only scream in horror.
Telemachus insists on sailing off to find himself and his destiny. While begging Penelope to forgive him, Odysseus notices that she is using an unfamiliar bed. He goes to a hidden upper-level room and finds their old bed, which she had sealed away after he left. Odysseus and Penelope reconcile with each other and offer to share their past years to move on with their future together.