A sea dash from the Odyssey
Four days. A restless crew. And the gods of an unruly sea.
Four short crossings · Rest between days
Homer · The Odyssey
These four game days bring together episodes from Books V, X and XII. They rearrange and condense the poem; they are not Homer’s consecutive days from Aeolus to Ithaca.
In Book X, Aeolus gives the captain a bag holding the winds. The crew suspect it holds treasure.
“The West wind which was fair for us did he alone let blow as it chose;”
Book X. Translated by Samuel Butler (1900).
The passage guides, three knots, repeated crew warnings and second chances are inventions for this game. In Book X, the crew loosen the bag and the released winds carry the ship away. Butler calls Poseidon “Neptune”, Athena “Minerva” and Zeus “Jove”.
Steer through the gaps between cliffs. The pale brackets mark open water. Hold the arrow buttons, A / D, or the keyboard arrows to steer. Tap a gold sailor, press their number, or press Space to stop them untying the wind bag. Each missed countdown loses a knot and releases a gust. The counters show hull hits and bag knots remaining; either reaching zero ends the day. A successful tap keeps a knot safe; it does not replace a lost one. P or Escape pauses. Retry starts the same day with a repaired ship and three knots. Each crossing lasts 36–42 seconds; introductions wait for you.
Your current day is kept in this browser, separately from reading records. Replay from day one starts the voyage over. Original game, deity portraits, vector drawings and synthesized sound. Colors and type follow the Odyssey reader. Homer, The Odyssey, Samuel Butler translation; Project Gutenberg ebook 1727.
This is a visual action game. Keyboard controls are supported; it does not have an equivalent nonvisual mode.
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