Condemned to burn in the eighth circle of Dante's Hell, Odysseus, legendary thief and liar of Homer's Odyssey and Iliad, decides he is going to break out. His adventure begins with a prayer to Athena Parthenos, who appears to him bearing gifts: his armor, his famous bow, a mysterious leather pouch, and seven unusual arrows. She then sends him on a quest through the Underworld along with Diomedes, his friend from the Trojan War who had been sharing in his eternal punishment. To complete their escape, the goddess warns them, they must recover their squandered honor and learn to use "the eighth arrow".
The Eighth Arrow a Tail of Odysseus in the Underworld By Father Augustine Wetta is the ultimate jailbreak story as Odysseus and Diomedes must make there way through the nine circles of hell in order to escape. Along the way they encounter various individuals that they new throughout their lives and are forced to come to terms with the actions that they took during there lives. The novel weaves together the hell of Dante's Inferno and The Trojan Cycle in an epic that explores what it means to be a hero.
The Eighth Arrow a Tail of Odysseus in the Underworld provides examples of:
- Action Girl: Penelope turns out to be one.
- The Atoner: Odysseus slowly turns into one as he begins to regret what he had done throughout his life.
- Battle Maniac: More like wrestling maniac. The giant Anteos leaves his post when Odysseus tells him that Ajax who is further up will give him a good match.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: The reason both the harpies and Charon show up to the final battle is because Odysseus previously healed their injuries.
- Big Bad: The Devil/Hades
- Big Good: The god with the four letter name
- Blatant Lies: Odysseus has a habit of this.
- Blessed with Suck: Proteus can shape shift but doing so causes every bone in his body to break before resetting.
- The Cavalry: The army of Limbo arrive just as Odysseus believes all hope is lost.
- The Chess Master: Odysseus pretends to be one of these, but privately admits he makes up most of what he does as he goes along. Penelope turns out to actually be one. She tricked Helen into letting her marry Odysseus and later put him into position to kill her suitors when he returns at the end of The Odyssey all without him being any the wiser.
- Combat Pragmatist: Pretty much Odysseus's stock and trade
- Cool vs. Awesome: An army of demons vs an army of shades.
- Four-Star Badass: Odysseus as the end when he commands the army of Limbo.
- Great Escape: The entire premise of the story.
- The Hero: Odysseus
- Indy Ploy: Odysseus is rather fond of these.
- Paper Tiger: It turns out that Hades is one of these being the Underworlds greatest prisoner rather than the king he claims to be.
- Redemption Equals Death: Played straight with Diomedes and Proteus, averted with Odysseus as it turns out being willing to die was enough.
- Related Differently in the Adaptation: Helen and Penelope are presented as sisters in the work. In mythology they were first cousins.
- Shout-Out: The entire novel is one to both Dante's Inferno and the Trojan Cycle.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Proteus
- You Shall Not Pass!: Ajax pulls one against a pack of demons.
