SWORDS AND SAND(ALS)

THE ODYSSEY (1997, miniseries)

A miniseries following Homer's epic poem. After the Trojan War, the arrogant but honorable Greek hero Odysseus (Armand Assante) and his loyal crew embark on a long homebound voyage. After ten years of adventurous detours, Odysseus finally fights his way back home - only to find his faithful wife Penelope (Greta Scacchi, "Emma", "Rasputin", "Jefferson in Paris" "Broken Trail", "Country Life", "Camille") surrounded by a crowd of suitors, the worst of them the treacherous Eurymachus (Eric Roberts). Isabella Rossellini ("Wyatt Earp", "Merlin", "Napoléon") is Odysseus's patroness goddess Athena, Geraldine Chaplin ("Doctor Zhivago", "Jane Eyre") the housekeeper Eurycleia and Vanessa Williams the seductive nymph Calypso. ♥

Athena: "The gods cannot do for man what man must do for himself."

Ladies, hold your breath for THREE STARS:

* Armand Assante (b. 1949, "Conquest of Paradise", "The Mambo Kings", "Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story")

* Eric Roberts (b. 1956)

* Nicholas Clay (b. 1946, "Excalibur", "Lionheart", "Lady Chatterley's Lover", "The Last Days of Pompeii") as Menelaus