The Odyssey

The Odyssey and The IliadThe IliadThe Iliad is an ancient Greek epic traditionally attributed to Homer (epic poet). Centered on the anger of Achilles during the Trojan War, it covers a limited portion of the conflict and ends with Hector’s funeral rather than the fall of Troy.Open the full entry are traditionally attributed to Homer (epic poet). The Odyssey is commonly situated around the eighth century BCE, but precise dating, the transition from oral performance to writing and the poet’s identity remain debated. It is an epic narrative, not a historical travel record of Odysseus.⁠[1]

The 24 books do not begin with departure from Troy. Odysseus is initially with Calypso (Greek mythology)Calypso (Greek mythology)Calypso (Greek mythology) is the goddess on Ogygia in The Odyssey who shelters and detains Odysseus and offers him immortality. After Hermes conveys Zeus (Greek god)’s order, she releases him and helps equip his raft and voyage.Open the full entry while Penelope (Greek mythology) and Telemachus face the suitors on Ithaca. Books 9–12 give his own retrospective account to the Phaeacians; from Book 13, the emphasis shifts to testing, recognition and conflict at home.⁠[2][3][4]

Athena (Greek goddess)Athena (Greek goddess)Athena (Greek goddess) is a goddess of wisdom, strategic warfare and crafts in ancient Greek religion and mythology. In The Odyssey she supports Odysseus and Telemachus and helps bring about homecoming, recognition and a final settlement.Open the full entry encourages TelemachusTelemachusTelemachus is the son of Odysseus and Penelope (Greek mythology) in The Odyssey. Encouraged by Athena (Greek goddess), he travels for news of his father, reunites with him on Ithaca and helps confront the suitors occupying their household.Open the full entry to leave the troubled household and seek news. He visits Nestor at Pylos, then Menelaus and Helen at Sparta. The survivors’ memories reveal his father’s past while the journey develops the son’s ability to act and speak in public.⁠[5][6]

Zeus (Greek god)Zeus (Greek god)Zeus (Greek god) is king of the gods and a deity of the sky, thunder and order in ancient Greek religion and mythology. In The Odyssey he presides over divine decisions, enforces prohibitions and helps Athena (Greek goddess) bring the final conflict to an end.Open the full entry sends Hermes (Greek god)Hermes (Greek god)Hermes is a divine messenger associated with commerce and guiding souls in ancient Greek religion and mythology. In The Odyssey he carries Zeus (Greek god)’s orders, assists Odysseus against Circe and leads the suitors’ souls to the underworld.Open the full entry to order Calypso (Greek mythology) to release Odysseus. She equips his raft, but Poseidon (Greek god)Poseidon (Greek god)Poseidon (Greek god) is the god of the sea, earthquakes and horses in ancient Greek religion and mythology. In The Odyssey, anger at Odysseus for blinding his son Polyphemus makes him a major obstacle to the hero’s return.Open the full entry raises a destructive storm. After reaching the Phaeacians, he receives hospitality. Songs of the war and wooden horse move him to tears and lead into the revelation of his identity and experiences.⁠[7][8]

The recollection includes the Lotus-Eaters and the Cyclops. Odysseus uses the name Nobody, wine, a heated stake and concealment beneath sheep to escape PolyphemusPolyphemusPolyphemus is the Cyclops who imprisons Odysseus and eats members of his crew in Odyssey Book 9. After being blinded, he appeals to his father Poseidon (Greek god) for revenge, linking the encounter to the later troubles of homecoming.Open the full entry. Revealing his true name afterward allows the Cyclops to appeal to Poseidon (Greek god), turning a successful escape into the source of further trouble.⁠[3]

The opened bag of winds and the Laestrygonian attack undo progress. On Circe’s island, crew members become pigs until Odysseus, protected through Hermes (Greek god), secures their restoration. CirceCirceCirce is a goddess associated with drugs and transformation in Greek mythology. In The Odyssey she turns members of Odysseus’s crew into pigs, later restores them and gives essential guidance for their onward journey.Open the full entry later directs him to the dead Tiresias, whose prophecy concerns the Sun’s cattle, the suitors and obligations beyond homecoming.⁠[9][10]

With his crew’s ears blocked and himself tied to the mast, Odysseus passes the Sirens (Greek mythology)Sirens (Greek mythology)The Sirens are dangerous singers encountered by sailors in Greek mythology. In Odyssey Book 12, Odysseus follows Circe’s advice: his crew block their ears with wax and bind him to the mast, allowing him to hear without stopping the ship.Open the full entry. ScyllaScyllaScylla is the cliff-dwelling monster with six long-necked heads in Odyssey Book 12. She seizes six members of Odysseus’s crew as they pass, while Charybdis threatens destruction on the other side of the passage.Open the full entry seizes six sailors while the crew watches the churning waters of Charybdis. The survivors later slaughter the forbidden cattle of the Sun; Zeus (Greek god) destroys the ship. Odysseus alone survives and, after another encounter with CharybdisCharybdisCharybdis is the engulfing sea danger opposite Scylla in The Odyssey. Odysseus first passes by ship and later returns alone after the shipwreck, escaping by clinging to a fig tree until floating wreckage reappears.Open the full entry, reaches Calypso (Greek mythology).⁠[11]

The Phaeacians bring Odysseus to Ithaca, where Athena (Greek goddess) helps disguise him as a beggar. He reunites with Telemachus at Eumaeus’s hut and enters his household to assess friends and enemies. Eurycleia recognizes his scar while washing his feet. Identity is disclosed gradually rather than settled simply by arrival.⁠[4][12][13]

Penelope (Greek mythology)’s contest requires stringing the bow and shooting through twelve axes. The suitors fail and Odysseus succeeds. He, Telemachus and loyal servants then attack the suitors. The reckoning extends to servants who assisted them, joining restoration of household authority to violent punishment.⁠[14][15]

Penelope (Greek mythology) tests the returned man through the secret of their bed before the couple reunite. Odysseus then sees Laertes, but the suitors’ relatives prepare retaliation. Zeus (Greek god) and Athena (Greek goddess) intervene to stop further bloodshed. The close combines family recognition with the problem of order after violence.⁠[16][17]

Polyphemus rejects obligations to guests, while the Phaeacians offer hospitality. Treatment of strangers repeatedly shapes relationships. Odysseus survives through cunning but brings consequences on himself by revealing his name. His choice of home over Calypso (Greek mythology)’s offer of immortality connects mortal life, family memory and endurance.⁠[3][7][8]

A papyrus fragment at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, dated about 285–250 BCE, preserves material from Book 20 including three lines absent from today’s standard text. The object documents ancient variation and distinguishes traditional authorship from surviving copies and modern editions.⁠[18]

Odysseus’s adventures became subjects for ancient objects and later art. Encounters with Polyphemus and Circe and scenes of return were repeatedly reinterpreted; Scylla and Charybdis also served as an image of difficult choices. Such adaptations have their own contexts and should be distinguished from details actually present in Homer (epic poet)’s poem.⁠[1]