Odyssey

Pronunciation

Mythology

The Odyssey tells of Odysseus’ voyage home to his small island kingdom of Ithaca after fighting in the Trojan War.^[1] This war was fought between the city of Troy (also known as Ilium) on the coast of modern Turkey and the “Achaeans,” a coalition from the mainland and islands of Greece. The Achaeans had sailed to Troy to restore the beautiful Helen to her Achaean husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta, after she was carried off by the Trojan prince Paris. After ten years of fighting, the Achaeans finally penetrated Troy’s impregnable walls, using Odysseus’ cunning trick of the Trojan Horse, and burned the city to the ground.

The myth of Odysseus’ journey home, like the myth of the Trojan War, spans a period of ten years. It begins with Odysseus’ departure from the sacked city of Troy and follows him as he sails to numerous strange and exotic lands throughout the Mediterranean. Along the way, Odysseus encounters hostile populations (the Cicones, the Laestrygonians), fantastic creatures (the Cyclopes, the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis), and an array of gods and goddesses (Circe, Calypso). At one point, Odysseus even passes through the Underworld. 

Through all his wanderings, Odysseus never loses the desire to be reunited with his homeland and family. Eventually, he does reach Ithaca, though by that point he is all alone, having lost his ships and his men. But Odysseus’ trials do not end there: he must still retake his palace from the savage suitors trying to steal his wife Penelope from him. With the help of his son Telemachus, his patron goddess Athena, and several loyal servants, Odysseus finally kills the suitors and reclaims his kingdom.

Sources

While Homer’s Odyssey would remain the main source for the myth of Odysseus’ homecoming, the myth and character of Odysseus himself was developed—and continued to develop—through numerous sources. 

Odysseus is an important character in Homer’s Iliad, of course, usually thought to have been composed just before the Odyssey. The hero also appeared in other Greek epics that told of his role in the Trojan War or even his adventures after returning to Ithaca—though unfortunately, these have not survived.

Later, Odysseus was adapted and reinvented by a variety of lyric poets, tragedians, and visual artists. Euripides’ Cyclops, for example—the only satyr play from antiquity that has survived intact—is a burlesque retelling of the tale of Odysseus and the Cyclops Polyphemus from Book 9 of the Odyssey. 

The Romans (who knew Odysseus as “Ulysses”) reimagined the cunning hero as a kind of deceitful villain. 

Significance

The Odyssey is a key example of what the Greeks called nostos (plural: nostoi), meaning “return” or “homecoming.” There were many famous nostoi traditions in antiquity, covering the various Greek leaders who fought in the Trojan War. One epic—appropriately titled Nostoi—was even devoted to recounting all these myths. The Odyssey is thus part of a well-developed narrative tradition—and, importantly, the only example that has survived.

Odysseus was not always the sympathetic hero presented by Homer—and even for Homer, Odysseus is a very different kind of hero than the more obviously valorous Achilles. But with his famous cunning and unrivaled ability to escape even the most dire of straits, Odysseus always held an important place in the Greek imagination.

History

Odysseus’ journey was likely shaped in important ways by historical developments. The myth of the Trojan War itself may have been a historical memory (albeit a heavily embellished one) of a conflict that took place towards the end of the Mycenaean period, the last phase of the Greek Bronze Age (ca. 1600–1050 BCE). This memory was likely preserved as an oral tradition long before it entered written form in the Iliad, the Odyssey,and other poems.

Above all, the Odyssey appears to have been influenced by the increase in travel and colonization that marked the Archaic period of Greek history (ca. 800–490 BCE). Odysseus journeys to many distant and exotic lands, meeting strange people and creatures along the way—experiences that probably resonated with the poem’s early Greek audience, who were increasingly discovering other civilizations.

This increased contact no doubt led to foreign influences on the literature and mythology of the Greeks. Indeed, the Odyssey shows clear signs of Near Eastern influence. For example, Odysseus’ travels closely resemble those of the Mesoptomian hero Gilgamesh, who, like Odysseus, journeyed to the end of the world, consorted with goddesses, and visited the land of the dead.

Telemachus and the Telemachy (Books 1–4)

Book 1 of the Odyssey begins with an introduction to Odysseus and his absence. On Mount Olympus, the gods decide that it is time for Odysseus, who has been stranded for seven years on the island of the nymph Calypso, to finally return home. Athena, goddess of wisdom and Odysseus’ protector, goes to Odysseus’ palace in Ithaca, which is being overrun by unruly suitors who wish to marry Odysseus’ wife Penelope and take over the kingdom. Athena disguises herself and convinces Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, to go in search of his father.

Book 1 of the Odyssey begins with an introduction to Odysseus and a discussion of his absence. On Mount Olympus, the gods decide that it is time for Odysseus, who has been stranded for seven years on the island of the nymph Calypso, to finally return home. Athena, goddess of wisdom and Odysseus’ protector, goes to Odysseus’ palace in Ithaca, which has been overrun by unruly suitors who wish to marry his wife Penelope and take over the kingdom. Athena disguises herself and convinces Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, to go in search of his father.

Odysseus, the Phaeacis, and the Apologoi (Books 5–12)

In Book 5, we finally meet Odysseus. Zeus sends Hermes, the messenger of the gods, to order Calypso to release Odysseus. The hero builds a raft and sets sail. But Poseidon, the god of the sea and Odysseus’ enemy, spots the hero and shipwrecks him. 

Odysseus eventually washes ashore on Scheria, the island of the Phaeacians, where Athena arranges for him to be found by the princess Nausicaa (Book 6). With Nausicaa’s help, Odysseus arrives at the court of Alcinous and Arete, the king and queen of the Phaeacians (Book 7).

The Phaeacians entertain Odysseus, who does not initially reveal his identity (Book 8). Pressed by Alcinous, however, Odysseus finally tells the court who he is and begins recounting the story of his wanderings in Book 9.

Odysseus narrates his adventures after the fall of Troy, including his encounters with the Cicones, the lotus-eaters, and the terrifying Cyclops Polyphemus. He and his men manage to escape Polyphemus by blinding him in his one eye, but this earns Odysseus the hatred of Polyphemus’ father Poseidon.

Odysseus continues his story in the following books. He tells of further adventures with Aeolus (the lord of the winds), the man-eating Laestrygonians, and the sorceress Circe. Circe initially transforms several of Odysseus’ men into swine, but she eventually restores them to their original form and even grants hospitality to Odysseus and his companions (Book 10).

In Book 11, Odysseus describes his journey to the Underworld to seek advice from the seer Tiresias.^[4] While there, he meets many shades (spirits of the dead), including his warrior companions Achilles and Agamemnon and his mother Anticlea.

In Book 12, Odysseus tells of how he and his men managed to escape the Sirens and the sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis. But on the holy isle of Thrinacia, his men decide to devour the cattle of the sun god Helios and are killed in a storm as punishment. Odysseus, the sole survivor, washes ashore on Ogygia, where he is kept as Calypso’s lover for several years before traveling to Scheria.

The Return (Book 13–24)

After Odysseus finishes his tale, the Phaeacians give him lavish gifts, put him on a ship, and return him to Ithaca while he is sleeping (Book 13). In Ithaca, Odysseus is greeted by Athena, who disguises him as an old beggar so that he can go into the city without being recognized by the dangerous suitors.

Still dressed as a beggar, Odysseus is entertained by his old swineherd Eumaeus in Book 14, though he continues to lie about his identity. Telemachus, meanwhile, makes his way back home, meeting the seer Theoclymenus on the way and narrowly avoiding the ambush the suitors had set for him (Book 15). Upon reaching Ithaca, Telemachus stops at Eumaeus’ hut, where he is reunited with his father after twenty years (Book 16). The two begin to plot the destruction of the suitors.

In Book 17, Odysseus and Telemachus go to the palace separately. Odysseus, still disguised as a beggar, is viciously abused by the suitors (Books 17 and 18). At night, Odysseus and Telemachus hide all the palace’s weapons so the suitors cannot find them (Book 19). Odysseus speaks with his wife Penelope but does not reveal his identity to her. He is, however, recognized by his old nurse Euryclea, who is sworn to secrecy.

The next day, Odysseus and Telemachus—helped now by Eumaeus and another loyal slave, the cowherd Philoetius—continue their preparations to kill the suitors (Book 20). Penelope announces that she will marry whoever can string Odysseus’ great bow and shoot an arrow through twelve ax heads (Book 21). All the suitors try and fail. Odysseus then takes the bow and, of course, passes the test easily before slaughtering the suitors with the help of Telemachus, Eumaeus, and Philoetius (Book 22).

After the massacre is complete, Odysseus and Penelope are finally reunited (Book 23). The next morning (Book 24), Odysseus is also reunited with his elderly father Laertes. The angry families of the suitors prepare to attack Odysseus, but Athena swoops down to make peace.

Antiquity

The impact of Homer’s poems cannot be overestimated. The Iliad and the Odyssey have been essential to Greek cultural and religious identity practically since their inception, and they exerted a huge influence on the Romans as well. These texts became the basis for all subsequent hexameter and elegiac poetry; all ancient epics, from Apollonius of Rhodes’ Argonautica to Virgil’s Aeneid to Nonnus’ Dionysiaca, were in some way a response to Homer. Homer was also central to the development of ancient drama, with Aeschylus reportedly describing his own tragedies as “crumbs from Homer’s feast.” Indeed, many have dubbed Homer the father of tragedy.

Already in antiquity, the Odyssey was influencing individual poems as well as whole genres (such as the Alexandrian novels, which became popular in the first century CE). The Odyssey also played a formative role in Latin literature; Livius Andronicus’ Latin translation of the Odyssey around 241 BCE is widely cited as the first true work of Latin literature. Scenes from the Odyssey were extremely popular in ancient art as well.

Medieval, Renaissance, and Early Modern Europe

During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the Iliad and the Odyssey became the heart of the Western literary and artistic canon. Numerous translations and adaptations of the Odyssey were produced during this period. In Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, for example, the narrator meets Odysseus in the eighth circle of Hell.

The Odyssey continued to influence later European literary figures, including William Shakespeare, John Milton, and Alfred Tennyson. More recently, James Joyce’s novel Ulysses (1922) reworked the narratives and themes of the Odyssey in a modern context. In 1938, the Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis published his masterful epic Odyssey: A Modern Sequel, which picks up the story of Odysseus where Homer left off.

Scenes from the Odyssey have also captured the imagination of artists such as Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, William Theed the Elder, and many more.

Pop Culture

The Odyssey remains prominent in contemporary pop culture. It has inspired numerous works of literature, including novels by Margaret Atwood and Madeline Miller. It has also been adapted into films, miniseries, and TV shows, among them the 1954 film Ulysses and the 1997 miniseries The Odyssey.