The Odyssey by Homer

The Odyssey book cover
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At a Glance

  • Homer titled his epic poem The Odyssey after the Greek hero Odysseus. Today, the word "odyssey" means an epic journey like that of Odysseus, whose ten-year struggle to return home to Ithaca is considered one of the greatest journeys in all of literature. Millenia after Homer wrote The Odyssey, the poem is still being taught in schools worldwide.
  • Homer depicts the gods and various divine creatures as flawed characters, prone to jealousy, violence, and flights of fancy. The gods regularly involve themselves in the lives of Greek heroes like Odysseus, who is prevented from returning home by the vengeful Poseidon, held captive by the nymph Calypso, enchanted by the evil Circe, and championed by the wise Athena.
  • Odysseus' defining character trait is his intelligence. He's a man who lives by his wiles, using logic to assess difficult situations and dreaming up creative ways to defeat his enemies, as he did with the Trojan Horse. Unlike other heroes, Odysseus engages in many activities, such as lying and stealing, that aren't considered "heroic" but do reveal him to be a complicated character.

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The Poem

(Critical Survey of Literature for Students)





(The entire section is 8,448 words.)