Odyssey

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This article is about Homer's epic poem. For other uses, see Odyssey (disambiguation).
"Homer's Odyssey" redirects here. For the The Simpsons episode, see Homer's Odyssey (The
Simpsons).
Homer's Odyssey, book i

A 15th-century manuscript of the Odyssey, book i

Greek text of the Odyssey's opening passage

The Odyssey (/dsi/;[1] Greek: Odsseia, pronounced [o.ds.sej.ja]in Classical Attic)

is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to
the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The Odyssey is fundamental to the modern Western
canon, and is the second-oldest extant work of Western literature; the Iliad is the oldest.
Scholars believe the Odyssey was composed near the end of the 8th century BC, somewhere
in Ionia, the Greek coastal region of Anatolia.[2]

The poem mainly focuses on the Greek hero Odysseus (known as Ulysses in Roman myths)
and his journey home after the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the
ten-year Trojan War.[3] In his absence, it is assumed Odysseus has died, and his
wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of unruly suitors,
the Mnesteres (Greek: ) or Proci, who compete for Penelope's hand in marriage.
The Odyssey continues to be read in the Homeric Greek and translated into modern languages
around the world. Many scholars believe the original poem was composed in an oral tradition by
an aoidos (epic poet/singer), perhaps a rhapsode (professional performer), and was more likely
intended to be heard than read.[2] The details of the ancient oral performance and the story's
conversion to a written work inspire continual debate among scholars. The Odyssey was written
in a poetic dialect of Greeka literary amalgam of Aeolic Greek, Ionic Greek, and other Ancient
Greek dialectsand comprises 12,110 lines of dactylic hexameter.[4][5] Among the most
noteworthy elements of the text are its non-linear plot, and the influence on events of choices
made by women and slaves, besides the actions of fighting men. In the English languageas well
as many others, the word odyssey has come to refer to an epic voyage.
The Odyssey has a lost sequel, the Telegony, which was not written by Homer. It was usually
attributed in antiquity to Cinaethon of Sparta. In one source,[which?] the Telegony was said to have
been stolen from Musaeus by either Eugamon or Eugammon of Cyrene (see Cyclic poets).
Contents
[hide]

1Synopsis
o

1.1Exposition

1.2Escape to the Phaeacians

1.3Odysseus' account of his adventures

1.4Return to Ithaca

1.5Slaying of the Suitors

2Character of Odysseus

3Structure

4Geography of the Odyssey

5Possible dates of the Odyssey

6Influences on the Odyssey

7Themes
o

7.1Homecoming

Synopsis[edit]
Exposition[edit]

7.2Wandering

7.3Guest-Friendship

7.4Testing

7.5Omens

8Type Scenes in Homer's Odyssey

o

8.1Finding Scenes

8.2Omens

8.3Testing

8.4Guest-Friendship

9Text history

10Cultural impact

11English translations

12See also

13References

14External links

A mosaic depicting Odysseus, from the villa of La Olmeda, Pedrosa de la Vega, Spain, late 4th-5th centuries
AD

The Odyssey begins ten years after the end of the ten-year Trojan War (the subject of the Iliad),
and Odysseus has still not returned home from the war. Odysseus' son Telemachus is about 20
years old and is sharing his absent father's house on the island of Ithaca with his
mother Penelope and a crowd of 108 boisterous young men, "the Suitors", whose aim is to
persuade Penelope to marry one of them, all the while enjoying the hospitality of Odysseus'
household and eating up his wealth.
Odysseus' protectress, the goddess Athena, discusses his fate with Zeus, king of the gods, at a
moment when Odysseus' enemy, the god of the sea Poseidon, is absent from Mount Olympus.
Then, disguised as a Taphian chieftain named Mentes, she visits Telemachus to urge him to
search for news of his father. He offers her hospitality; they observe the suitors dining rowdily
while the bard Phemius performs a narrative poem for them. Penelope objects to Phemius'
theme, the "Return from Troy",[6] because it reminds her of her missing husband, but
Telemachus rebuts her objections.
That night Athena, disguised as Telemachus, finds a ship and crew for the true Telemachus. The
next morning, Telemachus calls an assembly of citizens of Ithaca to discuss what should be
done with the suitors. Accompanied by Athena (now disguised as Mentor), he departs for the
Greek mainland and the household of Nestor, most venerable of the Greek warriors at Troy,
now at home in Pylos.
From there, Telemachus rides overland, accompanied by Nestor's son, Peisistratus, to Sparta,
where he finds Menelaus and Helen, who are now reconciled - Helen laments her fit of lust
brought on by Aphrodite that sent her to Troy with Paris. He also hears from Helen, who is the
first to recognize him, that she pities him because Odysseus was not there for him in his
childhood because he went to Troy to fight for her and also about his exploit of stealing the
Palladium, or the Luck of Troy, where she was the only one to recognize him. Menelaus,
meanwhile, also praises Odysseus as an irreproachable comrade and friend, lamenting the fact
that they were not only unable to return together from Troy but that Odysseus is yet to return.
Both Helen and Menelaus also say that they returned to Sparta after a long voyage by way
of Egypt. There, on the island of Pharos, Menelaus encountered the old sea-god Proteus, who
told him that Odysseus was a captive of the nymph Calypso. Incidentally, Telemachus learns the
fate of Menelaus' brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and leader of the Greeks at Troy: he
was murdered on his return home by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus.

Charles Gleyre, Odysseus and Nausica

Escape to the Phaeacians[edit]

The second part tells the story of Odysseus. After he has spent seven years in captivity
on Ogygia, the island of Calypso, she falls deeply in love with him. But he has consistently
spurned her advances. She is persuaded to release him by Odysseus' great-grandfather, the
messenger god Hermes, who has been sent by Zeus in response to Athena's plea. Odysseus
builds a raft and is given clothing, food, and drink by Calypso. When Poseidon learns that
Odysseus has escaped, he wrecks the raft, but, helped by a veil given by the sea nymph Ino,
Odysseus swims ashore on Scherie, the island of the Phaeacians. Naked and exhausted, he
hides in a pile of leaves and falls asleep. The next morning, awakened by the laughter of girls,
he sees the young Nausicaa, who has gone to the seashore with her maids to wash clothes
after Athena told her in a dream to do so. He appeals to her for help. She encourages him to
seek the hospitality of her parents, Arete and Alcinous, or Alkinous. Odysseus is welcomed and
is not at first asked for his name. He remains for several days, takes part in a pentathlon, and
hears the blind singer Demodocus perform two narrative poems. The first is an otherwise
obscure incident of the Trojan War, the "Quarrel of Odysseus and Achilles"; the second is the
amusing tale of a love affair between two Olympian gods, Ares and Aphrodite. Finally, Odysseus
asks Demodocus to return to the Trojan War theme and tell of the Trojan Horse, a stratagem in
which Odysseus had played a leading role. Unable to hide his emotion as he relives this
episode, Odysseus at last reveals his identity. He then begins to tell the story of his return from
Troy.

Odysseus Overcome by Demodocus' Song, by Francesco Hayez, 181315

Odysseus' account of his adventures[edit]

After a piratical raid on Ismaros in the land of the Cicones, he and his twelve ships were driven
off course by storms. They visited the lethargic Lotus-Eaters who gave two of his men their fruit
which caused them to forget their homecoming, and then were captured by
the Cyclops Polyphemus, escaping by blinding him with a wooden stake. While they were
escaping, however, Odysseus foolishly told Polyphemus his identity, and Polyphemus told his
father, Poseidon, that Odysseus had blinded him. Poseidon then cursed Odysseus to wander
the sea for ten years, during which he would lose all his crew and return home through the aid
of others. After the escape, Odysseus and his crew stayed with Aeolus, the ruler of the winds.
He gave Odysseus a leather bag containing all the winds, except the west wind, a gift that
should have ensured a safe return home. However, the greedy sailors naively opened the bag
while Odysseus slept, thinking it contained gold. All of the winds flew out and the resulting storm
drove the ships back the way they had come, just as Ithaca came into sight.

After unsuccessfully pleading with Aeolus to help them again, they re-embarked and
encountered the cannibalistic Laestrygonians. All of Odysseus' ships except his own entered the
harbor of the Laestrygonians' Island and were immediately destroyed. He sailed on and visited
the witch-goddess Circe. She turned half of his men into swine after feeding them cheese and
wine. Hermes warned Odysseus about Circe and gave Odysseus a drug called moly which
gave him resistance to Circe's magic. Circe, surprised by Odysseus' resistance, agreed to
change his men back to their human form in exchange for Odysseus' love. They remained with
her on the island for one year, while they feasted and drank. Finally, guided by Circe's
instructions, Odysseus and his crew crossed the ocean and reached a harbor at the western
edge of the world, where Odysseus sacrificed to the dead. He first encountered the spirit of
Elpenor, a crewman who had gotten drunk and fallen from a roof to his death, which had gone
unnoticed by others, before Odysseus and the rest of his crew had left Circe. Elpenor's ghost
told Odysseus to bury his body, which Odysseus promised to do. Odysseus then summoned the
spirit of the prophet Tiresias for advice on how to appease Poseidon upon his return home. Next
Odysseus met the spirit of his own mother, who had died of grief during his long absence. From
her, he got his first news of his own household, threatened by the greed of the Suitors. Finally,
he met the spirits of famous men and women. Notably he encountered the spirit of Agamemnon,
of whose murder he now learned, and Achilles, who told him about the woes of the land of the
dead (for Odysseus' encounter with the dead, see also Nekuia).

Odysseus and the Sirens, eponymous vase of the Siren Painter, ca. 480-470 BC, (British Museum)

Returning to Circe's island, they were advised by her on the remaining stages of the journey.
They skirted the land of the Sirens, who sang an enchanting song that normally caused passing
sailors to steer toward the rocks, only to hit them and sink. All of the sailors had their ears
plugged up with beeswax, except for Odysseus, who was tied to the mast as he wanted to hear
the song. They then passed between the six-headed monster Scylla and the
whirlpool Charybdis; Scylla snatched up six men. Next they landed on the island of Thrinacia.
Zeus caused a storm which prevented them leaving. While Odysseus was away praying, his
men ignored the warnings of Tiresias and Circe, and hunted the sacred cattle of the sun
god Helios as their food had run short. The Sun God insisted that Zeus punish the men for this
sacrilege. They suffered a shipwreck as they were driven towards Charybdis. All but Odysseus
were drowned; he clung to a fig tree above Charybdis. Washed ashore on the island of Ogygia,
he was compelled to remain there as Calypso's lover until she was ordered by Zeus, via
Hermes, to release Odysseus.

Return to Ithaca[edit]
Having listened with rapt attention to his story, the Phaeacians, who are skilled mariners, agree
to help Odysseus get home. They deliver him at night, while he is fast asleep, to a hidden
harbour on Ithaca. He finds his way to the hut of one of his own slaves, the
swineherd Eumaeus. Athena disguises Odysseus as a wandering beggar so he can see how
things stand in his household. After dinner, he tells the farm laborers a fictitious tale of himself:

He was born in Crete, had led a party of Cretans to fight alongside other Greeks in the Trojan
War, and had then spent seven years at the court of the king of Egypt; finally he had been
shipwrecked in Thesprotia and crossed from there to Ithaca.
Meanwhile, Telemachus sails home from Sparta, evading an ambush set by the Suitors. He
disembarks on the coast of Ithaca and makes for Eumaeus's hut. Father and son meet;
Odysseus identifies himself to Telemachus (but still not to Eumaeus), and they decide that the
Suitors must be killed. Telemachus goes home first. Accompanied by Eumaeus, Odysseus
returns to his own house, still pretending to be a beggar. When Odysseus' dog (who was a
puppy before he left) saw him, he becomes so excited that he dies.[7] He is ridiculed by the
Suitors in his own home, especially by one extremely impertinent man named Antinous.
Odysseus meets Penelope and tests her intentions by saying he once met Odysseus in Crete.
Closely questioned, he adds that he had recently been in Thesprotia and had learned
something there of Odysseus's recent wanderings.
Odysseus's identity is discovered by the housekeeper, Eurycleia, when she recognizes an old
scar as she is washing his feet. Eurycleia tries to tell Penelope about the beggar's true identity,
but Athena makes sure that Penelope cannot hear her. Odysseus then swears Eurycleia to
secrecy.

Slaying of the Suitors[edit]

Penelope questions Odysseus to prove his identity.

The next day, at Athena's prompting, Penelope maneuvers the Suitors into competing for her
hand with an archery competition using Odysseus' bow. The man who can string the bow and
shoot it through a dozen axe heads would win. Odysseus takes part in the competition himself:
he alone is strong enough to string the bow and shoot it through the dozen axe heads, making
him the winner. He then throws off his rags and kills Antinous with his next arrow. Then, with the
help of Athena, Odysseus, Telemachus, Eumaeus, and Philoteus the cowherd kill the rest of the
Suitors, first using the rest of the arrows and then by swords and spears once both sides have
armed themselves. Once the battle is won, Odysseus and Telemachus also hang twelve of their
household maids whom Eurycleia identifies as guilty of betraying Penelope, having sex with the
Suitors, or both; they mutilate and kill the goatherd Melanthius, who had mocked and abused
Odysseus and also brought weapons and armor to the suitors. Now at last, Odysseus identifies
himself to Penelope. She is hesitant, but recognizes him when he mentions that he made their
bed from an olive tree still rooted to the ground. Many modern and ancient scholars take this to
be the original ending of the Odyssey, and the rest to be an interpolation.
The next day he and Telemachus visit the country farm of his old father Laertes, who likewise
accepts his identity only when Odysseus correctly describes the orchard that Laertes had
previously given him.

The citizens of Ithaca have followed Odysseus on the road, planning to avenge the killing of the
Suitors, their sons. Their leader points out that Odysseus has now caused the deaths of two
generations of the men of Ithaca: his sailors, not one of whom survived; and the Suitors, whom
he has now executed (albeit rightly). Athena intervenes as a "dea" ex machina, as it were, and
persuades both sides to give up the vendetta. After this, Ithaca is at peace once more,
concluding the Odyssey.

Character of Odysseus[edit]
Main article: Odysseus

A Roman mosaic depicting a maritime scene with Odysseus (Latin: Ulysses) and the Sirens, from Carthage,
2nd century AD, now in the Bardo Museum, Tunisia

Odysseus' name means "trouble" in Greek, referring to both the giving and receiving of trouble
as is often the case in his wanderings. An early example of this is the boar hunt that gave
Odysseus the scar by which Eurycleia recognizes him; Odysseus is injured by the boar and
responds by killing it. Odysseus' heroic trait is his mtis, or "cunning intelligence": he is often
described as the "Peer of Zeus in Counsel". This intelligence is most often manifested by his
use of disguise and deceptive speech. His disguises take forms both physical (altering his
appearance) and verbal, such as telling the Cyclops Polyphemus that his name is ,
"Nobody", then escaping after blinding Polyphemus. When asked by other Cyclopes why he is
screaming, Polyphemus replies that "Nobody" is hurting him, so the others assume that, "If
alone as you are [Polyphemus] none uses violence on you, why, there is no avoiding the
sickness sent by great Zeus; so you had better pray to your father, the lord Poseidon".[8] The
most evident flaw that Odysseus sports is that of his arrogance and his pride, or hubris. As he
sails away from the island of the Cyclopes, he shouts his name and boasts that nobody can
defeat the "Great Odysseus". The Cyclops then throws the top half of a mountain at him and
prays to his father, Poseidon, saying that Odysseus has blinded him. This enrages Poseidon,
causing the god to thwart Odysseus' homecoming for a very long time.

Structure[edit]
The Odyssey was written in dactylic hexameter. The Odyssey opens in medias res, in the
middle of the overall story, with prior events described through flashbacks or storytelling. This
device is also used by later authors of literary epics, such as Virgil in the Aeneid, Lus de
Cames in Os Lusadas[9] and Alexander Pope in The Rape of the Lock.
In the first episodes, we trace Telemachus' efforts to assert control of the household, and then,
at Athena's advice, to search for news of his long-lost father. Then the scene shifts: Odysseus
has been a captive of the beautiful nymph Calypso, with whom he has spent seven of his ten
lost years. Released by the intercession of his patroness Athena, through the aid of Hermes, he
departs, but his raft is destroyed by his divine enemy Poseidon, who is angry because
Odysseus blinded his son, Polyphemus. When Odysseus washes up on Scherie, home to
the Phaeacians, he is assisted by the young Nausicaa and is treated hospitably. In return, he

satisfies the Phaeacians' curiosity, telling them, and the reader, of all his adventures since
departing from Troy. The shipbuilding Phaeacians then loan him a ship to return to Ithaca, where
he is aided by the swineherd Eumaeus, meets Telemachus, regains his household, kills the
Suitors, and is reunited with his faithful wife, Penelope.
All ancient and nearly all modern editions and translations of the Odyssey are divided into 24
books. This division is convenient but it may not be original. Many scholars believe it was
developed by Alexandrian editors of the 3rd century BC. In the Classical period, moreover,
several of the books (individually and in groups) were given their own titles: the first four books,
focusing on Telemachus, are commonly known as the Telemachy. Odysseus' narrative, Book 9,
featuring his encounter with the cyclops Polyphemus, is traditionally called the Cyclopeia. Book
11, the section describing his meeting with the spirits of the dead is known as the Nekuia. Books
9 through 12, wherein Odysseus recalls his adventures for his Phaeacian hosts, are collectively
referred to as the Apologoi: Odysseus' "stories". Book 22, wherein Odysseus kills all the Suitors,
has been given the title Mnesterophonia: "slaughter of the Suitors". This concludes the
Greek Epic Cycle, though fragments remain of the "alternative ending" of sorts known as
the Telegony.
This Telegony aside, the last 548 lines of the Odyssey, corresponding to Book 24, are believed
by many scholars to have been added by a slightly later poet. Several passages in earlier books
seem to be setting up the events of Book 24, so if it were indeed a later addition, the offending
editor would seem to have changed earlier text as well. For more about varying views on the
origin, authorship and unity of the poem see Homeric scholarship.

Geography of the Odyssey[edit]

Main articles: Homer's Ithaca and Geography of the Odyssey
The events in the main sequence of the Odyssey (excluding Odysseus' embedded narrative of
his wanderings) take place in the Peloponnese and in what are now called the Ionian Islands.
[citation needed]
There are difficulties in the apparently simple identification of Ithaca, the homeland of
Odysseus, which may or may not be the same island that is now called Ithake. The wanderings
of Odysseus as told to the Phaeacians, and the location of the Phaeacians' own island
of Scheria, pose more fundamental problems, if geography is to be applied: scholars, both
ancient and modern, are divided as to whether or not any of the places visited by Odysseus
(after Ismaros and before his return to Ithaca) are real.[citation needed]

Possible dates of the Odyssey[edit]

In 2008, scientists Marcelo O. Magnasco and Constantino Baikouzis at Rockefeller
University used clues in the text and astronomical data to attempt to pinpoint the time of
Odysseus' return from his journey after the Trojan War.[10]
The first clue is Odysseus' sighting of Venus just before dawn as he arrives on Ithaca. The
second is a new moon on the night before the massacre of the Suitors. The final clue is a
total eclipse, falling over Ithaca around noon, when Penelope's Suitors sit down for their noon
meal. The seer Theoclymenus approaches the Suitors and foretells their death, saying, "The
Sun has been obliterated from the sky, and an unlucky darkness invades the world." The
problem with this is that the 'eclipse' is only seen by Theoclymenus, and the Suitors toss him
out, calling him mad. No one else sees the sky darken, and it is therefore not actually described
as an eclipse within the story, merely a vision by Theoclymenus.
Doctors Baikouzis and Magnasco state that "[t]he odds that purely fictional references to these
phenomena (so hard to satisfy simultaneously) would coincide by accident with the only eclipse

of the century are minute." They conclude that these three astronomical references "'cohere', in
the sense that the astronomical phenomena pinpoint the date of 16 April 1178 BCE" as the most
likely date of Odysseus' return.
This dating places the destruction of Troy, ten years before, to 1188 BC, which is close to the
archaeologically dated destruction of Troy VIIa circa 1190 BC.
A second dating of the Odysseus' return to Ithaca was proposed in 2012 from
Papamarinopoulos et al.[11] The team of researchers proposed that the annular solar eclipse of
30 October 1207 B.C. is the one that was referred by Theoclymenus. The researchers proposed
a different approach and explanation of the same Homeric details, especially regarding the
translation and interpretation of the passage referring the eclipse. Also, their analysis of the
weathers and the environments description (long nights, plants, animals and peoples habits)
and the astronomical data (guiding constellations and Venus in the east horizon), constitute
from their point of view, an autumn return of Odysseus to Ithaca five days before the above
characterized day.

Influences on the Odyssey[edit]

Scholars have seen strong influences from Near Eastern mythology and literature in
the Odyssey. Martin West has noted substantial parallels between the Epic of Gilgamesh and
the Odyssey.[12] Both Odysseus and Gilgamesh are known for traveling to the ends of the earth,
and on their journeys go to the land of the dead. On his voyage to the underworld, Odysseus
follows instructions given to him by Circe, a goddess who is the daughter of the sun-god Helios.
Her island, Aeaea, is located at the edges of the world, and seems to have close associations
with the sun. Like Odysseus, Gilgamesh gets directions on how to reach the land of the dead
from a divine helper: in this case, the goddess Siduri, who, like Circe, dwells by the sea at the
ends of the earth. Her home is also associated with the sun: Gilgamesh reaches Siduri's house
by passing through a tunnel underneath Mt. Mashu, the high mountain from which the sun
comes into the sky. West argues that the similarity of Odysseus' and Gilgamesh's journeys to
the edges of the earth are the result of the influence of the Gilgamesh epic upon the Odyssey.
The Cyclops' origins have also been surmised by paleontologist Othenio Abel in 1914, to be the
results of Ancient Greeks finding an elephant skull. The enormous nasal passage in the middle
of the forehead could have looked like the eye socket of a giant, to those who had never seen a
living elephant.[13]

Themes[edit]
Homecoming[edit]

Odissea (1794)

An important factor to consider about Odysseus' homecoming is the hint at potential endings to
the epic by using other characters as parallels for his journey.[14] For instance, one example is
that of Agamemnon's homecoming versus Odysseus' homecoming. Upon Agamemnon's return,
his wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus, kill Agamemnon. Agamemnon's son, Orestes,
out of vengeance for his father's death, kills Aegisthus. This parallel compares the death of the
suitors to the death of Aegisthus and sets Orestes up as an example for Telemachus.[14] Also,
because Odysseus knows about Clytemnestra's betrayal, Odysseus returns home in disguise in
order to test the loyalty of his own wife, Penelope.[14] Later, Agamemnon praises Penelope for
not killing Odysseus. It is because of Penelope that Odysseus has fame and a successful
homecoming. This successful homecoming is unlike Achilles, who has fame but is dead, and
Agamemnon, who had an unsuccessful homecoming resulting in his death.[14]

Wandering[edit]
Only two of Odysseus's adventures are described by the poet. The rest of Odysseus'
adventures are recounted by Odysseus himself. The two scenes that the poet describes are
Odysseus on Calypso's island and Odysseus' encounter with the Phaeacians. These scenes
are told by the poet to represent an important transition in Odysseus' journey: being concealed
to returning home.[15] Calypso's name means "concealer" or "one who conceals," and that is
exactly what she does with Odysseus.[16] Calypso keeps Odysseus concealed from the world
and unable to return home. After leaving Calypso's island, the poet describes Odysseus'
encounters with the Phaeaciansthose who "convoy without hurt to all men"[17]which
represents his transition from not returning home to returning home.[15] Also, during Odysseus'
journey, he encounters many god-like or beings that are close to the gods. These encounters
are useful in understanding that Odysseus is in a world beyond man and that influences the fact
he cannot return home.[15] These beings that are close to the gods include the Phaeacians who

lived near Cyclopes,[18] whose king, Alcinous, is the great-grandson of the king of the
giants, Eurymedon, and the grandson of Poseidon.[15] Some of the other characters that
Odysseus encounters are Polyphemus who is the cyclops son of Poseidon; God of
Oceans, Circe who is the sorceress daughter of the Sun that turns men into animals, Calypso
who is a goddess, and the Laestrygonians who are cannibalistic giants.[15]

Guest-Friendship[edit]
Throughout the course of the epic, Odysseus encounters several examples of guest-friendship
which provide examples of how hosts should and should not act.[19] One example of good guestfriendship is that of the Phaeacians. The Phaeacians feed Odysseus, give him a place to sleep,
and give him a safe voyage home, which are all things a good host should do. He also
encounters some bad hosts. For instance, the cyclops's "gift" to Odysseus was that he would
eat him last.[19] He was not a very good host. Another host that was not well versed in guestfriendship was Calypso, who did not allow Odysseus to leave her island.[19] Another important
factor to guest-friendship is that kingship implies generosity. It is assumed that a king has the
means to be a generous host and is more generous with his own property.[19] This is best seen
when Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, begs Antinous, one of the suitors, for food and Antinous
denies his request. Odysseus essentially says that while Antinous may look like a king, he is far
from a king since he is not generous.[20]

Testing[edit]
Another theme throughout the Odyssey is testing.[21] This occurs in two distinct ways. Odysseus
tests the loyalty of others and others test Odysseus' identity. An example of Odysseus testing
the loyalties of others is when he returns home.[21] Instead of immediately revealing his identity,
he arrives disguised as a beggar and then proceeds to determine who in his house has
remained loyal to him and who has helped the suitors. After Odysseus reveals his true identity,
the characters test Odysseus' identity to see if he really is who he says he is.[21] For instance,
Penelope tests Odysseus' identity by saying that she will move the bed into the other room for
him. This is a difficult task since it is made out of a living tree that would require being cut down,
a fact that only the real Odysseus would know, thus proving his identity. For more information on
the progression of testing type scenes, read more below.[21]

Omens[edit]
Omens occur frequently throughout the Odyssey, as well as many other epics. Within the
Odyssey, omens frequently involve birds.[22] It is important to note who receives the omens and
what these omens mean to the characters and to the epic as a whole. For instance, bird omens
are shown to Telemachus, Penelope, Odysseus, and the suitors.[22] Telemachus and Penelope
receive their omens as well in the form of words, sneezes, and dreams.[22] However, Odysseus is
the only character that receives thunder or lightening as an omen.[23][24] This is important to note
because the thunder came from Zeus, the king of the gods. This direct relationship between
Zeus and Odysseus represents the kingship of Odysseus.[22]

Type Scenes in Homer's Odyssey[edit]

Finding Scenes[edit]
Finding scenes occur in the Odyssey when a character discovers another character within the
epic. Finding scenes proceed as followed:[15]
1. The character encounters or finds another character.

2. The encountered character is identified and described.

3. The character approaches and then converses with the
found character.
These finding scenes can be identified several times throughout the epic including when
Telemachus and Pisistratus find Menelaus, when Calypso finds Odysseus on the beach, and
when the suitor Amphimedon finds Agamemnon in Hades.[15][25]

Omens[edit]
Omens are another example of a type scene in the Odyssey. Two important parts of an omen
type scene is the recognition of the omen and then the interpretation.[22] In
the Odyssey specifically, there are several omens involving birds. All of the bird omenswith
the exception of the first one in the epicshow large birds attacking smaller bird.[22]
[25]
Accompanying each omen is a wish; this wish can be either explicitly stated or implicitly
implied.[22] For example, Telemachus wishes for vengeance[26] and for Odysseus to be home,
[27]
Penelope wishes for Odysseus' return,[28] and the suitors wish for the death of Telemachus.
[29]
The omens seen in the Odyssey are also a recurring theme throughout the epic.[22][25]

Testing[edit]
While testing is a theme with the epic, it also has a very specific type scene that accompanies it
as well. Throughout the epic, the testing of others follows a typical pattern. This pattern is:
1. Odysseus is hesitant to question the loyalties of others.
2. Odysseus then tests the loyalties of others by questioning
them.
3. The characters reply to Odysseus' questions.
4. Odysseus proceeds to reveal his identity.
5. The characters test Odysseus' identity.
6. There is a rise of emotions associated with Odysseus'
recognition, usually lament or joy.
7. Finally, the reconciled characters work together.[21][25]

Guest-Friendship[edit]
Guest-Friendship is also a theme in the Odyssey, but it too follows a very specific pattern. This
pattern is:
1. The arrival and the reception of the guest.
2. Bathing or providing fresh clothes to the guest.
3. Providing food and drink to the guest.

4. Questions may be asked of the guest and entertainment

should be provided by the host.
5. The guest should be given a place to sleep and both the
guest and host retire for the night.
6. The guest and host exchange gifts, the guest is granted a
safe journey home, and departs.
Another important factor of guest-friendship is not keeping the guest longer than they wish and
also promising their safety while they are a guest within the host's home.[19][25]

Text history[edit]

The Athenian tyrant Peisistratos, who ruled between 546 and

527 BC, is believed to have established a Commission of Editors
of Homer to edit the text of the poems and remove any errors
and interpolations, thus establishing a canonical text.[30]

The earliest papyrus fragments date back to the 3rd century BC.
[30]

The oldest complete manuscript is the Laurentianus from the

10th or 11th century.[30]

The editio princeps of both the Iliad and the Odyssey is

by Demetrius Chalcondyles in Florence, most likely from 1488.

The earliest known beginnings of anything related to the

Odyssey date back to around 700 BC.[31]

Cultural impact[edit]
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific
problem is: Huge impact on western literature and other culture largely unmentioned. Please
help improve this article if you can. (April 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template
message)

This section may contain excessive, poor, irrelevant, or selfsourcing examples. Please improve the article by adding more descriptive text and
removing less pertinent examples. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for further
suggestions. (August 2016)

Cyclops by Euripides, the only extant satyr play, retells the

respective episode with a humorous twist.[citation needed]

True Story, written by Lucian of Samosata in the 2nd century AD,

is a satire on the Odyssey and on ancient travel tales, describing
a journey sailing westward, beyond the Pillars of Hercules and to

the Moon, the first known text that could be called science fiction.
[32]

Merugud Uilix maicc Leirtis ("On the Wandering of Ulysses, son

of Laertes") is an eccentric Old Irish version of the material; the
work exists in a 12th-century AD manuscript that linguists believe
is based on an 8th-century original.[33][34]

Dante Alighieri has Odysseus append a new ending to

the Odyssey in canto XXVI of the Inferno.

Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, first performed in 1640, is an opera

by Claudio Monteverdi based on the second half of
Homer's Odyssey.[citation needed]

Every episode of James Joyce's modernist novel Ulysses (1922)

has an assigned theme, technique and correspondences
between its characters and those of Homer's Odyssey.

The first canto of Ezra Pound's The Cantos (1922) is both a

translation and a retelling of Odysseus' journey to the
underworld.[citation needed]

Nikos Kazantzakis aspires to continue the poem and explore

more modern concerns in The Odyssey: A Modern
Sequel (1938).

Homer's Daughter by Robert Graves is a novel imagining how

the version we have might have been invented out of older tales.

The Japanese-French anime Ulysses 31 (1981) updates the

ancient setting into a 31st-century space opera.

Omeros (1991), an epic poem by Derek Walcott, is in part a

retelling of the Odyssey, set on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia.

The Odyssey (1997), a made-for-TV movie directed by Andrei

Konchalovsky, is a slightly abbreviated version of the epic.

Similarly, Daniel Wallace's Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic

Proportions (1998) adapts the epic to the American South, while
also incorporating tall tales into its first-person narrative much as
Odysseus does in the Apologoi (Books 9-12).

The Coen Brothers' 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou? is

loosely based on Homer's poem.

Zachary Mason's The Lost Books of the Odyssey (2007) is a

series of short stories that rework Homer's original plot in a
contemporary style reminiscent of Italo Calvino.

The film Ulysses' Gaze (1995) directed by Theo Angelopoulos

has many of the elements of the Odyssey set against the
backdrop of the most recent and previous Balkan Wars.

The poem "Ulysses" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson is narrated by an

aged Ulysses who is determined to continue to live life to the
fullest.

Between 1978 and 1979, German director Tony Munzlinger

made a documentary series called Unterwegs mit
Odysseus(roughly translated: "Journeying with Odysseus"), in
which a film team sails across the Mediterranean Sea trying to
find traces of Odysseus in the modern-day settings of
the Odyssey.

Cream's 1967 song "Tales of Brave Ulysses" is based on the

encounters that Odysseus had on his way back, such as
the sirens.

Steely Dan's 1977 song "Home at Last" on the album Aja is

based loosely on Odysseus' efforts to return home. It includes
lyrics such as, "Well, the danger on the rocks is surely past/Still I
remain tied to the mast/Could it be that I have found my home at
last?/Home at last."

Symphony X's song The Odyssey is based on The Odyssey.

Margaret Atwood's 2005 novella The Penelopiad is an ironic

rewriting of The Odyssey from Penelope's perspective.

The Heroes of Olympus, by Rick Riordan, is based entirely off of

Greek mythology and includes many aspects and characters
from the Odyssey.[31]

English translations[edit]
Further information: English translations of Homer
This is a partial list of translations into English of Homer's Odyssey.

George Chapman, 1616 (couplets)

Thomas Hobbes, 1675

Alexander Pope, 17251726 (iambic pentameter

couplets); Project Gutenberg edition; Gutenberg.org

William Cowper, 1791 (blank verse) An audio CD recording

abridged by Perry Keenlyside and read by Anton Lesser is
available (ISBN 9626345314), 1995.

Samuel Henry Butcher and Andrew Lang, 1879 (prose); Project

Gutenberg edition

William Cullen Bryant, 1871 (blank verse)

Mordaunt Roger Barnard, 1876 (blank verse)

William Morris, 1887

Samuel Butler, 1898 (prose); Project Gutenberg

edition or Perseus Project Od.1.1

Padraic Colum, 1918 (prose), Bartleby.com

A. T. Murray (revised by George E. Dimock), 1919; Loeb

Classical Library (ISBN 0-674-99561-9). Available online here.

George Herbert Palmer, 1921, prose. An audio CD recording

read by Norman Deitz is available (ISBN 1-4025-2325-4), 1989.

T. E. Shaw (T. E. Lawrence), 1932 ISBN 1 85326 025 8

W. H. D. Rouse, 1937, prose

E. V. Rieu, 1945, prose (later revised in 1991 by D.C.H. Rieu for

increased literal accuracy)

Ennis Rees, 1960, Random House.

Robert Fitzgerald, 1963, unrhymed poetry with varied-length

lines (ISBN 0-679-72813-9) An audio CD recording read by John
Lee is available (ISBN 1-4159-3605-6) 2006

Richmond Lattimore, 1965, poetry (ISBN 0-06-093195-7)

Albert Cook, 1967 (Norton Critical Edition), poetry, very accurate

line by line version[citation needed]

Walter Shewring, 1980 (ISBN 0-19-283375-8), Oxford University

Press (Oxford World's Classics), prose

Allen Mandelbaum, 1990 Verse Translation[35]

Robert Fagles, poetry, 1996 (ISBN 0-14-026886-3); an

unabridged audio recording by Ian McKellen is also available
(ISBN 0-14-086430-X).

Stanley Lombardo, Hackett Publishing Company, 2000 (ISBN 087220-484-7). An audio CD recording read by the translator is
also available (ISBN 1-930972-06-7).

Martin Hammond, 2000, prose

Rodney Merrill, 2002, unrhymed dactylic hexameter, accurate

line by line version, University of Michigan Press

Edward McCrorie, 2004 (ISBN 0-8018-8267-2), Johns Hopkins

University Press.

Barry B. Powell, 2014 ISBN 978-0199360314, Oxford University

Press

See also[edit]

Hellenismos portal

Odyssean gods

Parallels between Virgil's Aeneid and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey

References[edit]
1. Jump up^ "Odyssey". Random House Webster's Unabridged
Dictionary.
2. ^ Jump up to:a b D.C.H. Rieu's introduction to The
Odyssey (Penguin, 2003), p. xi.
3. Jump up^ The dog Argos dies autik' idont' Odusea eeikosto
eniauto("seeing Odysseus again in the twentieth
year"), Odyssey17.327; cf. also 2.174-6, 23.102, 23.170.
4. Jump up^ Homer (1996). The Odyssey. Trans. by Robert Fagles.
Introduction by Bernard Knox. United States of America: Penguin
Books. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-14-026886-7.
5. Jump up^ Fox, Robin Lane (2006). The Classical World: An Epic
History from Homer to Hadrian. United States of America: Basic
Books. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-465-02496-4.

6. Jump up^ This theme once existed in the form of another

epic, Nostoi, of which only fragments remain.
7. Jump up^ Homer. The Odyssey. p. Scroll 17 Line 8-8.
Retrieved 16 January 2015.
8. Jump up^ From the Odyssey of Homer translated by Richmond
Lattimore[Book 9, page 147/8, lines 410 - 412].
9. Jump up^ "The Lusiads". World Digital Library. 18001882.
Retrieved 2013-08-31.
10. Jump up^ Baikouzis, Constantino; Magnasco, Marcelo O. (June
24, 2008), "Is an eclipse described in the Odyssey?", Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, 105 (26):
8823, doi:10.1073/pnas.0803317105, PMC 2440358 , PMID 1857
7587, retrieved 2008-06-27.
11. Jump up^ Papamarinopoulos, St. P.; Preka-Papadema, P.;
Antonopoulos, P.; Mitropetrou, H.; Tsironi, A.; Mitropetros, P.
(2012), "A New Astronomical Dating of Odysseus' Return to
Ithaca" (PDF), Mediterranean Archaeology & Archaeometry,
Mediterranean Archaeology & Archaeometry, 12 (1): 117128.
12. Jump up^ West, Martin. The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic
Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth. (Oxford 1997) 402-417.
13. Jump up^ Abel's surmise is noted by Adrienne Mayor, The First
Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman
Times (Princeton University Press) 2000.
14. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Thornton, Agathe. "The Homecomings of the
Achaeans." People and Themes in Homer's Odyssey. Dunedin: U
of Otago in Association with Methuen, London, 1970. 1-15. Print.
15. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g Thornton, Agathe. "The Wanderings of
Odysseus." People and Themes in Homer's Odyssey. Dunedin: U
of Otago in Association with Methuen, London, 1970. 16-37. Print.
16. Jump up^ Calypso and Odysseus. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2016,
from http://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/calypsoodysseus-greek-myth/
17. Jump up^ Homer, Odyssey 8.566. (The Odyssey of Homer.
Translated by Richmond Lattimore. New York: Harper & Row,
1975.)
18. Jump up^ Homer, Odyssey 6.4-5. (The Odyssey of Homer.
Translated by Richmond Lattimore. New York: Harper & Row,
1975.)

19. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e Thornton, Agathe. "Guest-Friendship." People

and Themes in Homer's Odyssey. Dunedin: U of Otago in
Association with Methuen, London, 1970. 38-46. Print.
20. Jump up^ Homer, Odyssey 17.415-44. (The Odyssey of Homer.
Trans. Richmond Lattimore. New York: Harper & Row, 1975. Print.)
21. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e Thornton, Agathe. "Testing." People and
Themes in Homer's Odyssey. Dunedin: U of Otago in Association
with Methuen, London, 1970. 47-51. Print.
22. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h Thornton, Agathe. "Omens." People and
Themes in Homer's Odyssey. Dunedin: U of Otago in Association
with Methuen, London, 1970. 52-57. Print.
23. Jump up^ Homer, Odyssey 20.103-4. (The Odyssey of Homer.
Trans. Richmond Lattimore. New York: Harper & Row, 1975. Print.)
24. Jump up^ Homer, Odyssey 21.414. (The Odyssey of Homer.
Trans. Richmond Lattimore. New York: Harper & Row, 1975. Print.)
25. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e Edwards, Mark W. "Homer and the Oral
Tradition." Oral Tradition 7.2 (1992): 284-330. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.
26. Jump up^ Homer, Odyssey 2.143-5. (The Odyssey of Homer.
Trans. Richmond Lattimore. New York: Harper & Row, 1975. Print.)
27. Jump up^ Homer, Odyssey 15.155-9. (The Odyssey of Homer.
Trans. Richmond Lattimore. New York: Harper & Row, 1975. Print.)
28. Jump up^ Homer, Odyssey 19.136. (The Odyssey of Homer.
Trans. Richmond Lattimore. New York: Harper & Row, 1975. Print.)
29. Jump up^ Homer, Odyssey 20.240-243. (The Odyssey of Homer.
Trans. Richmond Lattimore. New York: Harper & Row, 1975. Print.)
30. ^ Jump up to:a b c Odyssey Criticism.
31. ^ Jump up to:a b "When was Homer's Odyssey written? Homework Help - eNotes.com". eNotes. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
32. Jump up^ Swanson, Roy Arthur:
Lucian of Samosata, the Greco-Syrian satirist of the second
century, appears today as an exemplar of the science-fiction artist.
There is little, if any, need to argue that his mythopoeic Milesian
Tales and his literary fantastic voyages and utopistic hyperbole
comport with the genre of science fiction; ...
33. Jump up^ Merugud Uilix maicc Leirtis. Kuno Meyer (ed), First
edition [v + 36 pp.; vxii Introduction; 115 Critical edition of Text;
1629 Translation; 3036 Index Verborum.] David Nutt270 Strand,
London (1886)

34. Jump up^ Merugud Uilix maicc Leirtis: the Irish Odyssey, ed.
Kuno Meyer, London: 1886.
35. Jump up^ Homer's Odyssey. New York: Bantam. 1991. Trans.
Mandelbaum, Allen. ISBN 978-0-553-21399-7.

External links[edit]
Look up odyssey in
Wiktionary, the free
dictionary.
Wikisource has original
text related to this article:
The Odyssey
Greek Wikisource has
original text related to this
article:

Wikimedia Commons has

media related to Odyssey.

Odyssey on Perseus Project:

Ancient Greek

English translation by Samuel Butler, 1900

English translation by A.T. Murray, 1919

Homer's Odyssey: A Commentary by Denton Jaques Snider

on Project Gutenberg

BBC audio file. In our time BBC Radio 4 discussion programme.

45 minutes.

The Meaning of Tradition in Homer's Odyssey in English

The Odyssey Comix A detailed retelling and explanation of

Homer's Odyssey in comic-strip format by Greek Myth Comix

Nria Perpiny (2008). Las criptas de la crtica. Veinte lecturas

de la Odisea. Madrid: Gredos.

The Odyssey public domain audiobook at LibriVox

Images of scenes from Homer's, the "Odyssey"
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Homer's Odyssey (8th century BC)

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Authority control

Places visited by Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey

WorldCat Identities
VIAF: 179000070
LCCN: n80008528
GND: 4193022-8
SUDOC: 027271714
BNF: cb120084354 (data)

Categories:

Odyssey
Epic Cycle
Ancient Greek religion
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