Homer’s Odyssey follows Odysseus as he struggles to return to Ithaca after the Trojan War. While Penelope fends off suitors who consume his household and Telemachus searches for news of his father, Odysseus is delayed by gods, monsters and his own companions’ mistakes. His wanderings include the Cyclops Polyphemus, Circe, the land of the dead, the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, and the fatal slaughter of the cattle of Helios.
When Odysseus finally reaches Ithaca, he returns in disguise and tests the loyalty of those around him before revealing himself. With Telemachus he confronts the suitors and restores control of his household. The poem combines adventure with questions of homecoming, identity, hospitality, loyalty and the human consequences of war.
Virgil
1 book
Hesiod
1 book
Apollonius of Rhodes
2 books
Aeschylus
1 book
Euripides
5 books