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Historical person
Odysseus was the legendary king of Ithaca, husband of Penelope and father of Telemachus. Renowned for intelligence rather than brute strength, he served as one of the principal Greek commanders in the Trojan War and was traditionally credited with devising the wooden horse that enabled the Greeks to enter Troy. His defining qualities are ingenuity, persuasive speech, adaptability and endurance, although his pride and willingness to deceive frequently bring danger upon himself and others. After the fall of Troy, his attempt to return home becomes a ten-year struggle against storms, monsters, enchantresses and the hostility of Poseidon.
In ancient literature, Odysseus is most fully portrayed in Homer’s Odyssey , which follows his encounters with the Cyclops Polyphemus, Circe, the Sirens, Calypso and the dead before his eventual return to Ithaca. He also plays an important role in the Iliad as a diplomat, strategist and dependable battlefield commander.
In Peter Tonkin’s Beware of Greeks, in Aulis, a merchant’s son disabled during a robbery survives as an apprentice rhapsode until Odysseus recruits him for the search for Achilles. In Madeline Miller’s Circe, when she uses that power against rivals, her divine family exposes her to Zeus and she is condemned to exile on the island of Aiaia. Isolation gives Circe the freedom to develop her witchcraft, but it does not remove her from the struggles of gods and heroes. Her life intersects with Daedalus, the Minotaur, Medea and the creation of Scylla before Odysseus arrives after the Trojan War. Further fictional perspectives on Odysseus can be found in Peter Tonkin’s The Anger of Achilles, Euripides’ The Bacchae and Other Plays, Caroline Alexander’s The Iliad, Manolo Palomares’ The Last Night of Troy, and Homer’s The Odyssey.
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The Troy Trilogy is an epic retelling of the Trojan story that combines heroic fantasy, myth and large-scale adventure. Gemmell replaces distant legend with a crowded world of seafarers, traders, kings, raiders and rival families, while retaining the prophecies, passions and larger-than-life figures associated with Troy. Across Lord…
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Penguin Classics: Ancient World brings together foundational works of literature, history, philosophy, drama and poetry from the earliest civilisations through classical Greece and Rome. The wider Penguin Classics series began in 1946 with E. V. Rieu’s translation of Homer’s Odyssey, reflecting its original aim of making important texts…
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Oxford World’s Classics is a long-running series from Oxford University Press that publishes authoritative editions of major works of literature, philosophy, politics and religion from across the world. Designed for general readers as well as students, its volumes pair reliable texts or modern translations with scholarly introductions, explanatory…
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The Trojan Murders recast Odysseus as an investigator working with a young disabled rhapsode who observes and records the cases. Set during the legendary mobilisation for Troy, the mysteries treat heroic tradition as evidence to be questioned: Achilles must be found, sacrilege at Aulis must be explained and…
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Standalone books
