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The Odyssey (/ ˈ ɒ d ɪ s i /; Ancient Greek: Ὀδύσσεια, romanized: Odýsseia) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the Iliad, the poem is divided into 24 books.
- 1614
- Epic poetry
- c. 8th century BC
- Homeric Greek
- Overview
- The story
- Composition and early translations
The Odyssey is an epic poem in 24 books traditionally attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer. The poem is the story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, who wanders for 10 years (although the action of the poem covers only the final six weeks) trying to get home after the Trojan War.
Where does the Odyssey take place?
The majority of the Odyssey takes place on and around the Aegean Sea before concluding in Odysseus’s kingdom of Ithaca.
How was the Odyssey originally performed?
The Odyssey was intended for oral performance. The poem was likely transmitted through generations of oral poets well before it was written down. It’s been suggested that oral poets performed epics such as the Odyssey in song form.
What are the most popular English-language translations of the Odyssey from the 20th century?
The Odyssey does not follow a linear chronology. The reader begins in the middle of the tale, learning about previous events only through Odysseus’s retelling. The first four books set the scene in Ithaca. Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, and their young son, Telemachus, are powerless before her arrogant suitors as they despair of Odysseus’s return from the siege of Troy. Telemachus is searching for news of his father, who has not been heard from since he left for war nearly 20 years earlier. He journeys secretly to the Peloponnese and seeks out two men who fought with Odysseus in the war at Troy, Nestor and Menelaus, and discovers that his father is indeed still alive.
The second four books (V–VIII) introduce the main character, Odysseus, as he is being released from captivity by the nymph Calypso on the island of Ogygia. He suffers a shipwreck and lands on the shore of Scheria, the land of the Phaeacians. In Books IX–XII Odysseus tells the Phaeacians of the harrowing journey he and his crew endured as they tried to find their way home—including their encounters with the lotus-eaters, Laestrygonians, and the sorceress Circe, their narrow escape from the cave of the Cyclops Polyphemus, their ordeal navigating between Scylla and Charybdis, and the final shipwreck in which Odysseus is washed ashore on Ogygia alone.
Finally, Books XIII–XXIV, the second half of the poem, find Odysseus back in Ithaca, facing unexpected obstacles and danger. He meets with his protector-goddess Athena and reveals himself first to his faithful swineherd Eumaeus and then to Telemachus before developing a complicated plan to dispose of the suitors. During Odysseus’s absence, Penelope resisted the importuning of more than a hundred suitors—who have stayed in Odysseus’s house, eating, drinking, and carousing while waiting for her to decide among them. In order to reunite with his wife, Odysseus kills them all, with the aid of Telemachus, Eumaeus, and Philoetius (a servant and cowherd).
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Scholars date the writing of the Odyssey to about 725–675 bce. The poem was intended for oral performance. It was composed of 12,109 lines written in dactylic hexameter (sometimes referred to as “Homeric hexameter”)—that is, each line consisted of six feet, or metrical units, and each foot consisted of a dactyl (a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables). The original work may not have been constructed into the 24 books known to the contemporary reader, and the parts were certainly not in codex form. In the ancient world, the poem was likely written in columns on rolls made from papyrus, or possibly some kind of animal skin (such as vellum and parchment). Given its extraordinary length, the poem may have actually occupied 24 individual rolls. Homer’s role in the writing of the poem and whether he was literate have been a source for rich scholarly debate, commonly referred to as the “Homeric Question.”
Until the 15th century all volumes of the Odyssey in circulation were in handwritten Greek. In 1488 the first printed version (still in Greek) was produced in Florence. The earliest vernacular translations of the Odyssey from its original Ionic Greek dialect began to appear in Europe during the 16th century. Applying the ancient Greek metre to contemporary vernaculars, especially to words meant to be spoken aloud rather than read privately, posed a particular challenge, forcing translators to add and invent words in order to make the metre work. Some have translated it into prose and some into verse.
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Written 800 B.C.E. Translated by Samuel Butler. The Odyssey has been divided into the following sections: Download: A 596k text-only version is available for download . The Odyssey by Homer, part of the Internet Classics Archive.
Apr 1, 1999 · Apr 1, 1999. Most Recently Updated. Dec 2, 2023. Copyright Status. Public domain in the USA. Downloads. 11651 downloads in the last 30 days. Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free! Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by volunteers.
- Samuel Butler
- See also PG #1728 and PG #3160
- 2009
- Butler, Samuel, 1835-1902
- Mark Cartwright
- Interlopers Have Taken over the Palace. We jump into the story near the end when Odysseus is held in the clutches of the Nymph Calypso on her remote island.
- Penelope Stalls & Odysseus Will Return. We are told how 'wise' Penelope has resisted the relentless pressure of her suitors to remarry - one ruse was to promise her hand only when a shroud for her father-in-law Laertes was completed, but each night she undid the work of the day.
- Telemachus Meets Nestor. Telemachus arrives at the palace of Nestor at Pylos. The aged hero tells of how, after the fall of Troy, the Greek fleet split and he does not know what became of Odysseus' ships and men.
- Telemachus Meets Menelaus. Telemachus arrives at the palace of Menelaus at Sparta. The king does not know the fate of Odysseus either. Helen tells of the time Odysseus daringly entered Troy disguised as a beggar, and Menelaus tells of the great Wooden Horse which the Greeks used to enter the city.
Apr 19, 2024 · Odysseus, in Greek legend, the wise and courageous king of Ithaca who is the hero of Homer’s Odyssey. Odysseus’s wanderings and the recovery of his house and kingdom are the central theme of the epic, which also relates how he accomplished the capture of Troy by means of the wooden horse.
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It is an island covered with forest, in the very middle of the sea, and a goddess lives there, daughter of the magician Atlas, who looks after the bottom of the ocean, and carries the great columns that keep heaven and earth asunder.
