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{{Short description|Legendary Greek king of Ithaca}}
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{{Other uses}}
{{See also|Ulysses (disambiguation){{!}}Ulysses}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox character
| name = Odysseus
| title = King of Ithaca 
| image=Head Odysseus MAR Sperlonga.jpg
| caption = Head of Odysseus from a [[Sperlonga sculptures|Roman period Hellenistic marble group]] representing Odysseus blinding [[Polyphemus]], found at the villa of [[Tiberius]] at [[Sperlonga]], Italy
| nationality = Greek
| spouse = [[Penelope]]
| relatives = [[Laertes (father of Odysseus)|Laertes]] (father)<br />[[Anticlea]] (mother)<br />[[Ctimene]] (sister)
| children = [[Telemachus]], [[Telegonus (son of Odysseus)|Telegonus]], [[Cassiphone]], [[Agrius]], [[Anteias]], [[Ardeas]], [[Rhomos]], [[Poliporthes]], [[Latinus]], [[Nausinous]], [[Nausithous]], Euryalus
}}
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In [[Greek mythology|Greek]] and [[Roman mythology]], '''Odysseus''' ({{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|d|ɪ|s|i|ə|s|audio=LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-Odysseus (alt).wav}} {{respell|ə|DISS|ee|əs}};<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Odysseus |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625082754/https://www.lexico.com/definition/Odysseus |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 June 2021 |title=Odysseus |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref> {{langx|grc|Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς|Odysseús{{noitalic|, }}Odyseús}}, {{IPA|el|o.dy(s).sěu̯s|IPA}}), also known by the [[Latin]] variant '''Ulysses''' ({{IPAc-en|juː|ˈ|l|ɪ|s|iː|z}} {{respell|yoo|LISS|eez}}, {{IPAc-en|UKalso|ˈ|juː|l|ɪ|s|iː|z}} {{respell|YOO|liss|eez}}; {{langx|la|Ulysses{{noitalic|, }}Ulixes}}), is a legendary [[Greeks|Greek]] king of [[Homeric Ithaca|Ithaca]] and the hero of [[Homer]]'s [[Epic poetry|epic poem]], the ''[[Odyssey]]''. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's ''[[Iliad]]'' and other works in that same [[epic cycle]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Odysseus |url=https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Heroes/Odysseus/odysseus.html#:~:text=Odysseus%20was%20a%20legendary%20hero,an%20ingenious%20and%20cunning%20trickster. |access-date=24 April 2021 |archive-date=24 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424154204/https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Heroes/Odysseus/odysseus.html#:~:text=Odysseus%20was%20a%20legendary%20hero,an%20ingenious%20and%20cunning%20trickster. |url-status=live }}</ref>

As the son of [[Laertes (father of Odysseus)|Laërtes]] and [[Anticlea]], husband of [[Penelope]], and father of [[Telemachus]], Acusilaus, and [[Telegonus (son of Odysseus)|Telegonus]],<ref>[[Epic Cycle]]. ''Fragments on [[Telegony]]'', ''[http://www.theoi.com/Text/EpicCycle.html 2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200829160150/https://www.theoi.com/Text/EpicCycle.html |date=29 August 2020 }}'' as cited in ''[[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathias]], 1796.35.''</ref> Odysseus is renowned for his intellectual brilliance, guile, and versatility (''polytropos''), and he is thus known by the [[epithet]] Odysseus the Cunning ({{langx|grc|μῆτις|mêtis|cunning intelligence|links=no}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://logeion.uchicago.edu/index.html#%CE%9C%E1%BF%86%CF%84%CE%B9%CF%82|title=μῆτις – Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon|publisher=[[Perseus Project]]|access-date=18 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180904071133/http://logeion.uchicago.edu/index.html#%CE%9C%E1%BF%86%CF%84%CE%B9%CF%82|archive-date=4 September 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>). He is most famous for his ''[[nostos]]'', or "homecoming", which took him ten eventful years after the decade-long [[Trojan War]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Greek & Roman Mythology - Homer |url=https://www2.classics.upenn.edu/myth/php/homer/index.php?page=odywar |access-date=2024-07-30 |website=www2.classics.upenn.edu}}</ref>

== Name, etymology, and epithets ==
The form {{lang|grc|Ὀδυσ(σ)εύς}} ''Odys(s)eus'' is used starting in the epic period and through the classical period, but various other forms are also found. In vase inscriptions, there are the variants ''Oliseus'' ({{lang|grc|Ὀλισεύς}}), ''Olyseus'' ({{lang|grc|Ὀλυσεύς}}), ''Olysseus'' ({{lang|grc|Ὀλυσσεύς}}), ''Olyteus'' ({{lang|grc|Ὀλυτεύς}}), ''Olytteus'' ({{lang|grc|Ὀλυττεύς}}) and ''Ōlysseus'' ({{lang|grc|Ὠλυσσεύς}}). The form ''Oulixēs'' ({{lang|grc|Οὐλίξης}}) is attested in an early source in [[Magna Graecia]] ([[Ibycus]], according to [[Diomedes Grammaticus]]), while the Greek grammarian [[Aelius Herodianus]] has ''Oulixeus'' ({{lang|grc|Οὐλιξεύς}}).<ref>Entry [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2372123 "{{lang|grc|Ὀδυσσεύς}}"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080305063452/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2372123 |date=5 March 2008 }}, in: Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott: ''[[A Greek–English Lexicon]]'', 1940.</ref> In [[Latin]], he was known as ''{{lang|la|Ulixēs}}'' or (considered less correct) ''{{lang|la|Ulyssēs}}''. Some have supposed that "there may originally have been two separate figures, one called something like Odysseus, the other something like Ulixes, who were combined into one complex personality."<ref>{{cite book|last=Stanford|first=William Bedell|title=The Ulysses theme. A Study in the Adaptability of a Traditional Hero|year=1968|publisher=Spring Publications|place=New York|page=8}}</ref> However, the change between ''d'' and ''l'' is common also in some Indo-European and Greek names,<ref>See the entry [[wikt:Ἀχιλλεύς|"Ἀχιλλεύς"]] in Wiktionary; ''cfr.'' Greek [[wikt:δάκρυ|δάκρυ, ''dákru'']], vs. Latin ''[[wikt:lacrima|lacrima]]'' "tear".</ref> and the Latin form is supposed to be derived from the [[Etruscan language|Etruscan]] ''{{lang|ett-Latn|Uthuze}}'' (see below), which perhaps accounts for some of the phonetic innovations.

The etymology of the name is unknown. Ancient authors linked the name to the Greek verbs ''{{lang|grc-Latn|odussomai}}'' ({{lang|grc|ὀδύσσομαι}}) "to be wroth against, to hate",<ref>Entry [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Do)du%2Fssomai "{{lang|grc|ὀδύσσομαι}}"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106112951/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Do%29du%2Fssomai |date=6 January 2021 }} in Liddell and Scott, ''A Greek–English Lexicon''.</ref> to ''{{lang|grc-Latn|oduromai}}'' ({{lang|grc|ὀδύρομαι}}) "to lament, bewail",<ref>Entry [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Do)du%2Fromai "{{lang|grc|ὀδύρομαι}}"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806092701/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Do)du%2Fromai |date=6 August 2020 }} in Liddell and Scott, ''A Greek–English Lexicon''.</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Homers Odysseen|editor=Helmut van Thiel|location=Berlin|publisher=Lit|year=2009|page=194}}</ref> or even to ''{{lang|grc-Latn|ollumi}}'' ({{lang|grc|ὄλλυμι}}) "to perish, to be lost".<ref>Entry [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=LSJ+o%29%2Fllumi&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057 "{{lang|grc|ὄλλυμι}}"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806004754/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=LSJ+o%29%2Fllumi&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057 |date=6 August 2020 }} in Liddell and Scott, ''A Greek–English Lexicon''.</ref><ref name="Burns2008">{{cite book|author=Marcy George-Kokkinaki|title=Literary Anthroponymy: Decoding the Characters in Homer's Odyssey|url=http://www.antrocom.net/upload/sub/antrocom/040208/10-Antrocom.pdf|access-date=4 May 2017|publisher=Antrocom|year=2008|volume=4|issue=2|pages=145–157|archive-date=22 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422065930/http://www.antrocom.net/upload/sub/antrocom/040208/10-Antrocom.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Homer]] relates it to various forms of this verb in references and puns. In Book 19 of the ''Odyssey'', where Odysseus's early childhood is recounted, [[Euryclea]] asks the boy's grandfather [[Autolycus]] to name him. Euryclea seems to suggest a name like ''Polyaretos'', "for he has ''much'' been ''prayed for''" ({{Lang|grc|πολυάρητος}})  but Autolycus "apparently in a sardonic mood" decided to give the child another name commemorative of "his own experience in life":<ref>{{cite book|last=Stanford|first=William Bedell|title=The Ulysses theme|url=https://archive.org/details/ulyssesthemestud0000stan_n5f7|url-access=registration|year=1968|page=[https://archive.org/details/ulyssesthemestud0000stan_n5f7/page/11 11]}}</ref> "Since I have been angered ({{Lang|grc|ὀδυσσάμενος}} ''odyssamenos'') with many, both men and women, let the name of the child be Odysseus".<ref>''Odyssey'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D19%3Acard%3D361 19.400–405] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210617013557/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D19%3Acard%3D361 |date=17 June 2021 }}.</ref> Odysseus often receives the [[patronymic]] epithet ''Laertiades'' ({{lang|grc|Λαερτιάδης}}), "son of [[Laertes (father of Odysseus)|Laërtes]]".

It has also been suggested that the name is of non-Greek origin, possibly not even [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]], with an unknown etymology.<ref name="Dihle1994">{{cite book|last=Dihle|first=Albrecht|title=A History of Greek Literature. From Homer to the Hellenistic Period|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NkO_Eozss_cC&pg=PA19|access-date=4 May 2017|year=1994|publisher=Routledge|place=London and New York|translator=Clare Krojzl|isbn=978-0-415-08620-2|page=19}}</ref> [[Robert S. P. Beekes]] has suggested a [[Pre-Greek]] origin.<ref>Robert S. P. Beekes, ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, Leiden 2009, p. 1048.</ref> In [[Etruscan religion]], the name (and stories) of Odysseus were adopted under the name ''{{lang|ett-Latn|Uthuze}}'' (''Uθuze''), which has been interpreted as a parallel borrowing from a preceding [[Minoan language|Minoan]] form of the name (possibly ''*Oduze'', {{IPA|omn|ˈot͡θut͡se|pron|small=no}}); this theory is also supposed to explain the insecurity of the phonologies (''d'' or ''l''), since the [[affricate]] {{IPAblink|t͡θ}}, unknown to the Greek of that time, gave rise to different counterparts (i.&nbsp;e. ''δ'' or ''λ'' in Greek, ''θ'' in Etruscan).<ref>Glen Gordon, [http://paleoglot.blogspot.de/2009/11/pre-greek-name-for-odysseus.html ''A Pre-Greek name for Odysseus''], published at ''Paleoglot. Ancient languages. Ancient civilizations''. Retrieved 4 May 2017.</ref>

In the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey,'' Homer uses several [[epithets in Homer|epithets]] to describe Odysseus, starting with the opening, where he is described as "the man of many devices" (in the 1919 Murray translation). The Greek word used is ''polytropos'', literally the man of many turns, and other translators have suggested alternate English translations, including "man of twists and turns" (Fagles 1996) and "a complicated man" (Wilson 2018).

== Description ==
In the account of [[Dares Phrygius|Dares the Phrygian]], Odysseus was illustrated as "tough, crafty, cheerful, of medium height, eloquent, and wise."<ref>[[Dares Phrygius]], ''History of the Fall of Troy'' [https://www.theoi.com/Text/DaresPhrygius.html 13] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407120900/http://www.theoi.com/Text/DaresPhrygius.html |date=7 April 2023 }}</ref> In Book III of [[Homer]]'s [[Iliad]] [[Priam]] describes him as "shorter in truth by a head than Atreus' son [[Agamemnon]], / but broader, it would seem, in the chest and across the shoulders /... / Truly, to some deep-fleeced ram would I liken him / who makes his way through the great mass of the shining sheep-flocks."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Homer |title=The Iliad of Homer |last2=Lattimore |first2=Richmond |last3=Martin |first3=Richard P. |date=2011 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-47048-1 |location=Chicago; London |pages=Book III Lines 192–199}}</ref> and in the same book [[Antenor (Trojan)|Antenor]] recalls that "[[Menelaus]] with his broad shoulders was the taller, but Odysseus was the more imposing of the two when they were both seated."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Homer |title=The Iliad |last2=Rieu |first2=E.V. |last3=Rieu |first3=D.C.H. |last4=Jones |first4=Peter |date=2003 |publisher=Penguin  |isbn=978-0-140-44794-1 |pages=Book III Lines 209–211}}</ref>  In Book VI of [[Homer]]'s [[Odyssey]], he is described as having "bushy locks" that "hang from his head thick as the petals of a hyacinth in bloom".<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Homer |title=The Odyssey |last2=Rieu |first2=E.V. |last3=Rieu |first3=D.C.H. |date=2003 |publisher=Penguin  |isbn=978-0-140-44911-2 |pages=Book VI Lines 230–231}}</ref> In Book XVI of Homer's Odyssey he is said to have a "bronze tan"<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Homer |title=The Odyssey |last2=Rieu |first2=E.V. |last3=Rieu |first3=D.C.H. |date=2003 |publisher=Penguin  |isbn=978-0-140-44911-2 |pages=Book XVI Lines 175}}</ref> and in Book XVIII of Homer's Odyssey, it is said that Odysseus "bared his fine massive thighs. His broad shoulders, his chest and brawny arms were now revealed".<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Homer |title=The Odyssey |last2=Rieu |first2=E.V. |last3=Rieu |first3=D.C.H. |date=2003 |publisher=Penguin  |isbn=978-0-140-44911-2 |pages=Book XVIII Lines 66–69}}</ref>

== Genealogy ==
Relatively little is given of Odysseus's fictional background other than that according to Pseudo-Apollodorus, his paternal grandfather or step-grandfather is [[Arcesius]], son of [[Cephalus]] and grandson of [[Aeolus (son of Hellen)|Aeolus]], while his maternal grandfather is the thief [[Autolycus]], son of [[Hermes]]<ref>Apollodorus, [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|''Bibliotheca'']] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022:text=Library:book=1:chapter=9&highlight=autolycus Library 1.9.16] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231050559/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022:text=Library:book=1:chapter=9&highlight=autolycus |date=31 December 2020 }}</ref> and [[Chione (daughter of Daedalion)|Chione]]; this genealogy places Odysseus as the great-grandson of the [[Twelve Olympians|Olympian god]] Hermes. In the ''Odyssey'', however, while Hermes passes on his skill of thievery to Autolycus, there is no indication of a genealogical connection between the two.<ref>[[Timothy Gantz|Gantz, Timothy]], ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993. {{ISBN|080184410X}}. p. 109.</ref><ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng1:19.361-19.404 19.394&ndash;398].</ref>

According to the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'', his father is [[Laertes (father of Odysseus)|Laertes]]<ref>Homer does not list Laërtes as one of the [[Argonauts]].</ref> and his mother [[Anticlea]], although there was a non-Homeric tradition<ref>[[Scholium]] on [[Sophocles]]' ''[[Ajax (Sophocles)|Aiax]]'' 190, noted in [[Karl Kerényi]], ''The Heroes of the Greeks'', 1959:77.</ref><ref>"Spread by the powerful kings, // And by the child of the infamous Sisyphid line" (κλέπτουσι μύθους οἱ μεγάλοι βασιλῆς // ἢ τᾶς ἀσώτου Σισυφιδᾶν γενεᾶς): Chorus in ''Ajax'' 189–190, [http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/ajax.html translated] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050418080946/http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/ajax.html |date=18 April 2005 }} by [[R. C. Trevelyan]].</ref><ref>"Thousands of them, with Odysseus at their head." "The son of Sisyphus?" "The very same.": Achilles and Clytemnestra in ''Iphigenia at Aulis'', [https://classics.mit.edu/Euripides/iphi_aul.pl.txt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240819043950/https://classics.mit.edu/Euripides/iphi_aul.pl.txt|date=19 August 2024}}.</ref> that [[Sisyphus]] was his true father.<ref>"A so-called 'Homeric' drinking-cup shows pretty undisguisedly Sisyphos in the bed-chamber of his host's daughter, the arch-rogue sitting on the bed and the girl with her spindle." ''The Heroes of the Greeks'' 1959:77.</ref> The rumour went that Laërtes bought Odysseus from the conniving king.<ref>"Sold by his father Sisyphus" (οὐδ᾽ οὑμπολητὸς Σισύφου Λαερτίῳ): Philoctetes in ''Philoctetes'' 417, [http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/philoct.html translated] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106123730/http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/philoct.html |date=6 January 2011 }} by [[Thomas Francklin]].</ref> Odysseus is said to have a younger sister, [[Ctimene]], who went to [[Same (ancient Greece)|Same]] to be married to Eurylochus and is mentioned by the swineherd Eumaeus, whom she grew up alongside, in book 15 of the ''Odyssey''.<ref name="Women in Odyssey">{{cite web |url=http://records.viu.ca/~mcneil/lec/womenlec.htm |title=Women in Homer's Odyssey |publisher=Records.viu.ca |date=16 September 1997 |access-date=25 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004054530/http://records.viu.ca/~mcneil/lec/womenlec.htm |archive-date=4 October 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Odysseus himself, under the guise of an old beggar, gives the swineherd in Ithaca a fictitious genealogy: "From broad Crete I declare that I am come by lineage, the son of a wealthy man. And many other sons too were born and bred in his halls, true sons of a lawful wife; but the mother that bore me was bought, a concubine. Yet [[Castor and Pollux|Castor]], son of [[Hylas|Hylax]], of whom I declare that I am sprung, honored me even as his true-born sons."<ref>Hom. Od. 14.199–200. Quoted from Homer. The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919.</ref>

== Mythology ==
=== Before the Trojan War ===
The majority of sources for Odysseus's supposed pre-war exploits—principally the mythographers [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Pseudo-Apollodorus]] and [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]]—postdate Homer by many centuries. Two stories in particular are well known:

When [[Helen of Troy]] is abducted, [[Menelaus]] calls upon the other [[Suitors of Helen|suitors]] to honour their oaths and help him to retrieve her, an attempt that leads to the [[Trojan War]]. Odysseus tries to avoid it by feigning lunacy, as an oracle had prophesied a long-delayed return home for him if he went. He hooks a donkey and an ox to his plow (as they have different stride lengths, hindering the efficiency of the plow) and (some modern sources add<!--not in Apollodorus or Hyginus-->) starts [[Salting the earth|sowing his fields with salt]]. [[Palamedes (mythology)|Palamedes]], at the behest of Menelaus's brother [[Agamemnon]], seeks to disprove Odysseus's madness and places [[Telemachus]], Odysseus's infant son, in front of the plow. Odysseus veers the plow away from his son, thus exposing his stratagem.<ref>Hyginus, [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HyginusFabulae2.html#95 ''Fabulae'' 95] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212023857/https://books.google.com/books?id=hDhgAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA177&dq=sowed%20salt#95 |date=12 February 2017 }}. Cf. Apollodorus, [http://www.theoi.com/Text/ApollodorusE.html#3 ''Epitome'' 3.7] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703212703/http://www.theoi.com/Text/ApollodorusE.html#3 |date=3 July 2007 }}.</ref> Odysseus holds a grudge against Palamedes during the war for dragging him away from his home.

Odysseus and other envoys of Agamemnon travel to [[Scyros]] to recruit [[Achilles]] because of a prophecy that Troy could not be taken without him. By most accounts, [[Thetis]], Achilles's mother, disguises him as a woman to hide him from the recruiters because an [[oracle]] had predicted that Achilles would either live a long uneventful life or achieve everlasting glory while dying young. Odysseus cleverly discovers which among the women before him is Achilles, when Achilles is the only one of them to show interest in examining the weapons hidden among an array of adornment gifts for the daughters of their host. Odysseus arranges further for the sounding of a battle horn, which prompts Achilles to clutch a weapon and show his trained disposition. With his disguise foiled, he is exposed and joins Agamemnon's call to arms among the [[Hellenes]].<ref>Hyginus, [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HyginusFabulae2.html#96 ''Fabulae'' 96] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212023857/https://books.google.com/books?id=hDhgAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA177&dq=sowed%20salt#96 |date=12 February 2017 }}.</ref>

=== During the Trojan War ===
{{Trojan War}}

==== The ''Iliad'' ====
{{Main|Iliad}}
[[File:Patroclus corpse MAN Firenze.jpg|thumb|[[Menelaus]] and [[Meriones (mythology)|Meriones]] lifting [[Patroclus]]'s corpse on a cart while Odysseus looks on, [[Etruscan art|Etruscan]] [[alabaster]] urn from [[Volterra]], Italy, 2nd century BC]]
Odysseus is represented as one of the most influential Greek champions during the Trojan War in Homer's account. Along with [[Nestor (mythology)|Nestor]] and [[Idomeneus]] he is one of the most trusted counsellors and advisors. He always champions the Achaean cause, especially when others question Agamemnon's command, as in one instance when [[Thersites]] speaks against him. When Agamemnon, to test the morale of the Achaeans, announces his intentions to depart Troy, Odysseus restores order to the Greek camp.<ref>''Iliad'' 2.</ref> Later on, after many of the heroes leave the battlefield due to injuries (including Odysseus and Agamemnon), Odysseus once again persuades Agamemnon not to withdraw. Along with two other envoys, he is chosen in the failed embassy to try to persuade Achilles to return to combat.<ref>''Iliad'' 9.</ref>

[[File:Rhesos MNA Naples.jpg|thumb|left|Odysseus and [[Diomedes]] stealing the horses of Thracian king [[Rhesus of Thrace|Rhesus]] they have just killed. Apulian red-figure situla, from Ruvo]]
When [[Hector]] proposes a single combat duel, Odysseus is one of the [[Danaans]] who reluctantly volunteered to battle him. [[Ajax the Great|Telamonian Ajax]] ("The Greater"), however, is the volunteer who eventually fights Hector.<ref>''Iliad'' 7.</ref> Odysseus aids [[Diomedes]] during the night operations to kill [[Rhesus of Thrace|Rhesus]], because it had been foretold that if his horses drank from the [[Karamenderes River|Scamander River]], Troy could not be taken.<ref>''Iliad'' 10.</ref>

After [[Patroclus]] is slain, it is Odysseus who counsels Achilles to let the [[Achaea (ancient region)|Achaean]] men eat and rest rather than follow his rage-driven desire to go back on the offensive—and kill Trojans—immediately. Eventually (and reluctantly), he consents.<ref>''Iliad'' 19.</ref> During the funeral games for Patroclus, Odysseus becomes involved in a wrestling match with Ajax "The Greater" and foot race with Ajax "The Lesser", son of Oileus and Nestor's son [[Antilochus]]. He draws the wrestling match, and with the help of the goddess [[Athena]], he wins the race.<ref>''Iliad'' 23.</ref>

Odysseus has traditionally been viewed as Achilles's antithesis in the ''Iliad'':<ref>D. Gary Miller (2014 ), ''Ancient Greek Dialects and Early Authors'', De Gruyter {{ISBN|978-1-61451-493-0}}. pp. 120–121</ref> while Achilles's anger is all-consuming and of a self-destructive nature, Odysseus is frequently viewed as a man of the mean, a voice of reason, renowned for his self-restraint and diplomatic skills. He is also in some respects antithetical to Telamonian Ajax (Shakespeare's "beef-witted" Ajax): while the latter has only brawn to recommend him, Odysseus is not only ingenious (as evidenced by his idea for the Trojan Horse), but an eloquent speaker, a skill perhaps best demonstrated in the embassy to Achilles in book 9 of the ''Iliad''. The two are not only foils in the abstract but often opposed in practice since they have many duels and run-ins.

==== Other stories from the Trojan War ====
[[File:05-Mosaico del Oecus. Aquiles en Skyros alta.jpg|thumb|[[Roman mosaic]] depicting Odysseus at Skyros unveiling the disguised [[Achilles]];<ref>[http://www2.uned.es/geo-1-historia-antigua-universal/NOTICIAS/INICIO_NOTICIAS_26-mayo_05.htm Documentation on the "Villa romana de Olmeda"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161204161344/http://www2.uned.es/geo-1-historia-antigua-universal/NOTICIAS/INICIO_NOTICIAS_26-mayo_05.htm |date=4 December 2016 }}, displaying a photograph of the whole mosaic, entitled "Aquiles en el gineceo de Licomedes" (Achilles in [[Lycomedes]]' 'seraglio').</ref> from [[La Olmeda]], [[Pedrosa de la Vega]], Spain, 5th century AD]]

Since a prophecy suggested that the Trojan War would not be won without [[Achilles]], Odysseus and several other [[Achaeans (Homer)|Achaean]] leaders are described in the ''[[Achilleid]]'' as having gone to [[Achilles on Skyros|Skyros]] to find him. Odysseus discovered Achilles by offering gifts, adornments and musical instruments as well as weapons, to the king's daughters, and then having his companions imitate the noises of an enemy's attack on the island (most notably, making a blast of a trumpet heard), which prompted Achilles to reveal himself by picking a weapon to fight back, and together they departed for the Trojan War.<ref>''[[Achilleid]]'', book 1.</ref>

The story of the death of [[Palamedes (mythology)|Palamedes]] has many versions. According to some, Odysseus never forgives Palamedes for unmasking his [[feigned madness]] and plays a part in his downfall. One tradition says Odysseus convinces a Trojan captive to write a letter pretending to be from Palamedes. A sum of gold is mentioned to have been sent as a reward for Palamedes's treachery. Odysseus then kills the prisoner and hides the gold in Palamedes's tent. He ensures that the letter is found and acquired by Agamemnon, and also gives hints directing the Argives to the gold. This is evidence enough for the Greeks, and they have Palamedes stoned to death. Other sources say that Odysseus and Diomedes goad Palamedes into descending a well with the prospect of treasure being at the bottom. When Palamedes reaches the bottom, the two proceed to bury him with stones, killing him.<ref>Apollodorus, ''Epitome'' 3.8; Hyginus 105.</ref>

[[File:Odysseus Ajax Louvre F340.jpg|thumb|left|Oinochoe, ''ca'' 520 BC, Odysseus and [[Ajax the Great|Ajax]] fighting over the armour of Achilles]]

When Achilles is slain in battle by [[Paris (mythology)|Paris]], it is Odysseus and [[Ajax the Great|Ajax]] who  retrieve the fallen warrior's body and armour in the thick of heavy fighting. During the funeral games for Achilles, Odysseus competes once again with Ajax. Thetis says that the arms of Achilles will go to the bravest of the Greeks, but only these two warriors dare lay claim to that title. The two Argives became embroiled in a heavy dispute about one another's merits to receive the reward. The Greeks dither out of fear in deciding a winner, because they did not want to insult one and have him abandon the war effort. [[Nestor (mythology)|Nestor]] suggests that they allow the captive Trojans to decide the winner.<ref>Scholium to ''Odyssey'' 11.547.</ref> The accounts of the ''Odyssey'' disagree, suggesting that the Greeks themselves hold a secret vote.<ref>''Odyssey'' 11.543–47.</ref> In any case, Odysseus is the winner. Enraged and humiliated, Ajax is driven mad by Athena. When he returns to his senses, in shame at how he has slaughtered livestock in his madness, Ajax kills himself by the sword that Hector had given him after their duel.<ref>Sophocles, ''Ajax'' 662, 865.</ref>

Together with Diomedes, Odysseus fetches Achilles's son, [[Neoptolemus|Pyrrhus]], to come to the aid of the Achaeans, because an oracle had stated that Troy could not be taken without him. A great warrior, Pyrrhus is also called Neoptolemus (Greek for "new warrior"). Upon the success of the mission, Odysseus gives Achilles's armour to him.

It is learned that the war can not be won without the poisonous arrows of [[Heracles]], which are owned by the abandoned [[Philoctetes]]. Odysseus and Diomedes (or, according to some accounts, Odysseus and [[Neoptolemus]]) leave to retrieve them. Upon their arrival, Philoctetes (still suffering from the wound) is seen still to be enraged at the [[Danaans]], especially at Odysseus, for abandoning him. Although his first instinct is to shoot Odysseus, his anger is eventually defused by Odysseus's persuasive powers and the influence of the gods. Odysseus returns to the Argive camp with Philoctetes and his arrows.<ref>Apollodorus, ''Epitome'' 5.8.</ref>

Perhaps Odysseus's most famous contribution to the Greek war effort is devising the strategy of the [[Trojan Horse]], which allows the Greek army to sneak into Troy under cover of darkness. It is built by [[Epeius of Phocis|Epeius]] and filled with Greek warriors, led by Odysseus.<ref>See, e.g., ''Odyssey'' 8.493; Apollodorus, ''Epitome'' 5.14–15.</ref> Odysseus and Diomedes steal the [[Palladium (mythology)|Palladium]] that lay within Troy's walls, for the Greeks were told they could not sack the city without it. Some late Roman sources indicate that Odysseus schemed to kill his partner on the way back, but Diomedes thwarts this attempt.

[[File:Wall painting - rape of the palladion - Pompeii (I 2 26) - Napoli MAN 109751 - 02.jpg|thumb|Odysseus ([[Pileus (hat)|pileus hat]]) carrying off the [[palladion]] from [[Troy]], with the help of [[Diomedes]], against the resistance of [[Cassandra]] and other Trojans. Antique fresco from Pompeii.]]

==== "Cruel, deceitful Ulixes" of the Romans ====
Homer's ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'' portray Odysseus as a [[culture hero]], but the Romans, who believed themselves the heirs of Prince [[Aeneas]] of Troy, considered him a villainous falsifier. In [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'', written between 29 and 19 BC, he is constantly referred to as "cruel Odysseus" ([[Latin]] ''dirus Ulixes'') or "deceitful Odysseus" (''pellacis'', ''fandi fictor''). Turnus, in ''Aeneid'', book 9, reproaches the Trojan Ascanius with images of rugged, forthright Latin virtues, declaring (in [[John Dryden]]'s translation), "You shall not find the sons of Atreus here, nor need the frauds of sly Ulysses fear." While the Greeks admired his cunning and deceit, these qualities did not recommend themselves to the Romans, who possessed a rigid sense of honour. In Euripides's tragedy ''[[Iphigenia at Aulis]]'', having convinced Agamemnon to consent to the sacrifice of his daughter, Iphigenia, to appease the goddess [[Artemis]], Odysseus facilitates the immolation by telling Iphigenia's mother, [[Clytemnestra]], that the girl is to be wed to [[Achilles]]. Odysseus's attempts to avoid his sacred oath to defend [[Menelaus]] and [[Helen of Troy|Helen]] offended Roman notions of duty, and the many stratagems and tricks that he employed to get his way offended Roman notions of honour.

=== Journey home to Ithaca ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2023}}
{{further|Homer's Ithaca|Returns from Troy}}
Odysseus is probably best known as the eponymous hero of the ''Odyssey''. This epic describes his travels, which lasted for 10 years, as he tries to return home after the Trojan War and reassert his place as rightful king of Ithaca.

[[File:Arnold Böcklin - Odysseus and Polyphemus.jpg|thumb|left|''Odysseus and Polyphemus'' (1896) by [[Arnold Böcklin]]: Odysseus and his crew escape the Cyclops [[Polyphemus]].]]

Homebound from Troy, after a raid on [[Ismara|Ismarus]] in the land of the [[Cicones]], he and his twelve ships are driven off course by storms. They visit the lethargic [[Lotus-eaters|Lotus-Eaters]] and are captured by the [[Cyclopes|Cyclops]] [[Polyphemus]] while visiting his island. After Polyphemus eats several of his men, he and Odysseus have a discussion and Odysseus tells Polyphemus his name is [[Outis]] ("Nobody"). Odysseus takes a barrel of wine and the Cyclops drinks it, falling asleep. Odysseus and his men take a wooden stake, ignite it with the remaining wine, and blind him. While they escape, Polyphemus cries in pain, and the other Cyclopes ask him what is wrong. Polyphemus cries, "Nobody has blinded me!" and the other Cyclopes think he has gone mad. Odysseus and his crew escape, but Odysseus rashly reveals his real name, and Polyphemus prays to Poseidon, his father, to take revenge. They stay with [[Aeolus (son of Hippotes)|Aeolus]], the master of the winds, who gives Odysseus a leather bag containing all the winds, except the west wind, a gift that should have ensured a safe return home. However, the sailors foolishly open the bag while Odysseus sleeps, thinking that it contains gold. All of the winds fly out, and the resulting storm drives the ships back the way they had come, just as Ithaca comes into sight.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-11 |title=Odysseus {{!}} Myth, Significance, Trojan War, & Odyssey {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Odysseus |access-date=2025-11-04 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

After pleading in vain with Aeolus to help them again, they re-embark and encounter the cannibalistic [[Laestrygonians]]. Odysseus's ship is the only one to escape. He sails on and visits the witch-goddess [[Circe]]. She turns half of his men into swine after feeding them cheese and wine. Hermes warns Odysseus about Circe and gives him a drug called [[moly (herb)|moly]], which resists Circe's magic. Circe, being attracted to Odysseus's resistance, falls in love with him and releases his men. Odysseus and his crew remain with her on the island for one year, while they feast and drink. Finally, Odysseus's men convince him to leave for Ithaca.

Guided by Circe's instructions, Odysseus and his crew cross the ocean and reach a harbor at the western edge of the world, where Odysseus sacrifices to the dead and [[Nekuia|summons the spirit]] of the old prophet [[Tiresias]] for advice. Next Odysseus meets the spirit of his own mother, who had died of grief during his long absence. From her, he learns for the first time news of his own household, threatened by the greed of [[Penelope]]'s [[Suitors of Penelope|suitors]]. Odysseus also talks to his fallen war comrades and the mortal shade of [[Heracles]].

[[File:Mosaïque d'Ulysse et les sirènes.jpg|thumb|left|Odysseus and the [[Siren (mythology)|Sirens]], Ulixes [[mosaic]] at the [[Bardo National Museum (Tunis)|Bardo National Museum]] in [[Tunis]], Tunisia, 2nd century AD]]

Odysseus and his men return to Circe's island, and she advises them on the remaining stages of the journey. They skirt the land of the [[Siren (mythology)|Siren]]s, pass between the six-headed monster [[Scylla]] and the whirlpool [[Charybdis]], where they row directly between the two. However, [[Scylla]] drags the boat towards her by grabbing the oars and eats six men.

They land on the island of [[Thrinacia]]. There, Odysseus's men ignore the warnings of Tiresias and Circe and hunt down the sacred cattle of the sun god [[Helios]]. Helios tells [[Zeus]] what happened and demands Odysseus's men be punished or else he will take the sun and shine it in the Underworld. Zeus fulfills Helios's demands by causing a shipwreck during a thunderstorm in which all but Odysseus drown. He washes ashore on the island of [[Ogygia]], where [[Calypso (mythology)|Calypso]] compels him to remain as her lover for seven years. He finally escapes when [[Hermes]] tells Calypso to release Odysseus.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Blankenborg |first=Ronald |date=2018 |title=Odysseus' return to a real world |url=https://pasithee.library.upatras.gr/electra/article/download/2930/3232 |journal=Radboud University Nijmegen}}</ref>

Odysseus is shipwrecked and befriended by the [[Scheria|Phaeacians]]. After he tells them his story, the Phaeacians, led by King [[Alcinous]], agree to help Odysseus get home. They deliver him at night, while he is fast asleep, to a hidden harbor on Ithaca. He finds his way to the hut of one of his own former slaves, the swineherd [[Eumaeus]], and also meets up with his son [[Telemachus]] returning from Sparta. Athena disguises Odysseus as a wandering beggar to learn how things stand in his household.

[[File:The return of Ulysses.gif|thumb|The return of Ulysses, illustration by E. M. Synge from the 1909 ''Story of the World'' children's book series (book 1: ''On the shores of Great Sea'')]]

When the disguised Odysseus returns after 20 years, he is recognized only by his faithful dog, [[Argos (dog)|Argos]]. Penelope announces in her long interview with the disguised hero that whoever can string Odysseus's rigid bow and shoot an arrow through twelve axe shafts may have her hand. According to [[Bernard Knox]], "For the plot of the ''Odyssey'', of course, her decision is the turning point, the move that makes possible the long-predicted triumph of the returning hero".<ref>[[Bernard Knox]] (1996): Introduction to [[Robert Fagles]]' translation of ''The Odyssey'', p.&nbsp;55.</ref> Odysseus's identity is discovered by the housekeeper, [[Eurycleia]], as she is washing his feet and discovers an old scar Odysseus received during a boar hunt. Odysseus swears her to secrecy, threatening to kill her if she tells anyone.

When the contest of the bow begins, none of the suitors are able to string the bow. After all the suitors have given up, the disguised Odysseus asks to participate. Though the suitors refuse at first, Penelope intervenes and allows the "stranger" (the disguised Odysseus) to participate. Odysseus easily strings his bow and wins the contest. Having done so, he proceeds to slaughter the suitors (beginning with Antinous whom he finds drinking from Odysseus's cup) with help from Telemachus and two of Odysseus's servants, [[Eumaeus]] the swineherd and [[Philoetius]] the cowherd. Odysseus tells the serving women who slept with the suitors to clean up the mess of corpses and then has those women hanged in terror. He tells Telemachus that he will replenish his stocks by raiding nearby islands. Odysseus has now revealed himself in all his glory (with a little makeover by Athena); yet Penelope cannot believe that her husband has really returned—she fears that it is perhaps some god in disguise, as in the story of [[Alcmene]] (mother of Heracles)—and tests him by ordering her servant Euryclea to move the bed in their wedding-chamber. Odysseus protests that this cannot be done since he made the bed himself and knows that one of its legs is a living [[olive tree]]. Penelope finally accepts that he truly is her husband, a moment that highlights their ''homophrosýnē'' ("like-mindedness").

The next day Odysseus and Telemachus visit the country farm of his old father [[Laertes (father of Odysseus)|Laërtes]]. The citizens of Ithaca follow Odysseus on the road, planning to avenge the killing of the Suitors, their sons. The goddess Athena and the god Zeus intervene and persuade both sides to make peace.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Odyssey Summaries |url=https://people.duke.edu/~wj25/UC_Web_Site/epic/odsum.html |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=people.duke.edu}}</ref>

=== Other tales ===
According to some late sources, most of them purely genealogical, Odysseus had many other children besides [[Telemachus]]. Most such genealogies aimed to link Odysseus with the foundation of many [[Italy|Italic]] cities.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bell |first1=Sinclair |last2=Carpino |first2=Alexandra A. |title=A Companion to the Etruscans |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |date=2015-12-10 |isbn=978-1-118-35495-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H91bCwAAQBAJ |access-date=2025-11-17 |page=397 |quote="...[Kallikrates] also gave his children the same names as those close to Odysseus (e.g., Telegonos and Antikleia) so as to suggest the alleged descent of his family from this hero. Foundation legends of western Greek and Italic cities, in which the sons of famous Greek heroes act as founders, are also numerous in Greek and Roman literature."}}</ref> This would seem to contradict ''The Odyssey'', which says that Odysseus's family line can only produce a single child per generation by the order of Zeus, with Telemachus already existing as that sole heir.<ref name="After the Odyssey">{{cite web |url=https://chs.harvard.edu/chapter/4-after-the-odyssey/ |title=Zeus in the ''Odyssey'': After the ''Odyssey'' |publisher=[[Center for Hellenic Studies in Greece, Harvard University]] |date=2008 |access-date=22 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240810093520/https://chs.harvard.edu/chapter/4-after-the-odyssey/ |archive-date=10 August 2024 }}</ref><ref>''The Odyssey'', Book 16.117 - 16.120</ref> However, the ''Odyssey'' also notes the existence of Odysseus's sister, Ctimene.<ref name="Women in Odyssey" />

The most famous of the other children are:

* with [[Penelope]]: [[Poliporthes]] (born after Odysseus's return from Troy)
* with [[Circe]]: [[Telegonus (son of Odysseus)|Telegonus]], [[Ardeas]], [[Latinus]], also [[Auson (king)|Auson]] and [[Cassiphone]].<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades5.html#23| title = Chiliades, 5.23 lines 568–570| access-date = 29 October 2018| archive-date = 30 October 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181030090556/http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades5.html#23| url-status = live}}</ref> [[Xenagoras (historian)|Xenagoras]] writes that Odysseus with Circe had three sons, [[Rhomos|Romos]] ({{langx|grc|Ῥώμος}}), [[Anteias]] ({{langx|grc|Ἀντείας}}) and [[Ardeias]] ({{langx|grc|Ἀρδείας}}), who built three cities and called them after their own names. The city that Romos founded was [[Rome]].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.perseus-grc1:1.72.5| title = Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, 1.72.5| access-date = 20 February 2021| archive-date = 16 June 2022| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220616051817/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.perseus-grc1:1.72.5| url-status = live}}</ref>
* with [[Calypso (mythology)|Calypso]]: [[Nausithous]], [[Nausinous]]
* with [[Callidice of Thesprotia|Callidice]]: [[Polypoetes]]
* with [[Euippe (daughter of Tyrimmas)|Euippe]]: [[Euryalus]]
* with daughter of [[Thoas (king of Aetoila)|Thoas]]: Leontophonus

He figures in the end of the story of King [[Telephus]] of [[Mysia]].

The last poem in the [[Epic Cycle]] is called the ''[[Telegony]]'', and is now lost. According to remaining fragments, it told the story of Odysseus's last voyage to the land of the Thesprotians. There he married the queen [[Callidice of Thesprotia|Callidice]]. Then he led the Thesprotians in a war with their neighbors the Brygoi (Brygi, Brygians) and defeated in battle the neighboring peoples who attacked him. When Callidice died, Odysseus returned home to Ithaca, leaving their son, [[Polypoetes]], to rule Thesprotia.<ref name="CinaethonTelegony">[[Cinaethon of Sparta]], ''[[Telegony]]'' [https://www.gutenberg.org/files/348/348-h/348-h.htm#chap80 summary]</ref> Contradicting the reading of Tiresias's prophecy in ''The Odyssey'' that Odysseus will have a gentle death in old age after making it home,<ref name="After the Odyssey" /><ref>''The Odyssey'', Book 11.135 - 11.136</ref> the ''Telogony'' claims that he met his death at the hands of [[Telegonus (son of Odysseus)|Telegonus]], his son with Circe, after a misunderstanding. Telegonus attacked his father with a poisoned spear, given to him by Circe. Before dying, Odysseus recognized his son. Telegonus then brought back his father's corpse to Aeaea, together with Penelope and Odysseus's son by her, Telemachus. After burying Odysseus, Circe made the other three immortal. Circe married Telemachus, and Telegonus married Penelope<ref name="CinaethonTelegony" /> by the advice of Athena.<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#127 127]</ref>

According to what seems to be later tradition, Odysseus was resurrected by Circe after his death at the hands of Telegonus. Afterward, he married Telemachus to [[Cassiphone]], the daughter he had with Circe.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | encyclopedia = [[Brill's New Pauly]] | publisher = Brill Reference Online | url = https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/cassiphone-e610200 | doi = 10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e610200 | last = Visser | first = Edzard | location = Basle | title = Cassiphone | date = 2006 | editor-first1 = Hubert | editor-last1 = Cancik | editor-first2 = Helmuth | editor-last2 = Schneider | translator = Christine F. Salazar | access-date = May 30, 2024| url-access = subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Salazar |first=Christine |date=2002–2003 |title=Brill's New Pauly Volume 2 |location=The Netherlands |publisher=Brill Leiden Boston |page=1164 |isbn=9004122656 |url=https://archive.org/details/brillsnewpaulyen0002unse }}</ref> Telemachus however killed Circe after a quarrel, causing Cassiphone to kill him in revenge. Odysseus witnessing those unfortunate events died again, of grief this time.<ref>[[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes]] ad Lycophron, [https://archive.org/details/hin-wel-all-00000373-002/page/128/mode/2up?view=theater 808]</ref>

In 5th century BC [[Athens]], tales of the Trojan War were popular subjects for [[tragedies]]. Odysseus figures centrally or indirectly in a number of the extant plays by [[Aeschylus]], [[Sophocles]] (''[[Ajax (Sophocles)|Ajax]]'', ''[[Philoctetes (Sophocles)|Philoctetes]]'') and [[Euripides]] (''[[Hecuba (play)|Hecuba]]'', ''[[Rhesus (play)|Rhesus]]'', ''[[Cyclops (play)|Cyclops]]'') and figured in still more that have not survived. In his ''Ajax'', Sophocles portrays Odysseus as a modern voice of reasoning compared to the title character's rigid antiquity.

[[Plato]] in his dialogue ''[[Hippias Minor]]'' examines a literary question about whom Homer intended to portray as the better man, Achilles or Odysseus.

[[File:Odysseus -01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|Head of Odysseus wearing a [[Pileus (hat)|pileus]] depicted on a 3rd-century BC coin from [[Ithaca (island)|Ithaca]]]]

[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] at the ''[[Description of Greece]]'' writes that at [[Pheneus]] there was a bronze statue of Poseidon, surnamed Hippios ({{langx|grc| Ἵππιος}}), meaning ''of horse'', which according to the legends was dedicated by Odysseus and also a sanctuary of [[Artemis]] which was called Heurippa ({{langx|grc|Εὑρίππα}}), meaning ''horse finder'', and was founded by Odysseus.<ref name="perseus.tufts.edu">{{cite web| url = https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-grc1:8.14.5| title = Pausanias, Description of Greece, 8.14.5| access-date = 20 February 2021| archive-date = 28 April 2022| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220428171102/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-grc1:8.14.5| url-status = live}}</ref> According to the legends Odysseus lost his mares and traversed Greece in search of them. He found them on that site in Pheneus.<ref name="perseus.tufts.edu"/> Pausanias adds that according to the people of Pheneus, when Odysseus found his mares he decided to keep horses in the land of Pheneus, just as he reared his cows. The people of Pheneus also pointed out to him writing, purporting to be instructions of Odysseus to those tending his mares.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-grc1:8.14.6| title = Pausanias, Description of Greece, 8.14.6| access-date = 20 February 2021| archive-date = 28 April 2022| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220428172342/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-grc1:8.14.6| url-status = live}}</ref>

As Ulysses, he is mentioned regularly in [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'' written between 29 and 19 BC, and the poem's hero, [[Aeneas]], rescues one of Ulysses's crew members who was left behind on the island of the Cyclopes. He in turn offers a first-person account of some of the same events Homer relates, in which Ulysses appears directly. Virgil's Ulysses typifies his view of the Greeks: he is cunning but impious, and ultimately malicious and hedonistic.

[[Ovid]] retells parts of Ulysses's journeys, focusing on his romantic involvements with Circe and Calypso, and recasts him as, in [[Harold Bloom]]'s phrase, "one of the great wandering womanizers". Ovid also gives a detailed account of the contest between Ulysses and [[Ajax the Great|Ajax]] for the armour of Achilles.

Greek legend tells of Ulysses as the founder of [[Lisbon]], Portugal, calling it ''Ulisipo'' or ''Ulisseya'', during his twenty-year errand on the Mediterranean and Atlantic seas.{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}} [[Olisipo]] was Lisbon's name in the Roman Empire. This [[folk etymology]] is recounted by [[Strabo]] based on [[Asclepiades of Myrlea]]'s words,{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}} by [[Pomponius Mela]],{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}} by [[Gaius Julius Solinus]] (3rd century AD){{Citation needed|date=August 2025}}, and would later be reiterated by [[Luís de Camões|Camões]] in his epic poem ''[[Os Lusíadas]]'' (first printed in 1572).{{citation needed|date=July 2013}}

In one version of Odysseus's end, he is eventually turned into a horse by Athena.<ref>[[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], ''Commentary on Virgil's Aeneid'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Serv.+A.+2.44&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0053 2.44] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230107130302/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Serv.+A.+2.44&fromdoc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0053 |date=7 January 2023 }}</ref>

== In post-classical tradition ==
Odysseus is one of the most recurrent characters in [[Western culture]].<!--this is cited in much detail below-->

===Middle Ages and Renaissance===
[[Dante Alighieri]], in the [[Canto]] XXVI of the ''[[Inferno (Dante)|Inferno]]'' segment of his ''[[Divine Comedy]]'' (1308–1320), encounters Odysseus ("Ulisse" in Italian) near the very bottom of Hell: with [[Diomedes]], he walks wrapped in flame in the eighth ring (''Counselors of Fraud'') of the [[Malebolge|Eighth Circle]] (''Sins of Malice''), as punishment for his schemes and conspiracies that won the Trojan War. In a famous passage, Dante has Odysseus relate a different version of his voyage and death from the one told by Homer. He tells how he set out with his men from Circe's island for a journey of exploration to sail beyond the [[Pillars of Hercules]] and into the Western sea to find what adventures awaited them. Men, says Ulisse, are not made to live like brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge.<ref>Dante, ''Divine Comedy'', canto 26: "fatti non-foste a viver come bruti / ma per seguir virtute e conoscenza".</ref>

After travelling west and south for five months, they see in the distance a great mountain rising from the sea (this is [[Purgatory]], in Dante's cosmology) before a storm sinks them. Dante did not have access to the original Greek texts of the Homeric epics, so his knowledge of their subject-matter was based only on information from later sources, chiefly [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'' but also [[Ovid]]; hence the discrepancy between Dante and Homer.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Magnaghi-Delfino |first1=Paoloa |last2=Norando |first2=Tullia |date=2015 |title=The Size and Shape of Dante's Mount Purgatory |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281900574 |journal=Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=123–134|doi=10.3724/SP.J.1440-2807.2015.02.02 |hdl=11311/964116 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

He appears in [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Troilus and Cressida]]'' (1602), set during the Trojan War.

=== Modern literature ===

==== Poetry ====

In her poem {{ws|[[s:Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837/Site of the Castle of Ulysses|Site of the Castle of Ulysses]]}} (published in 1836), [[Letitia Elizabeth Landon]] gives her version of ''The Song of the Sirens'' with an explanation of its purpose, structure and meaning. This illustrates a painting by [[Charles Bentley (painter)|Charles Bentley]] engraved by R. Sands, and showing The Black Mountains of [[Cephalonia]] in the background.<ref>{{cite book|last=Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=39BbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA42|section=poetical illustration|pages=18–19|year=1836|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.|access-date=5 December 2022|archive-date=5 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205220157/https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=39BbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA42|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last=Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=39BbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA44section=picture|year=1836|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.|access-date=5 December 2022|archive-date=5 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205220158/https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=39BbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA44section=picture|url-status=live}}</ref> A further poetical illustration, also in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837, is to an engraving of a painting by [[Charles Bentley (painter)|Charles Bentley]], {{ws|[[s:Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837/Town and Harbour of Ithaca|Town and Harbour of Ithaca]]}} and harks back to the island 'where Ulysses was king'.<ref>{{cite book|last=Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=39BbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA160|section=picture|year=1836|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.|access-date=9 December 2022|archive-date=9 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209202628/https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=39BbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA160|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last=Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=39BbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA162|section=poetical illustration|pages=47–48|year=1836|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.|access-date=9 December 2022|archive-date=9 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209202627/https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=39BbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA162|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Alfred, Lord Tennyson]]'s poem "[[Ulysses (poem)|Ulysses]]" (published in 1842) presents an aging king who has seen too much of the world to be happy sitting on a throne idling his days away. Leaving the task of civilizing his people to his son, he gathers together a band of old comrades "to sail beyond the sunset".

[[Nikos Kazantzakis]]'s ''[[The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel]]'' (1938), a 33,333-line epic poem, begins with Odysseus cleansing his body of the blood of [[Penelope]]'s suitors. Odysseus soon leaves Ithaca in search of new adventures. Before his death he abducts Helen, incites revolutions in [[Crete]] and [[Egypt]], communes with God, and meets representatives of such famous historical and literary figures as [[Vladimir Lenin]], [[Alonso Quijano|Don Quixote]] and Jesus.

In 1986, Irish poet [[Eilean Ni Chuilleanain]] published "The Second Voyage", a poem in which she makes use of the story of Odysseus.

==== Novels ====

[[File:Bay of Palaiokastritsa from Bellavista.JPG|thumb|The bay of [[Palaiokastritsa]] in [[Corfu]] as seen from Bella vista of Lakones, considered to be the place where Odysseus disembarked and met [[Nausicaa]] for the first time. The rock in the sea near the horizon at the top centre-left is held by the locals to be the mythical petrified ship of Odysseus.]]

[[Frederick Rolfe]]'s ''The Weird of the Wanderer'' (1912) has the hero Nicholas Crabbe (based on the author) travelling back in time, discovering that he is the reincarnation of Odysseus, marrying Helen, being deified and ending up as one of the three [[Biblical Magi|Magi]].

[[James Joyce]]'s novel ''[[Ulysses (novel)|Ulysses]]'' (first published 1918–1920) uses modern literary devices to narrate a single day in the life of a Dublin businessman named [[Leopold Bloom]]. Bloom's day bears many elaborate parallels to Odysseus's ten years of wandering.

''[[Return to Ithaca (novel)|Return to Ithaca]]'' (1946) by [[Eyvind Johnson]] is a more realistic retelling of the events that adds a deeper psychological study of the characters of Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus. Thematically, it uses Odysseus's backstory and struggle as a metaphor for dealing with the aftermath of war (the novel being written immediately after the end of the Second World War).<ref name="Nordgren 2004">{{cite journal |last1=Nordgren |first1=Elisabeth |title=Sommarklassiker: Med fokus på det närvarande. Eyvind Johnson: Strändernas svall, Bonniers 2004 |journal=Lysmasken |date=14 July 2004 |url=http://www.kiiltomato.net/?rcat=Muu+kirjallisuus&rid=811&lang=swe |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040901194345/http://www.kiiltomato.net/?rcat=Muu+kirjallisuus&rid=811&lang=swe |archive-date=1 September 2004 |language=Swedish}}</ref>

In the eleventh chapter of [[Primo Levi]]'s 1947 memoir ''[[If This Is a Man]]'', "The Canto of Ulysses", the author describes the last voyage of Ulysses as told by [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]] in ''[[Inferno (Dante)|The Inferno]]'' to a fellow-prisoner during forced labour in the Nazi concentration camp [[Auschwitz]].

Odysseus is the hero of ''The Luck of Troy'' (1961) by [[Roger Lancelyn Green]], whose title refers to the theft of the [[Palladium (mythology)|Palladium]].

In [[S. M. Stirling]]'s ''[[Island in the Sea of Time]]'' (1998), first part to his [[Nantucket series]] of [[alternate history]] novels, Odikweos ("Odysseus" in [[Mycenaean Greek]]) is a "historical" figure who is every bit as cunning as his legendary self and is one of the few [[Bronze Age]] inhabitants who discerns the time-travellers' real background. Odikweos first aids William Walker's rise to power in [[Achaea]] and later helps bring Walker down after seeing his homeland turn into a [[police state]].

''[[The Penelopiad]]'' (2005) by [[Margaret Atwood]] retells his story from the point of view of his wife [[Penelope]].

[[Rick Riordan]]'s novel series ''[[Percy Jackson & the Olympians]]'', which centres on the presence of Greek mythology in the 21st century, incorporates several elements from Odysseus's story. The second novel in particular, ''[[The Sea of Monsters]]'' (2006), is a loose adaptation of ''The Odyssey'', with protagonists Percy and Annabeth seeking to save their satyr friend Grover from Polyphemus, and facing many of the same obstacles Odysseus faced over the course of the journey.

[[Volodymyr Yermolenko]], Ukrainian philosopher and essayist, wrote ''Ocean Catcher: The Story of Odysseus'', Stary Lev, 2017, which is loose adaptation of The Odyssey, where after coming back home to Ithaca, where he cannot find either Penelope or [[Telemachus]], he decides to have a reverse trip to Troy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yermolenko |first=Volodymyr |title=Ловець океану : Історія Одіссея |publisher=Lviv: Old Lion Publishing House |year=2017 |isbn=9786176793717 |location=Lviv |publication-date=2017 |pages=216 |language=Ukrainian |trans-title=Ocean Catcher: The Story of Odysseus}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ловець океану Володимир Єрмоленко купити у ВСЛ |url=https://starylev.com.ua/lovec-okeanu |access-date=2024-05-23 |website=Видавництво Старого Лева |language=uk}}</ref>

==== Literary criticism ====

The literary theorist [[Núria Perpinyà]] conceived twenty different interpretations of the ''Odyssey'' in a 2008 study.<ref>Núria Perpinyà (2008): ''The Crypts of Criticism: Twenty Readings of The Odyssey'' (Spanish original: ''Las criptas de la crítica: veinte lecturas de la Odisea'', Madrid, Gredos).</ref>

===Television and film===

The actors who have portrayed Odysseus in feature films include [[Kirk Douglas]] in the Italian ''[[Ulysses (1955 film)|Ulysses]]'' (1955), [[John Drew Barrymore]] in ''[[Guerra di Troia|The Trojan Horse]]'' (1961), [[Piero Lulli]] in ''[[The Fury of Achilles]]'' (1962), [[George Clooney]] in ''[[O Brother, Where Art Thou?]]'' (2000), [[Sean Bean]] in ''[[Troy (film)|Troy]]'' (2004), and [[Ralph Fiennes]] in ''[[The Return (2024 film)|The Return]]'' (2024).<ref>{{Cite web |title=THE RETURN {{!}} Directed by Uberto Pasolini |url=https://bleeckerstreetmedia.com/the-return |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=bleeckerstreetmedia.com |language=en}}</ref> He is set to be played by [[Matt Damon]] in the [[The Odyssey (2026 film)|upcoming 2026 film]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chitwood |first=Adam |date=February 17, 2025 |title=Matt Damon Is Odysseus in First Look at Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' |url=https://www.thewrap.com/matt-damon-odysseus-christopher-nolan-the-odyssey-image/ |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250217162736/https://www.thewrap.com/matt-damon-odysseus-christopher-nolan-the-odyssey-image/ |archive-date=February 17, 2025 |access-date=February 17, 2025 |website=[[TheWrap]]}}</ref>

In TV miniseries he has been played by [[Bekim Fehmiu]] in ''[[The Odyssey (1968 miniseries)|L'Odissea]]'' (1968), [[Armand Assante]] in ''[[The Odyssey (TV miniseries)|The Odyssey]]'' (1997), and by [[Joseph Mawle]] in ''[[Troy: Fall of a City]]'' (2018).

''[[Ulysses 31]]'' is a French-Japanese animated television series (1981) that updates the Greek mythology of Odysseus to the 31st century.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.ulysses-31.com/| title = ''Ulysses 31'' webpage| access-date = 21 June 2016| archive-date = 13 April 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190413011938/https://www.ulysses-31.com/| url-status = live}}</ref>

===Music===
The opera ''Ulysse ou le beau périple'' (1961) by [[Henri Tomasi]].

The British group [[Cream (band)|Cream]] recorded the song "[[Tales of Brave Ulysses]]" in 1967.

[[Suzanne Vega]]'s song "Calypso" from 1987 album ''[[Solitude Standing]]'' shows Odysseus from [[Calypso (mythology)|Calypso]]'s point of view, and tells the tale of him coming to the island and his leaving.

The American progressive metal band [[Symphony X]] released a 24-minute adaptation of the tale on their 2002 album ''[[The Odyssey (album)|The Odyssey]]''.

Odysseus is featured in a verse of the song "Journey of the Magi" on [[Frank Turner]]'s 2009 album ''[[Poetry of the Deed]]''.<ref name="Journey of the Magi">{{cite web |title=Genius Lyrics – Frank Turner, Journey of the Magi |url=https://genius.com/Frank-turner-journey-of-the-magi-lyrics |website=Genius Lyrics |access-date=26 April 2021 |archive-date=26 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426093531/https://genius.com/Frank-turner-journey-of-the-magi-lyrics |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Rolf Riehm]] composed an opera based on the myth, ''[[Sirenen|Sirenen – Bilder des Begehrens und des Vernichtens]]'' (''Sirens – Images of Desire and Destruction'') which premiered at the [[Oper Frankfurt]] in 2014.

Odysseus appears as the main character of ''[[Epic: The Musical]]'', a [[sung-through]] adaptation of ''The Odyssey'' created by musician Jorge Rivera-Herrans. Rivera-Herrans provides the voice of Odysseus.<ref name="Troy Saga">{{Cite web |last=Rabinowitz |first=Chloe |title=EPIC: THE TROY SAGA Passes 3 Million Streams in First Week of Release |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/EPIC-THE-TROY-SAGA-Passes-3-Million-Streams-in-First-Week-of-Release-20230104 |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=[[BroadwayWorld]] |language=en |archive-date=2024-11-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241113012848/https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/EPIC-THE-TROY-SAGA-Passes-3-Million-Streams-in-First-Week-of-Release-20230104 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Music Review">{{Cite web |last=McKinnon |first=Madeline |title=Music Review: "EPIC: The Musical" |url=https://ndsuspectrum.com/music-review-epic-the-musical/ |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=The Spectrum |language=en-US |archive-date=2024-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241109021335/https://ndsuspectrum.com/music-review-epic-the-musical/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Comparative mythology and folkloristics ===

Over time, comparisons between Odysseus and other heroes of different mythologies and religions have been made. A similar story exists in [[Hindu mythology]] with [[Nala]] and [[Damayanti]] where Nala separates from Damayanti and is reunited with her.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Wendy Doniger|title=Splitting the difference: gender and myth in ancient Greece and India|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0-226-15641-5}} pp. 157ff</ref> The story of stringing a bow is similar to the description in the ''[[Ramayana]]'' of [[Rama]] stringing the bow to win [[Sita]]'s hand in marriage.<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Harry Fokkens|title=Bracers or bracelets? About the functionality and meaning of Bell Beaker wrist-guards|journal=Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society|volume=74|year=2008|publisher=University of Leiden|display-authors=etal}} p. 122.</ref>

[[Parallels between Virgil's Aeneid and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey|Virgil's ''Aeneid'' has evident similarities]] to the Odyssey. [[Virgil]] tells the story of [[Aeneas]] and his travels to what would become Rome. On his journey he endures strife comparable to that of Odysseus. However, the motives for both of their journeys differ as Aeneas was driven by this sense of duty granted to him by the gods that he must abide by. He keeps in mind the future of his people, fitting for the future ''Father of Rome''.

In [[folkloristics]], the story of Odysseus's journey back to his native Ithaca and wife Penelope corresponds to the tale type ATU 974, {{ill|"The Homecoming Husband"|de|Heimkehr des Gatten}}, of the international [[Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index]] for folktale classification.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Clark |first=Raymond J. |date=1980 |title=The Returning Husband and the Waiting Wife: Folktale Adaptations in Homer, Tennyson and Pratt |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/1259818 |journal=Folklore |volume=91 |issue=1 |pages=46–62 |doi=10.1080/0015587X.1980.9716155 |jstor=1259818 |issn=0015-587X|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ready |first=Jonathan L. |date=2014 |title=Atu 974 the Homecoming Husband, the Returns of Odysseus, and the End of Odyssey 21 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26314683 |journal=Arethusa |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=265–285 |jstor=26314683 |issn=0004-0975}}</ref><ref>Shaw, John. "Mythological Aspects of the 'Return Song' Theme and their Counterparts  in North-western Europe". In: ''[http://nouvellemythologiecomparee.hautetfort.com/archive/2021/06/29/john-shaw-mythological-aspects-of-the-return-song-theme-and-6324261.html Nouvelle Mythologie Comparée] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208055934/http://nouvellemythologiecomparee.hautetfort.com/archive/2021/06/29/john-shaw-mythological-aspects-of-the-return-song-theme-and-6324261.html |date=8 December 2021 }}'' nº. 6 (2021).</ref><ref>[[William Hansen (classicist)|Hansen, William P.]] ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ezDlXl7gP9oC&pg=PA210 Ariadne's Thread: A Guide to International Tales Found in Classical Literature] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164807/https://books.google.com/books?id=ezDlXl7gP9oC&pg=PA210 |date=26 March 2023 }}''. Cornell University Press, 2002. pp. 202–210. {{ISBN|9780801436703}}.</ref>

== Cult– islands – cities ==

Evidence suggests the existence of a cult dedicated to Odysseus on Ithaca. This evidence includes public games called the Odysseia (τά Ὀδύσσεια) and a designated public gathering place<ref>{{cite book| author= Christopher P. Jones| title = New Heroes in Antiquity: From Achilles to Antinoos| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=onS_moFrpZsC| publisher = [[Harvard University Press]]|date=2010| page = 14| isbn = 978-0674035867}}</ref> or a sanctuary,<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=*)odusseu/s Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, Odusseus]</ref> known as the Odysseion (τό Ὀδύσσειον).
In 2025, researchers identified what is believed to be the sanctuary of Odysseus at the site Agios Athanasios–School of Homer in northern Ithaca (known since the 19th century as the "School of Homer". Two late Hellenistic inscriptions were discovered bearing "ΟΔΥCCEOC" (genitive) and "ΟΔΥCCEI" (dative). These align with a 1930s inscription from the Polis Bay cave reading "ΕΥΧΗΝ ΟΔΥCCΕΙ" ("Thanks Odysseus"). Additional finds, such as a miniature bronze bust of Odysseus, 34 clay votive fragments, loom weights, jewelry, and over 100 coins, highlight the site's religious and social role during the Hellenistic and early Roman periods (3rd century BCE – 2nd century CE). The lower terrace, featuring architectural remains, carved dedication niches, and roof tiles inscribed with references to [[Apollo]] Agyieus and the symbol "ΔΗ" (which may indicate "public"), confirms the site's function in formal religious rituals. This indicates that the sanctuary catered to both local devotees and visiting pilgrims.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://arkeonews.net/archaeologists-unveil-sanctuary-of-odysseus-on-ithaca-a-monumental-discovery-rooted-in-myth-and-history/| title = Archaeologists Unveil Sanctuary of Odysseus on Ithaca: A Monumental Discovery Rooted in Myth and History| access-date = 15 June 2025| archive-date = 15 June 2025| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20250615150441/https://arkeonews.net/archaeologists-unveil-sanctuary-of-odysseus-on-ithaca-a-monumental-discovery-rooted-in-myth-and-history/| url-status = live}}</ref>

[[Strabo]] writes that on Meninx ({{langx|grc|Μῆνιγξ}}) island, modern [[Djerba]] at [[Tunisia]], there was an altar to Odysseus.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-grc1:17.3.17| title = Strabo, Geography, §17.3.17| access-date = 20 February 2021| archive-date = 6 August 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200806010635/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-grc1:17.3.17| url-status = live}}</ref>

[[Pliny the Elder]] writes that in Italy there were some small islands (modern Torricella, Praca, Brace and other rocks)<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137:book=3:chapter=13#note21| title = Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 3.13, note 21| access-date = 13 January 2022| archive-date = 13 January 2022| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220113114421/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137:book=3:chapter=13#note21| url-status = live}}</ref> which were called Ithacesiae because of a watchtower that Odysseus built there.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137:book=3:chapter=13| title = Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 3.13| access-date = 13 January 2022| archive-date = 13 January 2022| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220113114421/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137:book=3:chapter=13| url-status = live}}</ref>

According to ancient Greek tradition, Odysseus founded a city in [[Iberia]] which was called Odysseia (Ὀδύσσεια)<ref name="Strabo, 3.2.13">{{Cite web |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-grc1:3.2.13 |title=Strabo, Geography, 3.2.13 |access-date=12 February 2022 |archive-date=24 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024103849/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-grc1:3.2.13 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Strabo, 3.4.3">{{Cite web |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-grc1:3.4.3 |title=Strabo, Geography, 3.4.3 |access-date=12 February 2022 |archive-date=24 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024092254/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-grc1:3.4.3 |url-status=live }}</ref> or Odysseis (Ὀδυσσεῖς)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://topostext.org/work/241#O484.7 |title=Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica, O484.7 |access-date=12 February 2022 |archive-date=10 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410155716/https://topostext.org/work/241#O484.7 |url-status=live }}</ref> which had a sanctuary of goddess [[Athena]].<ref name="Strabo, 3.2.13"/><ref name="Strabo, 3.4.3"/><ref name="Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography">{{Cite web |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=odysseia-geo |title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), Odysseia |access-date=12 February 2022 |archive-date=12 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212171620/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=odysseia-geo |url-status=live }}</ref> Ancient authors identified it with [[Olisipo]] (modern [[Lisbon]]), but modern researchers believe that even its existence is uncertain.<ref name="Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography"/>

[[Hellanicus of Lesbos]] wrote that [[Rome]] was founded by Aeneas and Odysseus who came together there. Other ancient historians, including [[Damastes of Sigeum]], agreed with him.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dionysius_of_Halicarnassus/1D*.html |title=Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, Book I, 72 |access-date=10 April 2022 |archive-date=24 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210324055826/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dionysius_of_Halicarnassus/1D%2A.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1= Solmsen |first1= Friedrich |date= 1986 |title= Aeneas Founded Rome with Odysseus. |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/311463 |journal= Harvard Studies in Classical Philology |volume= 90 |issue=  |pages= 93–110 |doi= 10.2307/311463 |jstor= 311463 |access-date= 10 April 2022 |archive-date= 10 April 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220410210717/https://www.jstor.org/stable/311463 |url-status= live |url-access= subscription }}</ref>

== Namesakes ==
* [[Odysseus (crater)]]
* [[Prince Odysseas-Kimon of Greece and Denmark]] (born 2004) is the grandson of the deposed Greek king, [[Constantine II of the Hellenes|Constantine II]].
* [[1143 Odysseus]]
* [[5254 Ulysses]]
* [[IM-1]]

== See also ==

* ''[[Odysseus Unbound]]''

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*{{Cite book |last1=Bittlestone |first1=Robert |last2=Diggle |first2=James |last3=Underhill |first3=John |year=2005 |title=Odysseus Unbound: The Search for Homer's Ithaca |url=https://archive.org/details/odysseusunbounds00bitt |url-access=registration |location=Cambridge, UK |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=0-521-85357-5 |access-date=13 February 2021}} ([http://www.odysseus-unbound.org/ Odysseus Unbound Foundation])
*{{cite book |last1=Braccesi |first1=Lorenzo |title=Ulisse: rifrangenze poetiche |language=it |date=2023 |publisher=L'Erma di Bretschneider |location=Rome |isbn=978-88-913-2848-9}}
*{{Cite book |last=Bradford |first=Ernle |author-link=Ernle Bradford |year=1963 |title=Ulysses Found |publisher=[[Hodder & Stoughton]]}}
*Garcin, Milan (2021). ''Ulysse: voyage dans une Méditerranée de légendes'', Paris, [[Réunion des Musées Nationaux]]. Exhibition catalogue ([https://hdevar.fr/fr/d%C3%A9couvrir HDE Var])

==External links==
{{commons}}

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110427084610/http://maderatribune.1871dev.com/news/newsview.asp?c=167178 "Archaeological discovery in Greece may be the tomb of Odysseus" from the ''Madera Tribune'']

{{Characters in the Iliad}}
{{Characters in the Odyssey}}
{{Metamorphoses in Greek mythology}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Aeolides]]
[[Category:Achaean Leaders]]
[[Category:Kings in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Characters in the Odyssey]]
[[Category:Fictional sole survivors]]
[[Category:Greek mythological heroes]]
[[Category:Katabasis in classical mythology]]
[[Category:Mythological Ithacans]]
[[Category:Odysseus| ]]
[[Category:Deeds of Zeus]]
[[Category:Helios in mythology]]
[[Category:Deeds of Hermes]]
[[Category:Mythological rape victims]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses into animals in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Deeds of Athena]]
[[Category:Deeds of Poseidon]]