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{{short description|Epic poem attributed to Homer}}
{{about|Homer's epic poem|other uses|Odyssey (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Homer's Odyssey|''The Simpsons'' episode|Homer's Odyssey (The Simpsons){{!}}Homer's Odyssey (''The Simpsons'')}}
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{{Good article}}
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{{Infobox poem
| name              = ''Odyssey''
| image             = Fragment Odyssee 2245 2.jpg
| image_size        = 
| caption           = Oldest-known manuscript fragment of the ''Odyssey'', produced in [[Ptolemaic Egypt]] during the 3rd century&nbsp;BC and unearthed in Medinet Ghoram
| subtitle          = 
| original_title    = Ὀδύσσεια
| original_title_lang = el
| translator        = See [[Translations of the Odyssey|translations of the ''Odyssey'']] or [[English translations of Homer#Odyssey|English translations]]
| language          = [[Homeric Greek]]
| genre             = [[Epic (genre)|Epic]]
| form              = [[Epic poem]]
| metre             = [[Dactylic hexameter]]
| rhyme             = None
| written           = {{circa|8th century BC}}
| written_label     = Composed
| by_label          = Attributed to
| author            = [[Homer]]
| lines             = 12,109
| preceded_by       = [[Iliad|The ''Iliad'']]
| wikisource        = The Odyssey
| orig_lang_code    = el
| native_wikisource = Οδύσσεια
}}
{{Trojan War}}

The '''''Odyssey''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɒ|d|ɪ|s|i}};{{Sfn|Cambridge Dictionary|2025}} {{langx|grc|Ὀδύσσεια|Odýsseia}})<ref>{{LSJ|*)odu/sseia|Ὀδύσσεια|ref}}.{{OEtymD|odyssey}}</ref> is one of two major [[Epic poetry|epics]] of [[ancient Greek literature]] attributed to [[Homer]]. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''[[Iliad]]'', the ''Odyssey'' is divided into 24 [[Chapter (books)#Book-like|books]]. It follows the [[Greek hero cult|heroic]] king of [[Homer's Ithaca|Ithaca]], [[Odysseus]], also known by the Latin variant Ulysses, and his homecoming journey after the ten-year long [[Trojan War]]. His journey from [[Troy]] to Ithaca lasts an additional ten years, during which time he encounters many perils and all of his crewmates are killed. In Odysseus's long absence, he is presumed dead, leaving his wife [[Penelope]] and son [[Telemachus]] to contend with a [[Suitors of Penelope|group of unruly suitors]] competing for Penelope's hand in marriage.

The ''Odyssey'' was first composed in [[Homeric Greek]] around the 8th or 7th century&nbsp;BC; by the mid-6th century&nbsp;BC, it had become part of the Greek literary canon. In [[Classical antiquity|antiquity]], Homer's authorship was taken as true, but contemporary scholarship [[Homeric Question|predominantly assumes]] that the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'' were composed independently, as part of long [[oral tradition]]s. Given widespread illiteracy, the poem was performed for an audience by an {{translit|grc|[[aoidos]]}} or [[rhapsode]].

Key themes in the epic include the ideas of {{translit|grc|[[nostos]]}} ({{lang|grc|νόστος}}; 'return', homecoming), wandering, {{translit|grc|[[xenia (Greek)|xenia]]}} ({{lang|grc|ξενία}}; 'guest-friendship'), testing, and omens. Scholars discuss the narrative prominence of certain groups within the poem, such as women and slaves, who have larger roles than in other works of ancient literature. This focus is especially remarkable when contrasted with the ''Iliad'', which centres the exploits of soldiers and kings during the Trojan War.

The ''Odyssey'' is regarded as one of the most significant works of the [[Western canon]]. The first [[Translation|English translation]] of the ''Odyssey'' was in the 16th century. Adaptations and re-imaginings continue to be produced across [[#Legacy|a wide variety of media]]. In 2018, when ''[[BBC Culture]]'' polled experts around the world to find literature's most enduring narrative, the ''Odyssey'' topped the list.

==Background==

=== Dating ===
Many suggestions have been made for dating composition of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', but there is no consensus.{{Sfn|Wilson|2018|p=21}} [[Robert D. Lamberton|Robert Lamberton]] says that the epics "[straddled] the beginnings of widespread literacy" from the middle of the 5th-century BC,{{Sfn|Lamberton|2020|p=411}} but the poems' language can be dated to long before this period.{{Sfn|Wilson|2020|p=xiii}} The Greeks began adopting a modified version of the [[Phoenician alphabet]] to create their own writing system during the eighth century BC;{{Sfn|Wilson|2018|p=21}} if the Homeric poems were among the earliest products of that literacy, they would have been composed towards the late period of that century.{{Sfn|Wilson|2018|p=23}}{{Efn|Inscribed on a [[Nestor's Cup (Pithekoussai)|clay cup]] found in [[Ischia]], Italy, are the words "Nestor's cup, good to drink from".{{Sfn|Higgins|2019}}. Some scholars, such as [[Calvert Watkins]], have tied this cup to a description of King [[Nestor's Cup (mythology)|Nestor's golden cup]] in the ''Iliad''.{{Sfn|Watkins|1976|p=28}} If the cup is an allusion to the ''Iliad'', that poem's composition can be dated to at least 700–750 BC.{{Sfn|Wilson|2018|p=21}}}}

According to [[Rudolf Pfeiffer]], they were probably written down, but there is no evidence for their publishing or physical dissemination for consumption by a literate audience.{{Sfn|Pfeiffer|1968|p=25}}{{Efn|Papyri containing fragments of the Odyssey have been discovered in Egypt, preserved by the dry climate; these date to the 3rd century BC and differ from medieval versions.{{Sfn|Daley|2018}}}} Dating is further complicated by the fact that the Homeric poems, or sections of them, were performed by [[Rhapsode|rhapsodes]] for hundreds of years.{{sfn|Wilson|2018|p=21}}

=== Composition and authorship ===
{{Further|Homeric Question}}
Scholars agree that the Homeric epics developed as part of an [[oral tradition]] over hundreds of years.{{Sfn|Pache|2020|p=xxvii}} In the early twentieth century, [[Milman Parry]] and [[Albert Lord]] demonstrated that they prominently contained the characteristics of [[oral poetry]],{{Sfn|Wilson|2020|p=xiv–xv}}{{Efn|These include the pairing of [[nouns]] with adjectival [[epithets]]; [[type scene]]s, and [[chiastic structure]].{{Sfn|Dué|Marks|2020|p=588}}}} which would allow even an illiterate poet to improvise large poems,{{Sfn|Hall|2008|pp=20–21}} composing them through speech.{{Sfn|Wilson|2020|p=xiv–xv}} Scholars do not agree on how the poems emerged from this tradition,{{Sfn|Wilson|2020|p=xiii}} and it is not clear whether oral tradition can claim full credit for their composition.{{Sfn|Finkelberg|2003|p=68}} In the nineteenth century, a series of related questions about the epics' authorship became known as the [[Homeric Question]].{{Sfn|Dué|Marks|2020|p=585}} Sources from antiquity created mythic narratives to explain Homer.{{Sfn|Nagy|2020|p=82}} Debate still persists today over many of the Homeric questions;{{Sfn|Wilson|2020|p=xiii}} for example, concerning the compositional relationship between the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'', and the largely lost poems of the [[Epic Cycle]]; about whether Homer lived and, if he did, when;{{Sfn|Dué|Marks|2020|p=585}} and whether the poems reflect any geographical, historical or cultural reality.{{Sfn|Wilson|2020|p=xiii}} While Homer is today attributed as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', other texts have historically been attributed to him—for example, the ''[[Homeric Hymns]]''.{{Sfn|Nagy|2020|p=81}} 

Textual reconstructions indicates the poems have taken many forms.{{Sfn|Nagy|2020|p=92}} As live performance involves feedback, the content of the poem may even have varied from telling to telling.{{Sfn|Nagy|2020|p=81}} This context is important for understanding and interpreting the epics,{{Sfn|Myrsiades|Pinsker|1976|p=237}} and [[John Miles Foley]] said that performance is crucial part of their meaning.{{Sfn|Foley|2002|p=82}} Performance of epic poetry is a subject of both poems, with the ''Odyssey'' actually depicting professional singers like [[Phemius]] and [[Demodocus (Odyssey character)|Demodocus]].{{Sfn|Ebbott|2020|pp=9–10}} Applying these in-narrative performances to our understanding of the epics' performance might indicate that they were performed at the houses of distinguished families as part of banquets or dinners in the 2nd and early 1st millennia BC,{{Sfn|Ebbott|2020|pp=10–11}}{{Sfn|Ebbott|2020|p=12}} and that observers may have directed or participated in them.{{Sfn|Ebbott|2020|pp=10–11}} They were probably [[Recitation|recited]]—as in, not performed with music.{{Sfn|Martin|2020|p=38}}

Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divided into twenty-four parts.{{Efn|Calling these parts 'books' is [[Anachronism|anachronistic]].{{Sfn|Muellner|2020|p=24}}}} Early scholars suggested these correspond to the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet, but this is widely considered ahistorical.{{Sfn|González|2020|p=140}}{{Efn|The [[Ionic alphabet]] ranged from 20 to 26 letters during the Homeric period.{{Sfn|Taplin|1995|p=285}}}} The division was probably made long after the poem's composition but is generally accepted as part of the poem's modern structure.{{sfn|Lattimore|1951|p=14}} There are many theories as to how they arose. Some suggest they were an authentic part of the oral tradition or invented by [[Alexandria|Alexandrian]] scholars.{{Sfn|Frame|2009|p=561}} [[Pseudo-Plutarch]] attributed the divisions to [[Aristarchus of Samothrace]], but there is some evidence against this.{{Sfn|Jensen|1999|p=5–90}}{{Sfn|Jankos|2000}} Some scholars connect the epics' segmentation to the tradition of performance, for example as a creation of rhapsodes.{{Sfn|Jensen|1999|p=5–34}}{{Sfn|Frame|2009|pp=561–562}} 

Both epics assume some knowledge of their audiences—for example, concerning the [[Trojan War]]. This strongly indicates that the epics were engaging with a pre-existing mythological tradition.{{Sfn|Marks|2020|pp=49–50}} Arguments exist for either epic having been composed first; it is not clear.{{Sfn|Marks|2020|p=51}} While the Trojan War is an important element for both, the ''Odyssey'' does not directly reference any events from the ''Iliad''{{'s}} depiction of the war,{{Sfn|Monro|1901|p=325}}{{Efn|This observation is known as "Monro's law" after [[David Monro (scholar)|David Monro]].{{Sfn|Marks|2020|p=50}}}} and they are generally considered to have formed independently from one another.{{Sfn|Marks|2020|p=51}}

=== Influences ===
[[File:Humbaba_deamon-AO_9034-IMG_0655-black (cropped).jpg|upright|thumb|Terracotta plaque of the Mesopotamian ogre [[Humbaba]], believed to be a possible inspiration for the figure of Polyphemus]]
Scholars note strong influences from Near Eastern mythology and literature in the ''Odyssey''.{{sfn|West|1997|p=403}} [[Martin Litchfield West|Martin West]] notes substantial parallels between the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'' and the ''Odyssey''.{{sfn|West|1997|pp=402–417}} 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.{{sfn|West|1997|p=405}} On his voyage to the underworld, Odysseus follows instructions given to him by [[Circe]], who is located at the edges of the world and associated with solar imagery.{{sfn|West|1997|p=406}} Like Odysseus, Gilgamesh gets directions on reaching the land of the dead from a divine helper: the goddess [[Siduri]], who, like Circe, dwells by the sea at the ends of the earth, whose home is also associated with the sun. Gilgamesh reaches Siduri's house by passing through a tunnel underneath Mount [[Mashu]], the high mountain from which the sun comes into the sky.{{sfn|West|1997|p=410}} West argues that the similarity of Odysseus's and Gilgamesh's journeys to the edges of the earth are the result of the influence of the Gilgamesh epic upon the ''Odyssey''.{{sfn|West|1997|p=417}} Classical folklorist Graham Anderson notes other patterns—the heroes of ''Odyssey'' and ''Gilgamesh'' meet women who can transform people into animals; are involved in the death of divine cattle; unhappily enjoy the presence of a "voluptuous lady in an other-worldly paradise" following a voyage through the underworld.{{Sfn|Anderson|2000|p=127}}

Scholars have explored whether figures originate within the poem or belong to a tradition outside of it. [[Adrienne Mayor]] says that the Austrian paleontologist [[Othenio Abel]] made unfounded claims about [[Athens in the 5th century BC|the fifth-century BC]] philosopher [[Empedocles]] connecting the cyclops to prehistoric elephant skulls.{{Sfn|Mayor|2000|pp=6–7}} Whether the epic poem created, popularised, or simply retold the tale of Polyphemus is a long-standing dispute,{{Sfn|Anderson|2000|p=123}} but Anderson says there is some amount of scholarly consensus that the story existed separately from the epic.{{Sfn|Anderson|2000|p=127}} [[William Bedell Stanford]] notes there are some indications that Odysseus existed independently of Homer, although it is inconclusive.{{Sfn|Stanford|1968|p=8}}

=== Geography ===
{{Main|Homer's Ithaca|Geography of the Odyssey}}

Scholars are divided on whether any of the places visited by Odysseus are real.{{sfn|Fox|2008}} The events in the main sequence of the ''Odyssey'' (excluding Odysseus's [[Story within a story|embedded narrative]] of his wanderings) have been said to take place across the [[Peloponnese]] and the [[Ionian Islands]].<ref name="auto">[[Strabo]], ''[[Geographica]]'', 1.2.15, cited in {{harvnb|Finley|1976|p=33}}</ref> Many have attempted to map Odysseus's journey, but largely agree that the landscapes—especially those described in books 9 to 11—include too many mythical elements to be truly mappable.{{Sfn|Zazzera|2019}} For instance, there are challenges ascertaining whether Odysseus's homeland of Ithaca is the same island that is now called {{Langx|grc|Ithakē|label=none|italic=yes}} (modern Greek: {{Langx|grc|Ιθάκη|label=none}});<ref name="auto" /> the same is true of the route described by Odysseus to the Phaeacians and their island of [[Scheria]].{{sfn|Fox|2008}} British classicist [[Peter Jones (classicist)|Peter Jones]] writes that the poem was likely updated many times by oral story-tellers across several centuries before it was written down, making it "virtually impossible" to say "in what sense [the poem] reflects a historical society or accurate geographical knowledge".{{Sfn|Jones|1996|p=xi}} Modern scholars tend to explore Odysseus's journey metaphorically rather than literally.{{Sfn|Pache|Dué|Lupack|Lamberton|2020|pp=275}}

== Synopsis ==

[[File:Villa Romana de La Olmeda Mosaicos romanos 001 Ulises.jpg|thumb|A [[mosaic]] depicting [[Odysseus]], from the villa of [[La Olmeda]], [[Pedrosa de la Vega]], Spain, late 4th–5th centuries AD]]

Ten years after the [[Achaeans (Homer)|Achaean]] Greeks won the [[Trojan War]], Odysseus, king of [[Homer's Ithaca|Ithaca]], has yet to return home from Troy. In his absence, [[Suitors of Penelope|108 boorish suitors]] court his wife [[Penelope]]. Penelope tells them she will remarry when she is done weaving a shawl; however, she secretly unweaves it every night.

The goddess [[Athena]], disguised first as [[Mentes (King of the Taphians)|Mentes]] then as [[Mentor (Odyssey)|Mentor]], tells Odysseus's son [[Telemachus]] to seek news of his father. The two leave Ithaca and visit [[Nestor (mythology)|Nestor]], who tells them that [[Agamemnon]], the commander of the Greek army at Troy, was murdered soon after the war. Telemachus travels to [[Sparta]] to meet Agamemnon's brother [[Menelaus]], who in turn describes his encounter with the shape-shifting god [[Proteus]]. Menelaus says he learned from Proteus that Odysseus is alive, but held captive by the nymph [[Calypso (mythology)|Calypso]].

Athena petitions [[Zeus]] to rescue Odysseus, and Zeus sends [[Hermes]] to negotiate his release. As Odysseus leaves Calypso's island, [[Poseidon]] destroys his raft with a storm. The sea nymph [[Ino (Greek mythology)|Ino]] protects Odysseus as he swims to [[Scheria|Scherie]], home of the Phaeacians, and Athena leads the Phaeacian princess [[Nausicaa|Nausicaä]] to recover him. In the court of Nausicaä's parents [[Arete (mythology)|Arete]] and [[Alcinous]], Odysseus excels at athletic games and is overcome with emotion when the bard [[Demodocus (Odyssey character)|Demodocus]] sings about the Trojan War. Odysseus reveals his identity and recounts his adventures following the war.

On leaving Troy, Odysseus's men unsuccessfully raided the [[Cicones]]. Afterward, on an island of [[lotus-eaters]], they found intoxicating fruit which made them forget about reaching home. On another island, they were captured by the cyclops [[Polyphemus]]. Odysseus, deceptively calling himself "Nobody", escaped by intoxicating the cyclops and blinding him. However, he boastfully revealed his true identity while escaping, and Polyphemus asked his father Poseidon to take revenge.

Odysseus's crew nearly arrived in Ithaca, but were blown off course after opening a bag of winds they received from [[Aeolus (Odyssey)|Aeolus]]. Afterwards, all but one of their ships were destroyed by giant cannibals called [[Laestrygonians]]. On the island of [[Aeaea]], the goddess [[Circe]] turned Odysseus's men into pigs. Hermes helped Odysseus resist Circe's magic using the herb [[Moly (herb)|moly]], and Odysseus forced her to restore the crew's human forms. Odysseus and Circe then became lovers for a year until he left to continue home. Next, Odysseus traveled to the edge of [[Oceanus#Geography|Oceanus]], where the living can speak with the dead. The spirit of the prophet [[Tiresias]] told Odysseus he would successfully return home, but must eventually undertake another journey. Odysseus also met the spirits of his mother [[Anticlea|Anticleia]] and former comrades Agamemnon and [[Achilles]].

[[File:Odysseus_Sirens_BM_E440_n2.jpg|right|thumb|Odysseus and the Sirens, eponymous vase of the [[Siren Painter]], {{Circa|480–470 BC}} ([[British Museum]])]]

Odysseus's crew then sailed past the [[Siren (mythology)|Sirens]], whose enticing song lured sailors to their deaths. His crewmen plugged their ears with beeswax to avoid hearing them, while Odysseus tied himself to the ship's mast. Next, they navigated the narrow passage between the whirlpool [[Charybdis]] and the multi-headed monster [[Scylla]]. Finally, on the island of Thrinacia, Odysseus's men killed and ate sacred [[cattle]] belonging to the sun god [[Helios]]. Helios asked Zeus to punish them, which he did by destroying their last ship. Odysseus, the sole survivor, washed ashore on the island [[Ogygia]]. There he met Calypso, who took him captive as her lover until Hermes eventually intervened.

After hearing Odysseus's story, the Phaeacians take him to Ithaca, where Athena disguises him as an elderly beggar. Without knowing his identity, the swineherd [[Eumaeus]] offers him lodging and food. Telemachus returns home from Sparta, evading an ambush from the suitors. Odysseus reveals himself to his son and the two return home, where Odysseus's elderly dog [[Argos (dog)|Argos]], long neglected, recognizes him through his disguise; the old dog had been faithfully awaiting his master and upon finally seeing his return, dies peacefully. The suitors mock and mistreat Odysseus in his own home. He and Telemachus hide the suitors' weapons in preparation for violent revenge. Odysseus also reencounters Penelope and her servant [[Eurycleia of Ithaca|Eurycleia]], who recognizes him from a scar on his leg.

Penelope announces she is ready to remarry, and that she will choose whoever wins an [[archery]] contest with Odysseus's bow. After each suitor fails to even string the bow, Odysseus successfully strings it and fires an arrow through a series of axe heads. Having won the contest, he kills the suitors; Telemachus also hangs a group of slaves who had sex with them. Odysseus reveals his identity to Penelope, who tests him by asking to move their bed. He correctly states that the bed, which he carved from the trunk of an olive tree, is immovable, and the two lovingly reunite.

The next day, after Odysseus reveals himself to his father [[Laertes (father of Odysseus)|Laertes]], the families of the murdered suitors gather to get revenge. Athena intervenes and prevents further bloodshed.

==Style==

=== Structure ===
[[File:Odyssey-crop.jpg|thumb|15th-century manuscript of Book I written by scribe [[John Rhosos]] ([[British Museum]])]]The narrative opens ''[[in medias res]]''; the preceding events are described through [[Flashback (narrative)|flashbacks]] and storytelling.{{sfn|Foley|2007|p=19}}

In [[Classical Greece]], some books or sections were provided with their own titles. Books 1 to 4, which focus on the perspective of Telemachus, are called the ''[[Telemachy]]''.{{sfn|Willcock|2007|p=32}} Books 9 to 12, wherein Odysseus provides an account of his adventures, are called the ''Apologos'' or ''Apologoi''.{{Sfn|Pache|Dué|Lupack|Lamberton|2020|pp=275}}{{Sfn|Most|1989|pp=15–16}} Book 22 was known as ''Mnesterophonia'' ({{Langx|grc|Mnesteres|italic=yes|label=none|lit=suitors}} + {{Langx|grc|{{wikt-lang|en|φόνος|phónos}}|italic=yes|label=none|lit=slaughter}}).{{sfn|Cairns|2014|p=231}} Book 22 is generally said to conclude the Greek [[Epic Cycle]], but fragments remain of a lost sequel known as the ''[[Telegony]]''.{{sfn|Carne-Ross|1998|p=lxi}}

Debate exists over what constitutes the "original" ''Odyssey''. Some scholars regard the ''Telemachy'' as a later additional while others note that later parts do not make sense without those books.{{Sfn|Jones|1996|p=48}} Likewise, the poem's ending has been the subject of debate since antiquity—[[Aristarchus of Samothrace]] and [[Aristophanes of Byzantium]] regarded the epic's real ending as lines 293–295 of book 23. Similar debates over the poem's ending occur today.{{Sfn|Wilson|2020|p=lv}} 

=== Narrative and language ===
The epic has 12,109 lines composed in [[dactylic hexameter]], sometimes called Homeric hexameter—a metre with six [[Metrical foot|metrical feet]].{{sfn|Myrsiades|2019|p=3}}{{sfn|Haslam|1976|p=203}} The form of hexameter is [[Catalexis|catelectic]], meaning that it lacks an expected syllable in the last foot. Each line has between twelve to seventeen syllable and generally forms a grammatically complete [[Sentence (linguistics)|sentence]].{{Sfn|Muellner|2020|p=24}} The poems may have inherited some stylistic traditions but invented others.{{Sfn|Bremer|de Jong|Kalff|1987|p=vii}} 

The narrative is primarily related through speech—that is, characters talking to themselves or to somebody else.{{Sfn|Beck|2020|p=203}} Consequently, they frequently serve as narrators alongside the Homeric narrator, and their speech is the primary method of [[Characterization|characterisation]].{{Sfn|de Jong|2001|p=viii}}

The language is simple, direct, and fast-paced.{{Sfn|Clarke|1967|p=102}} It is also literary in style—the vocabulary was likely never the [[vernacular]] of any Greek population.{{Sfn|Wilson|2020|p=ix}} An important characteristic of the language is the [[Homeric simile]]. These are comparative metaphors that can be long{{Efn|During the [[Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns]], the Moderns found long Homeric similes so displeasing that they named them ''comparisons à longue queuë'' ("long-tailed similes").{{Sfn|Clarke|1981|p=126}}}} or short,{{Sfn|Karanika|2020|p=201}} typically deriving from the natural world or everyday life. [[Irene de Jong]] describes them as "omnitemporal"—they may use the simple [[present tense]], or the epic tense (blending past and present), or they may present a timeless truth ([[Gnomic Aorist|gnomic aorist]]).{{Sfn|de Jong|2001|p=xviii}} Their functions vary; examples include characterisation and the reinforcement of theme.{{Sfn|de Jong|2001|p=49}} Traditionally, the Homeric simile was regarded as a predecessor of European literary similes. This has been contested—for example by [[Oliver Taplin]].{{Sfn|Hardwick|2025|pp=41–42}} Modern scholars generally agree that the Homeric similes formed as part of the epics' oral tradition, but earlier writers sometimes said they were added by one or more later poets.{{Sfn|Karanika|2020|p=202}}

An important element of Homeric texts is [[Epithets in Homer|their use of epithets]]—in English, these are often translated as compound adjectives like ''much-nourished'' or ''much-nourishing''.{{Sfn|Clarke|1967|p=103}} 

== Themes and patterns ==

=== Homecoming ===
[[File:Homerus - Odissea, 1794 - 3939651 F.jpg|thumb|upright|1794 student edition of the ''Odyssey'' including the ''[[Batrachomyomachia]]'']]

Homecoming (Ancient Greek: ''νόστος, nostos'') is a central theme of the ''Odyssey''.{{sfn|Bonifazi|2009|pp=481, 492}} The Greek word ''[[nostos]]'' signifies both a homecoming voyage by sea and narratives involving the homecoming.{{Sfn|Hall|2008|p=163}}{{sfn|Bonifazi|2009|p=481}} Classicist [[Agathe Thornton]] notes that ''nostos''  to the victorious [[Achaeans (Homer)|Achaeans]] following the fall of [[Troy]], but the narrator focuses on Odysseus and provides other Achaeans' homecomings as part of his narrative.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=1–2}} 

Following [[Agamemnon]]'s homecoming, his wife Clytemnestra and her lover, [[Aegisthus]], kill Agamemnon. Agamemnon's son, [[Orestes]] kills Aegisthus for vengeance, paralleling the death of the suitors with the death of Aegisthus; Athena and Nestor famously use Orestes as an example for Telemachus, motivating him to action.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=1–15}} During Odysseus's trip to the underworld, Agamemnon tells him about Clytemnestra's betrayal. After reaching Ithaca, Athena transforms Odysseus into a beggar so he can test the loyalty of his wife Penelope.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=3–4}} 

Agamemnon eventually praises Penelope for not killing Odysseus, and her faithfulness ensures Odysseus both fame and a successful homecoming compared to the other Achaeans. Agamemnon's failed homecoming caused his death; [[Achilles]] achieved fame but died and was denied homecoming.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=7–9}}

=== Wandering ===

Before Odysseus's arrival in Ithaca, only two of his adventures are described by the narrator. The rest of Odysseus's adventures are recounted by Odysseus himself. The two scenes described by the narrator are Odysseus on Calypso's island and Odysseus's encounter with the Phaeacians. These scenes are told by the poet to represent an important transition in Odysseus's journey: being concealed to returning home.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=16–37}}

Calypso's name comes from the Greek word {{Langx|grc|kalúptō|italic=yes|label=none}} ({{Langx|grc|{{wikt-lang|en|καλύπτω}}|label=none}}), meaning 'to cover' or 'conceal', which is apt, as this is exactly what she does with Odysseus.{{cn|date=July 2025}} Calypso keeps Odysseus concealed from the world and unable to return home. After leaving Calypso's island, the poet describes Odysseus's encounters with the Phaeacians—those who "convoy without hurt to all men"{{sfn|Lattimore|1975|loc=8.566}}—which represents his transition from not returning home to returning home.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=16–37}}

Also, during Odysseus's journey, he encounters many 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.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=16–37}} These beings that are close to the gods include the Phaeacians who lived near the Cyclopes,{{sfn|Lattimore|1975|loc=6.4–5}} whose king, Alcinous, is the great-grandson of the king of the giants, [[Giants (Greek mythology)|Eurymedon]], and the grandson of Poseidon.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=16–37}} Some of the other characters that Odysseus encounters are the cyclops [[Polyphemus]], the son of Poseidon; Circe, a sorceress who turns men into animals; and the [[Human cannibalism|cannibalistic]] giants, the Laestrygonians.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=16–37}}

=== Guest-friendship ===
[[File:3115 - Athens - Stoà of Attalus - Allegory of the Odyssey - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 9 2009.jpg|thumb|upright|Statue representing the ''Odyssey'', Museum of the [[Ancient Agora of Athens]].]]

Throughout the course of the epic, Odysseus encounters several examples of {{translit|grc|[[xenia (Greek)|xenia]]}} ('guest-friendship'), which provide models of how hosts should and should not act.{{sfn|Reece|1993|p={{page needed|date=July 2022}}}}{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=38–46}} The Phaeacians demonstrate exemplary guest-friendship by feeding Odysseus, giving him a place to sleep, and granting him many gifts and a safe voyage home, which are all things a good host should do. Polyphemus demonstrates poor guest-friendship. His only "gift" to Odysseus is that he will eat him last.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=38–46}} Calypso also exemplifies poor guest-friendship because she does not allow Odysseus to leave her island.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=38–46}} 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.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=38–46}} 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.{{Sfn|Lattimore|1975|loc=17.415–444}}

According to J. B. Hainsworth, guest-friendship follows a very specific pattern:{{sfn|Hainsworth|1972|pp=320–321}}

# The arrival and the reception of the guest.
# Bathing or providing fresh clothes to the guest.
# Providing food and drink to the guest.
# Questions may be asked of the guest and entertainment should be provided by the host.
# The guest should be given a place to sleep, and both the guest and host retire for the night.
# The guest and host exchange gifts, the guest is granted a safe journey home, and the guest 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.{{sfn|Reece|1993|p={{page needed|date=July 2022}}}}{{sfn|Edwards|1992|pp=284–330}}

=== Testing ===
[[File:Odysseus und Penelope (Tischbein).jpg|thumb|Penelope questions Odysseus to prove his identity, 1802 painting by [[Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein]]]]

Another theme throughout the ''Odyssey'' is testing.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=47–51}} This occurs in two distinct ways. Odysseus tests the loyalty of others and others test Odysseus's identity. An example of Odysseus testing the loyalties of others is when he returns home.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=47–51}} 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's identity to see if he really is who he says he is.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=47–51}} For instance, Penelope tests Odysseus's 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.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=47–51}}

Testing also has a very specific [[type scene]] that accompanies it. Throughout the epic, the testing of others follows a typical pattern. This pattern is:{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=47–51}}{{sfn|Edwards|1992|pp=284–330}}

# Odysseus is hesitant to question the loyalties of others.
# Odysseus tests the loyalties of others by questioning them.
# The characters reply to Odysseus's questions.
# Odysseus proceeds to reveal his identity.
# The characters test Odysseus's identity.
# There is a rise of emotions associated with Odysseus's recognition, usually lament or joy.
# Finally, the reconciled characters work together.

=== Omens ===
[[File:Odysseus and Euryclea by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein.jpg|thumb|upright|''Odysseus and Eurycleia'' by [[Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein]]]]

Omens occur frequently throughout the ''Odyssey''. Within the epic poem, they frequently involve birds.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=52–57}} According to Thornton, most crucial is who receives each omen and in what way it manifests. For instance, bird omens are shown to Telemachus, Penelope, Odysseus, and the suitors.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=52–57}} Telemachus and Penelope receive their omens as well in the form of words, sneezes, and dreams.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=52–57}} However, Odysseus is the only character who receives thunder or lightning as an omen.{{sfn|Lattimore|1975|loc=20.103–104}}{{sfn|Lattimore|1975|loc=21.414}} She highlights this as crucial because lightning, as a symbol of Zeus, represents the kingship of Odysseus.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=52–57}} Odysseus is associated with Zeus throughout both the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey.''{{sfn|Kundmueller|2013|p=7}}

Omens are another example of a type scene in the ''Odyssey.'' Two important parts of an omen type scene are the ''recognition'' of the omen, followed by its ''interpretation''.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=52–57}} In the ''Odyssey'', all of the bird omens—with the exception of the first—show large birds attacking smaller birds.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=52–57}}{{sfn|Edwards|1992|pp=284–330}} Accompanying each omen is a wish which can be either explicitly stated or only implied.{{sfn|Thornton|1970|pp=52–57}} For example, Telemachus wishes for vengeance{{Sfn|Lattimore|1975|loc=2.143–145}} and for Odysseus to be home,{{Sfn|Lattimore|1975|loc=15.155–159}} Penelope wishes for Odysseus's return,{{Sfn|Lattimore|1975|loc=19.136}} and the suitors wish for the death of Telemachus.{{Sfn|Lattimore|1975|loc=20.240–243}}

== Reception ==
{{Main|Homeric scholarship}}

=== Pre-classical period to late antiquity ===
[[Homer]] was widely celebrated in Greek society as an impressively talented and didactic poet, instructing audiences on topics ranging from philosophy to science.{{Sfn|Kim|2020|p=417}} Audiences were primarily exposed to the epics through performances in both [[Archaic Greece|Archaic]] and [[Classical Greece]],{{Sfn|Dué|2020|p=6}} but their status among audiences in the early Archaic period (840–700 BC) is not understood.{{Sfn|Lamberton|2020|p=411}} Scholars of at least two ancient libraries—the [[Library of Alexandria]] and the [[Library of Pergamum]]{{Efn|These libraries were rivals in the early second century BC. Alexandria saw an scholarly exodus due to internal political disagreements. The [[Roman Republic]] took control of the Pergamon in 133 BC.{{Sfn|Kim|2020|p=429}}}}—studied ancient versions of the Homeric epics.{{Sfn|Nagy|2020|p=92}}  Alexandrian scholars included [[Zenodotus|Zenodotus of Ephesus]] (early third century BC), [[Aristophanes of Byzantium]] (early second century BC) and [[Aristarchus of Samothrace]] (mid-second century BC).{{Sfn|Marks|2020|p=92}} 

Ancient scholarship explored a variety of topics. Some explored narrative inconsistencies,{{Sfn|Wilson|2020|p=315}} for example. Allegory was a particularly common interpretation.{{Sfn|Wilson|2020|p=326}} Wilson says this interpretation allowed scholars "to make sense of puzzling or disturbing scenes in the ''Odyssey''".{{Sfn|Wilson|2020|p=Ixii}} Allegorical arguments also defended from Homer allegations that he had disrespected the gods{{Sfn|Clarke|1981|p=62}}{{Sfn|Browning|1992|p=134}}—a criticism famously made by the fifth/sixth-century BC philosopher [[Xenophanes]]{{Sfn|Christensen|2020a|p=126}}—but were rejected by Alexandrian scholars as too convenient.{{Sfn|Browning|1992|p=134}} Pergamon scholar [[Crates of Mallus]] explored the epics as containing allegorical insight into cosmology and geography.{{Sfn|Kim|2020|p=429}} [[Heraclitus]] (late sixth/early fifth century BC) and [[Porphyry of Tyre|Porphyry]] (third century) also wrote allegorical interpretations.{{Sfn|Clarke|1981|p=10}}{{Sfn|Lamberton|1989|p=114}} Porphyry's ''Homeric Questions'' is the sole surviving large Homeric essay of the classical era. He limited his analytical scope to only explore questions that the Homeric text answered—he called this the Aristarchan principle.{{Sfn|Lamberton|1989|pp=108–109}} Porphyry saw the nymphs' caves as representing human life,{{Sfn|Wilson|2020|p=326}} and Heraclitis argued that Telemachus' encounter with Athena represented "the development of rationality" as he becomes a man.{{Sfn|Wilson|2020|p=326}} 

Many ancient editions of the Homeric epics existed; the Alexandrian library possessed some.{{Sfn|Schironi|2020|p=114}} In material derived from the commentary of the fourth-century scholar [[Didymus the Blind|Didymus]], ancient versions were divided into "city editions" and "individual editions".{{Efn|City editions were variously called ''ekdoseis kata'', ''poleis'', ''apo tōn poleōn'', or ''apo tōn poleōn'', or ''politikai''; individual editions were ''ekdoseis kat’andra''.{{Sfn|Kim|2020|p=112}}}} City editions were likely created within the city (perhaps as "official" versions) while individual editions were prepared independently by scholars.{{Sfn|Schironi|2020|p=112}} He mentions individual versions owned by [[Antimachus]], [[Aristophanes of Byzantium]], [[Sosigenes the Peripatetic|Sosigenes]],{{Sfn|Schironi|2020|p=112}} [[Rhianus|Rhianus of Crete]], [[Callistratus (grammarian)|Callistratus]], and [[Philemon (geographer)|Philemon]].{{Sfn|Schironi|2020|p=112}} City editions are known in [[Marseille|Argos]], [[Chios]], [[Crete]], [[Cyprus]], and [[Marseille]].{{Sfn|Schironi|2020|p=112}} Both the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'' were [[textbook|school texts]] in places where the Greek language was spoken.{{Sfn|Lamberton|2010|pp=449–452}}{{sfn|Browning|1992|pp=134–148}} They were probably part of the curriculum for the elite of [[Classical Athens]],{{Sfn|Kim|2020|5=|pp=411, 417}} and in the [[Roman Empire]]. They were regarded as instructive for rhetorical skill,{{Sfn|Kim|2020|p=431}}{{Efn|Homer was repeatedly called "the father of oratory" throughout antiquity, including by [[Telephus of Pergamum]].{{Sfn|Lamberton|1989|pp=135–136}}}} and reading.{{Efn|[[Robert Browning (Byzantinist)|Robert Browning]] writes: "It may seem odd today that children should be taught the art of reading from poems composed in a form of language which no one actually spoke or ever had spoken, but Greek society was not the only one that taught them this way."{{Sfn|Browning|1992|p=134}}}} The Trojan War and its participants were already important mythological and historical references for the Roman Empire,{{Sfn|Lamberton|2020|p=417}} and the Romans readily absorbed Homer into their culture, transmitting the epic east and west.{{Sfn|Lamberton|2020|p=411}}

[[Alexander the Great]]'s conquests spread [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] cultural influence throughout the Eastern Mediterranean; it became read by every school child in the Greek world.{{Sfn|Pache|Dué|Lupack|Lamberton|2020|p=417}} By the sixth century, the Homeric poems had a canonical place within the institutions of ancient Athens.{{Sfn|Davison|1955|pp=7–8}} The Athenian tyrant [[Pisistratus|Peisistratos]] or his son [[Hipparchus]] instituted a civic and religious festival, the [[Panathenaic Games|Panathenaia]], which probably featured performances of Homeric poetry;{{Sfn|Davison|1955|pp=9–10}}{{Sfn|Kim|2020|p=420}}{{Efn|Marry Ebbott writes: "Ancient sources indicate that rhapsodes performed in 'musical contests' (''mousikoi agōnes'') at the Panathenaia from at least the late sixth century through the late fourth century BC".{{Sfn|Ebbott|2020|p=13}}}} a "correct" version had to be performed, possibly indicating that a version of the text had become canonised.{{Sfn|Wilson|2018|p=21}}{{Efn|According to Mary Ebbott, rhapsodes played selections from the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', which slowly contributed to Athenians identifying only those poems as Homer's work.{{Sfn|Ebbott|2020|p=13}}}} They may only have performed sections of the poems,{{Sfn|Ebbott|2020|p=13}} and it is not likely that they were performed without a break.{{Sfn|Fantuzzi|Tsagalis|2015a|p=15}}

=== Post-classical ===
Beyond classical antiquity and into the Byzantine era, the spread of the Greek language—and the consequent internal translation of the Homeric texts as it spread—maintained the ''Odyssey''{{'s}} relevancy and status.{{Efn|Some scholars have argued that religious tension in this period was caused by the spread of [[Christianity]] because Homer was increasingly identified as [[Paganism|pagan]], but there is no academic consensus.{{Sfn|Mavroudi|2020a|pp=445–446}}}} Armstrong says both epics may have dropped from knowledge otherwise, citing ''[[Beowulf]]'' as an example of this fate.{{Sfn|Armstrong|2025|p=6}} The orthodox Byzantine view was that Homer wrote the two epics alongside the ''[[Homeric Hymns]]'' and the ''[[Batrachomyomachia]]'', with some philological scepticism over the latter.{{Sfn|Mavroudi|2020a|p=444}} The ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'' remained widely studied throughout the [[Middle Ages]] and were used as school texts within the [[Byzantine Empire]].{{sfn|Lamberton|2010|pp=449–452}}{{sfn|Browning|1992|pp=134–148}} Homeric Greek was difficult for Byzantine students, requiring [[Paratext|paratexts]] to explain grammatical and mythological references.{{Sfn|Browning|1992|pp=136–137}} Much of the surviving Byzantine scholarship was originally intended as educational material.{{Sfn|Mavroudi|2020a|p=446}}{{Efn|We have one surviving work from an anonymous Byzantine scholar (published as ''Homeric Epirisms'' in 1983), probably from the mid-9th century.{{Sfn|Dyck|1983|p=7}}{{Sfn|Browning|1992|p=137}}}} Students probably did not have physical copies of the epics, but certain manuscripts might have been made available to talented students. They primarily learned via dictation and repetition.{{Sfn|Browning|1992|pp=138–139}} 

According to Lamberton, the audience of the epics changed in the middle Byzantine age. Once the domain of grammarians and students, adults began to read them for pleasure and wondered the narratives of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'' related to the wider Trojan narrative.{{Sfn|Browning|1992|p=140}} The twelfth-century poet [[John Tzetzes]] produced ''Homeric Allegories'' for [[Manuel I Komnenos]]'s consort, which summarised ''Odyssey'' and other texts.{{Sfn|Browning|1992|p=140}} Mavroudi says Tzetzes' work married cultural concepts from the Homeric and Byzantine periods; Tzetzes compared Manuel I to the kingly figures of Zeus and Agamemnon,{{Sfn|Mavroudi|2020a|p=447}} and depicted Odysseus with a protruding stomach.{{Sfn|Stanford|1968|p=254}}

Byzantine interpretation was influenced by the ''Homeric Questions'' of Porphyry by way of [[Neopythagoreanism|Neopythagorean]] and [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonic]] scholars.{{Sfn|Browning|1992|p=135}}{{Sfn|Lamberton|1989|p=112}} The Byzantine scholar and archbishop [[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathios of Thessalonike]] ({{Circa|1115|1195/6 AD}}) wrote exhaustive commentaries on both of the Homeric epics that were seen as authoritative by later generations;{{sfn|Lamberton|2010|pp=449–452}}{{sfn|Browning|1992|pp=134–148}} his commentary on the ''Odyssey'' alone spans nearly 2,000 oversized pages in a twentieth-century edition.{{sfn|Lamberton|2010|pp=449–452}} The first printed edition of the ''Odyssey'', or the ''[[editio princeps]]'',{{Efn|The ''Odyssey'' was not the only text in this edition: it included all works classically attributed to Homer: the ''Illiad'', the ''[[Batrachomyomachia]]'', and the ''[[Homeric Hymns]]''.{{Sfn|Wolfe|2020|p=491}} Maria Mavroudi attributes Demetrios' assemblage of all prospective Homeric texts for his editon to the interest of Byzantine scholars in interpreting the texts over debating their authorship.{{Sfn|Mavroudi|2020a|p=444}}}} was [[List of editiones principes in Greek|produced in 1488]] by the Greek scholar [[Demetrios Chalkokondyles]], who was born in Athens and studied in [[Constantinople]].{{sfn|Lamberton|2010|pp=449–452}}{{sfn|Browning|1992|pp=134–148}} His edition was printed in [[Milan]] by a Greek printer named Antonios Damilas.{{sfn|Browning|1992|pp=134–148}}

=== Early modern ===
[[File:Thomas_Degeorge_Ulysse.jpg|thumb|''Ulysses and Telemachus kill Penelope's Suitors'' by [[Thomas Degeorge]] (1812)|alt=]]During the [[Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns|quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns]]—a late 17th- and early 18th-century artistic debate in [[France]]—the ''Odyssey'' and ''Iliad'' were two of the primary subjects. The Homeric texts were criticised by the writers [[Jean Desmarets]], [[Pierre Bayle]], and [[Charles Perrault]];{{Sfn|Clarke|1981|p=122}} [[Howard Clarke]] says that Perrault refrained from directly castigating the poems in the absence of a French epic, with Perrault granting Homer "ritual praise" by describing him as "Father of all the Arts". Defenders of the epics and Homer included [[Jean de La Fontaine]] and [[Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux]].{{Sfn|Clarke|1981|p=122}} The debate subsided briefly in 1700, later reigniting between the French scholars [[Anne Dacier]], a translator and staunch defender of Homer, and the Moderns proponent [[Antoine Houdar de la Motte]].{{Sfn|Clarke|1981|p=123}} Dacier's Homeric translations included a 90-page introduction addressing the criticisms of Perrault and other Moderns; in his abridged translation of Homer, Houdar de la Motte responded, and Dacier produced a 600-page rebuttal. A rhetorical ceasefire was called in 1716.{{Sfn|Candler Hayes|2025|p=165}}

As part of the quarrel, questions arose over the traditional view of Homer as a singular poet.{{Sfn|Dué|Marks|2020|pp=585–586}} [[François Hédelin, abbé d'Aubignac|François Hédelin, Abbé d’ Aubignac]] criticised Homer's sustenance of theme; his language; and observed that nothing was known about his life.{{Sfn|Clarke|1981|p=150}} Perrault posited that the epics were written by different poets, possibly from each city that claimed to be Homer's birthplace, and then assembled; he credited the theory to the late Hédelin.{{Sfn|Clarke|1981|p=154}} [[Richard Bentley]] argued that the Athenian tyrant [[Pisistratus]] assembled different songs five-hundred years after initial composition.{{Sfn|Dué|Marks|2020|p=587}} His research also showed that Homeric Greek did not resemble the Greek of the classical period.{{Sfn|Wilson|2020|p=xiii}}

=== Modern ===
In the early 20th century, [[Milman Parry]] and [[Albert Lord]] demonstrated that illiterate singers could exploit formulaic language to improvise large poems, much like the Homeric Greek.{{Sfn|Hall|2008|pp=20–21}} Of the 27,803 lines in the original texts, around 9200 are [[Repetition (rhetorical device)|repetitions]], ranging from groups of words to entire sections.{{Sfn|Clarke|1981|p=264}} Their research decisively showed that the Homeric texts formed as [[oral poetry]].{{Sfn|Thornton|1970|p=xi}} Parry and Lord were investigating the [[South Slavic languages|South Slavic]] epic tradition, inspired by the work of philologist [[Matija Murko]].{{Sfn|Hall|2008|pp=20–21}} Parry's doctoral thesis had explored traditional Homeric epithets, drawing from the work of French linguist [[Antoine Meillet]], but he did not comprehend the significance completely until travelling to [[Yugoslavia]] to conduct field work with Lord.{{Sfn|Dué|Nagy|2020|p=590}}{{Efn|Parry died, aged 33, from an accidental gunshot wound to the chest.{{Sfn|Wilson|2020|p=xv}}}} Scholarship became increasingly [[Interdisciplinarity|interdisciplinary]] in the late twentieth century, synthesising literary research with archaeological and religious findings.{{Sfn|Bremer|de Jong|Kalff|1987|p=vii}}

== Legacy ==
[[File:JoyceUlysses2.jpg|thumb|upright|Front cover of [[James Joyce]]'s ''[[Ulysses (novel)|Ulysses]]'' (1922)|alt=]]
{{see also|Parallels between Virgil's Aeneid and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey|label1=Parallels between Virgil's ''Aeneid'' and Homer's ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey''}}
The influence of the Homeric texts can be difficult to summarise because of how greatly they have affected popular imagination and cultural values.{{sfn|Kenner|1971|p=50}} The ''Odyssey'' and the ''Iliad'' formed the basis of education for members of ancient Mediterranean society. That curriculum was adopted by Western humanists,{{sfn|Hall|2008|p=25}} meaning the text was so much a part of the cultural fabric that an individual having read it was irrelevant.{{sfn|Ruskin|1868|p=17}} [[Robert Browning (Byzantinist)|Robert Browning]] says that the scholarship Alexandrian library "laid the foundation" for "European literacy and [[Philology|philological studies]]".{{Sfn|Browning|1992|p=134}} The epics mark the beginning of the Western literary tradition and, according to Corinne Ondine Pasche, have unrivalled influence.{{Sfn|Pache|2020|p=xxvii}} The ''Odyssey'' has reverberated over a millennium of writing; a poll of experts for ''[[BBC Culture]]'' named it literature's most enduring narrative.{{Sfn|Haynes|2018}}

=== Translation ===
{{See also|English translations of Homer}}
[[Livius Andronicus]] produced a [[Latin]] translation, ''[[Odusia]]''.{{Sfn|Albrecht|1997|pp=113–114}} Little is known about the full work, which was probably not simply a translation,{{Sfn|Stanford|1968|p=268}} but surviving fragments are more formal than the original, and he reappropriated Homeric imagery from one part of the poem to another.{{Sfn|Albrecht|1997|pp=114–115}} Livius' ''Odusia'' eventually became a school text for Latin students; [[Michael von Albrecht]] says his translation was "beaten into" a young [[Horace]].{{Sfn|Albrecht|1997|p=117}} [[Nicholas Sigeros]] provided [[Petrarch]] with manuscripts of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'' in 1354.{{Efn|Petrarch wrote in a letter: "Homer is mute to me, or, rather, I am deaf to him. Still, I enjoy just looking at him and often, embracing him and sighing, I say, 'O great man, how eagerly would | listen to you.'" He unsuccessfully attempted to learn Greek.{{Sfn|Clarke|1981|pp=56–57}}}} Petrarch's correspondent [[Giovanni Boccaccio]] persuaded a monk to called Pilato to produce translations in Latin prose—he finished the ''Iliad'', but only came close to finishing the ''Odyssey''.{{Sfn|Clarke|1981|pp=56–57}} The first printed edition in Greek was published in Milan 1488 by [[Demetrios Chalkokondyles]], a Greek scholar resident in Florence.{{Sfn|Browning|1992|p=147}} 

Printed translations for modern European languages surged in popularity in the 16th century,{{Sfn|Wolfe|2020|p=495}} although many were only partial translations.{{Sfn|Wolfe|2020|p=496}} The most popular edition of the century was a [[Literal translation|word-for-word]] Latin translation by [[Andreas Divus]].{{Sfn|Wolfe|2020|p=495}} The first completed [[Italian language|Italian]] ''Odyssey'', written by [[Girolamo Baccelli]] in [[free verse]], was published in 1582.{{Sfn|Wolfe|2020|p=497}} The first completed [[French language|French]] translation was composed in [[Alexandrine]] couplets by [[Salomon Certon]] and printed in 1604.{{Sfn|Wolfe|2020|p=496}} It lost public favour following the [[Académie Française]] language reforms in the 1630s and 1640s.{{Sfn|Candler Hayes|2025|p=164}} [[Arthur Hall (English politician)|Arthur Hall]] was the first to translate Homer into English: his translation of the ''Iliad''{{'s}} first 10 books, which was published in 1581,{{Sfn|Wolfe|2020|p=497}} relied upon a French version.{{Sfn|Lawton|2020|p=598}} [[George Chapman]] became the first writer to complete a translation of both epics into English after finishing [[Odyssey (George Chapman translation)|his translation of the ''Odyssey'']].{{Sfn|Clarke|1981|p=57}} These translations were published together in 1616, but were serialised earlier, and became the first modern translations to enjoy widespread success.{{Sfn|Fay|1952|p=104}} He worked on Homeric translation for most of his life,{{Sfn|Brammall|2018}} and his work later inspired [[John Keats]]' sonnet  "[[On First Looking into Chapman's Homer]]" (1816).{{Sfn|Grafton|Most|Settis|2010|p=331}} [[Emily Wilson (classicist)|Emily Wilson]] writes that almost all prominent translators of Greco-Roman literature had been men,{{Sfn|Wilson Guardian|2017}} arguing this impacted the popular understanding of the ''Odyssey''.{{sfn|Wilson|2018|p=86}}{{Efn|Wilson argues these inflected the narrative with connotations not present in the original text. For example, she says several translators interpreted the language used to refer to the slaves having sex with the suitors—the femine article ''hai'' ({{Literal translation|those female people}})—as meaning ''sluts'' or ''whores''.{{Sfn|Wilson|2017}}}}

[[Johann Heinrich Voss]]' 18th-century translations of the epics are among his most celebrated works,{{Sfn|Curran|1996|pp=173–175}}{{Efn|Voss produced translations of other classics, too, and eventually revised his version of ''Odyssey'', but that received a less favourable reception.{{Sfn|Curran|1996|pp=173–175}}}} and profoundly influenced the German language.{{Sfn|Steiner|1975|p=266}} [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]] called Voss' translations transformational masterpieces that initiated interest German [[Hellenism (neoclassicism)|Hellenism]].{{Sfn|Steiner|1975|p=259}} [[Anne Dacier]] translated the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'' into French prose,{{Efn|Dacier's ''Iliad'' was critically well received; she provided historical and lingusitic commentary alongside it.{{Sfn|Candler Hayes|2025|p=168}}}} appearing in 1711 and 1716, respectively;{{Sfn|Candler Hayes|2025|p=164}} it was the standard French Homeric translation until the late 18th century.{{Sfn|Candler Hayes|2025|p=176}} [[Antoine Houdar de la Motte|Antoine Houdar de La Motte]], who could not read Greek, used Dacier's ''Iliad'' to produce his own contracted version of the ''Iliad'' and criticised Homer in the preface.{{Sfn|Clarke|1981|p=123}}{{Efn|Houdar de la Motte's translation was much shorter and modernised. His argument that he had improved upon Homer angered Dacier, who penned a 600-page rebuttal.{{Sfn|Candler Hayes|2025|pp=164–165}}}} Dacier's translation of the ''Odyssey'' profoundly influenced [[Odyssey (Alexander Pope translation)|the 1720s translation]] by [[Alexander Pope]],{{Sfn|Armstrong|2018|p=225}}{{Efn|Dacier did not speak English and, to read Pope's ''Odyssey'', relied upon a poor translation of it; she condemned it in a prefatory note a new version of her ''Iliad''. Pope admired Dacier and was hurt, but she died in 1720 before he could respond.{{Sfn|Candler Hayes|2025|p=176}}}} which he produced for financial reasons years after his ''Iliad''.{{Sfn|Baines|2000|p=25}} He translated twelve books himself and divided the other twelve between [[Elijah Fenton]] and [[William Broome]]; the latter also provided annotations.{{Sfn|Gray|1984|p=108}}{{Sfn|Barnard|2003|p=509}} This information eventually leaked, harming his reputation and profits.{{Sfn|Damrosch|1987|p=59}} The first ''Odyssey'' in the [[Russian language]] may have been [[Vasily Zhukovsky]]'s 1849 translation in [[hexameter]].{{Sfn|Cooper|2007|p=196}}{{Sfn|UOM|2012}} [[Luo Niansheng]] began translating the first [[Chinese language]] ''Iliad'' in the late 1980s, but he died in 1990 before completing it; his student [[Wang Huansheng]] finished the project, which was published in 1994. Huansheng's ''Odyssey'' followed three years later.{{Sfn|Zhang|2021|pp=353–354}}

=== Literature ===
Classicist [[Edith Hall]] says the ''Odyssey'' has been regarded as "the very birthplace of literary fiction"; in [[T. E. Lawrence]]'s 1932 introduction to the epic, he called it "the greatest novel ever written".{{Sfn|Hall|2008|p=46}} It is widely regarded by western literary critics as a timeless classic,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |date=15 March 2017 |title=Odyssey |url=http://www.worldhistory.org/Odyssey/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704162738/http://www.ancient.eu/Odyssey/ |archive-date=4 July 2017 |access-date=29 July 2022 |publisher=[[World History Encyclopedia]]}}</ref> and it remains one of the oldest pieces of literature regularly read by Western audiences.{{Sfn|North|2017}} [[Brian Stableford]], who described it as a kind of forerunner to [[science fiction]], says it has been reconfigured as science fiction more than any other literary work.{{Sfn|Stableford|2004|p=5}}

In Canto XXVI of the ''[[Inferno (Dante)|Inferno]]'', [[Dante Alighieri]] meets Odysseus in the [[Malebolge|eighth circle of hell]]: Odysseus appends a new ending to the epic in which he continues adventuring and does not return to Ithaca.{{sfn|Mayor|2000|p={{page needed|date=July 2022}}}} Edith Hall suggests that Dante's depiction of Odysseus became understood as a manifestation of [[Renaissance]] [[colonialism]] and [[Other (philosophy)|othering]], with the cyclops standing in for "accounts of monstrous races on the edge of the world", and his defeat as symbolising "the Roman domination of the western Mediterranean".{{sfn|Reece|1993|p={{page needed|date=July 2022}}}} Some of Odysseus's adventures reappear in the Arabic tales of [[Sinbad the Sailor]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Sinbad the Sailor |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sindbad-the-Sailor |website=Encyclopedia Brittanica |access-date=12 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Burton |first1=Richard |title=The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night Volume VI |date=1885 |publisher=The Burton Club; Oxford |page=40 |url=https://ia801607.us.archive.org/34/items/arabiantranslat06burtuoft/arabiantranslat06burtuoft.pdf}}</ref>

The Irish writer [[James Joyce]]'s [[Literary modernism|modernist]] novel [[Ulysses (novel)|''Ulysses'']] (1922) was significantly influenced by the ''Odyssey''. Joyce had encountered the figure of Odysseus in [[Charles Lamb]]'s ''Adventures of Ulysses'', an adaptation of the epic poem for children, which seems to have established the Latin name in Joyce's mind.{{sfn|Gorman|1939|p=45}}{{sfn|Jaurretche|2005|p=29}} ''Ulysses,'' a re-telling of the ''Odyssey'' set in [[Dublin]], is divided into eighteen sections ("episodes") which can be mapped roughly onto the twenty-four books of the ''Odyssey''.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor-last=Drabble |editor-first=Margaret |year=1995 |encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to English Literature |entry=Ulysses |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-866221-1 |page=1023 }}</ref> Joyce claimed familiarity with the original Homeric Greek, but this has been disputed by some scholars, who cite his poor grasp of the language as evidence to the contrary.{{sfn|Ames|2005|p=17}} The book, and especially its [[stream of consciousness]] prose, is widely considered foundational to the modernist genre.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Williams |editor-first=Linda R. |year=1992 |title=The Bloomsbury Guides to English Literature: The Twentieth Century |publisher=Bloomsbury |location=London |pages=108–109 }}</ref>

Modern writers have revisited the ''Odyssey'' to highlight the poem's female characters. Canadian writer [[Margaret Atwood]] adapted parts of the ''Odyssey'' for her novella ''[[The Penelopiad]]'' (2005). The novella focuses on Penelope and the twelve female slaves hanged by Odysseus at the poem's ending,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Beard|first=Mary|date=28 October 2005|title=Review: Helen of Troy {{!}} Weight {{!}} The Penelopiad {{!}} Songs on Bronze |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/oct/29/highereducation.classics|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=26 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326055559/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/oct/29/highereducation.classics|url-status=live}}</ref> an image which haunted Atwood.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web|date=28 October 2005|title=Margaret Atwood: A personal odyssey and how she rewrote Homer|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/margaret-atwood-a-personal-odyssey-and-how-she-rewrote-homer-322675.html|website=[[The Independent]] |archive-date=7 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707112443/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/margaret-atwood-a-personal-odyssey-and-how-she-rewrote-homer-322675.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Atwood's novella comments on the original text, wherein Odysseus's successful return to Ithaca symbolises the restoration of a [[Patriarchy|patriarchal]] system.<ref name="auto2"/> Similarly, [[Madeline Miller]]'s ''[[Circe (novel)|Circe]]'' (2018) revisits the relationship between Odysseus and Circe on Aeaea.<ref>{{Cite web|date=21 April 2018|title=Circe by Madeline Miller review – myth, magic and single motherhood|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/21/circe-by-madeline-miller-review|website=the Guardian|language=en|archive-date=14 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614111203/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/21/circe-by-madeline-miller-review|url-status=live}}</ref> As a reader, Miller was frustrated by Circe's lack of motivation in the original poem and sought to explain her capriciousness.<ref>{{Cite news|title='Circe' Gets A New Motivation|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/04/15/602605359/circe-gets-a-new-motivation|website=NPR.org|language=en|archive-date=25 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425180413/https://www.npr.org/2018/04/15/602605359/circe-gets-a-new-motivation|url-status=live}}</ref> The novel recontextualises the sorceress' transformations of sailors into pigs from an act of malice into one of self-defence, given that she has no superhuman strength with which to repel attackers.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Messud|first=Claire|date=28 May 2018|title=December's Book Club Pick: Turning Circe Into a Good Witch (Published 2018)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/books/review/circe-madeline-miller.html|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=6 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200906104718/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/books/review/circe-madeline-miller.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Film and television===
* ''[[L'Odissea (1911 film)|L'Odissea]]'' (1911) is an Italian silent film by [[Giuseppe de Liguoro]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Luzzi|first=Joseph|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EKPODwAAQBAJ&pg=PA11|title=Italian Cinema from the Silent Screen to the Digital Image|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|year=2020|isbn=9781441195616}}</ref>
* ''[[Ulysses (1954 film)|Ulysses]]'' (1954) is an Italian film adaptation starring [[Kirk Douglas]] as Ulysses, [[Silvana Mangano]] as Penelope and Circe, and [[Anthony Quinn]] as Antinous.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Wendy S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wR1ru604KPYC&pg=PA3 |title=World History On The Screen: Film And Video Resources:grade 10–12 |last2=Herman |first2=Gerald H. |publisher=Walch Publishing |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8251-4615-2 |page=3  |archive-date=5 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200105061127/https://books.google.com/books?id=wR1ru604KPYC&pg=PA3 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ''[[The Odyssey (1968 miniseries)|L'Odissea]]'' (1968) is an Italian-French-German-Yugoslavian television miniseries praised for its faithful rendering of the original epic.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Garcia Morcillo |first1=Marta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DaugBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA139 |title=Imagining Ancient Cities in Film: From Babylon to Cinecittà |last2=Hanesworth |first2=Pauline |last3=Lapeña Marchena |first3=Óscar |date=11 February 2015 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-135-01317-2 |page=139 }}</ref>
* ''[[Ulysses 31]]'' (1981–1982) is a French-Japanese television animated series set in the futuristic 31st century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ulysses 31 [Ulysse 31] |url=http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/343 |access-date=8 June 2024 |website=Our Mythical Childhood Survey}}</ref>
* ''[[Nostos: The Return]]'' (1989) is an Italian film about Odysseus's homecoming. Directed by [[Franco Piavoli]], it relies on visual storytelling and has a strong focus on nature.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lapeña Marchena |first=Óscar |year=2018 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N78-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA98 |chapter=Ulysses in the Cinema: The Example of ''Nostos, il ritorno'' (Franco Piavoli, Italy, 1990) |editor-last=Rovira Guardiola |editor-first=Rosario |title=The Ancient Mediterranean Sea in Modern Visual and Performing Arts: Sailing in Troubled Waters |series=Imagines – Classical Receptions in the Visual and Performing Arts |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |page=98 |isbn=978-1-4742-9859-9 }}</ref> 
* ''[[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]].{{sfn|Grafton|Most|Settis|2010|p=653}}
* ''[[The Odyssey (1997 miniseries)|The Odyssey]]'' (1997) is a television miniseries directed by [[Andrei Konchalovsky]] and starring [[Armand Assante]] as Odysseus and [[Greta Scacchi]] as Penelope.{{sfn|Roman|2005|p=267}}
* ''[[O Brother, Where Art Thou?]]'' (2000) is a [[Crime film|crime]] [[comedy drama]] film written, produced, co-edited and directed by the [[Coen brothers]] and is very loosely based on Homer's poem.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Siegel |first=Janice |date=2007 |title=The Coens' O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Homer's Odyssey |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/247584 |url-status=live |journal=Mouseion: Journal of the Classical Association of Canada |language=en |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=213–245 |doi=10.1353/mou.0.0029 |issn=1913-5416 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806081425/https://muse.jhu.edu/article/247584 |archive-date=6 August 2020 |s2cid=163006295|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* ''[[The Return (2024 film)|The Return]]'' (2024) is a film based on Books 13–24, directed by [[Uberto Pasolini]] and starring [[Ralph Fiennes]] as Odysseus and [[Juliette Binoche]] as Penelope.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2022/film/global/juliette-binoche-ralph-fiennes-the-return-pasolini-1235243530|title='English Patient' Stars Juliette Binoche, Ralph Fiennes Will Reunite in 'The Return,' a Gritty Take on 'The Odyssey'|website=Variety|date=28 April 2023|first=Manori|last=Ravindran|accessdate=3 June 2023|archive-date=16 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216174050/https://variety.com/2022/film/global/juliette-binoche-ralph-fiennes-the-return-pasolini-1235243530/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[The Odyssey (2026 film)|The Odyssey]]'' (2026), written and directed by [[Christopher Nolan]], will be based on the books and is slated to be released in 2026.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Grobar |first=Matt |date=23 December 2024 |title=Christopher Nolan's Next Film Is An Adaptation Of Homer's 'The Odyssey,' Universal Reveals |url=https://deadline.com/2024/12/christopher-nolan-the-odyssey-confirmed-directors-new-film-universal-1236241340/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241223222535/https://deadline.com/2024/12/christopher-nolan-the-odyssey-confirmed-directors-new-film-universal-1236241340/ |archive-date=23 December 2024 |access-date=24 December 2024 |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]}}</ref>

=== Opera and music ===
{{see also|Category:Operas based on the Odyssey}}
* ''[[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''.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Monteverdi's 'The Return of Ulysses' |url=https://www.npr.org/2007/03/23/9078832/monteverdis-the-return-of-ulysses |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224131808/http://www.npr.org/2007/03/23/9078832/monteverdis-the-return-of-ulysses |archive-date=2017-02-24 |newspaper=NPR|date=23 March 2007 }}</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.<ref name="Griffel">{{Cite book |last=Griffel |first=Margaret Ross |title=Operas in German: A Dictionary |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-4422-4797-0 |page=448 |chapter=Sirenen |author-link=Margaret Ross Griffel |entry-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H-xEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA448 |access-date=3 October 2020 |archive-date=13 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813013154/https://books.google.com/books?id=H-xEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA448 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Robert W. Smith (musician)|Robert W. Smith]]'s second symphony for concert band, ''The Odyssey'', tells four of the main highlights of the story in the piece's four movements: "The Iliad", "The Winds of Poseidon", "The Isle of Calypso", and "Ithaca".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Iliad (from The Odyssey (Symphony No. 2)) |url=https://www.alfred.com/the-iliad-from-the-odyssey-symphony-no-2/p/00-BDM00052/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808130104/https://www.alfred.com/the-iliad-from-the-odyssey-symphony-no-2/p/00-BDM00052/ |archive-date=8 August 2020 |website=www.alfred.com}}</ref>
* Jean-Claude Gallota's ballet ''[[Ulysse (ballet)|Ulysse]]'',<ref name="LeMoal">[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k12005041/f629 Entrée ''Ulysse''], Philippe Le Moal, ''Dictionnaire de la danse'' (in French), [[éditions Larousse]], 1999 {{ISBN|2035113180}}, {{p.|507}}.</ref> based on the ''Odyssey'', but also on the work by [[James Joyce]], ''[[Ulysses (novel)|Ulysses]]''.<ref name="RomaEuropa">[http://www.romaeuropa.net/archivio/eventi/ulysse/stile.html ''Esiste uno stile Gallotta ?''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070401213110/http://www.romaeuropa.net/archivio/eventi/ulysse/stile.html |date=1 April 2007 }} by Marinella Guatterini in 1994 on Romaeuropa's website (in Italian).</ref>
*Jorge Rivera-Herrans' [[sung-through]] work ''[[Epic: The Musical]]'' tells the story of the ''Odyssey'' over the course of nine "sagas", beginning with the end of the Trojan War and carrying through to Odysseus's homecoming to Ithaca.<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=30 November 2024 |website=[[BroadwayWorld]] |language=en |archive-date=13 November 2024 |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=30 November 2024 |website=The Spectrum |language=en-US |archive-date=9 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241109021335/https://ndsuspectrum.com/music-review-epic-the-musical/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Sciences===
* Psychiatrist [[Jonathan Shay]] wrote two books, ''Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character '' (1994)<ref name="Achilles">Shay, Jonathan. ''Achilles in Vietnam: Combat trauma and the undoing of character.'' Scribner, 1994. {{ISBN|978-0-684-81321-9}}</ref> and ''Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming'' (2002),<ref name="Odysseus">Shay, Jonathan. ''Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming.'' New York: Scribner, 2002. {{ISBN|978-0-7432-1157-4}}</ref> which relate the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'' to [[posttraumatic stress disorder]] and [[moral injury]] as seen in the rehabilitation histories of combat veteran patients.

==Notes and references==
=== Notes ===
{{notelist}}
=== References ===
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
===Books===
{{refbegin}}
*{{Citation |last=Albrecht |first=Michael von |title=A History of Roman Literature |date=1997 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-10711-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofromanli0001albr/page/114/mode/2up?q=Odusia}}
*{{Cite book|last=Anderson|first=Graham|year=2000|title=Fairytale in the Ancient World|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-23702-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B2DAAlUrbBIC}}
*{{Cite book|editor-last=Armstrong|editor-first=Richard H.|edition=1st|editor-last2=Lianeri|editor-first2=Alexandra|title=A Companion to the Translation of Classical Epic|publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]]|year=2025|isbn=9781119094265}}
**{{harvc|in1=Armstrong|in2=Lianeri|year=2025|last=Armstrong|first=Richard H.|c=Introduction}}
**{{harvc|in1=Armstrong|in2=Lianeri|year=2025|last=Candler Hayes|first=Julie|c=Anne Dacier's Homer: Epic Force}} 
**{{harvc|in1=Armstrong|in2=Lianeri|year=2025|last=Hardwick|first=Lorna|c=Between Translation and Reception}} 
*{{Cite book |last=Baines |first=Paul |title=The Complete Critical Guide to Alexander Pope |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2000 |isbn=0-203-16993-X |pages=25 |oclc=48139753}}
* {{Cite book |last=Barnard |first=John |title=Alexander Pope: The Critical Heritage |date=2003 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=978-0-203-19423-2 |location=Hoboken}}
*{{Cite book|last1=Bremer|first1=Jan Maarten|title=Homer: Beyond Oral Poetry|last2=de Jong|first2=Irene|last3=Kalff|first3=Jurriaan|date=1987|publisher=[[B.R. Grüner]]|isbn=978-90-6032-215-4}}
*{{Cite book|last=Cairns|first=Douglas|year=2014|title=Defining Greek Narrative|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0-7486-8010-8}}
*{{Cite book|last=Carne-Ross|first=D. S.|year=1998|translator-last=Fitzgerald|translator-first=Robert|translator-link=Robert Fitzgerald|title=The Odyssey|chapter=The Poem of Odysseus|publisher=[[Farrar, Straus and Giroux]]|isbn=978-0-374-52574-3}}
*{{Cite book|last=Clarke|first=Howard W.|author-link=Howard Clarke|title=The Art of the Odyssey|chapter=Appendix II: Translators and Translations|year=1967}} 
*{{Cite book|last=Clarke|first=Howard W.|author-link=Howard Clarke|title=Homer's Readers: A Historical Introduction to the Iliad and the Odyssey|publisher=[[University of Delaware Press]]|year=1981}} 
* {{Cite book |last=Damrosch |first=Leopold |url=https://archive.org/details/imaginativeworld0000damr/page/n5/mode/2up |title=The imaginative world of Alexander Pope |date=1987 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-05975-7}}
*{{Cite book |last=de Jong |first=Irene J. F. |title=A Narratological Commentary on the Odyssey |year=2001 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-46478-9 }}
*{{Cite book|editor-last=Dyck|editor-first=Andrew R.|title=Homeric Epirisms|date=1983|publisher=[[De Gruyter]]|isbn=978-3-11-006556-5 }} 
*{{Cite book|editor-last=Fantuzzi|editor-first=Marco|editor-last2=Tsagalis|editor-first2=Christos|title=The Greek Epic Cycle and its Ancient Reception: A Companion|date=2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-01259-2}}
**{{harvc|in1=Fantuzzi|in2=Tsagalis|year=2015|last1=Fantuzzi|first1=Marco|last2=Tsagalis|first2=Christos|c=Introduction|anchor-year=2015a}} 
*{{Cite book|last=Finley|first=Moses|author-link=Moses Finley|year=1976|title=The World of Odysseus|publisher=Viking Compass|edition=revised}}
*{{Cite book |last=Foley |first=John M. |title=How to Read an Oral Poem |date=2002 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-07082-2 }} 
*{{Cite book|last=Fox|first=Robin Lane|author-link=Robin Lane Fox|year=2008|title=Travelling Heroes in the Epic Age of Homer|chapter=Finding Neverland|publisher=[[Alfred A. Knopf]]}}
*{{Cite book|last=Frame|first=Douglas|title=Hippota Nestor|year=2009|publisher=Center for Hellenic Studies|url=https://chs.harvard.edu/read/frame-douglas-hippota-nestor-2}}
*{{Cite book|last=Gorman|first=Herbert Sherman|year=1939|title=James Joyce|publisher=Rinehart|url=https://archive.org/details/jamesjoyce00gorm/|url-access=registration|oclc=1035888158}}
*{{Cite book|last1=Grafton|first1=Anthony |title=The Classical Tradition|last2=Most|first2=Glenn W.|last3=Settis |first3=Salvatore|year=2010|publisher=The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-03572-0 }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Gray |first=James |date=1984 |title="Postscript to the "Odyssey"": Pope's Reluctant Debt to Milton |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24464409 |journal=Milton Quarterly |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=105–116 |doi=10.1111/j.1094-348X.1984.tb00295.x |jstor=24464409 |issn=0026-4326|url-access=subscription }}
*{{Cite book|last=Hall|first=Edith|year=2008|title=The Return of Ulysses: A Cultural History of Homer's Odyssey|publisher=I. B. Tauris & Co.|isbn=978-1-84511-575-3|quote=The two Homeric epics formed the basis of the education of every- one in ancient Mediterranean society from at least the seventh century BCE; that curriculum was in turn adopted by Western humanists}}
*{{Cite book|last=Jaurretche|first=Colleen|year=2005|title=Beckett, Joyce and the art of the negative|publisher=Rodopi|isbn=978-90-420-1617-0|series=European Joyce studies|volume=16|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=__8cwVnwFEoC&pg=PA29}}
*{{Cite book|last=Jones|first=Peter V.|title=Homer's Odyssey: A Companion to the English Translation of Richmond Lattimore|date=1996|publisher=Bristol Classical Press|isbn=978-1-85399-038-0|edition=Repr|series=Classical studies series}}
*{{Cite book|last=Kenner|first=Hugh|year=1971|title=The Pound Era|publisher=University of California Press}}
*{{Cite book |last=Lamberton |first=Robert |title=Homer the Theologian: Neoplatonist Allegorical Reading and the Growth of the Epic Tradition |date=1989 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-06622-9 }} 
*{{Cite book|editor-last=Lamberton|editor-first=Robert|editor-last2=Keaney|editor-first2=John J.|date=1992|title=Homer's Ancient Readers: The Hermeneutics of Greek Epic's Earliest Exegetes|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|isbn=978-0-6916-5627-4}}
**{{harvc|in1=Lamberton|in2=Keaney|year=1992|last=Browning|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Browning (Byzantinist)|c=The Byzantines and Homer}}
*{{Cite book|last=Lamberton|first=Robert|author-link=Robert D. Lamberton|editor-last=Grafton|editor-first=Anthony|editor-link=Anthony Grafton|editor-last2=Most|editor-first2=Glenn W.|editor-link2=Glenn W. Most|editor-last3=Settis|editor-first3=Salvatore|year=2010|title=The Classical Tradition|chapter=Homer|publisher=The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-03572-0}}
*{{Cite book|last1=Lattimore|first1=Richmond|year=1951|title=The Iliad of Homer|publisher=The University of Chicago Press}}
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*{{Cite book|last=Monro|first=David|year=1901|title=Homer's Odyssey: Books XIII XXIV|publisher=[[Clarendon Press]]|author-link=David Monro (scholar)}}
*{{Cite book|last=Myrsiades|first=Kostas|year=2019|title=Reading Homer's Odyssey|publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]]|isbn=978-1-68448-136-1}}
*{{Cite book|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781139225649/type/book|title=The Cambridge Guide to Homer|date=2020|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-22564-9|editor-last=Pache|editor-first=Corinne Ondine|edition=1|doi=10.1017/9781139225649|editor-last2=Dué|editor-first2=Casey|editor-last3=Lupack|editor-first3=Susan|editor-last4=Lamberton|editor-first4=Robert}}
**{{harvc|in1=Pache|in2=Dué|in3=Lupack|in4=Lamberton|year=2020|last=Pache|first=Corinne Ondine|c=General Introduction}}
**{{harvc|in1=Pache|in2=Dué|in3=Lupack|in4=Lamberton|year=2020|last=Dué|first=Casey|c=Introduction (Part I)}}
**{{harvc|in1=Pache|in2=Dué|in3=Lupack|in4=Lamberton|year=2020|last=Martin|first=Richard P.|c=Homer in a World of Song}}
**{{harvc|in1=Pache|in2=Dué|in3=Lupack|in4=Lamberton|year=2020|last=Ebbott|first=Mary|c=Homeric Epic in Performance}}
**{{harvc|in1=Pache|in2=Dué|in3=Lupack|in4=Lamberton|year=2020|last=Muellner|first=Leonard|c=Homeric Poetics}}
**{{harvc|in1=Pache|in2=Dué|in3=Lupack|in4=Lamberton|year=2020|last=Marks|first=Jim|c=Epic Traditions}} 
**{{harvc|in1=Pache|in2=Dué|in3=Lupack|in4=Lamberton|year=2020|last=Nagy|first=Gregory|c=From Song to Text}}
**{{harvc|in1=Pache|in2=Dué|in3=Lupack|in4=Lamberton|year=2020|last=González|first=José M.|c=Homer and the Alphabet}}
**{{harvc|in1=Pache|in2=Dué|in3=Lupack|in4=Lamberton|year=2020|last=Lamberton|first=Robert|c=Introduction (Part III)}}
**{{harvc|in1=Pache|in2=Dué|in3=Lupack|in4=Lamberton|year=2020|last=Schironi|first=Francesca|c=Early Editions}}
**{{harvc|in1=Pache|in2=Dué|in3=Lupack|in4=Lamberton|year=2020|last=Christensen|first=Joel P.|c=Gods and Goddesses|anchor-year=2020a}}
**{{harvc|in1=Pache|in2=Dué|in3=Lupack|in4=Lamberton|year=2020|last=Karanika|first=Andromache|c=Similes}}
**{{harvc|in1=Pache|in2=Dué|in3=Lupack|in4=Lamberton|year=2020|last=Beck|first=Deborah|c=Speech}}
**{{harvc|in1=Pache|in2=Dué|in3=Lupack|in4=Lamberton|year=2020|last=Kim|first=Lawrence|c=Homer in Antiquity}}
**{{harvc|in1=Pache|in2=Dué|in3=Lupack|in4=Lamberton|year=2020|last=Mavroudi|first=Maria|c=Homer in Greece from the End of Antiquity: The Byzantine Reception of Homer and His Export to Other Cultures |anchor-year=2020a }} 
**{{harvc|in1=Pache|in2=Dué|in3=Lupack|in4=Lamberton|year=2020|last=Wolfe|first=Jessica|c=Homer in Renaissance Europe (1488–1649)}}
**{{harvc|in1=Pache|in2=Dué|in3=Lupack|in4=Lamberton|year=2020|last1=Dué|first1=Casey|last2=Nagy|first2=Gregory|c=Milman Parry}}
**{{harvc|in1=Pache|in2=Dué|in3=Lupack|in4=Lamberton|year=2020|last1=Dué|first1=Casey|last2=Marks|first2=Jim|c=Homeric Question}}
**{{harvc|in1=Pache|in2=Dué|in3=Lupack|in4=Lamberton|year=2020|last=Lawton|first=David|c=Shakespeare and Homer}}
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*{{Cite book|last=Reece|first=Steve|year=1993|title=The Stranger's Welcome: Oral Theory and the Aesthetics of the Homeric Hospitality Scene|publisher=[[University of Michigan Press]]}}
*{{Cite book|last=Roman|first=James W.|year=2005|title=From Daytime to Primetime: The History of American Television Programs|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|isbn=978-0-313-31972-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h8AqrjoCueUC&pg=PA267}}
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*{{Cite book|last=Stanford|first=W. B.|author-link=William Bedell Stanford|title=The Ulysses Theme: A Study in the Adaptability of the Traditional Hero|year=1968|edition=2nd|publisher=[[University of Michigan Press]]}}
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*{{Cite book|last=Thornton|first=Agathe|year=1970|title=People and Themes in Homer's Odyssey|publisher=[[Methuen Publishing|Methuen]]}}
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*{{Cite book|last=Wilson|first=Emily|year=2018|title=The Odyssey|chapter=Introduction: When Was The Odyssey Composed?|publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]]|isbn=978-0-393-08905-9}}
*{{Cite book|last=Wilson|first=Emily|year=2020|title=The Odyssey: A Norton Critical Edition|publisher=[[W. W. Norton and Company]]|isbn=9780393655063}}

===Journals, news and web===
*{{Cite journal|last=Ames|first=Keri Elizabeth|year=2005|title=Joyce's Aesthetic of the Double Negative and His Encounters with Homer's "Odyssey"|journal=European Joyce Studies|volume=16|pages=15–48|jstor=44871207|issn=0923-9855|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44871207|access-date=16 October 2020|archive-date=31 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331013718/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44871207|url-status=live}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Armstrong |first=Richard H. |date=2018 |title=Review of Homer: The Odyssey |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26831950 |journal=Museum Helveticum |volume=75 |issue=2 |pages=225–226 |jstor=26831950 |issn=0027-4054}} 
*{{Cite news |date=10 July 2018 |title=Homer Odyssey: Oldest extract discovered on clay tablet |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44779492|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901203416/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44779492|archive-date=1 September 2020 |publisher=[[BBC News]]|ref={{harvid|BBC News|2018}}}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Bonifazi|first=Anna|date=Winter 2009|title=Inquiring into Nostos and Its Cognates|journal=[[The American Journal of Philology]]|volume=130|issue=4|pages=481–510|issn=0002-9475|jstor=20616206}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Brammall |first=Sheldon |date=1 July 2018 |title=Review: George Chapman: Homer's Iliad |journal=Translation and Literature |volume=27 |issue=2 |doi=10.3366/tal.2018.0339 |issn=0968-1361 |s2cid=165293864 }}
*{{Cite dictionary|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/odyssey|title=Odyssey |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216231120/https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/odyssey |archive-date=16 February 2021 |dictionary=[[Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary]]|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2025|url-status=live|ref={{harvid|Cambridge Dictionary|2025}} }}
*{{Cite journal |last=Cooper |first=David L. |date=2007 |title=Vasilii Zhukovskii as a Translator and the Protean Russian Nation |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20620532 |journal=The Russian Review |volume=66 |issue=2 |pages=185–203 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9434.2007.00437.x |jstor=20620532 |issn=0036-0341}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Curran |first=Jane V. |date=1996 |title=Wieland's Revival of Horace |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30222268 |journal=International Journal of the Classical Tradition |volume=3 |issue=2|pages=171–184 |doi=10.1007/BF02677914 |jstor=30222268 |issn=1073-0508}} 
*{{Cite news|last=Daley |first=Jason |date=11 July 2018 |title=Oldest Greek Fragment of Homer Discovered on Clay Tablet |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/oldest-greek-fragment-homer-discovered-clay-tablet-180969602/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123223253/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/oldest-greek-fragment-homer-discovered-clay-tablet-180969602/ |archive-date=23 January 2019 |access-date=29 July 2022 |work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Finkelberg |first=Margalit |date=2003 |title=Neoanalysis and Oral Tradition in Homeric Studies |journal=Oral Tradition |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=68–69 |doi=10.1353/ort.2004.0014 |issn=1542-4308|doi-access=free }} 
*{{Cite journal|last=Davison|first=J. A.|date=1955|title=Peisistratus and Homer|journal=Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association|volume=86|pages=1–21|doi=10.2307/283605|issn=0065-9711|jstor=283605}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Edwards|first=Mark W.|date=1992|title=Homer and the Oral Tradition|journal=[[Oral Tradition (journal)|Oral Tradition]]|volume=7|issue=2|pages=284–330}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Fay|first=H. C.|date=1952|title=George Chapman's Translation of Homer's 'iliad'|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/640882|journal=Greece & Rome|volume=21|issue=63|pages=104–111|doi=10.1017/S0017383500011578|jstor=640882|s2cid=161366016|issn=0017-3835|access-date=31 December 2022|archive-date=31 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231005736/https://www.jstor.org/stable/640882|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Foley|first=John Miles|date=Spring 2007|title="Reading" Homer through Oral Tradition|journal=College Literature|volume=34|issue=2|pages=1–28|issn=0093-3139|jstor=25115419}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Hainsworth|first=J. B.|date=December 1972|title=The Odyssey – Agathe Thornton: People and Themes in Homer's Odyssey|journal=The Classical Review|volume=22|issue=3|pages=320–321|doi=10.1017/s0009840x00996720|s2cid=163047986|issn=0009-840X}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Haslam|first=M. W.|date=1976|title=Homeric Words and Homeric Metre: Two Doublets Examined (λείβω/εϊβω, γαΐα/αία)|journal=Glotta|volume=54|issue=3/4|pages=201–211|issn=0017-1298|jstor=40266365}}
*{{Cite web |last=Haynes |first=Natalie |author-link=Natalie Haynes |date=22 May 2018 |title=The Greatest Tale Ever Told? |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180521-the-greatest-tale-ever-told |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619135051/https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180521-the-greatest-tale-ever-told |archive-date=19 June 2020 |website=[[BBC]]}}
*{{Cite news |last=Higgins |first=Charlotte |author-link=Charlotte Higgins |date=13 November 2019 |title=From Carnage to a Camp Beauty Contest: The Endless Allure of Troy |url=http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/nov/13/carnage-camp-beauty-contest-endless-allure-troy-british-museum |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109174814/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/nov/13/carnage-camp-beauty-contest-endless-allure-troy-british-museum |archive-date=9 January 2020 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Jankos|first=Richard|year=2000|title=Review: 'Dividing Homer: When and How were the Iliad and the Odyssey divided into songs?'|url=https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2000/2000.01.25/ |journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review |issn=1055-7660}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Jensen|first=Minne Skafte|year=1999|title=Dividing Homer: When and How were the Iliad and the Odyssey divided into songs?|journal=Symbolae Osloenses|volume=74}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Kundmueller|first=Michelle|date=2013|title=Following Odysseus Home: an Exploration of the Politics of Honor and Family in the Iliad, Odyssey, and Plato's Republic|journal=American Political Science|pages=1–39|ssrn=2301247}}
*{{Cite magazine|last=Liney|first=Nicolas|title=The Last Words of Milman Parry|magazine=[[The Oxonian Review]]|date=6 June 2020|url=http://www.oxonianreview.org/wp/the-last-words-of-milman-parry/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607190253/http://www.oxonianreview.org/wp/the-last-words-of-milman-parry/|archive-date=7 June 2020|url-status=dead}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Most|first=Glenn W.|date=1989|title=The Structure and Function of Odysseus' Apologoi|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/284257|journal=Transactions of the American Philological Association|volume=119|pages=15–30|doi=10.2307/284257|jstor=284257|issn=0360-5949|url-access=subscription}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Myrsiades |first1=Kostas |last2=Pinsker |first2=Sanford |date=1976 |title=A Bibliographical Guide to Teaching the Homeric Epics in College Courses |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25111144 |url-status=live |journal=College Literature |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=237–259 |issn=0093-3139 |jstor=25111144 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231005736/https://www.jstor.org/stable/25111144 |archive-date=31 December 2022 |access-date=31 December 2022}}
*{{Cite news |last=North |first=Anna |date=20 November 2017 |title=Historically, men translated the Odyssey. Here's what happened when a woman took the job |url=https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/11/20/16651634/odyssey-emily-wilson-translation-first-woman-english |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627123124/https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/11/20/16651634/odyssey-emily-wilson-translation-first-woman-english |archive-date=27 June 2020 |access-date=29 July 2022 |work=[[Vox (website)|Vox]]}}
*{{Cite news|last=Tagaris|first=Karolina|date=10 July 2018|editor-last=Heavens|editor-first=Andrew|title='Oldest known extract' of Homer's Odyssey discovered in Greece|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-greece-archaeology-odyssey/oldest-known-extract-of-homers-odyssey-discovered-in-greece-idUSKBN1K01QM|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324125157/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-greece-archaeology-odyssey/oldest-known-extract-of-homers-odyssey-discovered-in-greece-idUSKBN1K01QM |archive-date=24 March 2019|work=[[Reuters]]}}
*{{Cite web |date=30 September 2012 |title=The Wanderings of a Translation: From Greek to German to Russian |work=Translation at Michigan |publisher=University of Michigan |url=https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/translation/2012/09/30/the-wanderings-of-a-translation-from-greek-to-german-to-russian/ |access-date=2025-07-30 |ref={{harvid|UOM|2012}} }}
*{{Cite journal|last=Watkins|first=Calvert|date=1976|title=Observations on the "Nestor's Cup" Inscription|journal=Harvard Studies in Classical Philology|volume=80|pages=25–40|doi=10.2307/311231|issn=0073-0688|jstor=311231}}
*{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Emily |date=7 July 2017 |title=Found in Translation: How Women are Making the Classics Their Own |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jul/07/women-classics-translation-female-scholars-translators |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729234906/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jul/07/women-classics-translation-female-scholars-translators |archive-date=29 July 2020 |work=[[The Guardian]] |issn=0261-3077|ref={{harvid|Wilson Guardian|2017}}}}
*{{Cite magazine |last=Wilson |first=Emily |date=8 December 2017 |title=A Translator's Reckoning With the Women of The Odyssey |url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/a-translators-reckoning-with-the-women-of-the-odyssey |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806144049/https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/a-translators-reckoning-with-the-women-of-the-odyssey |archive-date=6 August 2020 |access-date=29 July 2022 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|author-link=Emily Wilson (classicist)}}
*{{Cite web |last=Zazzera |first=Elizabeth Della |date=27 February 2019 |title=The Geography of the Odyssey |url=https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/geography-odyssey |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008231344/https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/geography-odyssey |archive-date=8 October 2020 |access-date=29 July 2022 |website=Lapham's Quarterly}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Zhang|first=Wei|date=2021|title=Reading Homer in Contemporary China (From the 1980s Until Today)|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/48698763 |journal=International Journal of the Classical Tradition |volume=28 |issue=3|pages=353–379 |doi=10.1007/s12138-020-00558-z |jstor=48698763 |issn=1073-0508}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
* [https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/49324 The Authoress of the Odyssey by Samuel Butler]
* Austin, N. 1975. ''Archery at the Dark of the Moon: Poetic Problems in Homer's Odyssey.'' Berkeley: [[University of California Press]].
* Clayton, B. 2004. ''A Penelopean Poetics: Reweaving the Feminine in Homer's Odyssey.'' Lanham: [[Lexington Books]].
* — 2011. "Polyphemus and Odysseus in the Nursery: Mother's Milk in the Cyclopeia." ''[[Arethusa (journal)|Arethusa]]'' 44(3):255–77.
* Bakker, E. J. 2013. ''The Meaning of Meat and the Structure of the Odyssey.'' Cambridge: [[Cambridge University Press]].
* Barnouw, J. 2004. ''Odysseus, Hero of Practical Intelligence. Deliberation and Signs in Homer's Odyssey.'' Lanham, MD: [[University Press of America]].
* Dougherty, C. 2001. ''The Raft of Odysseus: The Ethnographic Imagination of Homer's Odyssey.'' New York: [[Oxford University Press]].
* Fenik, B. 1974. ''Studies in the Odyssey.'' ''Hermes: Einzelschriften'' 30. Wiesbaden, West Germany: F. Steiner.
* Griffin, J. 1987. ''Homer: The Odyssey. Landmarks in World Literature''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Louden, B. 2011. ''Homer's Odyssey and the Near East.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* — 1999. ''The Odyssey: Structure, Narration and Meaning.'' Baltimore: [[Johns Hopkins University Press]].
*{{Cite journal |last=Li |first=Sher-shiueh |date=2014-05-04 |title="Translating" Homer and his epics in late imperial China: Christian missionaries' perspectives |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/23306343.2014.883750 |journal=Asia Pacific Translation and Intercultural Studies |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=83–106 |doi=10.1080/23306343.2014.883750 |issn=2330-6343 |ref=none|url-access=subscription }}
* Müller, W. G. 2015. "From Homer's Odyssey to Joyce's Ulysses: Theory and Practice of an Ethical Narratology." ''[[Arcadia (magazine)|Arcadia]]'' 50(1):9–36.
* [[Núria Perpinyà|Perpinyà, Núria]]. 2008. ''Las criptas de la crítica. Veinte lecturas de la Odisea'' [The Crypts of Criticism: Twenty Interpretations of the 'Odyssey']. Madrid: Gredos. [https://elcultural.com/Las-criptas-de-la-critica-20-interpretaciones-de-la-Odisea Lay summary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200618222558/https://elcultural.com/Las-criptas-de-la-critica-20-interpretaciones-de-la-Odisea |date=18 June 2020 }} via El Cultural (in Spanish).
* Reece, Steve. 2011. "[https://www.academia.edu/30640650/Toward_an_Ethnopoetically_Grounded_Edition_of_Homers_Odyssey Toward an Ethnopoetically Grounded Edition of Homer's Odyssey] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101220802/https://www.academia.edu/30640650/Toward_an_Ethnopoetically_Grounded_Edition_of_Homers_Odyssey |date=1 January 2020 }}." ''[[Oral Tradition (journal)|Oral Tradition]]'' 26:299–326.
* Saïd, S. 2011 [1998].. ''Homer and the Odyssey''. New York: Oxford University Press.
* [[Judith Thurman|Thurman, Judith]], "Mother Tongue: Emily Wilson makes Homer modern", ''[[The New Yorker]]'', 18 September 2023, pp. 46–53. A biography, and presentation of the [[translation]] theories and practices, of [[Emily Wilson (classicist)|Emily Wilson]]. "'As a translator, I was determined to make the whole human experience of the poems accessible,' Wilson said." (p. 47.)
{{Refend}}

==External links==

{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=The ''Odyssey'' }}
===The ''Odyssey'' in ancient Greek===
* ''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0135:book=1:card=1 The Odyssey]'' (in Ancient Greek) on [[Perseus Project]]
* [https://bitbucket.org/ben-crowell/ransom/src/master/README.md ''Odyssey'']: the Greek text presented with the translation by Butler and vocabulary, notes, and analysis of difficult grammatical forms

===English translations===
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/homer/the-odyssey/william-cullen-bryant|Display Name=''The Odyssey'', translated by William Cullen Bryant|noitalics=true}}{{Gutenberg book|title=The Odysseys of Homer, together with the shorter poems by Homer|no=48895|others=trans. by [[George Chapman]]}}
* {{Gutenberg book|no=3160|others=trans. by [[Alexander Pope]]|title=The Odyssey}}
* {{Gutenberg book|title=The Odyssey|no=24269|others=trans. by [[William Cowper]]}}
* {{Gutenberg book|no=1728|title=The Odyssey|others=trans. by [[Samuel Butcher (classicist)|Samuel H. Butcher]] and [[Andrew Lang]]}}
* {{Gutenberg book|no=1727|title=The Odyssey|others=trans. by [[Samuel Butler (novelist)|Samuel Butler]]}}
* ''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0136:book=1:card=1 The Odyssey]'', trans. by A. T. Murray (1919) on [[Perseus Project]]
* ''[https://johnstoniatexts.x10host.com/homer/odysseytofc.html Odyssey]'', trans. by [[Ian C. Johnston]] (2002; released into the public domain January 2024)

===Other resources===
* {{librivox book | title=The Odyssey | author=HOMER}}
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p004y297 BBC audio file] — ''In our time'' [[BBC Radio 4]] [discussion programme, 45 mins]
* [http://greekmythcomix.com/odyssey-comix/ ''The Odyssey Comix''] — A detailed retelling and explanation of Homer's ''Odyssey'' in comic-strip format by [http://greekmythcomix.com/ Greek Myth Comix]
* ''[https://www.owleyes.org/text/odyssey The Odyssey]'' — Annotated text and analyses aligned to [[Common Core State Standards Initiative|Common Core Standards]]
* "[[gutenberg:26275|Homer's ''Odyssey'': A Commentary]]" by Denton Jaques Snider on [[Project Gutenberg]]

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[[Category:Odyssey| ]]
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