the Odyssey
Epic homeward journey
The Odyssey is an ancient Greek epic poem attributed to Homer, recounting the hero Odysseus's ten-year journey home after the Trojan War.
His encounters with monsters, gods, and enchantresses—Cyclops, Circe, the Sirens—have become cultural touchstones.
By extension, any long, eventful journey can be called an odyssey: Getting through airport security was an odyssey. (Lowercase odyssey is the generic noun.)
- OdysseusIthaca's long-wandering monarch
- HomerAncient Greek epic composer
- epic poemExtended heroic narrative verse
- PenelopeTraditional name, Greek origin
- IthacaIonian island, epic destination
faithful wife · Telemachus · Cyclops · Poseidon · wine-dark sea · sirens · Circe · voyage · epic · Trojan · wandering · homecoming · Trojan War · Calypso · lotus-eaters · shipwreck · suitors · bow
- classicsHomer, Iliad, the Iliad, Aeneid, the Aeneid
- Classical Afterlifeshades, ghosts, Hades, Styx, Elysium
- Greek classicsHomer, Iliad, Plato, Aristotle, Sophocles
- sirenssirens, siren song, siren call, Lorelei, enchantresses
- PhilhellenismHellenism, Greek classics, Winckelmann, Humboldt, Goethe
the Odysseythe Iliad
Greek epic about Troy
Iliad · Waiting for Godot · Oedipus Rex · the Aeneid · tragedy
the Odysseythe Aeneid
Epic of Rome's legendary founding
Oedipus Rex · King Lear · The Metamorphosis · Paradise Lost · Medea