The Odyssey - The wanderings of Odysseus

Homer (c.750 BC), translated by Kline, A. S. (contact-email)

The Odyssey, the second of the epic texts attributed to Homer, and also a major founding work of European literature, is usually dated to around the 8th century BC. It is an epic poem, effectively a sequel to the Iliad, written in Ancient Greek but assumed to be derived from earlier oral sources, telling the story of Odysseus’ wanderings and his eventual return from the Trojan War to his home island of Ithaca. The cultural background to the poem indicates a Bronze Age setting around 400 to 500 years before the Homeric literary period itself. The poem contains elements of myth and legend as well as sheer literary invention, and covers the ten years of its hero’s adventures from the destruction of Troy to his return to his wife Penelope and son Telemachus. Of particular interest is the role of women in the Bronze Age culture described, represented in a sense by Odysseus’ guardian deity, Athene, the goddess of mind. Odysseus is an archetype of the person of intellect who uses brains and eloquence rather than brawn to outwit opponents and impress peers, and therefore sets the scene for later Greek Classical culture.

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Homer, the most influential poet of ancient Greece, is credited with composing both the Iliad and the Odyssey, the two epic poems forming the foundations of Greek literature. His birth, around the 8th century BC, likely places him in the same period as Hesiod. His epics are written in what is now known as Homeric Greek, a fusion of the Ionic and Aeolic dialects. Legendary accounts describe Homer as a blind bard from Ionia.

The Iliad focuses on a dispute between King Agamemnon and Achilles during the Trojan War's final year, while the Odyssey follows Odysseus of Ithaca on his decade-long journey home after the fall of Troy. Scholars largely agree these epics were transmitted orally before being embodied as written texts. Known for their tragic and serious elements, the poems also integrate comedic aspects.

Homer's narratives significantly influenced ancient Greek culture, education, and highlighted Greek ideals, particularly those of heroism and honour.

However, debate continues over the precise authorship, and exact period of composition, of the Iliad and the Odyssey, with suggestions placing them around the late 8th or early 7th century BC.

Besides the Iliad and Odyssey, various works were attributed to Homer in antiquity, including the Homeric Hymns and the Batrachomyomachia. However, their authenticity remains doubtful, and the attributions may simply reflect Homer's central role in Greek culture rather than historical authorship by the creator, or creators, of the major epics.

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Kline, A. S.

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