When it comes to classics, the hardest part is knowing where to start.
There are tons of worthwhile books out there waiting to be read, but why not start with “the greatest tale ever told?”
It’s a big claim, but Homer’s Odyssey can stand up to it. That’s why it took the title of the most influential story in the world.
But unlike what you might expect from a classic epic poem, the Odyssey isn’t exactly the story of a hero in action.
Instead, it’s the story of what happens after the battle is over and it’s time to head home.
Homer shows us that the hero’s homeward journey is tougher, more demanding, and more testing of character than the battle was.
Epic feats of heroism and incredible poetry aside, the Odyssey is a story about the frustrations of life. It’s about the heroism of acting with integrity when no one sees the effort you’re putting in.
Ultimately, it’s about not giving up in the face of the most heartbreaking setbacks, even when giving up looks so appealing.
We all know what it’s like to suffer one setback too many. That’s when the timeless lessons of the Odyssey will come to your rescue.
Whether you need a masterclass in perseverance or a reminder that marriage can withstand any trials, get a taste of this epic story with this summary and analysis of Homer’s Odyssey.
What is Homer’s Odyssey?
Like Virgil’s Aeneid, the Odyssey is an epic poem.
The Greeks and Romans used this form of book-length poetry to glorify the deeds of their ancestors.
Ancient poets named their epics after their main characters. “Odyssey” means “about Odysseus,” “Aeneid” means “about Aeneas,” and so on.
The Odyssey is a 24-book epic poem. (That’s even more impressive when you consider that it began its life as an oral tradition - its original composer didn’t write any of it down!)
The incredible feats of composition and memory that epic poets undertook show how important they felt their ancestors’ works to be.
For them, history wasn’t a linear or static series of facts. Instead, they saw history as part of a living tradition that gave meaning to the lives of everyday people.
The Odyssey is attributed to the Greek poet Homer, written around the 7th century BC.
Its protagonist is Odysseus (in Latin, Ulysses), the king of the island of Ithaca.
Odysseus was one of the headlining heroes in the decade-long battle of Troy. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey tell the story of the Trojan war, with the Odyssey focusing on Odysseus’s journey home after the battle.
It takes Odysseus ten more years to get home. The poem describes the last six weeks of his journey, when the story’s tensions reach their breaking point.
The Odyssey Summary
The story opens on Ithaca, where king Odysseus has been missing for almost twenty years.
Odysseus’s wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, are holding out hope for his return, but in the king’s absence, trouble is brewing on the island.
Odysseus’s home is overrun by men pressuring Penelope to choose one of them as a new husband. In the meantime, these uncouth suitors are consuming his food and wine and making a mess of his palace.
In the next four books, the narrative switches to Odysseus, who has spent almost ten years trying to get home from Troy.
We meet Odysseus as he is leaving the island of Calypso, a daughter of a Titan. Calypso had fallen in love with the hero and used her powers to keep him on the island for several years, but Odysseus longed so much for his wife and home that he eventually escaped.
After fleeing the island, Odysseus suffers a shipwreck in Phaeacia. In books 9-12 of the Odyssey, he tells the Phaeacians the story of his adventures and the trials he has endured.
In Odysseus’s story to the Phaeacians, we hear that he has encountered a series of dangers, including:
- The Island of the Lotus Eaters, a paradisal land where anyone who eats the lotus flowers forgets their home and why they want to reach it
- Man-eating giants called Laestrygonians
- Circe, a witch who transforms all of Odysseus’s men into swine
- The Sirens, monsters who appear as beautiful women and lure sailors to their deaths
- Polyphemus, a cyclops
- Scylla and Charybdis, two monsters who lurk on either side of a narrow strait between Sicily and Calabria
Surprisingly, Odysseus doesn’t use feats of strength or heroism to overcome these obstacles.
Instead, he comes up with creative, cunning solutions to outsmart his enemies. At other times, as when Calypso offers him immortality in return for staying with her, Odysseus’s sheer determination and strength of will keeps him moving forward.
Finally, books 13-24 deal with Odysseus’s return.
Odysseus finally makes it back to Ithaca. When he gets there, though, he realizes his struggles are far from over.
Over 100 of Penelope’s suitors are still occupying his house. Worse, after all this time, almost no one recognizes Odysseus - if he walked into his house and proclaimed himself the king, no one would believe him.
But Odysseus doesn’t panic. With help from Athena, his protector-goddess, Odysseus contacts his wife and son, and together they execute a plan to restore him to the throne.
The family, along with a few subjects still loyal to Odysseus, takes the suitors by surprise and slay them all.
Before the families of the murdered suitors can seek revenge against Odysseus, Athena steps in and restores peace on Ithaca.
Themes in Homer’s Odyssey
Faithful Marriage
As we meet Odysseus, we’re told that he has “his heart set on his wife.” Later, Odysseus says that there is “no greater, no finer gift” than marriage, “when man and woman possess their home, two minds, two hearts that work as one.”
While modern minds tend to dismiss the Odyssey as patriarchal, it’s actually Odysseus’s respect and love for his wife that drive the plot.
Odysseus isn’t trying to return to Ithaca just to regain his title, his power, or the comforts of home. (In fact, Calypso offered him more power and comfort than he could ever have hoped for.)
Odysseus won’t rest until he has pushed through all his struggles and returned to his “dear and true-hearted” wife.
Penelope values her marriage to Odysseus just as much as Odysseus does. Instead of taking the easy path of choosing a new husband, she resolutely resists her suitors’ advances, putting her faith in Odysseus to come home.
With fewer marriages and more divorces than ever before, it’s easy to buy into the modern perspective that historical marriage was nothing more than a social contract.
But Homer gives us a different view. For Greece’s most celebrated hero, marriage is the glue that holds all his heroic efforts together and makes them worthwhile.
If you still think of marriage as “just a piece of paper,” ask yourself: what goals could you accomplish for the sake of someone you loved? What achievements could you push yourself to if you knew that you’d always have someone by your side?
Facing Life’s Frustrations
Odysseus’s name means “son of pain.” It’s a fitting description for all the frustrations he faces.
After accomplishing great deeds, as Odysseus did at the battle of Troy, you might think that a hero could relax and rest on his laurels.
Instead, the hardest part of Odysseus’s journey was ahead of him. As he struggled to reach home, he encountered trial after trial.
The monsters and obstacles he encountered symbolize struggles that almost everyone experiences.
Scylla and Charybdis, for example, are two monsters who wait for ships to pass between them, forcing the sailors to decide which monster to encounter. Everyone knows what it’s like to be between a rock and a hard place, having to decide which of two bad options to face.
Odysseus is renowned for his wise judgment, which he uses to navigate his ship through these dangers. But even good judgment can’t come up with a perfect solution, and Odysseus experiences heartbreaking setbacks, frustrating delays, and the loss of many of his men.
Odysseus may be a hero, but life is just as hard for him as it is for the rest of us.
And, like the rest of us, Odysseus encounters lots of temptations to avoid or circumvent the painful frustrations of life.
On the Island of the Lotus Eaters, he has the chance to eat the magical flower that will wash away all the memories of his struggles and his home. With Calypso, he could escape from his struggles into an enticing affair with a divinely beautiful lover.
But Odysseus doesn’t go for any of these temptations.
Instead, he pushes ahead with the life he has, frustrations and all.
Odysseus isn’t just heroic - he’s also wise. He knows that running away from his problems isn’t a real solution.
Instead, he accepts life as it is, striving to do the right thing amidst unimaginable opposition.
The next time you’re tempted to give up on a workout, take the easy way out at work, or veg out with Netflix instead of connecting with your family, remember Odysseus. There will never be a perfect solution to your challenges, but avoiding them is the worst solution of all.
Wisdom vs. Power
Like most Greek heroes, Odysseus has friends and enemies among the gods.
Athena, the goddess of wisdom, befriends and helps Odysseus, while Poseidon, the powerful sea god, tries to kill him.
We see Odysseus’s wisdom in how he meets each challenge with thoughtful consideration instead of leaping into action as most hero figures do.
That’s actually what makes the Odyssey so compelling. It’s a story about the triumph of mature wisdom over impulsivity and raw power.
It’s Odysseus’s self-restraint and careful planning that help him overcome the brute power of the Cyclops, the lure of the Sirens, and even the arrogant suitors who have taken over his home.
In the words of Teddy Roosevelt, “What such a man needs is not courage but nerve control, cool-headedness. This he can only get by practice.”
Maybe Odysseus had his share of impulsivity in his younger days, but now, as a middle-aged man, he’s had practice at keeping a cool head.
Patience, cool-headedness, and humility are the missing ingredients for many younger men. When you get slapped in the face with an insult or unfair accusation, take a lesson from Odysseus - practice cool-headed self control before you fly off the handle.
Putting Your House in Order
Odysseus leaves his kingdom for a noble reason: to fight alongside his countrymen.
However, he dilly-dallies on the way home. Some of his delays weren’t his fault, but others - like staying with the enchantress Circe for a year - were completely voluntary.
The longer he stayed away, the worse things got at home. His wife faced constant pressure to be unfaithful to him, while her suitors ate and drank their way through his supplies.
By the time he finally arrived home, Ithaca was barely holding itself together.
The Greeks had no doubt that noble adventures were good and praiseworthy. But with this epic, Homer reminds us that the real battle happens when we come home.
The longer you spend chasing exciting adventures, the harder it will be to put things back in order when you get back.
This doesn’t just go for heroes sailing off to attack a legendary city. It goes for spouses, parents, and partners who get caught up in external problems and end up neglecting what’s happening at home.
Next time you’re neck-deep in a big work project, ask yourself: how long has it been since I’ve checked in with the people who matter to me? What am I neglecting when I’m completely focused on this?
The Iliad and Odyssey are Only the Beginning
The Odyssey is a classic of classics. Not only is it truly one of the greatest and most powerful stories of Western literature, but it also inspired classics like Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem Ulysses and James Joyce’s novel of the same name.
In reference to Odysseus’s epic journey, the word “odyssey” has come to mean an adventurous quest.
I want to inspire you to begin your own odyssey into classic art and literature. To get you started, I wrote a book on how Shakespeare can unlock the lessons of classic literature for your life.
Click to get your free copy of The Bard and the Bees: What Shakespeare taught me about sex, evil, and life in our modern world.
Until next time,
Evan