The Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 (/ˈɒdəsi/; Greek: Ὀδύσσειαhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 Odýsseia, pronounced  in Classical Atticgrc-Attc) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homerhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6691. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliadhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8275, the other work ascribed to Homerhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6691. The Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second-oldest extant work of Western literature; the Iliadhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8275 is the oldest. Scholars believe the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160was composed near the end of the 8th century BC, somewhere in Ionia, the Greek coastal region of Anatolia. The poem mainly focuses on the Greek hero Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 (known as Ulysses in Roman myths), king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, it is assumed Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 has died, and his wife Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769 and son Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482 must deal with a group of unruly suitors, the Mnesteres (Greek: Μνηστῆρες) or Proci, who compete for Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769's hand in marriage. The Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 continues to be read in the Homeric Greek and translated into modern languages around the world. Many scholars believe the original poem was composed in an oral tradition by an aoidos (epic poet/singer), perhaps a rhapsode (professional performer), and was more likely intended to be heard than read. The details of the ancient oral performance and the story's conversion to a written work inspire continual debate among scholars. The Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 was written in a poetic dialect of Greek—a literary amalgam of Aeolic Greek, Ionic Greek, and other Ancient Greek dialects—and comprises 12,110 lines of dactylic hexameter. Among the most noteworthy elements of the text are its non-linear plot, and the influence on events of choices made by women and slaves, besides the actions of fighting men. In the English language as well as many others, the word odyssey has come to refer to an epic voyage. The Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 has a lost sequel, the Telegonyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1520934, which was not written by Homerhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6691. It was usually attributed in antiquity to Cinaethonhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q726952 of Sparta. In one source, the Telegonyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1520934 was said to have been stolen from Musaeus by either Eugamon or Eugammon of Cyrene (see Cyclic poets). Synopsis Exposition The Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 begins ten years after the end of the ten-year Trojan War (the subject of the Iliadhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8275), and Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 has still not returned home from the war. Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' son Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482 is about 20 years old and is sharing his absent father's house on the island of Ithaca with his mother Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769 and a crowd of 108 boisterous young men, "the Suitors", whose aim is to persuade Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769 to marry one of them, all the while reveling in Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' palace and eating up his wealth. Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' protectress, the goddess Athenahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37122, requests to Zeushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q34201, king of the gods, to finally allow Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 to return home when Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' enemy, the god of the sea Poseidon, is absent from Mount Olympus. Then, disguised as a Taphian chieftain named Mentes, she visits Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482 to urge him to search for news of his father. He offers her hospitality; they observe the suitors dining rowdily while the bard Phemius performs a narrative poem for them. Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769 objects to Phemius' theme, the "Return from Troy", because it reminds her of her missing husband, but Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482 rebuts her objections, asserting his role as head of the household. That night Athenahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37122, disguised as Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482, finds a ship and crew for the true prince. The next morning, Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482 calls an assembly of citizens of Ithaca to discuss what should be done with the suitors. Accompanied by Athenahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37122 (now disguised as Mentor), he departs for the Greek mainland and the household of Nestorhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q193267, most venerable of the Greek warriors at Troy, now at home in Pylos. From there, Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482 rides overland, accompanied by Nestorhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q193267's son Peisistratus, to Sparta, where he finds Menelaus and Helen, who have somewhat reconciled. While Helen laments the fit of lust brought on by Aphrodite that sent her to Troy with Paris, Menelaus recounts how she betrayed the Greeks by attempting to imitate the voices of the soldiers' wives while they were inside the Trojan Horse. Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482 also hears from Helen, who is the first to recognize him, that she pities him because Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 was not there for him in his childhood because he went to Troy to fight for her and also about his exploit of stealing the Palladium, or the Luck of Troy, where she was the only one to recognize him. Menelaus, meanwhile, also praises Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 as an irreproachable comrade and friend, lamenting the fact that they were not only unable to return together from Troy but that Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 is yet to return. Both Helen and Menelaus also say that they returned to Sparta after a long voyage by way of Egypt. There, on the island of Pharos, Menelaus encountered the old sea-god Proteus, who told him that Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 was a captive of the nymph Calypsohttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q48961. Incidentally, Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482 learns the fate of Menelaus' brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and leader of the Greeks at Troy: he was murdered on his return home by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. The story briefly shifts to the suitors, who have only just now realized that Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482 is gone; angry, they formulate a plan to ambush his ship and kill him as he sails back home. Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769 overhears their plot and worries for her son's safety. Escape to the Phaeacians The second part recounts the story of Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231. After he has spent seven years in captivity on Ogygia, the island of Calypsohttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q48961, she falls deeply in love with him, even though he has consistently spurned her advances. She is persuaded to release him by Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' great-grandfather, the messenger god Hermes, who has been sent by Zeushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q34201 in response to Athenahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37122's plea. Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 builds a raft and is given clothing, food, and drink by Calypsohttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q48961. When Poseidon learns that Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 has escaped, he wrecks the raft, but, helped by a veil given by the sea nymph Ino, Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 swims ashore on Scherie, the island of the Phaeacians. Naked and exhausted, he hides in a pile of leaves and falls asleep. The next morning, awakened by the laughter of girls, he sees the young Nausicaa, who has gone to the seashore with her maids to wash clothes after Athenahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37122 told her in a dream to do so. He appeals to her for help. She encourages him to seek the hospitality of her parents, Arete and Alcinous (or Alkinous). Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 is welcomed and is not at first asked for his name. He remains for several days, takes part in a pentathlon, and hears the blind singer Demodocus perform two narrative poems. The first is an otherwise obscure incident of the Trojan War, the "Quarrel of Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 and Achilles"; the second is the amusing tale of a love affair between two Olympian gods, Aresand Aphrodite. Finally, Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 asks Demodocus to return to the Trojan War theme and tell of the Trojan Horse, a stratagem in which Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 had played a leading role. Unable to hide his emotion as he relives this episode, Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 at last reveals his identity. He then begins to tell the story of his return from Troy. Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' account of his adventures After a failed piratical raid on Ismaros in the land of the Cicones, Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 and his twelve ships were driven off course by storms. Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 visited the lethargic Lotus-Eaters who gave his men their fruit that would have caused them to forget their homecoming had Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 not dragged them back to the ship by force. Then, they entered the cave of the Cyclops Polyphemus on the underbellies of sheep, escaping by blinding him with a wooden stake. While they were escaping, however, Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 foolishly told Polyphemus his identity, and Polyphemus told his father, Poseidon, that Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 had blinded him. Poseidon then cursed Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 to wander the sea for ten years, during which he would lose all his crew and return home through the aid of others. After the escape, Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 and his crew stayed with Aeolus, a king endowed by the gods with the winds. He gave Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 a leather bag containing all the winds, except the west wind, a gift that should have ensured a safe return home. Just as Ithaca came into sight, the greedy sailors naively opened the bag while Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 slept, thinking it contained gold. All of the winds flew out and the resulting storm drove the ships back the way they had come. After unsuccessfully pleading with Aeolus to help them again, they re-embarked and encountered the cannibalistic Laestrygonians. All of Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' ships except his own entered the harbor of the Laestrygonians' Island and were immediately destroyed. He sailed on and visited the witch-goddess Circe. She turned half of his men into swine after feeding them cheese and wine. Hermes warned Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 about Circe and gave Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 a drug called moly which gave him resistance to Circe's magic. Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 forced the now-powerless Circe to change his men back to their human form. They remained with her on the island for one year, while they feasted and drank. Finally, guided by Circe's instructions, Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 and his crew crossed the ocean and reached a harbor at the western edge of the world, where Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 sacrificed to the dead. He first encountered the spirit of Elpenor, a crewman who had gotten drunk and fallen from a roof to his death, which had gone unnoticed by others, before Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 and the rest of his crew had left Circe. Elpenor's ghost told Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 to bury his body, which Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 promised to do. Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 then summoned the spirit of the prophet Tiresias for advice on how to appease Poseidon upon his return home. Next Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 met the spirit of his own mother, who had died of grief during his long absence. From her, he got his first news of his own household, threatened by the greed of the Suitors. Finally, he met the spirits of famous men and women. Notably, he encountered the spirit of Agamemnon, of whose murder he now learned, and Achilles, who told him about the woes of the land of the dead (for Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' encounter with the dead, see also Nekuia). Returning to Circe's island, they were advised by her on the remaining stages of the journey. They skirted the land of the Sirens, who sang an enchanting song that normally caused passing sailors to steer toward the rocks, only to hit them and sink. All of the sailors had their ears plugged up with beeswax, except for Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231, who was tied to the mast as he wanted to hear the song. He told his sailors not to untie him as it would only make him want to drown himself. They then passed between the six-headed monster Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis, narrowly avoiding death, even though Scylla snatched up six men. Next, they landed on the island of Thrinacia. Zeushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q34201 caused a storm which prevented them leaving. While Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 was away praying, his men ignored the warnings of Tiresias and Circe and hunted the sacred cattle of the sun god Helios as their food had run short. The Sun God insisted that Zeushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q34201 punish the men for this sacrilege. They suffered a shipwreck as they were driven towards Charybdis. All but Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 were drowned; he clung to a fig tree above Charybdis. Washed ashore on the island of Ogygia, he was compelled to remain there as Calypsohttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q48961's lover, bored, homesick and trapped on her small island, until she was ordered by Zeushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q34201, via Hermes, to release Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231. Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 did not realise how long it would take to get home to his family. Return to Ithaca Having listened with rapt attention to his story, the Phaeacians, who are skilled mariners, agree to help Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 get home. They deliver him at night, while he is fast asleep, to a hidden harbour on Ithaca. He finds his way to the hut of one of his own slaves, the swineherd Eumaeushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1333846. Athenahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37122 disguises Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 as a wandering beggar so he can see how things stand in his household. After dinner, he tells the farm laborers a fictitious tale of himself: He was born in Crete, had led a party of Cretans to fight alongside other Greeks in the Trojan War, and had then spent seven years at the court of the king of Egypt; finally he had been shipwrecked in Thesprotia and crossed from there to Ithaca. Meanwhile, Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482 sails home from Sparta, evading an ambush set by the Suitors. He disembarks on the coast of Ithaca and makes for Eumaeushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1333846's hut. Father and son meet; Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 identifies himself to Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482 (but still not to Eumaeushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1333846), and they decide that the Suitors must be killed. Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482 goes home first. Accompanied by Eumaeushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1333846, Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 returns to his own house, still pretending to be a beggar. When Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' dog (who was a puppy before he left) saw him, he becomes so excited that he dies. He is ridiculed by the Suitors in his own home, especially by one extremely impertinent man named Antinoushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19989087. Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 meets Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769 and tests her intentions by saying he once met Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 in Crete. Closely questioned, he adds that he had recently been in Thesprotia and had learned something there of Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231's recent wanderings. Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231's identity is discovered by the housekeeper, Eurycleia, when she recognizes an old scar as she is washing his feet. Eurycleia tries to tell Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769 about the beggar's true identity, but Athenahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37122 makes sure that Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769 cannot hear her. Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 then swears Eurycleia to secrecy. Slaying of the Suitors The next day, at Athenahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37122's prompting, Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769 maneuvers the Suitors into competing for her hand with an archery competition using Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' bow. The man who can string the bow and shoot it through a dozen axe heads would win. Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 takes part in the competition himself: he alone is strong enough to string the bow and shoot it through the dozen axe heads, making him the winner. He then throws off his rags and kills Antinoushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19989087 with his next arrow. Then, with the help of Athenahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37122, Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231, Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482, Eumaeushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1333846, and Philoetius the cowherd kill the rest of the Suitors, first using the rest of the arrows and then by swords and spears once both sides have armed themselves. Once the battle is won, Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 and Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482 also hang twelve of their household maids whom Eurycleia identifies as guilty of betraying Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769, having sex with the Suitors, or both; they mutilate and kill the goatherd Melanthius, who had mocked and abused Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 and also brought weapons and armor to the suitors. Now, at last, Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 identifies himself to Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769. She is hesitant but recognizes him when he mentions that he made their bed from an olive tree still rooted to the ground. Many modern and ancient scholars take this to be the original ending of the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160, and the rest to be an interpolation. The next day he and Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482 visit the country farm of his old father Laertes, who likewise accepts his identity only when Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 correctly describes the orchard that Laertes had previously given him. The citizens of Ithaca have followed Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 on the road, planning to avenge the killing of the Suitors, their sons. Their leader points out that Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 has now caused the deaths of two generations of the men of Ithaca: his sailors, not one of whom survived; and the Suitors, whom he has now executed (albeit rightly). Athenahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37122 intervenes as a "dea" ex machina, as it were, and persuades both sides to give up the vendetta. After this, Ithaca is at peace once more, concluding the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160. Character of Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' name means "trouble" in Greek, referring to both the giving and receiving of trouble—as is often the case in his wanderings. An early example of this is the boar hunt that gave Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 the scar by which Eurycleia recognizes him; Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 is injured by the boar and responds by killing it. Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' heroic trait is his mētis, or "cunning intelligence": he is often described as the "Peer of Zeushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q34201 in Counsel". This intelligence is most often manifested by his use of disguise and deceptive speech. His disguises take forms both physical (altering his appearance) and verbal, such as telling the Cyclops Polyphemus that his name is Οὖτις, "Nobody", then escaping after blinding Polyphemus. When asked by other Cyclopes why he is screaming, Polyphemus replies that "Nobody" is hurting him, so the others assume that "If alone as you are none uses violence on you, why, there is no avoiding the sickness sent by great Zeushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q34201; so you had better pray to your father, the lord Poseidon". The most evident flaw that Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 sports is that of his arrogance and his pride, or hubris. As he sails away from the island of the Cyclopes, he shouts his name and boasts that nobody can defeat the "Great Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231". The Cyclops then throws the top half of a mountain at him and prays to his father, Poseidon, saying that Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 has blinded him. This enrages Poseidon, causing the god to thwart Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' homecoming for a very long time. Structure The Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 was written in dactylic hexameter. It opens in medias res, in the middle of the overall story, with prior events described through flashbacks or storytelling. This device is also used by later authors of literary epics, such as Virgil in the Aeneid, Luís de Camões in Os Lusíadas and Alexander Pope in The Rape of the Lock. The first four books of the poem trace Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482' efforts to assert control of the household, and then, at Athenahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37122's advice, his efforts to search for news of his long-lost father. Then the scene shifts: Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 has been a captive of the beautiful nymph Calypsohttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q48961, with whom he has spent seven of his ten lost years. Released by the intercession of his patroness Athenahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37122, through the aid of Hermes, he departs, but his raft is destroyed by his divine enemy Poseidon, who is angry because Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 blinded his son, Polyphemus. When Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 washes up on Scherie, home to the Phaeacians, he is assisted by the young Nausicaa and is treated hospitably. In return, he satisfies the Phaeacians' curiosity, telling them, and the reader, of all his adventures since departing from Troy. The shipbuilding Phaeacians then loan him a ship to return to Ithaca, where he is aided by the swineherd Eumaeushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1333846, meets Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482, regains his household, kills the Suitors, and is reunited with his faithful wife, Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769. All ancient and nearly all modern editions and translations of the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 are divided into 24 books. This division is convenient, but it may not be original. Many scholars believe it was developed by Alexandrian editors of the 3rd century BC. In the Classical period, moreover, several of the books (individually and in groups) were given their own titles: the first four books, focusing on Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482, are commonly known as the Telemachy. Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' narrative, Book 9, featuring his encounter with the cyclops Polyphemus, is traditionally called the Cyclopeia. Book 11, the section describing his meeting with the spirits of the dead is known as the Nekuia. Books 9 through 12, wherein Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 recalls his adventures for his Phaeacian hosts, are collectively referred to as the Apologoi: Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' "stories". Book 22, wherein Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 kills all the Suitors, has been given the title Mnesterophonia: "slaughter of the Suitors". This concludes the Greek Epic Cycle, though fragments remain of the "alternative ending" of sorts known as the Telegonyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1520934. This Telegonyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1520934 aside, the last 548 lines of the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160, corresponding to Book 24, are believed by many scholars to have been added by a slightly later poet. Several passages in earlier books seem to be setting up the events of Book 24, so if it were indeed a later addition, the offending editor would seem to have changed earlier text as well. For more about varying views on the origin, authorship and unity of the poem see Homerhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6691ic scholarship. Geography of the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 The events in the main sequence of the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 (excluding Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' embedded narrative of his wanderings) take place in the Peloponnese and in what are now called the Ionian Islands. There are difficulties in the apparently simple identification of Ithaca, the homeland of Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231, which may or may not be the same island that is now called Ithake. The wanderings of Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 as told to the Phaeacians, and the location of the Phaeacians' own island of Scheria, pose more fundamental problems, if geography is to be applied: scholars, both ancient and modern, are divided as to whether or not any of the places visited by Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 (after Ismaros and before his return to Ithaca) are real. Influences on the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 Scholars have seen strong influences from Near Eastern mythology and literature in the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160. Martin West has noted substantial parallels between the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160. Both Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 and Gilgamesh are known for traveling to the ends of the earth, and on their journeys go to the land of the dead. On his voyage to the underworld, Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 follows instructions given to him by Circe, a goddess who is the daughter of the sun-god Helios. Her island, Aeaea, is located at the edges of the world and seems to have close associations with the sun. Like Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231, Gilgamesh gets directions on how to reach the land of the dead from a divine helper: in this case, the goddess Siduri, who, like Circe, dwells by the sea at the ends of the earth. Her home is also associated with the sun: Gilgamesh reaches Siduri's house by passing through a tunnel underneath Mt. Mashu, the high mountain from which the sun comes into the sky. West argues that the similarity of Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' and Gilgamesh's journeys to the edges of the earth are the result of the influence of the Gilgamesh epic upon the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160. In 1914, paleontologist Othenio Abel surmised the origins of the cyclops to be the result of ancient Greeks finding an elephant skull. The enormous nasal passage in the middle of the forehead could have looked like the eye socket of a giant, to those who had never seen a living elephant. Classical scholars, on the other hand, have long realized that the story of the cyclops was originally a Greek folk tale, which existed independently of The Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 and which only became embedded in it at a later date. Similar stories are found in cultures across Europe and the Middle East. According to this explanation, the cyclops was originally simply a giant or ogre, much like Humbaba in the Epic of Gilgamesh; the detail about it having one eye was simply invented in order to explain how the creature was so easily blinded. Themes Homecoming An important factor to consider about Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' homecoming is the hint at potential endings to the epic by using other characters as parallels for his journey. For instance, one example is that of Agamemnon's homecoming versus Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' homecoming. Upon Agamemnon's return, his wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus, kill Agamemnon. Agamemnon's son, Orestes, out of vengeance for his father's death, kills Aegisthus. This parallel compares the death of the suitors to the death of Aegisthus and sets Orestes up as an example for Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482. Also, because Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 knows about Clytemnestra's betrayal, Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 returns home in disguise in order to test the loyalty of his own wife, Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769. Later, Agamemnon praises Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769 for not killing Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231. It is because of Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769 that Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 has fame and a successful homecoming. This successful homecoming is unlike Achilles, who has fame but is dead, and Agamemnon, who had an unsuccessful homecoming resulting in his death. Wandering Only two of Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231's adventures are described by the poet. The rest of Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' adventures are recounted by Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 himself. The two scenes that the poet describes are Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 on Calypsohttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q48961's island and Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' encounter with the Phaeacians. These scenes are told by the poet to represent an important transition in Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' journey: being concealed to returning home. Calypsohttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q48961's name means "concealer" or "one who conceals," and that is exactly what she does with Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231. Calypsohttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q48961 keeps Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 concealed from the world and unable to return home. After leaving Calypsohttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q48961's island, the poet describes Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' encounters with the Phaeacians—those who "convoy without hurt to all men"—which represents his transition from not returning home to returning home. Also, during Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' journey, he encounters many beings that are close to the gods. These encounters are useful in understanding that Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 is in a world beyond man and that influences the fact he cannot return home. These beings that are close to the gods include the Phaeacians who lived near Cyclopes, whose king, Alcinous, is the great-grandson of the king of the giants, Eurymedon, and the grandson of Poseidon. Some of the other characters that Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 encounters are Polyphemus who is the cyclops son of Poseidon; God of Oceans, Circe who is the sorceress daughter of the Sun that turns men into animals, Calypsohttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q48961 who is a goddess, and the Laestrygonians who are cannibalistic giants. Guest-Friendship Throughout the course of the epic, Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 encounters several examples of guest-friendship which provide examples of how hosts should and should not act. One example of good guest-friendship is that of the Phaeacians. The Phaeacians feed Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231, give him a place to sleep, and give him a safe voyage home, which are all things a good host should do. He also encounters some bad hosts. For instance, the cyclops's "gift" to Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 was that he would eat him last. He was not a very good host. Another host that was not well versed in guest-friendship was Calypsohttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q48961, who did not allow Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 to leave her island. 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. This is best seen when Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231, disguised as a beggar, begs Antinoushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19989087, one of the suitors, for food and Antinoushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19989087 denies his request. Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 essentially says that while Antinoushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19989087 may look like a king, he is far from a king since he is not generous. Testing Another theme throughout the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 is testing. This occurs in two distinct ways. Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 tests the loyalty of others and others test Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' identity. An example of Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 testing the loyalties of others is when he returns home. 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 Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 reveals his true identity, the characters test Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' identity to see if he really is who he says he is. For instance, Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769 tests Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' 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 Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 would know, thus proving his identity. For more information on the progression of testing type scenes, read more below. Omens Omens occur frequently throughout the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160, as well as many other epics. Within the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160, omens frequently involve birds. It is important to note who receives the omens and what these omens mean to the characters and to the epic as a whole. For instance, bird omens are shown to Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482, Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769, Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231, and the suitors. Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482 and Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769 receive their omens as well in the form of words, sneezes, and dreams. However, Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 is the only character that receives thunder or lightning as an omen. This is important to note because the thunder came from Zeushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q34201, the king of the gods. This direct relationship between Zeushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q34201 and Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 represents the kingship of Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231. Type scenes in Homerhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6691's Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 Finding Scenes Finding scenes occur in the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 when a character discovers another character within the epic. Finding scenes proceed as followed: 1. The character encounters or finds another character. 2. The encountered character is identified and described. 3. The character approaches and then converses with the found character. These finding scenes can be identified several times throughout the epic including when Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482 and Pisistratus find Menelaus when Calypsohttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q48961 finds Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 on the beach, and when the suitor Amphimedon finds Agamemnon in Hades. Omens Omens are another example of a type scene in the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160. Two important parts of an omen type scene are the recognition of the omen and then the interpretation. In the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 specifically, there are several omens involving birds. All of the bird omens—with the exception of the first one in the epic—show large birds attacking smaller bird. Accompanying each omen is a wish; this wish can be either explicitly stated or implicitly implied. For example, Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482 wishes for vengeance and for Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 to be home, Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769 wishes for Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' return, and the suitors wish for the death of Telemachushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192482. The omens seen in the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 are also a recurring theme throughout the epic. Testing While testing is a theme with the epic, it also has a very specific type scene that accompanies it as well. Throughout the epic, the testing of others follows a typical pattern. This pattern is: 1. Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 is hesitant to question the loyalties of others. 2. Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 then tests the loyalties of others by questioning them. 3. The characters reply to Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' questions. 4. Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 proceeds to reveal his identity. 5. The characters test Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' identity. 6. There is a rise of emotions associated with Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' recognition, usually lament or joy. 7. Finally, the reconciled characters work together. Guest-Friendship Guest-Friendship is also a theme in the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160, but it too follows a very specific pattern. This pattern is: 1. The arrival and the reception of the guest. 2. Bathing or providing fresh clothes to the guest. 3. Providing food and drink to the guest. 4. Questions may be asked of the guest and entertainment should be provided by the host. 5. The guest should be given a place to sleep and both the guest and host retire for the night. 6. The guest and host exchange gifts, the guest is granted a safe journey home and 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. Cultural impact The Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 is regarded as one of the most important foundational works of western literature. It is widely regarded by western literary critics as a timeless classic. Straightforward retellings of The Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 have flourished ever since the Middle Ages. Merugud Uilix maicc Leirtis ("On the Wandering of Ulysses, son of Laertes") is an eccentric Old Irish version of the material; the work exists in a 12th-century AD manuscript, which linguists believe is based on an 8th-century original. Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, first performed in 1640, is an opera by Claudio Monteverdi based on the second half of Homerhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6691's Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160. The first canto of Ezra Pound's The Cantos (1917) is both a translation and a retelling of Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231' journey to the underworld. The poem "Ulysses" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson is narrated by an aged Ulysses who is determined to continue to live life to the fullest. The Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 (1997), a made-for-TV movie directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, is a slightly abbreviated version of the epic. Other authors have composed more creative reworkings of the poem, often updated to address contemporary themes and concerns. Cyclops by Euripides, the only fully extant satyr play, retells the episode involving Polyphemus with a humorous twist. A True Story, written by Lucian of Samosata in the 2nd century AD, is a satire on the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 and on ancient travel tales, describing a journey sailing westward, beyond the Pillars of Hercules and to the Moon, the first known text that could be called science fiction. James Joyce's modernist novel Ulysses (1922) is a retelling of The Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 set in modern-day Dublin. Each chapter in the book has an assigned theme, technique, and correspondences between its characters and those of Homerhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6691's Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160. Homerhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6691's Daughter by Robert Graves is a novel imagining how the version we have might have been invented out of older tales. The Japanese-French anime Ulysses 31 (1981) updates the ancient setting into a 31st-century space opera. Omeros (1991), an epic poem by Derek Walcott, is in part a retelling of the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160, set on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. The film Ulysses' Gaze (1995) directed by Theo Angelopoulos has many of the elements of the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 set against the backdrop of the most recent and previous Balkan Wars. Similarly, Daniel Wallace's Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions (1998) adapts the epic to the American South, while also incorporating tall tales into its first-person narrative much as Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 does in the Apologoi (Books 9-12). The Coen Brothers' 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou? is loosely based on Homerhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6691's poem. Margaret Atwood's 2005 novella The Penelopiad is an ironic rewriting of The Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 from Penelopehttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165769's perspective. Zachary Mason's The Lost Books of the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 (2007) is a series of short stories that rework Homerhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6691's original plot in a contemporary style reminiscent of Italo Calvino. The Heroes of Olympus, by Rick Riordan, is based entirely off of Greek mythology and includes many aspects and characters from the Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160. Ever since the ancient times, various authors have sought to imagine new endings for The Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160. In canto XXVI of the Inferno, Dante Alighieri meets Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 in the eighth circle of hell, where Odysseushttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47231 himself appends a new ending to The Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160 in which he never returns to Ithaca and instead continues his restless adventuring. Nikos Kazantzakis aspires to continue the poem and explore more modern concerns in his epic poem The Odysseyhttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160: A Modern Sequel, which was first published in 1938 in modern Greek.