The Odyssey c. 750-650 BC

Composed in ancient Greece, probably between the late eighth and seventh centuries BC, Homer’s The Odyssey is one of the foundational works of Western literature, an epic poem of homecoming, endurance and the longing for belonging. Following the fall of Troy, Odysseus, king of Ithaca, struggles to return to his wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus, after ten years of war. His journey across a world of gods, monsters and perilous enchantments brings him into conflict with the Cyclops Polyphemus, the sorceress Circe and the irresistible Sirens, while the sea god Poseidon repeatedly obstructs his passage home. Meanwhile, in Ithaca, Penelope resists a crowd of persistent suitors, and Telemachus begins his own passage towards maturity as their household falls under threat. In Robert Fagles’s acclaimed translation, the poem’s grandeur, speed and dramatic intimacy emerge in vigorous, musical English.

More than an adventure story, The Odyssey explores the complicated nature of identity, hospitality, loyalty and the meaning of home. Odysseus survives through courage and endurance, but equally through metis—the cunning intelligence that allows him to adapt when strength alone cannot prevail. The poem’s encounters with strangers and supernatural beings repeatedly test the boundaries between civilisation and savagery, while Penelope’s patience and ingenuity offer a powerful counterpart to her husband’s restless travels. Fagles’s translation, first published in 1996, preserves the epic’s oral energy and emotional immediacy, bringing its ancient world vividly within reach of contemporary readers. Alongside The Iliad, The Odyssey has shaped centuries of storytelling, from classical tragedy to the modern novel, and its journey home remains one of literature’s most enduring explorations of what it means to lose oneself and find one’s way back.