"The Odyssey" is an epic poem attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer. Composed in Homeric Greek around the 8th or 7th century BC, it is one of the oldest surviving works of literature. The poem, divided into 24 books, tells the story of Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, and his ten-year journey home after the Trojan War. Presumed dead in his absence, his wife Penelope and son Telemachus face unruly suitors vying for Penelope's hand. The epic explores themes of homecoming, wandering, guest-friendship, testing, and omens. The poem consists of 12,109 lines in dactylic hexameter.
"The Odyssey" is considered a classic and a prototype for Western epic poetry. There have been many adaptations of "The Odyssey" in film and television, including "Ulysses" (1954), "Odissea" (1968), "The Odyssey" (1997), "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" (2000), and "The Return" (2024). Christopher Nolan is also set to direct a major motion picture adaptation.
