Odysseus

Odysseus, son of Laertes and Anticlea, daughter of Autolycus, husband of Penelope (Tyndareos' niece) and father of Telemachus, fought in the Trojan War and came up with the idea of the wooden horse, and then returned home by an adventure-filled circuitous route that took ten years.

Odyssey is a term used for a difficult journey that comes from the Trojan War story of Odysseus' Odyssey.

Ulysses is a Latin form of the name Odysseus.

Odysseus' world is very different from today because strangers were welcome.

The story about the madness of Odysseus so perfectly suits him that it is disappointing not to find it spelled out in Homer. Where does the story of Homer's attempted draft dodging through madness come from?

From your Guide, an introduction to Odysseus and related features on this site.

Athena takes advantage of Poseidon's absence to rally the other Olympians around the cause of returning Odysseus to Ithaca.

A perfect match for her wily husband, suitor-thwarting Penelope is likened to a fox.

Odysseus' Underworld visit to obtain information from Tiresias on returning to Ithaca shows a non-descript realm of Hades.

In "Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs - Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World," Adrienne Mayor does a masterful job of showing how everything modern in the areas of terrorism and warfare has ancient antecedents.

Poseidon is the god who particularly troubles Odysseus, keeping him from reaching his home in Ithaca.