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110-468: The central characters of the epic, such as Odysseus , Achilles , Agamemnon and Hector , are traditionally considered fictional figures from folklore, but aspects of the Homeric story may have some basis in actual historical events or people. This, and the extremely detailed geographic descriptions in the epic itself, have invited investigation of the possibility that Homer's heroes might have existed and that

220-699: A culture hero , but the Romans, who believed themselves the heirs of Prince Aeneas of Troy, considered him a villainous falsifier. In Virgil 's Aeneid , written between 29 and 19 BC, he is constantly referred to as "cruel Odysseus" ( Latin dirus Ulixes ) or "deceitful Odysseus" ( pellacis , fandi fictor ). Turnus, in Aeneid , book 9, reproaches the Trojan Ascanius with images of rugged, forthright Latin virtues, declaring (in John Dryden 's translation), "You shall not find

330-685: A Doric style influenced by the Ionic one was also used, especially in Sicily in the Achaean colonies. In Magna Graecia, limestone was used as a building material due to the difficulty in finding other materials. The Doric style in Magna Graecia reached its apogee, surpassing that of the motherland and the other Greek colonies. Regarding urban planning, the cities of Magna Graecia, as well as many cities of Greek colonies in other regions, were more orderly and rational in

440-420: A boar hunt. Odysseus swears her to secrecy, threatening to kill her if she tells anyone. When the contest of the bow begins, none of the suitors are able to string the bow. After all the suitors have given up, the disguised Odysseus asks to participate. Though the suitors refuse at first, Penelope intervenes and allows the "stranger" (the disguised Odysseus) to participate. Odysseus easily strings his bow and wins

550-430: A donkey and an ox to his plow (as they have different stride lengths, hindering the efficiency of the plow) and (some modern sources add) starts sowing his fields with salt . Palamedes , at the behest of Menelaus' brother Agamemnon , seeks to disprove Odysseus' madness and places Telemachus , Odysseus' infant son, in front of the plow. Odysseus veers the plow away from his son, thus exposing his stratagem. Odysseus holds

660-399: A grudge against Palamedes during the war for dragging him away from his home. Odysseus and other envoys of Agamemnon travel to Scyros to recruit Achilles because of a prophecy that Troy could not be taken without him. By most accounts, Thetis , Achilles' mother, disguises the youth as a woman to hide him from the recruiters because an oracle had predicted that Achilles would either live

770-534: A heavy dispute about one another's merits to receive the reward. The Greeks dither out of fear in deciding a winner, because they did not want to insult one and have him abandon the war effort. Nestor suggests that they allow the captive Trojans to decide the winner. The accounts of the Odyssey disagree, suggesting that the Greeks themselves hold a secret vote. In any case, Odysseus is the winner. Enraged and humiliated, Ajax

880-453: A little makeover by Athena); yet Penelope cannot believe that her husband has really returned—she fears that it is perhaps some god in disguise, as in the story of Alcmene (mother of Heracles)—and tests him by ordering her servant Euryclea to move the bed in their wedding-chamber. Odysseus protests that this cannot be done since he made the bed himself and knows that one of its legs is a living olive tree . Penelope finally accepts that he truly

990-464: A long uneventful life or achieve everlasting glory while dying young. Odysseus cleverly discovers which among the women before him is Achilles when the youth is the only one of them to show interest in examining the weapons hidden among an array of adornment gifts for the daughters of their host. Odysseus arranges further for the sounding of a battle horn, which prompts Achilles to clutch a weapon and show his trained disposition. With his disguise foiled, he

1100-460: A notable level of quality. In Magna Graecia there were examples of excellence in sculpture, coroplastics and bronzes. As for vase painting, many famous Athenian potters moved to Magna Graecia creating works influenced by the culture of the place, making their paintings peculiar and different from those of the motherland, giving rise to the South Italian ancient Greek pottery . Also noteworthy are

1210-426: A number of the extant plays by Aeschylus , Sophocles ( Ajax , Philoctetes ) and Euripides ( Hecuba , Rhesus , Cyclops ) and figured in still more that have not survived. In his Ajax , Sophocles portrays Odysseus as a modern voice of reasoning compared to the title character's rigid antiquity. Plato in his dialogue Hippias Minor examines a literary question about whom Homer intended to portray as

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1320-553: A shipwreck during a thunderstorm in which all but Odysseus drown. He washes ashore on the island of Ogygia , where Calypso compels him to remain as her lover for seven years. He finally escapes when Hermes tells Calypso to release Odysseus. Odysseus is shipwrecked and befriended by the Phaeacians . After he tells them his story, the Phaeacians, led by King Alcinous , agree to help Odysseus get home. They deliver him at night, while he

1430-507: A single combat duel, Odysseus is one of the Danaans who reluctantly volunteered to battle him. Telamonian Ajax ("The Greater"), however, is the volunteer who eventually fights Hector. Odysseus aids Diomedes during the night operations to kill Rhesus , because it had been foretold that if his horses drank from the Scamander River , Troy could not be taken. After Patroclus is slain, it

1540-564: A suburb of Split ). Rhegium (now Reggio Calabria ) founded Pyxus ( Policastro Bussentino ) in Lucania ; Locri founded Medma ( Rosarno ), Polyxena and Hipponium ( Vibo Valentia ) in present-day Calabria; Sybaris (now Sibari ) revitalised the indigenous centres of Laüs and Scydrus in Calabria and founded Poseidonia ( Paestum ), in Campania; Kroton (now Crotone ) founded Terina and participated in

1650-424: A very sceptical world, that Homer's Agamemnon had lived at Mycenae , and that "Troy" itself indeed had existed at Hisarlik. Much work has been done to identify other Homeric sites such as the palace of Nestor at Pylos . These attempts have been the subject of much scholarly research, archaeological work, and controversy. Some of the first theories on the location of "Homer's 'Ithaca'" were formulated as early as

1760-580: Is Outis ("Nobody"). Odysseus takes a barrel of wine and the Cyclops drinks it, falling asleep. Odysseus and his men take a wooden stake, ignite it with the remaining wine, and blind him. While they escape, Polyphemus cries in pain, and the other Cyclopes ask him what is wrong. Polyphemus cries, "Nobody has blinded me!" and the other Cyclopes think he has gone mad. Odysseus and his crew escape, but Odysseus rashly reveals his real name, and Polyphemus prays to Poseidon, his father, to take revenge. They stay with Aeolus ,

1870-467: Is Odysseus who counsels Achilles to let the Achaean men eat and rest rather than follow his rage-driven desire to go back on the offensive—and kill Trojans—immediately. Eventually (and reluctantly), he consents. During the funeral games for Patroclus, Odysseus becomes involved in a wrestling match with Ajax "The Greater" and foot race with Ajax "The Lesser", son of Oileus and Nestor's son Antilochus . He draws

1980-621: Is a term that was used for the Greek-speaking areas of Southern Italy , in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria , Apulia , Basilicata , Campania and Sicily ; these regions were extensively populated by Greek settlers starting from the 8th century BC. The settlements in this region, founded initially by their metropoleis (mother cities), eventually evolved into strong Greek city-states ( poleis ), functioning independently. The settlers brought with them their Hellenic civilization , and developed their own civilisation, due to

2090-463: Is attested for the first time in a passage from the 2nd century BC by the Greek historian Polybius (written around 150 BC), where he ascribed the term to Pythagoras and his philosophical school . Ancient authors use "Magna Graecia" to mean different parts of southern Italy, including or excluding Sicily, Strabo and Livy being the most prominent advocates of the wider definitions. Strabo used

2200-504: Is driven mad by Athena. When he returns to his senses, in shame at how he has slaughtered livestock in his madness, Ajax kills himself by the sword that Hector had given him after their duel. Together with Diomedes, Odysseus fetches Achilles' son, Pyrrhus , to come to the aid of the Achaeans, because an oracle had stated that Troy could not be taken without him. A great warrior, Pyrrhus is also called Neoptolemus (Greek for "new warrior"). Upon

2310-735: Is eventually turned into a horse by Athena. Odysseus is one of the most recurrent characters in Western culture . Dante Alighieri , in the Canto XXVI of the Inferno segment of his Divine Comedy (1308–1320), encounters Odysseus ("Ulisse" in Italian) near the very bottom of Hell: with Diomedes , he walks wrapped in flame in the eighth ring ( Counselors of Fraud ) of the Eighth Circle ( Sins of Malice ), as punishment for his schemes and conspiracies that won

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2420-598: Is exposed and joins Agamemnon's call to arms among the Hellenes . Odysseus is represented as one of the most influential Greek champions during the Trojan War in Homer's account. Along with Nestor and Idomeneus he is one of the most trusted counsellors and advisors. He always champions the Achaean cause, especially when others question Agamemnon's command, as in one instance when Thersites speaks against him. When Agamemnon, to test

2530-434: Is fast asleep, to a hidden harbor on Ithaca. He finds his way to the hut of one of his own former slaves, the swineherd Eumaeus , and also meets up with Telemachus returning from Sparta. Athena disguises Odysseus as a wandering beggar to learn how things stand in his household. When the disguised Odysseus returns after 20 years, he is recognized only by his faithful dog, Argos . Penelope announces in her long interview with

2640-608: Is found in the Italian regions of Calabria and Apulia . Griko is considered by linguists to be a descendant of Byzantine Greek , which had been the majority language of Salento through the Middle Ages, combining also some ancient Doric and local romance elements. There is a rich oral tradition and Griko folklore , limited now but once numerous, to around 30,000 people, most of them having abandoned their language in favour of Italian. Some scholars, such as Gerhard Rohlfs , argue that

2750-592: Is her husband, a moment that highlights their homophrosýnē ("like-mindedness"). The next day Odysseus and Telemachus visit the country farm of his old father Laërtes . The citizens of Ithaca follow Odysseus on the road, planning to avenge the killing of the Suitors, their sons. The goddess Athena and the god Zeus intervene and persuade both sides to make peace. According to some late sources, most of them purely genealogical, Odysseus had many other children besides Telemachus . Most such genealogies aimed to link Odysseus with

2860-797: Is mentioned regularly in Virgil 's Aeneid written between 29 and 19 BC, and the poem's hero, Aeneas , rescues one of Ulysses' crew members who was left behind on the island of the Cyclopes. He in turn offers a first-person account of some of the same events Homer relates, in which Ulysses appears directly. Virgil's Ulysses typifies his view of the Greeks: he is cunning but impious, and ultimately malicious and hedonistic. Ovid retells parts of Ulysses' journeys, focusing on his romantic involvements with Circe and Calypso, and recasts him as, in Harold Bloom 's phrase, "one of

2970-464: Is renowned for his intellectual brilliance, guile, and versatility ( polytropos ), and he is thus known by the epithet Odysseus the Cunning (Ancient Greek: μῆτις , romanized:  mêtis , lit.   'cunning intelligence' ). He is most famous for his nostos , or "homecoming", which took him ten eventful years after the decade-long Trojan War . The form Ὀδυσ(σ)εύς Odys(s)eus

3080-497: Is used starting in the epic period and through the classical period, but various other forms are also found. In vase inscriptions, we find the variants Oliseus ( Ὀλισεύς ), Olyseus ( Ὀλυσεύς ), Olysseus ( Ὀλυσσεύς ), Olyteus ( Ὀλυτεύς ), Olytteus ( Ὀλυττεύς ) and Ōlysseus ( Ὠλυσσεύς ). The form Oulixēs ( Οὐλίξης ) is attested in an early source in Magna Graecia ( Ibycus , according to Diomedes Grammaticus ), while

3190-479: The Achilleid as having gone to Skyros to find him. Odysseus discovered Achilles by offering gifts, adornments and musical instruments as well as weapons, to the king's daughters, and then having his companions imitate the noises of an enemy's attack on the island (most notably, making a blast of a trumpet heard), which prompted Achilles to reveal himself by picking a weapon to fight back, and together they departed for

3300-744: The lex Atinia of 197   BC. In 194   BC, garrisons of 300 Roman veterans were implanted in Volturnum , Liternum , Puteoli , Salernum and Buxentum , and to Sipontum on the Adriatic. This model was replicated in the territory of the Brettii; 194   BC saw the foundation of the Roman colonies of Kroton and Tempsa , followed by the Latin colonies of Copia (193   BC) and Valentia (192   BC). The social, linguistic and administrative changes arising from

3410-662: The Ancient Greek language , its religious rites, and its traditions of the independent polis . An original Hellenic civilization soon developed, and later interacted with the native Italic civilisations. The most important cultural transplant was the Chalcidean / Cumaean variety of the Greek alphabet , which was adopted by the Etruscans ; the Old Italic alphabet subsequently evolved into

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3520-506: The Danaans , especially at Odysseus, for abandoning him. Although his first instinct is to shoot Odysseus, his anger is eventually diffused by Odysseus' persuasive powers and the influence of the gods. Odysseus returns to the Argive camp with Philoctetes and his arrows. Perhaps Odysseus' most famous contribution to the Greek war effort is devising the strategy of the Trojan Horse , which allows

3630-692: The Epic Cycle is called the Telegony , and is now lost. According to remaining fragments, it told the story of Odysseus' last voyage to the land of the Thesprotians. There he married the queen Callidice . Then he led the Thesprotians in a war with their neighbors the Brygoi (Brygi, Brygians) and defeated in battle the neighboring peoples who attacked him. When Callidice died, Odysseus returned home to Ithaca, leaving their son, Polypoetes , to rule Thesprotia. Contradicting

3740-494: The Greek Theatre of Hippana  [ it ] , the Greek Theatre of Akrai  [ it ] , the Greek Theatre of Monte Jato  [ it ] , the Greek Theatre of Morgantina  [ it ] and the most famous Greek Theater of Taormina , amply demonstrate this. Only fragments of original dramaturgical works are left, but the tragedies of the three great giants Aeschylus , Sophocles and Euripides and

3850-564: The Heraion at Foce del Sele , the Temple of Poseidon (Taranto) , the Tavole Palatine and the Temple of Victory (Himera) . The Sicilian Greek colonists in Magna Graecia, but also from Campania and Apulia , also brought theatrical art from their motherland. The Greek Theatre of Syracuse , the Greek Theatre of Segesta  [ it ] , the Greek Theatre of Tindari  [ it ] ,

3960-469: The Iliad and Odyssey Homer uses several epithets to describe Odysseus, starting with the opening, where he is described as "the man of many devices" (in the 1919 Murray translation). The Greek word used is polytropos , literally the man of many turns, and other translators have suggested alternate English translations, including "man of twists and turns" (Fagles 1996) and "a complicated man" (Wilson 2018). In

4070-605: The Latin variant Ulysses ( / juː ˈ l ɪ s iː z / yoo- LISS -eez , UK also / ˈ juː l ɪ s iː z / YOO -liss-eez ; Latin : Ulysses , Ulixes ), is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer 's epic poem the Odyssey . Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in that same epic cycle . As the son of Laërtes and Anticlea , husband of Penelope , and father of Telemachus , Acusilaus, and Telegonus , Odysseus

4180-630: The Latin alphabet , which became the most widely used alphabet in the world. Over time, due to overpopulation and other political and commercial reasons, the new cities expanded their presence in Italy by founding other Greek cities; effectively expanding the Greek civilisation to the whole territory known today as Magna Graecia. Remains of some of these Greek colonies can be seen today such as those of Neapolis ('new city', now Naples ), Syracusae ( Syracuse ), Akragas ( Agrigento ), Taras ( Taranto ) and Rhegion ( Reggio Calabria ). An intense colonisation program

4290-456: The Odyssey , where Odysseus' early childhood is recounted, Euryclea asks the boy's grandfather Autolycus to name him. Euryclea seems to suggest a name like Polyaretos , "for he has much been prayed for " ( πολυάρητος ) but Autolycus "apparently in a sardonic mood" decided to give the child another name commemorative of "his own experience in life": "Since I have been angered ( ὀδυσσάμενος odyssamenos ) with many, both men and women, let

4400-527: The Pyrrhic War in 272   BC, most of the cities of southern Italy were linked to Rome with pacts and treaties ( foedera ) which sanctioned a sort of indirect control. Sicily was conquered by Rome during the First Punic War . Only Syracuse remained independent until 212 because its king Hiero II was a devoted ally of the Romans. His grandson Hieronymus however allied with Hannibal , which prompted

4510-511: The Temple of Hera Lacinia , the Temple of Heracles, Agrigento , The Temple of Juno in Agrigento , the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Agrigento , the Temple of Apollo (Syracuse) , the Temple of Athena (Syracuse) , the Temple of Athena (Paestum) , the Temple C (Selinus) , the Temple E (Selinus) , the Temple F (Selinus) , the Temple of Juno Lacinia (Crotone) , the Second Temple of Hera (Paestum) ,

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4620-601: The Val Demone ), and much of Calabria and Lucania were still largely Greek-speaking. Some regions of southern Italy experienced demographic shifts as Greeks began to migrate northwards in significant numbers from regions further south; one such region was Cilento , which came to have a Greek-speaking majority. At this time the language had evolved into medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek , and its speakers were known as Byzantine Greeks . The resultant fusion of local Byzantine Greek culture with Norman and Arab culture (from

4730-474: The large-scale establishment of colonies elsewhere: according to one estimate, the population of the widening area of Greek settlement increased roughly tenfold from 800 BC to 400 BC, from 800,000 to as many as 7 + 1 ⁄ 2 -10 million. This was not simply for trade, but also to found settlements. These Greek colonies were not, as Roman colonies were, dependent on their mother-city, but were independent city-states in their own right. Another reason

4840-469: The 2nd century BC. Each approach to identifying a location has been different, varying in degrees of scientific procedure, empirical investigation, informed hypothesis, wishful thinking, fervent belief, and sheer fantasy. Each investigator and each investigation merits interest, as an indicator both of the temper of the times in which a particular theory was developed, and of the perennial interest in Odysseus and

4950-508: The Arab occupation of Sicily) gave rise to Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture in Sicily. This is a list of the 22 poleis (" city-states ") in Italy, according to Mogens Herman Hansen . It does not list all the Hellenic settlements, only those organised around a polis structure. This is a list of the 46 poleis (" city-states ") in Sicily, according to Mogens Herman Hansen. It does not list all

5060-549: The Greek army to sneak into Troy under cover of darkness. It is built by Epeius and filled with Greek warriors, led by Odysseus. Odysseus and Diomedes steal the Palladium that lay within Troy's walls, for the Greeks were told they could not sack the city without it. Some late Roman sources indicate that Odysseus schemed to kill his partner on the way back, but Diomedes thwarts this attempt. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey portray Odysseus as

5170-454: The Greek grammarian Aelius Herodianus has Oulixeus ( Οὐλιξεύς ). In Latin , he was known as Ulixēs or (considered less correct) Ulyssēs . Some have supposed that "there may originally have been two separate figures, one called something like Odysseus, the other something like Ulixes, who were combined into one complex personality." However, the change between d and l is common also in some Indo-European and Greek names, and

5280-503: The Greeks, which formed as independent poleis. The second form was in what historians refer to as emporia ; trading posts which were occupied by both Greeks and non-Greeks and which were primarily concerned with the manufacture and sale of goods. Examples of this latter type of settlement are found at Al Mina in the east and Pithekoussai in the west. From about 750 BC the Greeks began 250 years of expansion, settling colonies in all directions. According to Strabo 's Geographica ,

5390-486: The Hellenic settlements, only those organised around a polis structure. The administrative organisation of Magna Graecia was inherited from the Hellenic poleis, taking up the concept of " city-states " administered by the aristocracy . The cities of Magna Graecia were independent like the Greek poleis of the motherland, and had an army and a military fleet. There were also cases of tyranny as in Syracuse, governed by

5500-568: The Latin form is supposed to be derived from the Etruscan Uthuze (see below), which perhaps accounts for some of the phonetic innovations. The etymology of the name is unknown. Ancient authors linked the name to the Greek verbs odussomai ( ὀδύσσομαι ) "to be wroth against, to hate", to oduromai ( ὀδύρομαι ) "to lament, bewail", or even to ollumi ( ὄλλυμι ) "to perish, to be lost". Homer relates it to various forms of this verb in references and puns. In Book 19 of

5610-733: The Papacy in southern Italy and the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire continued to govern the area in the form of the Catapanate of Italy (965 -1071) through the Middle Ages, well after northern Italy fell to the Lombards. At the time of the Normans ' late medieval conquest of southern Italy and Sicily (in the late 12th century), the Salento peninsula (the "heel" of Italy), up to one-third of Sicily (concentrated in

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5720-594: The Roman conquest only took root in this region by the 1st century AD, while Greek culture remained strong and was actively cultivated as shown by epigraphic evidence. During the Early Middle Ages , following the disastrous Gothic War , new waves of Byzantine Christian Greeks fleeing the Slavic invasion of Peloponnese settled in Calabria, further strengthened the Hellenic element in the region. The iconoclast emperor Leo III appropriated lands that had been granted to

5830-472: The Romans to besiege the city , which fell in 212   BC. After the second Punic War, Rome pursued an unprecedented program of reorganisation in the rest of Magna Graecia, where many of the cities were annexed to the Roman Republic in 205   BC, as a consequence of their defection to Hannibal. Roman colonies ( civium romanorum ) were the main element of the new territorial control plan starting from

5940-506: The Samnites. However, the needs of the Roman populace determined their need for territorial expansion towards the south. As the Greek cities of southern Italy came under threat from the Bruttii and Lucanians from the end of the 4th century BC, they asked for help from Rome, which exploited this opportunity by sending military garrisons in the 280s BC. Following Rome's victory over Taras after

6050-539: The Trojan War and reassert his place as rightful king of Ithaca. Homebound from Troy, after a raid on Ismarus in the land of the Cicones , he and his twelve ships are driven off course by storms. They visit the lethargic Lotus-Eaters and are captured by the Cyclops Polyphemus while visiting his island. After Polyphemus eats several of his men, he and Odysseus have a discussion and Odysseus tells Polyphemus his name

6160-407: The Trojan War. The story of the death of Palamedes has many versions. According to some, Odysseus never forgives Palamedes for unmasking his feigned madness and plays a part in his downfall. One tradition says Odysseus convinces a Trojan captive to write a letter pretending to be from Palamedes. A sum of gold is mentioned to have been sent as a reward for Palamedes' treachery. Odysseus then kills

6270-575: The Trojan War. In a famous passage, Dante has Odysseus relate a different version of his voyage and death from the one told by Homer. He tells how he set out with his men from Circe's island for a journey of exploration to sail beyond the Pillars of Hercules and into the Western sea to find what adventures awaited them. Men, says Ulisse, are not made to live like brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge. After travelling west and south for five months, they see in

6380-501: The account of Dares the Phrygian , Odysseus was illustrated as "tough, crafty, cheerful, of medium height, eloquent, and wise." Relatively little is given of Odysseus' fictional background other than that according to Pseudo-Apollodorus, his paternal grandfather or step-grandfather is Arcesius , son of Cephalus and grandson of Aeolus , while his maternal grandfather is the thief Autolycus , son of Hermes and Chione . Hence, Odysseus

6490-480: The better man, Achilles or Odysseus. Pausanias at the Description of Greece writes that at Pheneus there was a bronze statue of Poseidon, surnamed Hippios ( Ancient Greek : Ἵππιος ), meaning of horse , which according to the legends was dedicated by Odysseus and also a sanctuary of Artemis which was called Heurippa ( Ancient Greek : Εὑρίππα ), meaning horse finder , and was founded by Odysseus. According to

6600-471: The bottom, the two proceed to bury him with stones, killing him. When Achilles is slain in battle by Paris , it is Odysseus and Ajax who retrieve the fallen warrior's body and armour in the thick of heavy fighting. During the funeral games for Achilles, Odysseus competes once again with Ajax. Thetis says that the arms of Achilles will go to the bravest of the Greeks, but only these two warriors dare lay claim to that title. The two Argives became embroiled in

6710-433: The cannibalistic Laestrygonians . Odysseus' ship is the only one to escape. He sails on and visits the witch-goddess Circe . She turns half of his men into swine after feeding them cheese and wine. Hermes warns Odysseus about Circe and gives him a drug called moly , which resists Circe's magic. Circe, being attracted to Odysseus' resistance, falls in love with him and releases his men. Odysseus and his crew remain with her on

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6820-661: The colonisation of Magna Graecia had already begun by the time of the Trojan War and lasted for several centuries. Greeks began to settle in southern Italy in the 8th century BC. Their first great migratory wave was by the Euboeans aimed at the Gulf of Naples ( Pithecusae , Cumae ) and the Strait of Messina ( Zancle , Rhegium ). Pithecusae on the island of Ischia is considered the oldest Greek settlement in Italy, and Cumae their first colony on

6930-447: The comedies of Aristophanes are known. Some famous playwrights in the Greek language came directly from Magna Graecia. Others, such as Aeschylus and Epicharmus , worked for a long time in Sicily. Epicharmus can be considered Syracusan in all respects, having worked all his life with the tyrants of Syracuse . His comedy preceded that of the more famous Aristophanes by staging the gods for the first time in comedy. While Aeschylus, after

7040-515: The contest. Having done so, he proceeds to slaughter the suitors (beginning with Antinous whom he finds drinking from Odysseus' cup) with help from Telemachus and two of Odysseus' servants, Eumaeus the swineherd and Philoetius the cowherd. Odysseus tells the serving women who slept with the suitors to clean up the mess of corpses and then has those women hanged in terror. He tells Telemachus that he will replenish his stocks by raiding nearby islands. Odysseus has now revealed himself in all his glory (with

7150-458: The disguised hero that whoever can string Odysseus' rigid bow and shoot an arrow through twelve axe shafts may have her hand. According to Bernard Knox , "For the plot of the Odyssey , of course, her decision is the turning point, the move that makes possible the long-predicted triumph of the returning hero". Odysseus' identity is discovered by the housekeeper, Eurycleia , as she is washing his feet and discovers an old scar Odysseus received during

7260-473: The distance a great mountain rising from the sea (this is Purgatory , in Dante's cosmology) before a storm sinks them. Dante did not have access to the original Greek texts of the Homeric epics, so his knowledge of their subject-matter was based only on information from later sources, chiefly Virgil 's Aeneid but also Ovid ; hence the discrepancy between Dante and Homer. Magna Graecia Magna Graecia

7370-417: The distance from the motherland and the influence of the indigenous peoples of southern Italy which left a lasting imprint on Italy (such as in the culture of ancient Rome ). They also influenced the native peoples, such as the Sicels and the Oenotrians , who became hellenised after they adopted the Greek culture as their own. In some fields such as architecture and urban planning, they sometimes surpassed

7480-481: The distance from the motherland and the influence of the indigenous peoples of southern Italy. From the motherland Greece, art, literature and philosophy decisively influenced the life of the colonies. In Magna Graecia much impetus was given to culture, especially in some cities, such as Taras (now Taranto ). Pythagoras moved to Crotone where he founded his school in 530 BC . Among others, Aeschylus , Herodotus , Xenophanes and Plato visited Magna Graecia. Among

7590-451: The distribution of spaces than those of the mother country, making the urban fabric more practical. The first examples of urbanistically more rational Greek cities belonged to Magna Graecia, in this case Taranto , Metapontum and Megara Hyblaea . Characteristic of this new urban concept, which later spread also in the motherland to Rhodes and Miletus , was a checkerboard road network. In Magna Graecia painting and sculpture also reached

7700-421: The doctors Alcmeon of Crotone and Democedes of Crotone; the sculptor from Reggio Clearchus ; the painter Zeuxis , the musicologist Aristoxenus of Taranto and the legislator Zaleucus of Locri. A remnant of Greek influence can be found in the survival of the Greek language in some villages of the above-mentioned Salento peninsula (the "heel" of Italy). This living dialect of Greek, known locally as Griko ,

7810-487: The events of this period precise dates are unknown, but the destruction of Sybaris may have occurred around 510 BC, while the two other clashes are placed around 580-560 BC, with the destruction of Siris before the Battle of the Sagra . The first Greek city to be absorbed into the Roman Republic was Neàpolis in 327   BC. At the beginning of the 3rd century, Rome was a great power but had not yet entered into conflict with most of Magna Graecia, which had been allies of

7920-478: The first time news of his own household, threatened by the greed of Penelope 's suitors . Odysseus also talks to his fallen war comrades and the mortal shade of Heracles . Odysseus and his men return to Circe's island, and she advises them on the remaining stages of the journey. They skirt the land of the Sirens , pass between the six-headed monster Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis , where they row directly between

8030-660: The foundation of Caulonia (near Monasterace marina) in Calabria; Messana (now Messina ), in collaboration with Rhegium, founded Metaurus ( Gioia Tauro ); Taras together with Thurii founded Heracleia ( Policoro ) in Lucania in 434 BC, and also Callipolis ('beautiful city'). At the beginning of the 6th century BC, all the main cities of Magna Graecia on the Ionian Sea had achieved a high economic and cultural development, which shifted their interests towards expansion of their territory by waging war on neighbouring cities. The 6th century

8140-458: The foundation of many Italic cities. This would seem to contradict The Odyssey , which says that Odysseus' family line can only produce a single child per generation by the order of Zeus, with Telemachus already existing as that sole heir. However, the Odyssey also notes the existence of Odysseus's sister, Ctimene. The most famous of the other children are: He figures in the end of the story of King Telephus of Mysia . The last poem in

8250-414: The girl is to be wed to Achilles . Odysseus' attempts to avoid his sacred oath to defend Menelaus and Helen offended Roman notions of duty, and the many stratagems and tricks that he employed to get his way offended Roman notions of honour. Odysseus is probably best known as the eponymous hero of the Odyssey . This epic describes his travails, which lasted for 10 years, as he tries to return home after

8360-769: The great wandering womanizers". Ovid also gives a detailed account of the contest between Ulysses and Ajax for the armour of Achilles. Greek legend tells of Ulysses as the founder of Lisbon , Portugal , calling it Ulisipo or Ulisseya , during his twenty-year errand on the Mediterranean and Atlantic seas. Olisipo was Lisbon's name in the Roman Empire. This folk etymology is recounted by Strabo based on Asclepiades of Myrlea 's words, by Pomponius Mela , by Gaius Julius Solinus (3rd century AD), and would later be reiterated by Camões in his epic poem Os Lusíadas (first printed in 1572). In one version of Odysseus's end, he

8470-535: The illustrious characters born in Magna Graecia are the philosophers Parmenides of Elea , Zeno of Elea, Gorgias of Lentini and Empedocles of Agrigento; the Pythagoreans Philolaus of Crotone, Archytas of Taranto, Lysis of Taranto, Echecrates and Timaeus of Locri; the mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse; the poets Theocritus of Syracuse, Stesichorus , Ibycus of Reggio Calabria, Nossis of Locri, Alexis of Thuri and Leonidas of Taranto;

8580-460: The island for one year, while they feast and drink. Finally, Odysseus' men convince him to leave for Ithaca. Guided by Circe's instructions, Odysseus and his crew cross the ocean and reach a harbor at the western edge of the world, where Odysseus sacrifices to the dead and summons the spirit of the old prophet Tiresias for advice. Next Odysseus meets the spirit of his own mother, who had died of grief during his long absence. From her, he learns for

8690-551: The latter has only brawn to recommend him, Odysseus is not only ingenious (as evidenced by his idea for the Trojan Horse), but an eloquent speaker, a skill perhaps best demonstrated in the embassy to Achilles in book 9 of the Iliad . The two are not only foils in the abstract but often opposed in practice since they have many duels and run-ins. Since a prophecy suggested that the Trojan War would not be won without Achilles , Odysseus and several other Achaean leaders are described in

8800-472: The legends Odysseus lost his mares and traversed Greece in search of them. He found them on that site in Pheneus. Pausanias adds that according to the people of Pheneus, when Odysseus found his mares he decided to keep horses in the land of Pheneus, just as he reared his cows. The people of Pheneus also pointed out to him writing, purporting to be instructions of Odysseus to those tending his mares. As Ulysses, he

8910-460: The location of the sites described therein might be found. Heinrich Schliemann believed he tracked down several of the more famous traditions surrounding these heroes. Many locations around the Mediterranean were claimed to have been the heroes' "homes", such as the ruins at Mycenae and the little hill near the western Turkish town of Hissarlik . Schliemann's work and excavations proposed, to

9020-565: The mainland of Italy. The second wave was of the Achaeans who concentrated initially on the Ionian coast ( Metapontion , Poseidonia , Sybaris , Kroton ), shortly before 720   BC. At an unknown date between the 8th and 6th centuries BC the Athenians, of Ionian lineage, founded Scylletium (near today's Catanzaro ). With colonisation, Greek culture was exported to Italy with its dialects of

9130-470: The master of the winds, who gives Odysseus a leather bag containing all the winds, except the west wind, a gift that should have ensured a safe return home. However, the sailors foolishly open the bag while Odysseus sleeps, thinking that it contains gold. All of the winds fly out, and the resulting storm drives the ships back the way they had come, just as Ithaca comes into sight. After pleading in vain with Aeolus to help them again, they re-embark and encounter

9240-417: The morale of the Achaeans, announces his intentions to depart Troy, Odysseus restores order to the Greek camp. Later on, after many of the heroes leave the battlefield due to injuries (including Odysseus and Agamemnon), Odysseus once again persuades Agamemnon not to withdraw. Along with two other envoys, he is chosen in the failed embassy to try to persuade Achilles to return to combat. When Hector proposes

9350-703: The mosaics, the goldsmith's art and wall painting. Noteworthy sculptures from Magna Graecia are the Apollo of Gaza , the Apollo of Piombino , the Dancing Satyr of Mazara del Vallo , the Head of a Philosopher and the Riace bronzes , while notable vases from Magna Graecia are the Darius Vase and the Nestor's Cup . Noteworthy temples of Magna Graecia are the Temple of Concordia, Agrigento ,

9460-511: The mother country. The ancient inhabitants of Magna Graecia are called Italiotes and Siceliotes . Remains of some of these Greek cities can be seen today, such as Neapolis ("New City", now Naples ), Syrakousai ( Syracuse ), Akragas ( Agrigento ), Taras ( Taranto ), Rhegion ( Reggio Calabria ), and Kroton ( Crotone ). The most populous city of Magna Graecia was Sybaris (now Sibari ) with an estimated population, from 600 BC to 510 BC, between 300,000 and 500,000. The government of city-states

9570-432: The mythographers Pseudo-Apollodorus and Hyginus —postdate Homer by many centuries. Two stories in particular are well known: When Helen of Troy is abducted, Menelaus calls upon the other suitors to honour their oaths and help him to retrieve her, an attempt that leads to the Trojan War . Odysseus tries to avoid it by feigning lunacy, as an oracle had prophesied a long-delayed return home for him if he went. He hooks

9680-469: The name Uthuze ( Uθuze ), which has been interpreted as a parallel borrowing from a preceding Minoan form of the name (possibly *Oduze , pronounced /'ot͡θut͡se/); this theory is supposed to explain also the insecurity of the phonologies ( d or l ), since the affricate /t͡θ/, unknown to the Greek of that time, gave rise to different counterparts (i. e. δ or λ in Greek, θ in Etruscan). In

9790-401: The name of the child be Odysseus". Odysseus often receives the patronymic epithet Laertiades ( Λαερτιάδης ), "son of Laërtes ". It has also been suggested that the name is of non-Greek origin, possibly not even Indo-European , with an unknown etymology. Robert S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin. In Etruscan religion the name (and stories) of Odysseus were adopted under

9900-460: The origins of Griko may ultimately be traced to the colonies of Magna Graecia. Magna Graecia, in some fields such as architecture and urban planning, sometimes surpassed the mother country and the other Greek colonies. In Magna Graecia, as well as in the other Greek colonies, the Doric style enriched with showy decorations was adopted as the dominant architectural style. In Magna Graecia, in particular,

10010-469: The other three immortal. Circe married Telemachus, and Telegonus married Penelope by the advice of Athena. According to what seems to be later tradition, Odysseus was resurrected by Circe after his death at the hands of Telegonus. Afterward, he marries Telemachus with Cassiphone , the daughter whom Odysseus had with Circe. In 5th century BC Athens , tales of the Trojan War were popular subjects for tragedies . Odysseus figures centrally or indirectly in

10120-498: The possible facts of his life. Some of the latest "Homer's 'Ithaca'" approaches resemble some of the earliest. Theorists, and excavations elsewhere, on the location of "Homer's 'Ithaca'" Odysseus This is an accepted version of this page In Greek and Roman mythology , Odysseus ( / ə ˈ d ɪ s i ə s / ə- DISS -ee-əs ; Ancient Greek : Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς , romanized :  Odysseús , Odyseús , IPA: [o.dy(s).sěu̯s] ), also known by

10230-534: The present day. One example is the Griko people in Calabria ( Bovesia ) and Salento ( Grecìa Salentina ), some of whom still maintain their Greek language ( Griko language ) and customs. The Griko language is the last living trace of the Greek elements that once formed Magna Graecia. The original Greek expression Megálē Hellás ( lit.   ' Great[er] Greece ' ), later translated into Latin as Magna Graecia ,

10340-510: The prisoner and hides the gold in Palamedes' tent. He ensures that the letter is found and acquired by Agamemnon, and also gives hints directing the Argives to the gold. This is evidence enough for the Greeks, and they have Palamedes stoned to death. Other sources say that Odysseus and Diomedes goad Palamedes into descending a well with the prospect of treasure being at the bottom. When Palamedes reaches

10450-619: The reading of Tiresias' prophecy in The Odyssey that Odysseus will have a gentle death in old age after making it home, the Telogony claims that he met his death at the hands of Telegonus , his son with Circe, after a misunderstanding. Telegonus attacked his father with a poisoned spear, given to him by Circe. Before dying, Odysseus recognized his son. Telegonus then brought back his father's corpse to Aeaea, together with Penelope and Odysseus' son by her, Telemachus. After burying Odysseus, Circe made

10560-465: The sons of Atreus here, nor need the frauds of sly Ulysses fear." While the Greeks admired his cunning and deceit, these qualities did not recommend themselves to the Romans, who possessed a rigid sense of honour. In Euripides' tragedy Iphigenia at Aulis , having convinced Agamemnon to consent to the sacrifice of his daughter, Iphigenia, to appease the goddess Artemis , Odysseus facilitates the immolation by telling Iphigenia's mother, Clytemnestra , that

10670-406: The success of the mission, Odysseus gives Achilles' armour to him. It is learned that the war can not be won without the poisonous arrows of Heracles , which are owned by the abandoned Philoctetes . Odysseus and Diomedes (or, according to some accounts, Odysseus and Neoptolemus ) leave to retrieve them. Upon their arrival, Philoctetes (still suffering from the wound) is seen still to be enraged at

10780-639: The swineherd Eumaeus, whom she grew up alongside, in book 15 of the Odyssey . Odysseus himself, under the guise of an old beggar, gives the swineherd in Ithaca a fictitious genealogy: "From broad Crete I declare that I am come by lineage, the son of a wealthy man. And many other sons too were born and bred in his halls, true sons of a lawful wife; but the mother that bore me was bought, a concubine. Yet Castor , son of Hylax , of whom I declare that I am sprung, honored me even as his true-born sons." The majority of sources for Odysseus' supposed pre-war exploits—principally

10890-431: The term to refer to the territory that had been conquered by the Greeks. There are various hypotheses on the origin of the name Megálē Hellás . The term could be explained by the prosperity and cultural and economic splendour of the region (6th–5th century BC); notably by the Achaeans of the city of Kroton , to refer to the network of colonies they founded or controlled between the end of the 6th and mid-5th centuries at

11000-513: The time of the Pythagoreans . There were several reasons for the Greeks to establish overseas colonies; demographic crises (famine, overcrowding, etc.), stasis , a developing need for new commercial outlets and ports, and expulsion from their homeland after wars. During the Archaic period , the Greek population grew beyond the capacity of the limited arable land of Greece proper, resulting in

11110-481: The two. However, Scylla drags the boat towards her by grabbing the oars and eats six men. They land on the island of Thrinacia . There, Odysseus' men ignore the warnings of Tiresias and Circe and hunt down the sacred cattle of the sun god Helios . Helios tells Zeus what happened and demands Odysseus' men be punished or else he will take the sun and shine it in the Underworld. Zeus fulfills Helios' demands by causing

11220-670: The tyrant Dionysius , who fought the Carthaginians until his death. In the cities of Magna Graecia, trade, agriculture and crafts developed. Initially oriented to the indigenous Italic populations, the trade was immediately an excellent channel of exchange with the Greeks of the motherland, even if today it is difficult to establish precisely the type of goods traded and the volume of these exchanges. Greek coinage of Italy and Sicily originated from local Italiotes and Siceliotes who formed numerous city-states . These Hellenistic communities descended from Greek migrants. Southern Italy

11330-465: The wrestling match, and with the help of the goddess Athena , he wins the race. Odysseus has traditionally been viewed as Achilles' antithesis in the Iliad : while Achilles' anger is all-consuming and of a self-destructive nature, Odysseus is frequently viewed as a man of the mean, a voice of reason, renowned for his self-restraint and diplomatic skills. He is also in some respects antithetical to Telamonian Ajax (Shakespeare's "beef-witted" Ajax): while

11440-440: Was so thoroughly Hellenized that it was known as the Magna Graecia. Each of the polities struck their own coinage. Taras (or Tarentum) was among the most prominent city-states. By the second century BC, some of these Greek coinages evolved under Roman rule, and can be classified as the first Roman provincial currencies . The Greek colonists of Magna Graecia elaborated a civilization, which had peculiar characteristics, due to

11550-554: Was the South Italian ancient Greek pottery , fabricated in Magna Graecia largely during the 4th century BC. The settlers of Magna Graecia had great successes in the Ancient Olympic Games in their homeland. Crotone 's athletes won 18 titles in 25 Olympics. Although many of the Greek inhabitants of Magna Graecia were entirely Latinized during the Middle Ages , pockets of Greek culture and language remained and have survived to

11660-457: Was the great-grandson of the Olympian god Hermes. According to the Iliad and Odyssey , his father is Laertes and his mother Anticlea , although there was a non-Homeric tradition that Sisyphus was his true father. The rumour went that Laërtes bought Odysseus from the conniving king. Odysseus is said to have a younger sister, Ctimene , who went to Same to be married and is mentioned by

11770-404: Was the strong economic growth with the consequent overpopulation of the motherland. The terrain that some of these Greek city-states were in could not support a large city. Politics was also the reason as refugees from Greek city-states tended to settle away from these cities in the colonies. Greeks settled outside of Greece in two distinct ways. The first was in permanent settlements founded by

11880-497: Was therefore characterised by great clashes between the colonies. Some of the clashes that established the new balance and the new relationships of force were the Battle of the Sagra river (the clash between Locri Epizefiri and Kroton), the destruction of Siris (by Sybaris and Metapontum), and the clash between Kroton and Sybaris (which ended with the destruction of the latter). As with all

11990-628: Was undertaken by Syracuse , at the time of the tyranny of Dionysius I of Syracuse , around 387–385 BC. This phenomenon affected the entire Adriatic coast, and in particular led to the foundation in Italy of Ancon (now Ancona ) and Adria ; in the Dalmatian coast he saw the foundation of Issa (current Vis ), Pharus ( Stari Grad ), Dimus ( Hvar ); Lissus (now Lezhë ) was founded on the Albanian coast. Issa in turn then founded Tragurium (now Trogir ), Corcyra Melaina (now Korčula ) and Epetium (now Stobreč ,

12100-461: Was usually an aristocracy and the cities were often at war with each other. The Second Punic War put an end to the independence of the cities of Magna Graecia, which were annexed to the Roman Republic in 205   BC. From the motherland Greece, art, literature and philosophy decisively influenced the life of the colonies. In Magna Graecia much impetus was given to culture, especially in some cities such as Taras (now Taranto ). Noteworthy

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