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78-448: In Book Six of the Odyssey , Odysseus is shipwrecked on the coast of the island of Scheria (Phaeacia in some translations). Nausicaä and her handmaidens go to the seashore to wash clothes. Awakened by their games, Odysseus emerges from the forest completely naked, scaring the servants away, and begs Nausicaä for aid. She gives Odysseus some of the laundry to wear and takes him to the edge of

156-699: 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

234-420: 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

312-575: A guest by Alcinous. During his stay, Odysseus recounts his adventures to Alcinous and his court. This recounting forms a substantial portion of the Odyssey . Alcinous then generously provides Odysseus with the ships that finally bring him home to Ithaca . Nausicaä is young and very pretty; Odysseus says she resembles a goddess, particularly Artemis . Nausicaä is known to have several brothers. According to Aristotle and Dictys of Crete , she later married Odysseus's son Telemachus , and had one or two sons, Poliporthes or/and Persepolis . Homer gives

390-403: 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 the mythographers Pseudo-Apollodorus and Hyginus —postdate Homer by many centuries. Two stories in particular are well known: When Helen of Troy

468-423: A literary account of love never expressed (possibly one of the earliest examples of unrequited love in literature). Nausicaä is presented as a potential love interest for Odysseus: she tells her friend that she would like her husband to be like him, and her father tells Odysseus that he would let him marry her. The two do not have a romantic relationship, however, and she marries Telemachus in some versions. Nausicaä

546-453: 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

624-476: 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 the name of the child be Odysseus". Odysseus often receives the patronymic epithet Laertiades ( Λαερτιάδης ), "son of Laërtes ". It has also been suggested that

702-426: 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

780-510: 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 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

858-440: 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 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

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936-458: 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 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,

1014-553: 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

1092-661: 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 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

1170-492: Is Arcesius , son of Cephalus and grandson of Aeolus , while his maternal grandfather is the thief Autolycus , son of Hermes and Chione . Hence, Odysseus 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

1248-580: 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 ,

1326-551: 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 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

1404-508: 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 is renowned for his intellectual brilliance, guile, and versatility ( polytropos ), and he

1482-494: Is a theme used in Ancient Greek literature , which includes an epic hero returning home, often by sea. In Ancient Greek society, it was deemed a high level of heroism or greatness for those who managed to return. This journey is usually very extensive and includes being shipwrecked in an unknown location and going through certain trials that test the hero. The return is not only about returning home physically, but also focuses on

1560-525: 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 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

1638-457: Is also a mother figure for Odysseus; she ensures his return home, and says "Never forget me, for I gave you life". Odysseus never tells Penelope about his encounter with Nausicaä, out of all the women he met on his long journey home. Some suggest this indicates a deeper level of feeling for the young woman. According to some versions, the father of one of Nausicaa's sons was Odysseus himself rather than his son Telemachus. Odysseus This

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1716-517: 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 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 ),

1794-499: Is called the Nostos . The 1989 film Nostos: The Return by Franco Piavoli is about Odysseus' homecoming. In Louise Glück 's 1996 poetry collection Meadowlands , one piece is titled "Nostos". The TV series Star Trek: Voyager , in which the titular spacecraft is stranded 70,000 light-years from Earth and encounters numerous hostile and friendly aliens and strange phenomena on its way home, has been described by classicists as

1872-735: 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

1950-475: 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 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

2028-434: 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

2106-592: 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

2184-797: 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

2262-541: 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 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

2340-588: 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 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

2418-514: 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 is used starting in the epic period and through the classical period, but various other forms are also found. In vase inscriptions, we find

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2496-424: Is used today in many forms of literature and movies. In the Odyssey , Homer has nostos being the "return home from Troy by sea." Nostos can be told by those who experienced it themselves, or there are simply instances in which it is present. Those who told their adventures on the sea on their journey back home from Troy were Menelaus , Nestor , and Odysseus. Those three recount their adventures to others in

2574-692: 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

2652-636: The Trojan Horse , which allows 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

2730-437: 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 the Odyssey , where Odysseus' early childhood is recounted, Euryclea asks the boy's grandfather Autolycus to name him. Euryclea seems to suggest

2808-539: 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

2886-536: 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 the morale of the Achaeans, announces his intentions to depart Troy, Odysseus restores order to the Greek camp. Later on, after many of

2964-527: The Trojan War ;– he can either die in the battle with glory and have a short life, or not participate and live a long yet insignificant life. In the ninth book, he says "my nostos has perished, but my kleos will be unwilting". In this instance, he has chosen the route of glory and says he will not return home because it is destined that he will die in battle. Odysseus was able to tell his own story of his nostos since he has survived. Odysseus

3042-575: 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

3120-544: 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 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

3198-409: 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 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

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3276-480: 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

3354-433: 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

3432-409: The comparison of escaping to returning home. Nostos meant several different things in this epic, it meant escaping death, safe landings, returning home from war, and being back home. All of those come through because as the hero returned from war the idea of escaping death from war remained in his forethought. These meanings all resemble nostos and when heroes are on their journey back they will have

3510-514: The conniving king. Odysseus is said to have a younger sister, Ctimene , who went to Same to be married and is mentioned by 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

3588-515: 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

3666-458: 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

3744-580: 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. Nostos Nostos ( Ancient Greek : νόστος , romanized :  nostos )

3822-514: The epic. With Menelaus, in Book Four, he tells of his time in Egypt and other irregular stops. He did not stop at just his nostos but he told of Agamemnon's fatal nostos in great detail as well as a small section of Odysseus' journey. Nestor gives more on Menelaus' nostos and his journey home with Odysseus and Menelaus. In Book Three Nestor said "we pondered our long sea-voyage, whether we should sail over

3900-478: 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

3978-458: 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

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4056-406: 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 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

4134-414: 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

4212-769: 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

4290-488: The hero retaining or elevating their identity and status upon arrival. The theme of nostos is brought to life in Homer's The Odyssey , where the main hero Odysseus tries to return home after battling in the Trojan War. Odysseus is challenged by many temptations, such as the Sirens and the Lotus-eaters . If Odysseus had given into these temptations it would have meant certain death and thus failing to return home. Nostos

4368-471: 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 a single combat duel, Odysseus is one of the Danaans who reluctantly volunteered to battle him. Telamonian Ajax ("The Greater"), however,

4446-460: 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

4524-440: 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 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

4602-472: 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

4680-470: 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

4758-496: The men of what will happen if they eat the cattle, yet they did it anyway. This situation took away their nostos because their journey home came to an end. Not all Greek heroes experience nostos. Achilles ' nostos is unique in the Iliad ; this is because he knows himself that he will not have a nostos, creating a greater difference between him and the other heroes, such as Odysseus. Achilles knows that he has two options when it comes to

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4836-417: 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 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

4914-510: 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 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

4992-469: 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

5070-619: 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

5148-465: 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

5226-456: 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 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

5304-437: The top of rocky Chios by the island Psyros, keeping it on our left hand, or else to pass under Chios, by windy Mimas. We asked the god to give us some portent for a sign, and the god gave us one, and told us to cut across the middle main sea for Euboia, and so most quickly escape the hovering evil." Here Nestor made it evident to the audience that his and Diomedes ' journey home was a perfect nostos, they had no real issues, which

5382-400: The town. Realizing that rumors might arise if Odysseus is seen with her, she and the servants go into town ahead of him, but first she advises him to go directly to Alcinous's house and make his case to Nausicaä's mother, Arete. Arete is known as wiser even than Alcinous, and Alcinous trusts her judgment. Odysseus follows this advice, approaching Arete and winning her approval, and is received as

5460-481: 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

5538-454: The ultimate Kleos once they have arrived and that is celebrated. The word nostalgia was first coined as a medical term in 1688 by Johannes Hofer (1669-1752), a Swiss medical student. It uses the word νόστος along with another Greek root, ἄλγος or algos, meaning pain, to describe the psychological condition of longing for the past. In James Joyce 's Ulysses , the final part (episodes 16-18), during which Leopold Bloom returns home,

5616-630: 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 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,

5694-531: 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 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

5772-450: 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 is exposed and joins Agamemnon's call to arms among the Hellenes . Odysseus is represented as one of the most influential Greek champions during

5850-461: The wound) is seen still to be enraged at 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

5928-462: Was able to tell part of his nostos to the Phaeacians, and the length of his journey shows how difficult it can be to achieve nostos. This arrival and telling of his tales is a big deal, though he has not reached home it is a huge mile marker. After Odysseus and his companions leave Circe's palace safely his crew members show their happiness by saying "we rejoice for you saved yourself, nourished by Zeus , as much as if we had reached Ithaca," which shows

6006-519: Was quite different from Agamemnon 's. This great difference shows how different each hero's journey home could be. In these instances where nostos is simply present and not told by the individual in the Odyssey, there is an intention to reach a specific destination and some other force blowing the characters off course and arrive in unexpected places on their journey to their home. The Odyssey had several different instances of nostos. One specific instance where Odysseus' companions lost their nostos,

6084-432: Was when they ate the cattle of Helios and were killed for this since they were specifically told not to. Odysseus warned the men when he said "Friends, since there is food and drink stored in the fast ship, let us then keep our hands off the cattle, for fear that something may befall us. These are the cattle and fat sheep of a dreaded god, Helios, who sees all things and listens to all things." At that point Odysseus warned

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