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1-Page Summary of The Odyssey
Overall Summary
The Odyssey is an ancient Greek epic poem. Scholars believe that it was written by a group of people, not just one person. The earliest form of the poem dates back to around 800 BC, when the Greeks first started using letters to write things down. It was probably performed orally for many years before being written down and preserved in Alexandria some time between 200 and 400 AD.
The Odyssey is often referred to as the first Western literature. The story revolves around a man’s journey in search of his family after they were separated for many years. It also explores themes such as home and family, how people are influenced by fate, and what makes us who we are.
This study guide refers to the 2018 paperback edition translated by Emily Wilson. Her 2017 translation, released in hardcover, is the first full-length translation by a woman to be published in English. Wilson has stated that her publisher permits her to update her translation with each new edition; the hardcover and paperback translations are not identical. The ancient Greek text was composed in dactylic hexameter, which is used for archaic poetry. This means that it features 12 syllables per line instead of 10 like iambic pentameter (the meter most commonly used for modern poetry). It also contains lines of varying length rather than consistent ones like iambic pentameter does. Chapter divisions exist within this text but they’re not part of the original work so they’re just there as titles created by Wilson herself.
The Odyssey begins with the goddess Athena prompting Zeus to set Odysseus’s return in motion. However, Poseidon has a grudge against him for blinding his son, Polyphemus.
The first four books of the Odyssey take place in Ithaca, where Odysseus’s wife Penelope is being harassed by young suitors who want to marry her and take over his lands. They demand that she pick one of them as a husband but she refuses because they won’t accept her wishes. Meanwhile, Telemachus grew up without knowing his father (Odysseus) since he was just an infant when Odysseus left for Troy. He’s now grown up and wants to go on a journey to find out what happened with his father.
Odysseus is shipwrecked after leaving Troy. He lands on an island where he meets a nymph named Calypso, who falls in love with him. The god Hermes tells her that she has to let Odysseus go because Poseidon is angry at him for blinding his son Polyphemus. She reluctantly agrees but tricks Odysseus into staying longer by offering him immortality and riches if he marries her. When the gods intervene again, Odysseus builds a raft and sails towards Phaeacia, another island nation ruled by King Alcinous and Queen Arete. On this journey, a sea-nymph named Ino helps save his life when Poseidon tries to sink his raft with storms and monsters.
Odysseus narrates how he escaped the Lotus Eaters, Cyclops Polyphemus and Laestrygonians. He also tells of his visit to Circe on her island, where she transformed his men into pigs but eventually helped him devise a plan for returning home by consulting with Tiresias at the border between earth and the underworld. Odysseus’s men died at sea after failing to follow Tiresias’s order not to eat Helius’ sacred cattle. Only Odysseus escaped.
Odysseus is brought to Ithaca by a Phaeacian ship and spends the next twenty-four books there. Athena disguises him so that he can fool his own slaves into thinking that he’s poor, but Telemachus knows who it really is. Eumaeus provides food for Odysseus, and they plot how to get rid of all of the suitors in one fell swoop. They enlist the help of Eumaeus’ friend Melanthius as well as another herdsman named Philoetius, who also happens to be loyal.
