Odysseus (Man of Many Turns)
heroThe craftiest of all Greek heroes, whose ten-year voyage home from Troy tested every human capacity for survival and adaptation.
The Myth
Odysseus was the king of Ithaca, husband of Penelope, and father of Telemachus — a man defined not by strength but by metis (cunning intelligence). He devised the Trojan Horse that ended the ten-year siege. But his journey home took another ten years, during which he faced the Cyclops Polyphemus (whom he blinded after declaring himself Nobody), the enchantress Circe (who turned his men to pigs), the Sirens (whom he heard while bound to the mast), Scylla and Charybdis, the cattle of Helios, and seven years of imprisonment by the nymph Calypso. He was the only survivor of his crew, arriving in Ithaca alone, disguised as a beggar by Athena. He found his palace overrun by suitors consuming his wealth and courting Penelope. With Telemachus and the loyal swineherd Eumaeus, Odysseus strung his great bow — which no suitor could bend — and slaughtered them all. Homer gives him the epithet polytropos: man of many turns, many disguises, many strategies.
Fun Fact
The word odyssey — meaning any long, transformative journey — comes directly from Odysseus's name.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Eumaeus
heroEumaeus was the loyal swineherd who sheltered the disguised Odysseus on Ithaca — proof that...
Odysseus
heroThe cleverest of the Greek heroes, whose ten-year journey home from Troy is one of the greatest...
Odysseus (Trickster)
heroOdysseus was the most cunning of all Greek heroes — the man of polytropos (many turns), whose...
Penelope
heroThe wife of Odysseus who waited twenty years for his return, fending off 108 suitors through clever...
Telemachus
heroTelemachus was the son of Odysseus who grew from a helpless boy into a young man during his...
Athena
godGoddess of wisdom and strategic warfare, born fully armored from the head of Zeus. Patron deity of...
Athena (Warrior)
godAthena was the goddess of wisdom, strategic war, and craftsmanship — born fully armoured from...
Athena (Wisdom Warrior)
godThe warrior-goddess born from Zeus's head who embodied strategic intelligence, craft, and the...
Calypso
godA beautiful nymph who kept Odysseus on her island Ogygia for seven years, offering him immortality...
Calypso (Nymph)
nymphCalypso kept Odysseus seven years. Her name means "she who conceals."
Charybdis
creatureA massive whirlpool monster that swallowed and regurgitated the sea three times daily, destroying...
Circe
godA powerful sorceress who lived on the island of Aeaea. Circe transformed Odysseus's men into swine...