Homer is traditionally credited with composing the epic poem The Odyssey.
The Odyssey follows Odysseus during his ten-year return journey after the Trojan War. It includes encounters with the Cyclops, Circe, the Sirens, and Calypso, while also showing events in Ithaca, where his wife Penelope and son Telemachus face pressure from suitors. The poem’s structure moves between different times and locations rather than presenting every event in chronological order.
Like the Iliad, The Odyssey was transmitted through an oral poetic tradition before being written down. It is composed in dactylic hexameter, the traditional meter of ancient Greek epic. Scholars debate the historical identity of Homer and the exact process by which the poems reached their surviving form.
The Odyssey is not simply a travel story. Its Greek title is connected with Odysseus, and its themes include homecoming, identity, loyalty, hospitality, and recognition. The famous Trojan Horse episode is mainly associated with the wider Trojan War tradition, not with the central narrative of Odysseus’s voyage home.