Odysseus
In Greek mythology, Odysseus, king of Ithaca, was an epic hero
whose arduous, 10-year voyage returning to Ithaca after the
Trojan War is the subject of
Homer's Odyssey. As a Greek
commander in the Trojan War, he also appears in the Iliad. Noted for his cleverness-it was
Odysseus who suggested the stratagem of the Trojan Horse-the
Ithacan king served ably in the conflict with
Circe; they almost succumbed to the temptations of the land of
the Lotus-Eaters and the insidious song of the Sirens; they barely survived the dangers of the
passage between Scylla and Charybdis, as
well as their encounter with the fearsome one-eyed giant
Polyphemus. Nevertheless, the wily Odysseus managed to survive.
With the help of the Phaecians, on whose shore Odysseus had been
shipwrecked-his crew had long since perished-he finally arrived
home in Ithaca only to find his faithful wife, Penelope, hounded by suitors, who believed him
dead. Aided by his son Telemachus, he
surprised Penelope's would-be husbands, killed them all, and was
reunited with his family. Later classical writers portrayed
Odysseus as treacherous and cruel, a tradition continued into the
Middle Ages. Under his Latin name, Ulysses, he appears in Dante's
hell.