The Odyssey

Odysseus one of the battle heroes has still not arrived in his home country of Ithaca ten years after the Trojan War and the Fall of Troy. Odysseus is presumed dead leaving his wife Penelope and son Telemachus to deal with a gang of wild suitors vying for Penelope's hand in marriage who have overtaken his palace and pillaged his country. Odysseus however is still alive and being held captive on the island of Ogygia by Calypso who is madly in love with him and longs to make him her everlasting spouse. How is Odysseus going to get home? Will he find his beloved Penelope again? The Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus' nostos trip back home expanding Homer's vibrant image of everyman's journey through life. It is an imitation of Homer's grandiloquent rebirth of the tales and stories told in this rare classic which is the second-oldest piece of Western literature still in existence. It is among the earliest surviving works of Western literature and is regarded as one of the most important works of the Western Canon.