The Odyssey Summarised - Context, Themes and Importance

Video

The Odyssey is the second epic poem, following the Iliad, attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer, a poem both epic in length and in content with the Hero Odysseus facing numerous monsters, goddesses, and even a trip to the underworld on his travels home to Ithaca. The fate of men being in the hands of the gods is a common theme running through both of the ancient epics and the gods themselves are once again a big part of the action of the Odyssey, as they were in the Iliad, as they made the journey of Odysseus a much greater challenge for him.

Where the Iliad focused on the rage of Achilles, the Odyssey is concerned with the nostos, or homecoming by sea of Odysseus, the mythical king of Ithaca. Due to the ruthlessness of the Achaeans’ sack of Troy, they incurred the wrath of the gods, and so Odysseus’ nostos was prolonged for ten years as his ships were hit with unfavourable seas, storms, and misfortune in the form of monsters, supernatural beings, and sorceresses. As one of the oldest surviving epic poems, the Odyssey tells of both the end of the Heroic Age as the final warrior returns home, and the new expansion happening during the Archaic period, the time of Homer.

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— CHAPTERS —
0:00​ Introduction
0:54 Context for the Odyssey
3:28 Themes of the Odyssey
5:29 The Odyssey Summarised
16:51 Outro

— WANT TO KNOW MORE? —
Odyssey https://www.worldhistory.org/Odyssey/
Homer https://www.worldhistory.org/homer/
Odysseus https://www.worldhistory.org/odysseus/
Trojan War https://www.worldhistory.org/Trojan_War/
Bronze Age Aegean https://www.worldhistory.org/Bronze_Age_Aegean/
Ancient Greek Literature https://www.worldhistory.org/Greek_Literature/
Cyclops https://www.worldhistory.org/Cyclops_(Creature)/
Scylla and Charybdis https://www.worldhistory.org/Scylla_and_Charybdis/

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The Mycenaeans: A Civilization of Bronze Age Greece https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZioHxDVCGE

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The music used in this recording is the intellectual copyright of Michael Levy, a prolific composer for the recreated lyres of antiquity, and used with the creator's permission. Michael Levy's music is available to stream at all the major digital music platforms. Find out more on:
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