The Odyssey

The story opens on Ithaca, where young Telemachus watches a crowd of rowdy suitors eat his family's wealth while they press his mother, Penelope, to marry one of them. With help from Athena, who often appears in disguise, he sails to visit his father's old comrades and look for news. Odysseus, meanwhile, is held on the island of the nymph Calypso, and finally allowed to build a raft and leave.

Washed ashore among the friendly Phaeacians, he tells the story of his years at sea. He outwits the one-eyed Cyclops Polyphemus, angering the sea ruler Poseidon. He escapes the enchantress Circe, who turns his men into pigs, sails past the Sirens tied to the mast, slips between the monster Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis, and loses every one of his ships and companions along the way. In the second half Odysseus finally reaches Ithaca disguised as a beggar, tests the loyalty of his household, reunites with his son and plans his revenge, while Penelope sets a final challenge with her husband's great bow.

Robert Fagles's translation reads naturally aloud, with an introduction and notes by Bernard Knox. About 560 pages. The story inspired Christopher Nolan's 2026 film.