The Iliad

The Odyssey is a Greek epic poem composed of 24 books, attributed to the Greek poet Homer.

It is believed to have been composed in the eighth century BC in the settlements that Greece had on the west coast of Asia Minor (present-day Asian Turkey). According to other authors, The Odyssey was completed in the 7th century BC from poems that only described parts of the actual work.

It was originally written in what has been called the Homeric dialect. It narrates the return home from the Trojan War of the Greek hero Odysseus. In addition to having been away fighting for ten years, Odysseus takes another ten years to return to the island of Ithaca, of which he was king, during which time his son Telemachus and his wife Penelope have to tolerate in their palace the suitors who pretend to marry her (since they already believed Odysseus to be dead), while they consume the family possessions.