The Odyssey
Homer’s tale of the long way home — twenty-four Books, told plain.
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Book I · Athena Inspires Telemachus
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The Whole Story in 12 Minutes
The Long Way Home
The journey of Odysseus
Nine landfalls between Troy and Ithaca. Tap a pin to read the Books set there.
TelemachyHomecoming BeginsGreat WanderingsIthaca
The Cast
The Four Movements
Narrative arcs of the Odyssey
The Telemachy
Books I–IV. While Odysseus is detained on Kalypso's island, his son Telemachos comes of age, calls the suitors to account, and journeys to Pylos and Sparta in search of news of his father.
Books 1–4 →
The Homecoming Begins
Books V–VIII. Hermes commands Kalypso to release Odysseus. After shipwreck, he washes up on Scheria, where the Phaiakian princess Nausikaa finds him and the court of Alkinoös prepares to send him home.
Books 5–8 →
The Great Wanderings
Books IX–XII. Odysseus tells the Phaiakians the story of his journey: the Cyclops, Aiolos, Circe, the Land of the Dead, the Sirens, Skylla and Charybdis, and the loss of every last companion.
Books 9–12 →
Odysseus on Ithaka
Books XIII–XXIV. Set ashore in disguise, Odysseus takes shelter with the swineherd Eumaios, reunites with Telemachos, tests his household, slaughters the suitors, and is finally recognized by Penelope and Laertes.
Books 13–24 →
Read the Twenty-Four Books
Chronological reading list of the Odyssey
The Telemachy
Books I – IV- Athena Inspires TelemachusThe poet invokes the Muse, and the gods debate the fate of long-suffering Odysseus. Athena, disguised as the chieftain Mentes, comes to Ithaca to rouse the prince Telemachus, who has watched his mother's suitors devour his father's house.
- Telemachus Sets SailTelemachus calls the first assembly held in Ithaca since his father left, denounces the suitors, and prays for vengeance. With Athena's guidance — and a borrowed ship — he slips away by night to seek news of Odysseus.
- At the Court of PylosTelemachus and Athena reach sandy Pylos and are welcomed by the old horseman Nestor, who recounts the bitter homecomings of the Greek captains and sends the prince on to Sparta in the company of his own son.
- The King and Queen of SpartaMenelaus and Helen receive Telemachus in the gleaming palace at Sparta and tell of their own long return from Troy. The Old Man of the Sea, Menelaus reports, says Odysseus is alive — held captive by the nymph Calypso. Back on Ithaca, the suitors lay an ambush for the returning prince.
The Homecoming Begins
Books V – VIII- Odysseus — Nymph and ShipwreckOn Olympus, Athena pleads again for Odysseus and Hermes is sent to Calypso's isle. The nymph reluctantly releases her lover, who builds a raft and puts to sea — only for Poseidon to smash the timbers and leave him swimming for his life toward the coast of Scheria.
- The Princess and the StrangerNaked, salt-crusted, and half-dead in the bushes, Odysseus is found by the Phaeacian princess Nausicaa, who has come to the river to wash linens. With remarkable poise the princess gives him clothing, food, and instructions for approaching her father's palace.
- Phaeacia's Halls and GardensOdysseus enters the bronze-walled palace of King Alcinous and Queen Arete, throws himself at the queen's knees as a suppliant, and is promised safe passage home — though he keeps his name, for now, to himself.
- A Day for Songs and ContestsThe Phaeacians hold games in the stranger's honour. The blind bard Demodocus sings of Troy and of the affair of Ares and Aphrodite. When the song turns to the wooden horse, Odysseus weeps — and Alcinous at last asks him his name.
The Great Wanderings
Books IX – XII- In the One-Eyed Giant's CaveOdysseus begins his long tale. He sacks the Cicones, drifts past the Lotus-Eaters, and enters the cave of Polyphemus the Cyclops — a man-eating monster he can only escape by blinding, and by giving his name as Nobody.
- The Bewitching Queen of AeaeaAeolus gives Odysseus a bag of winds — which the crew, in greed, untie within sight of Ithaca. After the cannibal Laestrygonians destroy all but his own ship, Odysseus reaches the island of Circe, who turns his men into pigs and then, mastered, becomes his lover and counsellor.
- The Kingdom of the DeadFollowing Circe's instructions, Odysseus crosses Ocean to consult the ghost of the prophet Tiresias. He speaks with his own mother, with the heroes of Troy, with Agamemnon and Achilles — and learns what awaits him at home, and beyond.
- The Cattle of the SunOdysseus sails past the Sirens with his men's ears stopped and himself bound to the mast, threads the strait between Scylla and Charybdis, and watches helplessly as his crew slaughter the sacred cattle of Helios. Zeus shatters the ship; only Odysseus survives, washing up at last on Calypso's isle.
Odysseus on Ithaka
Books XIII – XXIV- Ithaca at LastThe Phaeacians convey Odysseus home in a single night, leaving him asleep on the shore of his own island. Athena meets him in disguise, reveals herself, and conceals him as a wandering beggar so that he can take stock of friends and enemies before he strikes.
- The Loyal SwineherdDisguised, Odysseus seeks shelter at the hut of his swineherd Eumaeus, who treats the stranger with greater hospitality than the suitors show in his master's own hall. Odysseus tests him with an invented past as a wandering Cretan.
- The Prince Sets Sail for HomeAthena urges Telemachus to leave Sparta. Sailing carefully past the suitors' ambush, the prince lands at a quiet cove, sends his ship on to the harbour, and goes alone overland — straight to the swineherd's hut where his father is waiting.
- Father and SonIn the swineherd's hut Odysseus drops his disguise for the first time and reveals himself to Telemachus. Together they begin to lay their plot: count the suitors, hide the weapons, tell no one — not even Penelope.
- Stranger at the GatesOdysseus, the beggar, comes home to his own house. The dog Argos — last of his litter, decades old — recognises his master and dies content. Inside, the suitors mock and abuse the stranger as he begs for scraps.
- The Beggar-King of IthacaA real beggar, Iros, picks a fight with the disguised Odysseus and is laid out with a single blow. Penelope appears before the suitors and extracts gifts from them. Tempers, omens, and bloodlust quietly gather.
- Penelope and Her GuestLate at night Penelope interviews the stranger. She does not know him, but the old nurse Eurycleia, washing his feet, sees the boar-tusk scar on his thigh — and is sworn to silence. Penelope tells the beggar she will set the trial of the bow at first light.
- Portents GatherA sleepless night in the great hall. Athena steadies Odysseus; Zeus answers his prayer with thunder. The suitors gather one last morning, laughing, eating, blind to the omens that surround them.
- Odysseus Strings His BowPenelope brings out her husband's great bow and sets the contest: string it, shoot through twelve axe-heads, and win her hand. One by one the suitors fail. The beggar asks for a turn — and the room goes very quiet.
- Slaughter in the HallOdysseus throws off his rags and turns the bow on the suitors. With Telemachus, the swineherd and the cowherd at his side — and Athena overhead — he kills all one hundred and eight, and metes out justice to the faithless servants.
- The Great Rooted BedPenelope, careful as ever, will not believe it is him until she tests him with the secret of their marriage bed — built around a living olive tree, immovable. He answers correctly. Twenty years end in a single embrace.
- PeaceIn the underworld the ghosts of the suitors meet the ghosts of Troy. Above ground, Odysseus reveals himself to his old father Laertes on the farm. The suitors' kinsmen rise in revolt, and a final battle is averted only when Athena and Zeus impose peace on Ithaca.
