The Odyssey
Homer’s epic of the long voyage home, told book by book
Ten years after the fall of Troy, the hero Odysseus still has not come home. His palace on the island of Ithaca is overrun by more than a hundred suitors who want to marry his wife, Penelope, and take his place, while his son Telemachus grows up powerless to stop them. Homer’s Odyssey follows the son’s search for his father, the father’s escape from the goddess Calypso and his tales of monsters and magic, and finally his return home in disguise to win back his house.
The poem is divided into 24 books. For each one you will find a detailed summary of what happens, a list of the main characters and themes, and a mini-game based on events from that book. Read in order from Book I, or jump to any book below.
The Telemachy
Books 1 to 4. Before we meet Odysseus, we follow his son. Telemachus, barely grown and powerless in his own house, goes looking for news of his father.
- Book IAthena Inspires the PrinceWho's Who in Ithaca
- Book IITelemachus Sets SailPenelope's Loom
- Book IIIKing Nestor RemembersNestor's Tales
- Book IVThe King and Queen of SpartaWrestle Proteus
The Wanderings
Books 5 to 12. Odysseus leaves Calypso’s island, washes up among the Phaeacians, and tells them the stories everyone remembers: the Cyclops, Circe, the dead, the Sirens.
- Book VOdysseus and CalypsoPoseidon's Storm
- Book VIThe Princess at the RiverNausicaa's Ball Game
- Book VIIThe Palace of AlcinousTell Your Tale to Arete
- Book VIIISongs and Games of the PhaeaciansThe Phaeacian Discus
- Book IXIn the Cyclops's CaveEscape the Cyclops
- Book XThe Witch CirceFind the Moly
- Book XIThe Land of the DeadVoices of the Dead
- Book XIIThe Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, and the Cattle of the SunBetween Scylla and Charybdis
The Return
Books 13 to 24. Back on Ithaca in a beggar’s rags, Odysseus learns who has stayed loyal, waits for his moment, and takes back his house.
- Book XIIIHome at LastHide the Treasure
- Book XIVThe Loyal SwineherdTruth or Cretan Tale
- Book XVThe Prince ReturnsEvade the Ambush
- Book XVIFather and SonWords in the Swineherd's Hut
- Book XVIIThe Beggar at the PalaceThe Beggar's Rounds
- Book XVIIIThe Beggar and the Boxing MatchBoxing Irus
- Book XIXThe Nurse and the ScarThe Nurse's Discovery
- Book XXOmens Before the FeastRead the Omens
- Book XXIThe Contest of the BowThe Bow of Odysseus
- Book XXIISlaughter in the HallBattle in the Hall
- Book XXIIIThe Great Rooted BedThe Secret of the Bed
- Book XXIVPeace in Ithaca: Laertes and the Last BattleLaertes' Orchard