The Odyssey: How Homer’s epic influenced the world
The Odyssey is a classic of Ancient Greek literature. What’s the story told in this epic poem, and what does it reveal about the distant era it dates from?
Image: Mosaic depicting Odysseus and the Sirens in Bardo National Museum in Tunisia | Fotokon / Shutterstock.com
The Odyssey is among the most influential pieces of Western literature ever written. Ascribed to the Ancient Greek poet Homer, this epic poem tells the story of warrior Odysseus’ journey home after fighting in the Trojan War.
It’s a long and treacherous trip taking him about ten years. The Odyssey is also one of the few surviving sources of information about the legendary Trojan War – the subject of Sky HISTORY’s Troy Story.
There is controversy over how much of The Odyssey is rooted in historical fact. In any case, it’s inspired a huge range of other cultural works – including the upcoming Christopher Nolan film The Odyssey. It’s all made us at Sky HISTORY intrigued to learn how else this verse has helped to shape the world.
How was The Odyssey discovered?
Today, it is not known exactly when The Odyssey was written. However, it is generally thought to have been around the 8th or 7th century BC. During this time, the Ancient Greeks developed a writing system enabling them to put to paper stories that would have long been passed down orally.
Though The Odyssey was popular in antiquity, it was in danger of being lost permanently to history before being rediscovered during the Renaissance. Since then, many copies of The Odyssey have been found. Nonetheless, it remains unclear whether the story as we know it today really did come from a singular author – or if Homer existed at all.
Is The Odyssey truly historical?
The Odyssey comprises over 12,000 lines strung across 24 ‘books’. (In this context, ‘books’ are essentially the Ancient Greek equivalent of what we would now call ‘chapters’.) The Odyssey is the follow-up to the Iliad (another epic poem credited to Homer), which focuses on the Trojan War.
The story in The Odyssey is generally considered fictional. As in the Iliad, human characters have encounters with Ancient Greek deities. There is also scholarly disagreement over whether the Trojan War really happened - though archaeological finds suggest that a similar conflict may have occurred.
On The Ramsay Centre Podcast in October 2020, historian Bettany Hughes put forward her own theory about The Odyssey
’s historical authenticity. She acknowledged that the epic is predominantly a fable, but Homer could still be ‘giving us history by accident’.
The Odyssey describes Helen of Troy as having a golden spindle – like one actually found ‘in the burial of one aristocratic woman from this time.’ Similarly, on the History Hack podcast in July 2020, Hughes opines that the lotus plant featured in The Odyssey is likely the Egyptian blue lotus.
Insights into religious beliefs
Odysseus’ attempts to return to his home island, Ithaca (possibly not the same as the modern Greek island of Ithaca), are beset by various obstacles. Many of these are brought by deities. For example, the goddess Calypso holds Odysseus captive for seven years, before the sea god Poseidon destroys Odysseus’ raft.
The message is clear: mortals must be careful not to incur the wrath of the gods, or there will be serious consequences. This all ties in with the Ancient Greek concept of ‘xenia’. The word itself essentially means ‘hospitality’, and highlights the moral imperative for Ancient Greeks to treat guests as though they were family.
After all, these hosts can’t be certain who might be watching. The guest could be one of the gods or goddesses in disguise. At the same time, the guest would be expected to reciprocate their host’s kindness.
The theme of xenia in The Odyssey explains the behaviour of the suitors competing for the hand of Odysseus’ wife Penelope in his absence. These suitors make themselves at home but overstay their welcome – an example of bad xenia.
The Odyssey's impact on literature
It’s hard to overstate The Odyssey’s influence on generations of writers. James Joyce’s classic 1922 novel Ulysses is a modernist rendering of the story, transferring the action to Dublin (where Joyce himself was born). Meanwhile, Margaret Atwood’s 2005 novella The Penelopiad retells the original tale, but from Penelope’s point of view.
Acclaimed director Christopher Nolan has written a film adaptation of The Odyssey starring Matt Damon as Odysseus and Anne Hathaway as Penelope. In a 2025 interview with Empire, Nolan hailed the original epic poem as ‘foundational’, adding: ‘There’s a bit of everything in it. I mean, it truly contains all stories.’
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