Odysseus, king of Ithaca, has been away from home for twenty years, ten fighting in the Trojan War, ten lost at sea. After many adventures, he returns home to deal with 108 suitors, seeking his wife, Penelope's, hand in marriage. One of two major epic poems attributed to Homer (the other is the Iliad) it is one of the oldest surviving works of literature. Over 12109 lines, originally in Homeric Greek, the poem deals with themes of wandering, return and homecoming, guest-friendship, testing and omens. In this group, we will work our way through the poem (in English!), discussing the themes and characters.

This is the link to the first 75 lines of Daniel Mendelsohn's translation of The Odyssey. 

The photo shows a Roman mosaic, Ulysses and the Sirens, in Bardo National Museum, Tunis, Tunisia. It was taken by the Group Leader.