Odyssey, epic poem in 24 books traditionally attributed to the ancient Greek poet

Homer. The poem is the story of Odysseus

The odyssey begins in Greece years after the Trojan War. Odysseus the king of Ithaca,
has failed to return home and many believe him to be dead. He was taken prisoner to
the island of the goddess Calypso, Poseidon, the god of the sea, is not happy with
Odysseus and is not willing to him return home.
In Ithaca, Odysseus' wife, Penelope, is besieged by suitors who want to marry her now
that her husband is away. The goddess Athena, guides her son, Telemaco to go in
search about his father.
First, Telemaco goes to Pylos to visit King Nestor, who welcomes him warmly, feeds
him and tells him to go to King Menelaus in Sparta. The Ithacan prince does so and
learns that his father is alive and that he is a prisoner on the island of Calypso.
Meanwhile, in Ithaca, the suitors make plans to kill Telemachus when he returns. Lots
of tension!
On Olympus, where the gods hang out, Athena her father Zeus, the king of the gods, to
have mercy on Odysseus and get Calypso to let him go. Zeus does so and Odysseus
soon sets out on his travel, with much grumbling from Calypso. Odysseus' raft crashes
in the land of the Phaeacians, where he is helped by Athena, who makes the princess
fall in love with Odysseus and her parents to give him food and shelter. In return for
his help, the Phaeacians ask him to tell their story, and here begins the long tale of
Odysseus' adventures during the years following the war.
Odysseus left the Trojan War with a ship full of Ithacans. First they arrived in a foreign
land and plundered the town. A few stormy days later, they arrived in the land of the
Lotophages, where men eat the lotus and forget their homes and families. Then to the
island of the Cyclops, monsters with only one eye. Unfortunately, the Ithacans find
themselves in the cave of one of these monsters, who blocks the exit with a large
stone and eats some of the men. Odysseus, remains calm and tells the Cyclops that his
name is "Nobody," gets him drunk, and the monster as sleep. In the night, Odysseus
and his companions sharpen a large stick and blind Polyphemus with it. The monster
calls to the others, "No one has ruined me! which makes them think that no one has
hurt their companion. Such is the intelligence of Odysseus.
There is still the problem of getting out of the cave. Odysseus his men to the stomachs
of Polyphemus' sheep. When the Cyclops moves the stone to let the out, he touches
the backs of the sheep to make sure there is no one escaping and so he is fooled again.
Unfortunately, when he is fleeing in his ship, Odysseus reveals his name while taunting
the Cyclops. It turns out that Polyphemus is the son of Poseidon and he prays to his
father, the god of the sea, and asks Odysseus to. This is the reason why Poseidon hates
Odysseus so much.
Odysseus continues his story. He and his companions arrive at the island of Aeolus, the
god of the winds. Aeolus helps them and puts all the winds except the west in a bag, so
that the sailors go straight to Ithaca. Unfortunately, Odysseus doesn’t tell his
companions what is in the bag. They think it is treasure and open it during the return
travel, and are again confronted with storms.
They then arrive in the land of Circe, who turns many of the men into pigs. With the
help of the gods, Odysseus to turn them into men again and makes love to Circe. For a
year. One of his companions asks him, "Can we go now?" and Odysseus says yes. Circe
tells him that he must now go down to hell to receive the advice of the prophet
Tiresias. He does so and Tiresias prophesies to him that he will get home but with
great difficulty.
The Ithacans return to Circe's land to ask for advice on how they should navigate the
dangerous waters. After disembarking, they encounter the Sirens, monster women
with beautiful voices who intend to their death. Odysseus will be the first man to hear
them sing and live to the tale. He orders his companions to cover their ears and him to
the mast so that he can hear the Sirens' song.
The Ithacans land on the island of Helios, the sun god. There are his very special cows.
Despite having received several warnings not to eat the cows - one from Tiresias and
another from Circe - they do so instead of starving to death, a very bad decision. All
the men die in a storm, except Odysseus, who finds himself on the island of Calypso for
the next seven years.
So ends the story of Odysseus as he tells it to the Phaeacians. They are so moved that
they give him many treasures and take him to Ithaca.
When the prince returns, Odysseus reveals himself to his son. After a familiar reunion,
Odysseus travels to the palace, still disguised as a beggar. He speaks to Penelope and
tries to convince her that Odysseus will return soon.
Penelope is tired of waiting so long and offers the suitors a test. She invents a contest
of physical strength and declares that she will marry the winner. The suitors have to
string Odysseus' and shoot an arrow through the heads of twelve axes. Many suitors
try and they failed, until the beggar asks for a chance to try. He succeeds, removes his
disguise and, with the help of Telemachus, some loyal servants and the protection of
Athena, kills all the suitors.
Odysseus and his wife are reunited and all is well. Well, there is still the detail that
Odysseus has just killed all the young noblemen of Ithaca and his parents are furious.
Odysseus leaves the palace, hides while the parents seek revenge. It looks like there
will be more violence but Athena comes and asks everyone to stop fighting.