[PDF] The Odyssey (Free download)

If there is indeed an ancient poet who is known to everyone and who figures on the program of all English lessons, it is Homer.

 He is the one by whom many have discovered Greek mythology! The Iliad and the Odyssey are the two most famous works in the Greek mythological corpus and have been studied by students since ancient times. From the Trojan War to the return of Ulysses to Ithaca, these epic poems tell us about the incredible adventures that have inspired so many artists around the world. 

The Odyssey is a Greek story made up of 24 songs (long poems in verse). It tells of the return of Ulysses (main character of the Iliad ) on the island of Ithaca after the Trojan War (the Iliad ). The Iliad and the Odyssey are texts that are recited on the occasion of the great festivals in Athens, the vi ^th  century BC. AD (and in ancient Greece more generally). According to tradition, this text was written by Homère, but it may have had more than one author and the story may have been written and collected in multiple installments.

During his trip, Ulysses shows qualities (intelligence, cunning, respect for the rites of hospitality, courage, compassion …) and the people he meets are not civilized Greeks. Odysseus must invent several tricks to return home because he drew on him the anger of Poseidon by blinding his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus. So he will have to fight all types of sea creatures like Charybdis or Scylla.