Go on an Epic Journey With This Quiz on the "Odyssey"

When they entered her grotto, Circe turned Odysseus’ men into pigs, but messenger god Hermes helped Odysseus to resist the magic. Circe invited Odysseus to stay, and he lived with her in luxury for a year. The comfort distracted him from his goal of returning to Ithaca, and Odysseus’ men had to convince him to leave.

Poseidon discovered Odysseus had escaped Calypso, so he stirred up a storm that left Odysseus shipwrecked and naked on the island of Phaeacia. Young Princess Nausicaa found him and helped him. In books nine through 12, Odysseus tells a firsthand account to King Alcinous, Queen Arete, and their daughter Nausicaa of his journey from Troy to Calypso’s island.

Along his journey in “The Odyssey,” Odysseus became trapped on the island of Ogygia as a prisoner of the goddess-nymph Calypso. Zeus sent the god Hermes to free Odysseus. Calypso offered immortality if Odysseus stayed with her, but he refused. She built him a new boat and let him leave.

While Poseidon sought revenge against Odysseus by interfering with his journey, Athena helped guide Odysseus back to Ithaca. As the goddess of war and wisdom, Athena admired him for his bravery and intelligence. She also appeared to Telemachus as Mentes, advising him to travel to seek friends of Odysseus to look for the warrior.

Telemachus was the only son of Odysseus and Penelope. His father left home when he was young, and after meeting with a goddess, Telemachus ventured out in search of his father. He heard tales of Odysseus’ adventures, but Telemachus didn't find his father until he returned home to Ithaca, where Odysseus had disguised himself as a beggar.

Odysseus and his men encountered a Cyclops named Polyphemus, and the one-eyed giant imprisoned Odysseus. He escaped by subduing the Cyclops with alcohol, then blinding him while he slept. As Odysseus escaped, Polyphemus cried out to his father, Poseidon. The god of the sea sought revenge by sabotaging Odysseus’ journey whenever he got the chance.

Odysseus ruled over the island of Ithaca, but the island as Homer described it does not resemble the actual island of Ithaca today. According to historians, any number of natural disasters may have led to the reshaping of the Greek islands west of mainland Greece. An unstable geologic fault line has caused quite a few violent earthquakes in this area.

The goddess-enchantress Circe warned Odysseus of the Sirens, bird-like women whose beautiful singing caused sailors to crash to their death. The sailors filled their ears with wax so they wouldn’t be tempted. But Odysseus wanted to hear the songs, so he had the sailors tie him to the mast of the ship. As the Sirens sang, Odysseus begged his men to release him, but they couldn't hear and sailed safely past the Sirens.

“The Odyssey” is set about 10 years after the Trojan War ended. Odysseus and other Greek warriors infiltrated the city of Troy using the Trojan Horse. They sacked the city, ending the war. But it took Odysseus 10 years to return home to his wife and son as he encountered many barriers on his journey.

Homer has been credited with writing both “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” sometime around 750 BCE. However, he was likely writing down oral histories, since the events of the Homeric epics took place around the 12th century BCE. Historians are unsure if Homer ever actually existed, or if he wrote both or either works, although they agree several events depicted in the epics line up with accepted historical facts.