Odysseus

[ oh-dis-ee-uhs, oh-dis-yoos ]

noun

, Classical Mythology.

1. king of Ithaca; son of Laertes; one of the heroes of the Iliad and protagonist of the Odyssey: shrewdest of the Greek leaders in the Trojan War.

Odysseus

/ əˈdiːsɪəs /

noun

1. Greek myth one of the foremost of the Greek heroes at the siege of Troy, noted for his courage and ingenuity. His return to his kingdom of Ithaca was fraught with adventures in which he lost all his companions and he was acknowledged by his wife Penelope only after killing her suitors Roman nameUlysses

Odysseus

1. A Greek hero in the Trojan War (see also Trojan War ). Odysseus helped bring about the fall of Troy by conceiving the ruse of the Trojan horse . After Troy was ruined, Odysseus wandered for ten years trying to return home, having many adventures along the way. ( See Circe , Cyclops , Penelope , Scylla and Charybdis , and Sirens .)

Notes

The story of Odysseus' journey home is told in the Odysseyof Homer . By extension, an “odyssey” is any long or difficult journey or transformation.

Example Sentences

He is of course, referring to Homer's epic poem that follows the travels of Odysseus and his crew, who faced perils such a the monster Scylla and giant whirlpool Charybdis.

From Salon

So he steals them, leaving the original Jason to negotiate a limbo of parallel realities, hopping from one to another as he tries to find his way home, like a sci-fi Odysseus.

From New York Times

"This prior work has demonstrated, for example, that Odysseus made the right decision to tie himself to the mast rather than attempting to use willpower to resist the sirens in the moment."

From Science Daily

So I could tell you who his cognates are for Achilles, Hector, Helen of Troy, Aphrodite, Odysseus and a whole bunch of others.

From Salon

Had Intuitive Machines, the maker of Odysseus, made an obvious error in building the spacecraft that way?

From New York Times