Odysseus

American  

[oh-dis-ee-uhs, oh-dis-yoos] / oʊˈdɪs i əs, oʊˈdɪs jus /

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.

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Odysseus British  

/ əˈdiːsɪəs /

noun

1. Roman name: Ulysses.  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

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Odysseus Cultural  

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.)

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Discover More

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

Example Sentences

The listener is liable to feel something more than interest, for example, in Telemachus, the son of Penelope and Odysseus.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 10, 2026

In the language of Fagles, Odysseus is a man “of twists and turns . . . driven time and again off course.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 10, 2026

The film sees tour de force performances from not just Holland but Matt Damon as Odysseus, who spends 10 years fighting the Trojan wars and another 10 trying to get back home.

From BBC • Jul. 8, 2026

When the system worked for an eight-page emotional scene between Odysseus and Penelope shot in Los Angeles before location work, Nolan was satisfied all would be OK.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 7, 2026

Odysseus told his men about them and that the only way to pass them safely was for each man to stop his ears with wax.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton