Odysseus

American  

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

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

Homer’s “The Odyssey” follows Odysseus, a Greek king trying to get home after the Trojan War, a journey interrupted by Cyclopes, sirens, shipwrecks and gods with grudges.

From Los Angeles Times

“What if those copper ingots and that bronze knife were from…a sea trader of the time of Odysseus and the Trojan wars?”

From Literature

Odysseus is the flawed hero, a consummate liar and a less-than-stellar leader who cannot safeguard the “homecomings of his companions.”

From The Wall Street Journal

The palace was said to have provided shelter to Telemachus, son of Odysseus and Penelope and a player in epic tales of the Trojan War’s aftermath.

From Los Angeles Times

As he looks back on his trajectory, Garcia’s own hero’s journey through Hollywood seems to mirror that of the Greek character Odysseus: a man faced with great challenges that at times feel insurmountable yet formative.

From Los Angeles Times