THE ODYSSEY

A man. A god at war with him. Ten thousand miles of sea between him and home. Attributed to the legendary Homer and composed in verse over 2,700 years ago, the Odyssey is one of the foundational epic poems of Western civilisation — the tale that has forever defined the concept of journey, obstacle and return. Ulysses won the Trojan War with the ruse of the wooden horse. Now all he has to do is return home, to his wife, his son and his kingdom. It should be the easy part. It is not. Poseidon seeks his downfall. A Cyclops devours his men one by one. A sorceress turns them into pigs. The Sirens sing to lure him to his death. Between Scylla and Charybdis, there is no escape without sacrifice. And on an island forgotten by the gods, a nymph holds him captive in love for years, whilst time in Ithaca continues to pass without him. At home, his wife Penelope single-handedly stands up to dozens of suitors who covet her bed and her throne. His son Telemachus is now a man who has never known him. And by now, everyone believes him to be dead. When Odysseus finally sees the shores of Ithaca once more, the most dangerous journey has yet to begin: reclaiming everything that has been stolen from him. An epic poem that weaves together adventure, cunning, nostalgia and the universal theme of nostos — the return home — remaining one of the founding works of Western literature.