The Odyssey is the other major epic poem attributed to Homer that has survived antiquity. It is, in part, a sequel to The Iliad. It was most likely composed near the end of the 8th century BC, somewhere in Ionia, the Greek-speaking coastal region of what is now Turkey. The epic poem centres on the Greek hero Odysseus (Ulysses in Roman myths) and his protracted journey home following the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, it is assumed he has died and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must face a group of unruly suitors, competing for Penelope’s hand in marriage.
The poem was composed and intended to be sung rather than read. In the English language as well as many others, the word odyssey has come to refer to an epic voyage. The style of the poem is different to The Iliad, causing some critics to identify separate authorship, while others claim The Odyssey to be the hallmark of a maturer Homer, after years of experienced poetic composition.