The Odyssey can claim to be Western literature's first adventure story, and describes the ten-year wanderings of Odysseus in his quest to return home after the Trojan war. He encounters giants, sorceresses and sea-monsters before he can get home and then must remain in disguise while seeking a way to rid his home of the suitors who, believing him dead, have besieged his wife. Both an enchanting fairy tale and a gripping drama, The Odyssey is eminently readable, not least for the rich complexity and magnetism of its hero.

This translation is by T. E. Lawrence, with an Afterword by Ben Shaw.

The identity of the writer of The Iliad and The Odyssey is a matter of some speculation. The ancients were convinced it was Homer, although they tended to disagree on his biographical details. Many believe he lived in Chios, an island off the west coast of Turkey, sometime between 1100 and 700 BCE. Traditionally portrayed as revered, old and blind, he composed The Iliad and The Odyssey, and possibly the Homeric Hymns, a series of choral addresses to the gods.