Ulysses

Ulysses (or, Odysseus) is the hero of the Odyssey, an epic poem by the Greek poet Homer. Allegedly blind, Homer is said to have put to paper, perhaps through an intermediary, the ancient epic poem, which had been previously passed along only by oral tradition.

In the Odyssey, a companion to the Iliad, Ulysses attempts to return to his island kingdom of Ithaca, where his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus have stayed waiting for him. Unfortunately, Ulysses has incurred the wrath of the God of the Sea, Neptune, and his ship is buffeted on the seas into various confrontations with mythical monsters.

Ulysses has at various times served as the inspiration for other works of art, including a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson, and a novel by James Joyce.