Israel & Palestine

Sign up for our online interest course in Homer’s Odyssey

What is The Odyssey of Homer?

The Odyssey of Homer is a Greek epic poem that tells of the return journey of Odysseus to the island of Ithaca from the war at Troy, which Homer addressed in The Iliad. In the Greek tradition, the war lasted for ten years. Odysseus then spent a further ten years getting home in the face of hostility from Poseidon, god of the earth and sea.

Odysseus’s return to his island, however, is not the end of his woes. He finds that 108 young men from the local vicinity have invaded his house to put pressure on his wife Penelope to marry one of them. A stalemate exists, and it is only resolved by a bow contest at the end of the poem, which then leads to a slaughter of all the suitors by Odysseus and his son Telemachus. Peace on the island is eventually restored through the intervention of Athena, goddess of wisdom, victory and war.

Learn about the world’s fourth-largest religion in this course taken from the current A Level Religious Studies’ syllabus. Buddhism is becoming an increasingly popular religion that focuses on personal spiritual development with practices like mindfulness. Learn about the Four Noble Truths, The three Jewels, Buddhist texts, meditation, the Buddha’s life and more.