# Poems/literature based on The Odyssey? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 27, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945 "2005-11-27T19:47:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945/1 "2005-11-27T19:47:59Z")
Three that spring to mind immediately are Tennyson’s [Ulysses](http://www.gober.net/victorian/ulysses.html), Joyce’s novel of the same name, and Cavafy’s [Ithaka](http://old.cruisingworld.com/ithaka/ithaka/ithaka.html). What other works of literature use the characters, settings, or events of the Odyssey as a jumping-off point? ---
**Author:** ![Hamish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hamish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamish)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945/2 "2005-11-27T19:50:11Z")
I haven’t read it, but Margaret Atwood just came out with **The Penelopiad** , which is the The Odyssey from Penelope’s point of view. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945/3 "2005-11-27T20:10:13Z")
_Cold Mountain_ ---
**Author:** ![priapus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@priapus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/priapus)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945/4 "2005-11-27T20:11:19Z")
George Clooney’s Brother,Where Art Thou? and Cold Mountain come to mind ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945/5 "2005-11-27T21:20:00Z")
> [@Hamish](#): > > I haven’t read it, but Margaret Atwood just came out with **The Penelopiad** , which is the The Odyssey from Penelope’s point of view. How would Penelope have known what was happening to Odysseus during his travels? Or is it her account of what was happening to her during all the years that he was away? It could be interesting. I must get hold of a copy. ---
**Author:** ![priapus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@priapus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/priapus)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945/6 "2005-11-27T23:03:17Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > How would Penelope have known what was happening to Odysseus during his travels? Or is it her account of what was happening to her during all the years that he was away? It could be interesting. I must get hold of a copy. what he said.I thought she just did a lot of weaving ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945/7 "2005-11-27T23:17:07Z")
I’d also make a case - probably shared by no-one else - for G. M. Fraser’s _Flashman_ novels being an idiosyncratic retelling of The Odyssey, based on the many points of plot convergence. Although Flashy’s a celebrated soldier {albeit a coward and a scoundrel}, like Odysseus he primarily survives through his wits and cunning. He just wants to go home to England, but is constantly waylayed and thwarted by monsters - played either by various 19th century figures such as Bismarck, John Brown or Lord Cardigan, or by slavers and Borneo head-hunters. In the process, he’s constantly being ensnared {not unwillingly, it has to be said} by the wiles of temptresses who get him into more trouble: his entire life is devoted to trying to go home to lead a life of idle debauchery, but his military career, various indiscretions and plain bad luck constantly conspire against him. Meanwhile, his Penelope, in the form of the beauteous but dimwitted Elspeth, is anything but faithful while awaiting his return, rogering _her_ way through half of Mayfair. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945/8 "2005-11-28T01:56:19Z")
> [@Tracy Lord](#): > > Three that spring to mind immediately are Tennyson’s [Ulysses](http://www.gober.net/victorian/ulysses.html)… Let’s not forget Tennyson’s _The Lotos-Eaters_, either. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945/9 "2005-11-28T02:16:37Z")
SF writer Brian Stableford, early in his career, produced the _Dies Irae_ trilogy, the first two volumes of which (_The Days of Glory_ and _In the Kingdom of the Beasts_) are very obviously the Iliad and the Odyssey transposed into a science-fictional setting. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945/10 "2005-11-28T02:31:10Z")
> [@priapus](#): > > what he said.I thought she just did a lot of weaving She also alienated her son by letting all those suitors have the run of the place and drink up daddy’s wine cellar. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945/11 "2005-11-28T02:51:51Z")
_Cannibal! The Musical_, if we’re including films. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945/12 "2005-11-28T07:33:16Z")
> [@priapus](#): > > what he said.I thought she just did a lot of weaving That’s what she told him … especially when he dropped the news that he was about to take off again. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945/13 "2005-11-28T09:21:43Z")
James McManus’s [_Chin Music_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0517558165/002-3850386-1917607?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance), an overlooked minor masterpiece, was based on Joyce’s _Ulysses_, so technically . . . ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945/14 "2005-11-28T09:48:50Z")
[An Ancient Gesture](http://plagiarist.com/poetry/7301/) by Edna St. Vincent Millay It’s rather short, compared to say, _The Lotos-Eaters_. I thought that Alvin Maker’s weaving aunt-whatever-thing in The Tales of Alvin Maker series by Orson Scott Card had a Penelope element to her, but it’s been so long since I’ve read it that I’m probably misremembering horribly. It was probably more of a Moirai element than anything else. I’m interested in whether or not you want to limit this question. Will any character based on a character appearing in the Odyssey be enough? I mean, if someone has a scene in a story where a Calypso-character tempts the main character with something usually unattainable in return for his love, does that count? Will a journey to the underworld count? A son who resents his mother’s suitors and searches for his father? With enough twisting, _Hamlet_ could fit the requirements. As it stands now, this is an enormous question. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945/15 "2005-11-28T10:43:40Z")
It is a rather enormous question. I’ve always been taken with the Joseph Campbell-style idea of a universal human myth, and after reading Cavafy’s poem and having it resonate very strongly with me, I thought I’d poke around and see if Dopers could come up with more directly-related-but-still-widely-relevant creative works. To narrow it down, the more directly tied into the plot/characters, the better: _O Brother, Where Art Thou?_ (which I can’t believe I forgot!) and Joyce’s _Ulysses_, for example, as opposed to, say, “Well, if you think about it _The Lord of the Rings_ has sort of an _Odyssey_-like plot!” (which it totally does). Especially if the creator clearly was inspired by Homer, instead of just having similarities. It’s a hard line to draw, but I’m interested in all responses – this isn’t a “I need examples of!”, it’s a “hey, that’s cool!” discussion question. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945/16 "2005-11-28T12:49:22Z")
The current comic book series ‘Age of Bronze’ by Eric Shanower isn’t so much inspired by as a straightforward adaptation of the Iliad with possibly a touch of the Odyssey. It’s a great thing. ---
**Author:** ![BadBadger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BadBadger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BadBadger)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945/17 "2005-11-28T15:07:02Z")
Theres [Ilium](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0575075600/qid=1133190344/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_11_2/202-4516453-7431809) by Dan Simmons. May get around to reading it one day. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945/18 "2005-11-28T16:35:08Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > The current comic book series ‘Age of Bronze’ by Eric Shanower isn’t so much inspired by as a straightforward adaptation of the Iliad with possibly a touch of the Odyssey. It’s a great thing. The same thing can be said of the recent Brad Pitt film _Troy_ (the Illiad, not really the Odyssey at all). –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945/19 "2005-11-28T18:02:42Z")
> [@Tracy Lord](#): > > “Well, if you think about it _The Lord of the Rings_ has sort of an _Odyssey_-like plot!” No, _The Lord of the Rings_ is really _The Heart of Darkness_. But as for the OP, your could argue that almost any wandering traveler tale is similar to the Odyssey : the voyages of Sinbad, or at a stretch _Gulliver’s Travels_. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945/20 "2005-11-29T01:08:00Z")
I just remembered another one. _DuckTales_ did a version of The Odyssey, and I’d be willing to bet it was based off of an old Carl Barks comic book. Does anyone know for sure? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poems-literature-based-on-the-odyssey/332945.md?page=2)