The Odyssey Lesson Plan

The epics of the ancient Greek bard Homer are long poems that preserve myths and legends in verse and were almost certainly delivered orally before they were written down. They take the form of poetry, in fact, because rhyming text is much easier to memorize and deliver than prose. The Odyssey describes Odysseus' journey home to Ithaca after the fall of Troy. The Odyssey is so important to Western literature that its title has become a noun meaning "a journey," usually with the connotation of detour and adventure along the way.